January 14, 1784.
On this day in history the Continental Congress approved the Treaty of Paris. This ratification officially ended the Revolutionary War with Great Britain. These actions then established the United States of America. This at that point made the United States of America a free sovereign nation. The intentions declared with this pact from both parties was to “forget all past misunderstandings and differences” and “to secure both perpetual peace and harmony”. Still to this day both nations agree with this treaty.
Congress had approved preliminary articles of peace with Britain on April 15, 1783. One of the provisions that was signed in Paris in September 13, 1783 required Congress to return a ratified document within six months of the signing date.
Negotiations took place on neutral ground at the Paris Hotel de York. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay represented the United States, and David Hartley who was a member of the British Parliament was representing King George III.
There were several mishaps along the way to getting the document ratified within the six-month time limit. Congress was scheduled to meet in November, but by January only twelve delegates from seven states had shown up. Looking at the articles of Confederation the small body lacked the power to enforce the others to attend. Knowing that in the winter months a trip to Europe would likely take two months’ time was running short.
On January 13th the Connecticut legislatures arrived, however they were still one delegate short. So, Richard Beresford arose from his sickened state in South Carolina and traveled to Philadelphia. With Richard present there was enough delegates to ratify the document.
The territory granted with the treaty to the United States was westward to the Mississippi river. British kept Canada, however, Newfoundland’s fisheries on the Grand Banks and in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence would remain open to the Americans. The navigation of the Mississippi river remained open to both nations.
There were some complications with the treaty between the two nations. One of those items, Congress was required to recommend that the states returned confiscated loyalist property. Unfortunately, Congress did not have the power to enforce the suggestion. This caused the British to stick around much longer that what the treaty had stated. When it was brought up that they had not left Britain stated that the items of the loyalist were not returned so they were staying longer. They even built a fort in present day Ohio in 1974. About a decade later through the Jay Treaty with London the posts were all peacefully relinquished.
Even though the ratified documents were exchanged on May 12th, 1784, it took several more months for the word to spread to all the people telling them the war for independence was over.
My Source for this story was “The diplomacy of the American Revolution, “By Samuel Flagg Bemis (1935)