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Treaty With Great Britain: Final Treaty of Independence
Treaty With Great Britain: Final Treaty of Independence
An Introduction
Less than five months after the surrender of Cornwallis, the British
Parliament passed an act to enable the king to make peace till July 1783. In
the end of November, 1782, a provisional treaty was signed, the negotiations
on behalf of Congress having been conducted by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams,
John Jay, and Henry Laurens. On September 3, 1783, this treaty was made
definitive in the form here printed, and the complete independence of the
American States acknowledged by Great Britain.
The Document
Definitive Treaty of Peace Between The United States of America and His
Britannic Majesty, Concluded at Paris, September 3, 1783; Ratified by
Congress, January 14, 1784; Proclaimed, January 14, 1784.
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 Luneburg, Arch -
Treasurer and Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, &c., 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 reconciliation, by the provisional articles, signed at
Paris, on the 30th of Nov., 1782, by the commissioners empowered on each part,
which articles were agreed to be inserted in and to 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, esq`re, 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, esq`re, 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 the
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 I
His Britannic 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 and successors, relinquishes all claims to the Government, proprietory
and territorial rights of the same, and every part thereof.
Article II
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 Saint 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 forth - 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 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 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 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 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 north 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 St. Mary`s River; and thence down along the middle of St. Mary`s
River to the Atlantic Ocean. East, by a line to be drawn along the middle of
the river St. 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
St. 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 III
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 Gulph 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 Britannic Majesty`s dominions in America; and that the American fishermen
shall have liberty to dry and cure fish in any of the unsettled bays,
harbours, 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 IV
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 V
It is agreed that the 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 of 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 endeavours 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 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 VI
That there shall be no future confiscations made, nor any prosecutions
commenc`d 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 VII
There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between His Britannic 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
Britannic 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 port, place, and harbour within the same;
leaving in all fortifications the American artillery 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
deliver`d to the proper States and persons to whom they belong.
Article VIII
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 IX
In case it should so happen that any place or territory belonging to
Great Britain or to the United States, should have been conquer`d 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 X
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 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 affix`d thereto.
Done at Paris, this third day of September, in the year of our Lord one
thousand seven hundred and eighty-three.
D. Hartley [L. S.]
John Adams [L. S.]
B. Franklin [L. S.]
John Jay [L. S.]
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