On the part & behalf of the State of Delaware. THO. M'KEAN, Feby. 12, 1779. NICHOLAS VAN DYKE. JOHN DICKINSON, May 5th, 1779. On the part and behalf of the State of Maryland. JOHN HANSON, March 1, 1781. DANIEL CARROLL, Mar. 1, 1781. On the part and behalf of the State of Virginia. RICHARD HENRY LEE, JOHN BANISTER, JNO. HARVIE, FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE. THOMAS ADAMS, On the part and behalf of the State of No. Carolina. JOHN PENN, July 21, 1778. JNO. WILLIAMS. CORNS. HARNETT, On the part & behalf of the State of South Carolina. On the part & behalf of the State of Georgia. JNO. WALTON, 24th July, 1778. EDWD. TELFAIR, TREATY OF PEACE-1783. CORNWALLIS surrendered Oct. 19, 1781, and Feb. 27, 1782, Parliament voted against continuing the American War. Lord North's ministry went out and the new administration dispatched Richard Oswald to negotiate peace with Franklin at Paris. The negotiations extended from April till Nov. 30, 1782, when the provisional or preliminary articles of peace were signed. These articles were "to be inserted in and constitute the treaty of peace which should be concluded when Great Britain and France should have arranged terms of peace. The definitive treaty was signed as below, Sept. 3, 1783. Consult Bancroft's U. S., last ed., VI., 36; cen. ed., VI., 434; Bryant and Gay, IV., 89; Hildreth, III., 418; Fiske, "Political Consequences of Cornwallis' Surrender," in Atlantic Monthly ; Jan., 1886; Curtis, in Harper's Mag., April and May, 1883; Treaties and Conventions (Sen. ex. Doc. No. 36, 43d Cong. 3d. Sess.), 1009. DEFINITIVE TREATY OF PEACE BETWEEN CONCLUDED In the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity. It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the heart 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, &ca., 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'r, 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, propriety 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 United States may be prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the following are, and shall be their boundaries, viz: From the north-west 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 forty-fifth degree of north latitude; from thence, by a line due west on the 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 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 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 strait 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 |