The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States. This treaty officially ended the War of American Independence and recognized the Thirteen Colonies, which were part of colonial British America, as free, sovereign, and independent unified states.

The treaty established the boundaries between British North America, later known as Canada, and the United States. The British described these boundaries as "very generous," though exact lines in the far-northwest and southern regions remained unclear and caused some disagreements. The treaty also included details about fishing rights, returning property, and releasing prisoners of war.

This treaty, along with separate peace agreements between Great Britain and countries that supported the American cause—such as France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic—is called the Peace of Paris. Only Article 1 of the treaty, which confirms the United States as free, sovereign, and independent states, is still valid today.

Agreement

In April 1782, peace talks began in Paris after George Washington and the Continental Army won the American Revolutionary War. These talks continued through the summer of 1782. The United States was represented by Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, and John Adams. Great Britain and King George III were represented by David Hartley and Richard Oswald.

The treaty was written on November 30, 1782, and signed on September 3, 1783, at the Hôtel d'York, now located at 56 Rue Jacob in Paris. The signers were Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Hartley.

In September 1782, French Foreign Minister Vergennes suggested a solution to stalled negotiations between the United States and Britain. The United States rejected this idea. France was tired from the war, and most countries wanted peace, except Spain, which wanted to continue fighting until it could take control of Gibraltar from Britain. Vergennes proposed that Spain would not take Gibraltar, and the United States would gain independence but only in the area east of the Appalachian Mountains. Britain would keep the area north of the Ohio River, part of the Province of Quebec. South of that area would be an independent Indian barrier state under Spanish control.

The American delegation believed they could get a better treaty by negotiating directly with Britain in London. John Jay told the British he was willing to negotiate without involving France or Spain. British Prime Minister Lord Shelburne agreed. Some negotiations took place in Shelburne’s study at Lansdowne House, now a bar in the Lansdowne Club. Shelburne saw an opportunity to separate the United States from France and make the new nation a valuable trading partner. The terms allowed the United States to claim all land east of the Mississippi River, north of present-day Florida, and south of present-day Canada. The northern boundary would be nearly the same as it is today.

The United States would gain fishing rights near Nova Scotia’s coasts and allow British merchants and Loyalists to try to recover their property. The treaty was very favorable to the United States, as Britain intended it to be. Shelburne predicted strong trade between Britain and the growing United States, which happened later.

Great Britain also signed separate agreements with France and Spain, and temporarily with the Netherlands. In the treaty with Spain, East and West Florida were given to Spain without a clear northern boundary, leading to a disagreement later resolved by the Treaty of Madrid in 1795. Spain also received the island of Menorca, but the Bahamas, Grenada, and Montserrat, captured by France and Spain, were returned to Britain. The treaty with France focused on exchanging captured territories. France’s only gains were the island of Tobago and Senegal in Africa, but it also kept fishing rights off Newfoundland. Dutch possessions in the East Indies, captured in 1781, were returned to the Netherlands by Britain in exchange for trading rights, though this agreement was finalized in 1784.

The Congress of the Confederation, the legislative body of the new United States, approved the Treaty of Paris on January 14, 1784, in Annapolis, Maryland, in the Old Senate Chamber of the Maryland State House. Copies were sent to Europe for approval by other countries. The first copy reached France in March 1784. Britain approved the treaty on April 9, 1784, and the approved versions were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784.

Terms

The treaty and the separate peace agreements between Great Britain and the three countries that supported the American cause—France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic—are known as the Peace of Paris. Only Article 1 of the treaty, which states that the United States is recognized as free, sovereign, and independent states, remains in effect today. Over time, the borders of the United States changed, which is why other parts of the treaty were replaced or no longer used.

Preamble
The treaty begins by stating it is made "in the Name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity" and references divine providence. It confirms that the signers acted in good faith and expresses the goal of both sides to "forget all past misunderstandings and differences" and "secure peace and harmony forever."

