The Treaty of Paris was signed by Britain and America on today's date, Sept. 3 in Paris (hence the name), in 1783. This document recognized the former American colonies to be a free and independent nation. Although both the Brits and we Americans mostly got what they wanted out of the Treaty, the Brit's overall feelings can be summed up by the painting above by Benjamin West. It is a painting of the peace negotiators and it remains eternally unfinished, because the British declined to sit and be painted into it.
The Fighting War Ends
The last actual armed combat between Britain and America came in October 1781 with the surrender of the last major army the Brits had in America (outside of New York City) on October 19, 1781 at Yorktown, Virginia. That left @ 9,000 prisoners of war (including General Cornwallis) on America's hands. The defeat at Yorktown left the war in
The United States Send Jay, Adams and Franklin
The U.S. sent John Jay, the U.S. Minister to Spain to Paris to negotiate with the Brits, and with him sent John Adams (below), and Ben Franklin, already in Paris as our Minister to France. The Continental Congress had given it's delegation strict instructions to follow France's lead in the negotiations. But the U.S. delegation saw no advantage in hitching our position to France. Jay told the Brits that his
the said United States... to be free, sovereign and independent states."
This was fine with Shelburn who saw it as a way of splitting the U.S. off from France and thus bring about the rich trading partnership with the Americans. And it paid off handsomely with the Brits ceding all of the territory south of Canada down to Spanish held Florida, and east of the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River, thus doubling the size of the United States with the stroke of a pen.
Other Terms of the Treaty of Paris
Among other things, the treaty recognized the deep sea fishing rights of American fishermen in the Grand Banks off the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newfoundland coasts.
Declared the Mississippi River to be open for the free navigation of both countries.
Said that the Continental Congress would recommend and "provide for the restitution of all estates, rights, and properties.." seized from British loyalists during the war. Also, it said that debts to creditors on either side of the conflict would be paid.
Released Prisoners of war on both sides; and any property of the British army presently located in the United States was forfeited. This included slaves.
The Treaty was signed by Franklin, Adams and Jay and the British emissary Richard Oswald at the Hotel d’York in Paris, on September 3, 1783. It would be ratified by the Continental Congress in early 1784. The conflict which had started out as a skirmish between a few hundred British regulars and disgruntled Massachusetts farmers and townsmen way back on April 19 in 1775 and had swallowed up a large chunk of the North American continent was at long last over. And the United States of America which would eventually take up nearly the entire continent was born.
Sources =
https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/treaty-of-paris
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1783)
"John Adams" by David McCullough, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2001
"The American Heritage History of the American Revolution" by Bruce Lancaster, American Heritage Publishing Co., New York, 1971