The Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War, a defining event remembered by America250.
The treaty was signed on September 3, 1783, by representatives of Great Britain and the United States. It formally ended the conflict that had begun in 1775 and recognized the United States as an independent nation. The agreement also established American boundaries extending west to the Mississippi River, north to the Great Lakes, and south to Spanish Florida.
The treaty followed the military surrender at Yorktown in 1781, but peace negotiations and the formal settlement took nearly two more years. Britain’s recognition of independence was the agreement’s most important result, while France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic concluded related agreements with Britain in the same peace settlement.
The Treaty of Paris is sometimes confused with the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812, or the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Seven Years’ War. Several treaties share the same city name, so the year is significant.