Articles
1. Britain officially recognizes the United States, which includes areas that were once the Province of New Hampshire, Province of Massachusetts Bay, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut Colony, Province of New York, Province of New Jersey, Province of Pennsylvania, Delaware Colony, Province of Maryland, Colony of Virginia, Province of North Carolina, Province of South Carolina, and Province of Georgia, as free, sovereign, and independent states. Britain gives up all claims to these lands and their rights.
2. The treaty sets the borders of the United States, including the boundaries between the United States and British North America from the Mississippi River to the Southern colonies. Britain gives up the land it previously owned.
3. The United States is granted the right to fish in the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland and in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
4. People who lent money to either side must be able to recover the full amount of their debts without legal obstacles.
5. The Congress of the Confederation will advise state governments to return property that was taken from British citizens (Loyalists) and restore their rights.
6. The United States will stop taking property from Loyalists in the future.
7. Prisoners of war from both sides will be released. All British property currently in the United States will remain with the United States and will be forfeited.
8. Both Great Britain and the United States will have permanent access to the Mississippi River.
9. Any land captured by either side after the treaty is signed must be returned without payment.
10. The treaty must be officially approved by both sides within six months of its signing.

Eschatocol
"Done at Paris, this third day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three."

Gallery

• Maps showing how the United States territory might look were proposed by France (1782), Spain (1782), and Great Britain (1783).
• France planned to reintroduce the Royal Proclamation of 1763.
• Spain intended for Britain to transfer Georgia to Spain, while the United States would gain a narrow strip of land in eastern western Quebec.
• The British and United States signed the "Conclusive" Treaty of Paris, which set the United States' western boundary at the midpoint of the Mississippi River.

Consequences

Historians have often noted that the treaty gave the United States a much larger area of land than expected. Historians like Alvord, Harlow, and Ritcheson explained that Britain’s willingness to give up this land was based on a plan to strengthen economic connections between Britain and the United States. By allowing the United States to control the large area west of the Appalachian Mountains, Britain hoped to help the American population grow and create markets for British merchants without spending money on military or government work. The goal was to make the United States a strong trading partner. French Foreign Minister Vergennes later said, "The English buy peace rather than make it." Vermont was included in the new boundaries because the state of New York claimed Vermont belonged to it, even though Vermont had its own government that did not consider itself part of the United States.

Privileges the United States had received automatically from Britain while it was a colony, such as protection from Barbary corsairs in the Mediterranean Sea, were no longer guaranteed. Some states ignored rules in Article 5, which asked them to return property taken from Loyalists, and ignored Article 6, which allowed taking Loyalist property to pay debts. The Commonwealth of Virginia broke Article 4 by keeping laws that stopped people from paying debts to British creditors. Many Loyalists tried to get their property back in the United States after the Revolutionary War, but most failed.

The actual geography of North America did not match the details in the treaty. The treaty described a southern boundary for the United States, but a separate agreement between Britain and Spain did not define a northern boundary for Florida. Spain assumed the boundary was the same as in a 1763 agreement that had given Florida to Britain. While the West Florida Controversy continued, Spain blocked American access to the Mississippi River, breaking Article 8. To the north, the treaty said the United States’ boundary started at the northernmost point of Lake of the Woods in present-day Minnesota, Manitoba, and Ontario and went west until it reached the Mississippi River. However, the Mississippi River does not extend that far north, and the line from Lake of the Woods does not meet the river. The Treaty of Paris also did not explain how the new border would manage movement of people and trade between British North America and the United States. American diplomats hoped to make a trade agreement with Britain in 1784 to resolve issues from the treaty, but this did not happen. Although agreements existed for Britain to leave northern forts, Britain did not follow through. At the same time, Britain was upset about American actions that harmed Loyalists. The United States waited until 1794 to make its first trade agreement with Britain, the Jay Treaty.

A major issue in relations between Britain and the United States after independence was Britain’s refusal to leave eight forts in what was officially American territory "with all convenient speed." Six forts were in the Great Lakes region, and two were at the northern end of Lake Champlain. Britain also built another fort in present-day Ohio in 1794 during the Northwest Indian War. Britain claimed it had the right to keep the forts because the United States had not followed the Treaty of Paris, especially the promise to pay British subjects, including Loyalists, for their wartime losses. All the forts were eventually handed over peacefully through the Jay Treaty.