Which 1783 treaty recognized the United States as independent from Great Britain?

The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, recognized the United States as free, sovereign, and independent from Great Britain. It officially ended the American Revolutionary War between the two countries.

Representatives signed the treaty in Paris on September 3, 1783. The American negotiators were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens, although Laurens signed later documents connected with the peace negotiations rather than the final treaty. David Hartley signed for Great Britain.

The treaty did more than acknowledge independence. It established generous boundaries for the new nation, extending west to the Mississippi River, north toward the Great Lakes, and south to Spanish Florida. It also addressed fishing rights, debts, prisoners of war, and property belonging to Loyalists.

The Treaty of Paris should not be confused with the 1783 treaties involving France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic. Those agreements formed the wider Peace of Paris. America250 commemorates the Declaration’s adoption in 1776, while the treaty represents the diplomatic conclusion of the war that followed.