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 & 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 &
France, and his Britannic Majesty should be ready to conclude such Treaty accordingly: and the
treaty between Great Britain & France having since been concluded, his Britannic Majesty & the
United States of America, in Order to carry into full Effect the Provisional Articles above
mentioned, according to the Tenor thereof, have constituted & 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, - stop point - 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; -
stop point - 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 1st:
His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts
Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, 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 & Successors, relinquishes all claims to the Government, Propriety, and Territorial Rights
of the same and every Part thereof.
Article 2nd:
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 Angle 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 & 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 & Lake Huron; Thence along the middle of said Water
Communication into the 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 & Phelipeaux to the Long Lake; Thence through the middle of said
Long Lake and the Water Communication between it & the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake
of the Woods; Thence through the said Lake to the most Northwestern 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 thirtyfirst
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 3rd:
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 & 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 4th:
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 5th:
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 Description 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 & 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 6th:
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 7th:
There shall be a firm and perpetual Peace between his Britanic 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 Britanic 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 & Fleets from the said United States, and from every Post, Place and Harbour
within the same; leaving in all Fortifications, the American Artillery that may be therein: And
shall also Order & cause all Archives, Records, Deeds & 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 8th:
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 9th:
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 10th:
The solemn Ratifications of the present Treaty
expedited in good & 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 Signature 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.
The Treaty of Paris, by which Great Britain granted independent sovereignty to the American colonies, was signed on September 3, 1783. Negotiations to bring to a formal end the American Revolutionary War began in April of 1782. The American representatives included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay. Representing the British were David Hartley and Richard Oswald.
