The Treaty of Paris (1783) formally ended the American Revolutionary War and recognized the United States as independent.
Representatives of Great Britain and the United States signed the treaty in Paris on September 3, 1783. Britain recognized the former Thirteen Colonies as free, sovereign, and independent states. The agreement also established major boundaries for the new country, including territory west to the Mississippi River.
The treaty followed preliminary articles agreed in November 1782. Congress of the Confederation ratified it on January 14, 1784, in Annapolis, Maryland. British ratification followed, and the ratified documents were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784.
The name can cause confusion because the broader Peace of Paris included separate agreements involving Britain, France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic. The treaty with the United States is specifically called the Treaty of Paris of 1783. Its recognition of independence is one of the central achievements recalled in America’s semiquincentennial year.