Agreement Treaty of Paris (1783)

benjamin west s painting of delegations @ treaty of paris: john jay, john adams, benjamin franklin, henry laurens, , william temple franklin. british delegation refused pose, , painting never completed.

peace negotiations began in april 1782, , continued through summer. representing united states benjamin franklin, john jay, henry laurens, , john adams. david hartley , richard oswald represented great britain. treaty signed @ hotel d york (presently 56 rue jacob) in paris on september 3, 1783, adams, franklin, jay, , hartley.

regarding american treaty, key episodes came in september, 1782, when french foreign minister vergennes proposed solution opposed ally, united states. france exhausted war, , wanted peace except spain, insisted on continuing war until capture gibraltar british. vergennes came deal spain accept instead of gibraltar. united states gain independence confined area east of appalachian mountains. britain take area north of ohio river. in area south of set independent indian state under spanish control. indian barrier state.

however, americans realized better deal directly london. john jay promptly told british willing negotiate directly them, cutting off france , spain. british prime minister lord shelburne agreed. in charge of british negotiations (some of took place in study @ lansdowne house, bar in lansdowne club) , saw chance split united states away france , make new country valuable economic partner. western terms united states gain of area east of mississippi river, north of florida, , south of canada. northern boundary same today. united states gain fishing rights off canadian coasts, , agreed allow british merchants , loyalists try recover property. highly favorable treaty united states, , deliberately british point of view. prime minister shelburne foresaw highly profitable two-way trade between britain , rapidly growing united states, indeed came pass.

great britain signed separate agreements france , spain, , (provisionally) netherlands. in treaty spain, territories of east , west florida ceded spain (without clear northern boundary, resulting in territorial dispute resolved treaty of madrid in 1795). spain received island of menorca; bahama islands, grenada, , montserrat, captured french , spanish, returned britain. treaty france exchanges of captured territory (france s net gains island of tobago, , senegal in africa), reinforced earlier treaties, guaranteeing fishing rights off newfoundland. dutch possessions in east indies, captured in 1781, returned britain netherlands in exchange trading privileges in dutch east indies, treaty not finalized until 1784.

the united states congress of confederation ratified treaty of paris on january 14, 1784. copies sent europe ratification other parties involved, first reaching france in march 1784. british ratification occurred on april 9, 1784, , ratified versions exchanged in paris on may 12, 1784.