American History: Primary Sources: The Treaty of Paris (1783)

The Treaty of Paris officially concluded the American Revolutionary War against Great Britain. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay, and David Hartley represented the United States in the negotiations that led to the signature of the treaty on September 3, 1783. In the document, the British Crown acknowledged America’s existence as a free, sovereign nation, and ceded nearly all the formerly British territory east of the Mississippi to the United States. Congress voted to approve the treaty on January 14, 1784, which is now celebrated as Ratification Day.