The Treaty of Paris recognized American independence after the Revolutionary War, a founding milestone recalled by America250.
Signed on September 3, 1783, the treaty ended the war between Great Britain and the United States. Britain acknowledged the United States as a free, sovereign, and independent nation. The agreement also established boundaries that extended west to the Mississippi River, north to British North America, and south to Spanish Florida.
The American negotiators included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay, and Henry Laurens. The treaty was part of a wider peace settlement involving Britain and other combatants, including France and Spain. Britain and the United States ratified the agreement, and the Continental Congress formally ratified it on January 14, 1784.
The Treaty of Paris is sometimes confused with the 1763 treaty of the same name, which ended the Seven Years’ War. It is also distinct from the 1783 preliminary articles that preceded the final peace treaty. The 1783 agreement provided international recognition of the United States.