Pros And Cons Of The Treaty Of Paris

Introduction

The Treaty of Paris (1783) is a document that was used by the United States to Gain its sovereignty/independence from Great Britain. Furthermore, the treaty officially ended the revolutionary war between Great Britain and the United States. Although, the treaty itself and the negotiators of it didn’t just write the treaty for the peace between the two countries. The American negotiators of the treaty also added more articles/provisions in the treaty that mostly benefited the United States.

In 1782, The Continental Congress of the United States sent five American ministers to

Great Britain to negotiate the terms of peace for the treaty, which arguably benefited the United States based on the provisions agreed upon in

These benefits can be seen in article five and six of the Treaty of Paris. Article five states that the U.S. Congress will recommend, to the state legislatures of all thirteen states, to give back the rights and the estates/property that belonged to British Subjects before the Revolutionary War. While article five clearly benefited Great Britain and its citizens, it also symbolized the slow but growing positive diplomatic relationship between the United States and Great Britain. Also, The American negotiators of the Treaty of Paris didn’t have to give back the rights and estates/property to the British subjects in the thirteen states. Most likely, The American ministers/negotiators added/allowed article five into the treaty, in an effort to show some sympathy for Tories/loyalists. Article five of the Treaty of Paris brought an end to the confiscations/prosecutions of loyalists and their property. Additionally, It also ensured that loyalists will receive their liberty (rights and freedom) in the future, after the ratification of the Treaty of Paris. Article five of the treaty did give loyalists rights, however it’s not like the article benefited Great Britain tremendously. On the contrary, It gave loyalists a reason to trust the United States and it also gave the loyalists another reason to stay in the U.S. After All, about half of the loyalists who left the U.S. after the Revolutionary War immigrated to Canada (in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick), while tens-of-thousands traveled to Great Britain. It seems that the American ministers knew that there would be many loyalists who would immigrate after the war, which might have encouraged them to allow/add article six in the Treaty of Paris. In short, all three of the American ministers (John Jay, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin) might’ve decided to allow the ratification of article five and six in the Treaty of Paris because of the unnoticed benefits of the articles. Both article five and six seemed like