The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States on September 3, 1783, officially ended the American Revolutionary War and recognized the Thirteen Colonies, which had been part of colonial British America, to be free, sovereign and independent states.

[5] Peace negotiations began in Paris in April 1782, following the victory of George Washington and the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War.

The treaty was drafted on November 30, 1782,[a] and signed at the Hôtel d'York at present-day 56 Rue Jacob in Paris on September 3, 1783, by Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Hartley.

Vergennes developed treaty terms under which Spain would forego holding Gibraltar and the United States would be granted independence, but it would be confined to the area east of the Appalachian Mountains.

[9] The United States would gain fishing rights off Nova Scotia's coasts and agreed to allow British merchants and Loyalists to try to recover their property.

Spain also received the island of Menorca, but the Bahamas, Grenada, and Montserrat, which had been captured by the French and Spaniards, were returned to Britain.

France's only net gains were the island of Tobago, and Senegal in Africa, but it also reinforced earlier treaties, guaranteeing fishing rights off Newfoundland.

Historians such as Alvord, Harlow, and Ritcheson have emphasized that British generosity was based on a statesmanlike vision of close economic ties between Britain and the United States.

The concession of the vast trans-Appalachian region was designed to facilitate the growth of the American population and to create lucrative markets for British merchants without any military or administrative costs to Britain.

[19] Privileges that the Americans had received from Britain automatically when they had colonial status, including protection from pirates in the Mediterranean Sea were lost.

Additionally, the Treaty of Paris did not explain how the new border would function in terms of controlling the movement of people and trade between British North America and the United States.

[24] Great Britain violated the treaty stipulation that it would relinquish control of forts in United States territory "with all convenient speed".

They justified their treaty violations during the unstable and extremely tense time that existed in the area following the Revolutionary War, and in the failure of the newly established federal government of the United States to fulfill commitments made to compensate loyalists for British losses, forcing the British to liquidate various assets in the region.