ARTICLE V. It is agreed that the Congress shall earnestly recommend it to the legislatures of the respective States to provide for the res- Congress to recomtitution of all estates, rights, and properties which have med restitution of been confiscated, belonging to real British subjects, and also confiscated estates. 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 thir teen 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. No further confiscations or prosecu tions. 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. ARTICLE VII. British armies to 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 hostili- be withdrawn. ties, both by sea and land, shall then immediately 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 delivered 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. Navigation of the Mississippi. Conquests to be restored. ARTICLE IX. In case it should so happen that any place or territory belonging to Great Britain or to the United States should be conquered by the arms of either from the other, before the arrival of these articles in America, it is agreed that the same shall be restored without difficulty and without requiring any compensation. Done at Paris the thirtieth day of November, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two. RICHARD OSWALD. [L. S.] B. FRANKLIN. L. S. L. S. L. S. It is hereby understood and agreed that in case Great Britain, at the conclusion of the present war, shall recover, or be put in possession of West Florida, the line of north boundary between the said province and the United States shall be a line drawn from the mouth of the river Yassous, where it unites with the Mississippi, due east, to the river Apalachicola. Done at Paris the thirtieth day of November, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two. RICHARD OSWALD. L. S. L. S. L. S. L. S. ARMISTICE DECLARING A CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN. CONCLUDED JANUARY 20, 1783. We, the undersigned Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States of North America, having received from Mr. Fitz Herbert, Minister Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty, a declaration relative to a suspension of arms to be established between his said Majesty and the said States, the tenor whereof is as follows: "Whereas the preliminary articles agreed upon and signed this day, between His Majesty the King of Great Britain and His Majesty the Most Christian King on the one part, and likewise between his said Britannic Majesty and His Catholic Majesty on the other part, contain the stipulation of a cessation of hostilities between those three Powers, which is to take place after the exchange of the ratifications of the said preliminary articles: And whereas, by the provisional treaty signed on the thirtieth day of November last, between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of North America, it hath been stipulated that that treaty should take effect as soon as peace should be established between the said Crowns: The undersigned Minister Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty does declare, in the name and by the express order of the King, his master, that the said United States of North America, their subjects, and their possessions, shall be comprehended in the abovementioned suspension of arms, and that in consequence they shall enjoy the benefit of the cessation of hostilities at the same epochs and in the same manner as the three Crowns above mentioned, their subjects, and their respective possessions; the whole upon condition that on the part and in the name of the said United States of North America, a similar declaration shall be delivered, expressly declaring their assent to the present suspension of arms, and contain'g the assurance of the most perfect reciprocity on their part. "In faith whereof we, the Minister Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty, have signed the present declaration, and have caused the seal of our arms to be thereto affixed. "VERSAILLES, Jan'y 20, 1783. (Signed) "ALLEYNE FITZ HERBERT. [L. s.]" Have, in the name of the said United States of North America, and by virtue of the powers with which they have vested us, accepted the above declaration, do by these presents merely and simply accept it, and do reciprocally declare that the said States shall cause all hostilities to cease against His Britannic Majesty, his subjects, and his possessions, at the terms and epochs agreed upon between his said Majesty the King of Great Britain, His Majesty the King of France, and His Majesty the King of Spain, so, and in the same manner, as has been agreed between those three Crowns, and to produce the same effects. In faith whereof we, the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States North America, have signed the present declaration, and have affixed thereto the seal of our arms. VERSAILLES, January 20, 1783. JOHN ADAMS. Copy of the first and twenty-second of the preliminary articles,_between France and Great Britain, signed at Versailles the 20th January, 1783. ARTICLE I. As soon as the preliminaries shall be signed and ratified, sincere friendship shall be re-established between His Most Christian Majesty and His Britannic Majesty, their kingdoms, states, and subjects, by sea and by land, in all parts of the world; orders shall be sent to the armies and squadrons, as well as to the subjects of the two Powers, to cease all hostilities and to live in the most perfect union, forgetting the past, according to the order and example of their sovereigns; and for the execution of this article sea-passes shall be given on each side to the ships which shall be dispatched to carry the news to the possessions of the said Powers. ARTICLE XXII. To prevent all the causes of complaint and dispute which might arise. on account of the prizes which may be taken at sea after the signing of these preliminary articles, it is reciprocally agreed that the vessels and effects which may be taken in the Channel and in the North Seas, after the space of twelve days, to be computed from the ratification of the present preliminary articles, shall be restored on each side. That the term shall be of one month from the Channel and the North Seas to the Canary Islands inclusively, whether in the ocean or in the Mediterranean; of two months from the said Canary Islands to the equinoxial line or equator; and lastly, of five months in all other parts of the world without any exception, nor other more particular distinction of times and places. GREAT BRITAIN, 1783. DEFINITIVE TREATY OF PEACE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. CONCLUDED SEPTEMBER 3, 1783. [In 1815 a discussion was had between the Governments of Great Britain and the United States of the question, How far the treaties made previous to the war of 1812 were abrogated by that event? It was claimed by the United States that those treaties, in many of their provisions, and particularly those relating to the northeastern fisheries, were at most suspended during the war, and revived at its termination. This was denied by Great Britain. (See letters of Mr. John Quincy Adams to Earl Bathurst, September 25, 1815, American State Papers, vol. IV, p. 352, fol. ed. 1834; to Lord Castlereagh, January 22, 1816, id. 356; Earl Bathurst to Mr. Adams, October 30, 1815, id. 354.)] 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, &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 Brit annic 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 Britannie 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. dependent. His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz. New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, and Provi- United States acdence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, knowledged to be inPennsylvania, 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. Boundaries estab lished. 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 north westernmost 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 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; |