Treaty of Paris (1783)

The Treaty of Paris of 1783, signed on 3 September 1783, formally ended the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies in North America who had rebelled against British rule in 1776. Great Britain signed ancillary treaties with France and Spain as the Treaties of Versailles of 1783.

Summary

The treaty contained the following terms:

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• Recognizing the thirteen colonies as thirteen free and sovereign States ;
• Establishing the boundaries between the United States and British North America ; (for an account of a strange anomaly resulting from this part of the Treaty, see Northwest Angle)
• Granting fishing rights to United States fishermen in the Grand Banks, off the coast of Newfoundland and in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence ;
• Recognizing the lawful contracted debts to be paid to creditors on either side ;
• United States Congress will "earnestly recommend" to state legislatures to recognize the rightful owners of all confiscated lands "provide for the restitution of all estates, rights, and properties, which have been confiscated belonging to real British subjects". ;
• United States will prevent future confiscations ;
• Prisoners of war on both sides are to be released and all property left by British army in the United States unmolested (including "Negroes") ;
• Great Britain and the United States were each to be given perpetual access to the Mississippi River ;
• Territories captured by Americans subsequent to treaty will be returned without compensation ;
• Ratification of the treaty was to occur within six months from the signing by the contracting parties