TREATY OF PARIS

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The Treaty of Paris of 1783, negotiated between the United States and Great Britain,
ended the revolutionary war and recognized American independence. The
Continental Congress named a five-member commission to negotiate a treatyJohn
Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry Laurens. Laurens,
however, was captured by a British warship and held in the Tower of London until
the end of the war, and Jefferson did not leave the United States in time to take part
in the negotiations. Thus, they were conducted by Adams, Franklin, and Jay.

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The talks began in April 1782, after the American-French victory at Yorktown led to
the toppling of Lord Norths Tory government and the naming of a Whig, Lord
Rockingham, as prime minister and Lord Shelburne as foreign minister.

The French foreign minister, the Comte de Vergennes, expected the Americans to
coordinate their diplomatic strategy with the French, but the Americans distrusted
the French attachment to their cause and pursued an independent course. Among
the teams notable achievements were British recognition of American
independence (a point pressed most strongly by Jay); the securing (by Adams and
Jay) of American fishermens right of access to the Grand Banks off the coast of
Newfoundland and other traditional fisheries in Canadian waters; and Great Britains
ceding to the United States all territory between the Allegheny Mountains on the
east and the Mississippi River on the west, thereby doubling the size of the new
nation. For its part, the United States agreed to use its powers to end the
persecution of Loyalists by state and local governments and to restore their
property confiscated during the war. Both countries agreed not to block creditors
from seeking to recover debts owed to them.

The preliminary articles of peace were signed by Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Henry
Laurens for the United States and Richard Oswald for Great Britain on November 30,
1782. The final treaty was signed on September 3, 1783, and ratified by the
Continental Congress early in 1784.

The Readers Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty,
Editors. Copyright 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All
rights reserved.