The Treaty of Paris formally ended the American Revolutionary War in 1783.
Representatives of Great Britain and the United States signed the treaty in Paris on September 3, 1783. Britain recognized the United States as free, sovereign, and independent states, completing the diplomatic settlement after years of fighting.
The treaty also established generous boundaries for the new nation, extending west to the Mississippi River, north to British North America, and south to Spanish Florida. It granted American fishermen rights in waters near Newfoundland and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
The Treaty of Paris is sometimes confused with the broader Peace of Paris, a group of agreements involving Britain, France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic. The American treaty was the specific document that recognized United States independence. Congress ratified it on January 14, 1784, in Annapolis, Maryland.