THE PARIS PEACE TREATY (PEACE TREATY of 1783):
In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.
It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the most serene and most
potent Prince George the Third, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain, France, and
Ireland, defender of the faith, duke of Brunswick and Lunebourg, arch- treasurer and
prince elector of the Holy Roman Empire etc., and of the United States of America, to
forget all past misunderstandings and differences that have unhappily interrupted the good
correspondence and friendship which they mutually wish to restore, and to establish such a
beneficial and satisfactory intercourse , between the two countries upon the ground of
reciprocal advantages and mutual convenience as may promote and secure to both perpetual
peace and harmony; and having for this desirable end already laid the foundation of peace
and reconciliation by the Provisional Articles signed at Paris on the 30th of November
1782, by the commissioners empowered on each part, which articles were agreed to be
inserted in and constitute the Treaty of Peace proposed to be concluded between the Crown
of Great Britain and the said United States, but which treaty was not to be concluded
until terms of peace should be agreed upon between Great Britain and France and his
Britannic Majesty should be ready to conclude such treaty accordingly; and the treaty
between Great Britain and France having since been concluded, his Britannic Majesty and
the United States of America, in order to carry into full effect the Provisional Articles
above mentioned, according to the tenor thereof, have constituted and appointed, that is
to say his Britannic Majesty on his part, David Hartley, Esqr., member of the Parliament
of Great Britain, and the said United States on their part, John Adams, Esqr., late a
commissioner of the United States of America at the court of Versailles, late delegate in
Congress from the state of Massachusetts, and chief justice of the said state, and
minister plenipotentiary of the said United States to their high mightinesses the States
General of the United Netherlands; Benjamin Franklin, Esqr., late delegate in Congress
from the state of Pennsylvania, president of the convention of the said state, and
minister plenipotentiary from the United States of America at the court of Versailles;
John Jay, Esqr., late president of Congress and chief justice of the state of New York,
and minister plenipotentiary from the said United States at the court of Madrid; to be
plenipotentiaries for the concluding and signing the present definitive treaty; who after
having reciprocally communicated their respective full powers have agreed upon and
confirmed the following articles.
Article 1:
His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire,
Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to
be free sovereign and independent states, that he treats with them as such, and for
himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety,
and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.
Article 2:
And that all disputes which might arise in future on the subject of the boundaries of the
said United States may be prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the following
are and shall be their boundaries, viz.; from the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz.,
that nagle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of St. Croix River to
the highlands; along the said highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves
into the river St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the
northwesternmost head of Connecticut River; thence down along the middle of that river to
the forty-fifth degree of north latitude; from thence by a line due west on said latitude
until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraquy; thence along the middle of said river
into Lake Ontario; through the middle of said lake until it strikes the communication by
water between that lake and Lake Erie; thence along the middle of said communication into
Lake Erie, through the middle of said lake until it arrives at the water communication
between that lake and Lake Huron; thence along the middle of said water communication into
Lake Huron, thence through the middle of said lake to the water communication between that
lake and Lake Superior; thence through Lake Superior northward of the Isles Royal and
Phelipeaux to the Long Lake; thence through the middle of said Long Lake and the water
communication between it and the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods; thence
through the said lake to the most northwesternmost point thereof, and from thence on a due
west course to the river Mississippi; thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of the
said river Mississippi until it shall intersect the northernmost part of the thirty-first
degree of north latitude, South, by a line to be drawn due east from the determination of
the line last mentioned in the latitude of thirty-one degrees of the equator, to the
middle of the river Apalachicola or Catahouche; thence along the middle thereof to its
junction with the Flint River, thence straight to the head of Saint Mary's River; and
thence down along the middle of Saint Mary's River to the Atlantic Ocean; east, by a line
to be drawn along the middle of the river Saint Croix, from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy
to its source, and from its source directly north to the aforesaid highlands which divide
the rivers that fall into the Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the river Saint
Lawrence; comprehending all islands within twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the
United States, and lying between lines to be drawn due east from the points where the
aforesaid boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one part and East Florida on the other
shall, respectively, touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean, excepting such islands
as now are or heretofore have been within the limits of the said province of Nova Scotia.
Article 3:
It is agreed that the people of the United States shall continue to enjoy unmolested the
right to take fish of every kind on the Grand Bank and on all the other banks of
Newfoundland, also in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and at all other places in the sea, where
the inhabitants of both countries used at any time heretofore to fish. And also that the
inhabitants of the United States shall have liberty to take fish of every kind on such
part of the coast of Newfoundland as British fishermen shall use, (but not to dry or cure
the same on that island) and also on the coasts, bays and creeks of all other of his
Brittanic Majesty's dominions in America; and that the American fishermen shall have
liberty to dry and cure fish in any of the unsettled bays, harbors, and creeks of Nova
Scotia, Magdalen Islands, and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled, but so
soon as the same or either of them shall be settled, it shall not be lawful for the said
fishermen to dry or cure fish at such settlement without a previous agreement for that
purpose with the inhabitants, proprietors, or possessors of the ground.
