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 reconcilia-
tion 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 boun-
daries, 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 legisla-
tures 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 proper-
ties of persons resident in districts in the possession on his Majes-
ty'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 proper-
ties, 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 Provisi-
onal 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. Represent-
ing 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.
------------------------------------
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