Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the most serene and most potent prince, George III., by the grace of God King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg, 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 and reconciliation, by the provisional articles signed at Paris, on the thirtieth day of November, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two 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, Esq., member of the Parliament of Great Britain; and the said United States on their part, John Adams, Esq., 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., 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; and John Jay, Esq., late president of Congress, and chiefjustice 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 1. 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 claim to the government, proprietary and territorial rights of the same, and every part thereof.

Art. 2. 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 high lands, along the said high [107] lands 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 drawn 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 and Lake Erie; thence along the middle of the 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 through the middle of said lake to the water communication between that lake and Lake Superior; thence through Lake Superior northward to the isles Royal and Philipeaux, 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 northwesternmost point thereof, and from thence a due west course to the river Mississippi; thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of 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, 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 high lands, 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.

Art. 3. 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 Great Bank, and on all the other banks of Newfoundland; also in the Gulf of St. 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, harbors, and creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands, and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled; but so soon as the same 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.

Art. 4. It is agreed that the 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.

Art. 5. 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 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 endeavors to obtain the restitution of such of their estates, rights, and [108] 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 invariably 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 islands, 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.

Art. 6. 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.

Art. 7. There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between his Britannic Majesty and the said United 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 post, place, and harbor 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 delivered to the proper States and persons to whom they belong.

Art. 8. 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.

Art. 9. 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.

Art. 10. 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 affixed thereto.

Done at Paris, this third day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three.

David Hartley,

John Adams,

B. Franklin,

join Jay,

For some years the British government omitted to execute the provisions of the treaty of peace with the United States concerning the delivering up of the forts on the northeastern frontier. Gouverneur Morris was directed by Washington to go to England from Paris (1791) to sound the British ministry on the subject of a full and immediate execution of the treaty. He remained there about nine months, endeavoring to obtain a positive answer to the questions, Will you execute the treaty? Will you make a treaty of [109] commerce with the United States? The British came to the conclusion that the new national government contained vastly more vitality than the league of States, and could enforce its wishes with energy; so in August, 1791, George Hammond was sent as full minister to the United States. But the treaty of 1783 was not fully executed until after that of Jay was negotiated and ratified. See Jay, John.

In 1814 the British government rejected the mediation of the Empress of Russia in bringing about a peace with the United States, but finally offered to treat directly with the United States. The ancient city of Ghent, in Belgium, was selected, and there the commissioners of the two governments met in the summer of 1814. The American commissioners were John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin. The British commissioners were Lord Gambier, Henry Goulburn, and William Adams. These joined the American commissioners at Ghent, Aug. 6, 1814. Christopher Hughes, Jr., the American charge d'affaires at Stockholm, was appointed secretary to the American commissioners. Negotiations were speedily opened, when a wide difference of views appeared, which at first threatened the most formidable obstructions to an agreement. The discussions continued several months, and a conclusion was reached by a mutual agreement to a treaty on Dec. 24, 1814, when it was signed by the respective commissioners. It provided for the mutual restoration of all conquered territory, and for three commissions—one to settle the titles to islands in Passamaquoddy Bay, another to mark out the northeastern boundary of the United States as far as the St. Lawrence, and a third to run the line through the St. Lawrence and the Lakes to the Lake of the Woods. In case of disagreement in either commission, the point in dispute was to be referred to some friendly power. No provision was made as to the boundary west of the Lake of the Woods, nor as to the fisheries on the shores of British America. It took away from the British a normal right (never used), that of navigating the Mississippi; and from the New England fishermen a valuable right, hitherto used from the earliest time, that of catching and curing fish on the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was agreed that both parties should use their best endeavors to suppress the African slave-trade. Hostilities on land were to terminate with the ratification of the treaty of peace, and on the ocean at specified periods, according to distance, the longest being four months. It did not secure to the Americans what they went to war for—namely, immunity from search and impressment.

The treaty was ratified Dec. 28, 1814, by the Prince Regent, and then sent to the United States in the British sloop-ofwar Favorite. She arrived in New York on Feb. 11, 1815. Mr. Hughes, principal secretary to the American commissioners, left Ghent with a copy of the treaty at the same time, sailed for the Chesapeake from the Texel in the schooner Transit, landed at Annapolis two days after the Favorite reached New York, and put his copy of the treaty into the hands of President Madison before the ratified copy arrived there. The treaty of peace spread joy over the land, because it assured peace; but when its contents were known, and that immunity from search or impressment had not been secured, it was severely criticised. The opposition pointed to it exultingly as proof of the wisdom of their prophecies, the patriotism of their course in opposing the war, and the truth of their declaration that the “war was a failure.” The English people, too, indulged in strong condemnation of the treaty, because it made concessions to the Americans.

The effect of the treaty upon financial matters was very marked. Six-per-cents rose, in twenty-four hours, from 76 to 86, and treasury notes from 92 to 98. Coin, which was 22 per cent. premium, fell to 2 per cent. in forty-eight hours. The effect on commerce was equally great. Within forty-eight hours sugar fell from $26 per cwt. to $12.50; tea, from $2.25 per pound to $1; tin, from $80 a box to $25. In England, especially among the manufacturing and commercial classes, there was equal rejoicing, and medals were struck in commemoration of the event. [110]

Seals and signatures to the Anglo-American treaty at Ghent.

Seals and signatures to the Anglo-American treaty at Ghent.