Article 4:
It is agreed that creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment to the
recovery of the full value in sterling money of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted.
Article 5:
It is agreed that Congress shall earnestly recommend it to the legislatures of the
respective states to provide for the restitution of all estates, rights, and properties,
which have been confiscated belonging to real British subjects; and also of the estates,
rights, and properties of persons resident in districts in the possession on his Majesty's
arms and who have not borne arms against the said United States. And that persons of any
other decription shall have free liberty to go to any part or parts of any of the thirteen
United States and therein to remain twelve months unmolested in their endeavors to obtain
the restitution of such of their estates, rights, and properties as may have been
confiscated; and that Congress shall also earnestly recommend to the several states a
reconsideration and revision of all acts or laws regarding the premises, so as to render
the said laws or acts perfectly consistent not only with justice and equity but with that
spirit of conciliation which on the return of the blessings of peace should universally
prevail. And that Congress shall also earnestly recommend to the several states that the
estates, rights, and properties, of such last mentioned persons shall be restored to them,
they refunding to any persons who may be now in possession the bona fide price (where any
has been given) which such persons may have paid on purchasing any of the said lands,
rights, or properties since the confiscation.
And it is agreed that all persons who have any interest in confiscated lands, either by
debts, marriage settlements, or otherwise, shall meet with no lawful impediment in the
prosecution of their just rights.
Article 6:
That there shall be no future confiscations made nor any prosecutions commenced against
any person or persons for, or by reason of, the part which he or they may have taken in
the present war, and that no person shall on that account suffer any future loss or
damage, either in his person, liberty, or property; and that those who may be in
confinement on such charges at the time of the ratification of the treaty in America shall
be immediately set at liberty, and the prosecutions so commenced be discontinued.
Article 7:
There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between his Brittanic Majesty and the said
states, and between the subjects of the one and the citizens of the other, wherefore all
hostilities both by sea and land shall from henceforth cease. All prisoners on both sides
shall be set at liberty, and his Brittanic Majesty shall with all convenient speed, and
without causing any destruction, or carrying away any Negroes or other property of the
American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets from the said United
States, and from every post, place, and harbor within the same; leaving in all
fortifications, the American artilery that may be therein; and shall also order and cause
all archives, records, deeds, and papers belonging to any of the said states, or their
citizens, which in the course of the war may have fallen into the hands of his officers,
to be forthwith restored and delivered to the proper states and persons to whom they
belong.
Article 8:
The navigation of the river Mississippi, from its source to the ocean, shall forever
remain free and open to the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United
States.
Article 9:
In case it should so happen that any place or territory belonging to Great Britain or to
the United States should have been conquered by the arms of either from the other before
the arrival of the said Provisional Articles in America, it is agreed that the same shall
be restored without difficulty and without requiring any compensation.
Article 10:
The solemn ratifications of the present treaty expedited in good and due form shall be
exchanged between the contracting parties in the space of six months or sooner, if
possible, to be computed from the day of the signatures of the present treaty. In witness
whereof we the undersigned, their ministers plenipotentiary, have in their name and in
virtue of our full powers, signed with our hands the present definitive treaty and caused
the seals of our arms to be affixed thereto.
Done at Paris, this third day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-three.
D. HARTLEY (SEAL) JOHN ADAMS (SEAL) B. FRANKLIN (SEAL) JOHN JAY (SEAL)
Source: United States, Department of State, "Treaties and Other International
Agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949", vol 12, pp8-12
------------------------------------
The Peace Treaty of 1783, also known as The Paris Peace Treaty, ended the United States
War for Independence. Representing England was Richard Oswald, chief negotiator under the
Earl of Shelburne, the Secretary of State; signing for Britain was David Hartley.
Representing the United States of America were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John
Jay, all of whom signed the treaty.
This treaty gave formal recognition to the United States of America, established her
boundaries, (at the time), secured certain fishing rights, addressed problems between
creditors, provided fair treatment for those who decided to remain loyal to Great Britain,
and opened up the Mississippi River to navigation by citizens of both signatory nations.
------------------------------------
Prepared by Gerald Murphy (The Cleveland Free-Net - aa300) Distributed by the Cybercasting
Services Division of the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN).
Permission is hereby granted to download, reprint, and/or otherwise redistribute this
file, provided appropriate point of origin credit is given to the preparer(s) and the
National Public Telecomputing Network.
^back^