Treaty of Paris Recognizes American Independence

September 3, 1783

Britain, France, Spain, and the new United States signed at the Hotel d'York in Paris. The British negotiators, eager to split the Americans from their French ally, conceded generous boundaries to the Mississippi. Benjamin West painted the signing; the British delegates refused to pose. A nation existed on paper. The treaty doubled the territory available to American settlers and laid the groundwork for westward expansion.