By Paul F. Petrick

The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. But fondness for that joyous jubilee has not lessened my lifelong bewilderment regarding the historical significance assigned to July 4, 1776. The day the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence is universally treated as the nation’s birthday. Why? Without victory in the war that had already been raging for over a year at that time, any declaration regarding American independence would have been as worthless as the “declarations of independence” made by the 11 Confederate States following the 1860 presidential election. Historically and logically, the more significant day for the U.S.A. was Sept. 3, 1783 — the day the Treaty of Paris was signed.

Dubbed “the greatest victory in the annals of American diplomacy” by historian Samuel Flagg Bemis, the Treaty of Paris formally ended the Revolutionary War and answered any questions regarding the status of the nascent American nation. Executed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, representing the United States, and David Hartley on behalf of the British Crown, the agreement was made possible by the knockout punch delivered nearly two years earlier by Franco-American forces at the Battle of Yorktown. The impact of that blow caused a revolution of its own 3,000 miles away in London, as a parliamentary majority opposed to American independence was replaced by one amenable to the idea.  

From an American perspective, the terms of the treaty were quite generous. Article I contained British recognition of American independence.  Article II doubled the size of the country by establishing the Mississippi River as the new republic’s western border. This satisfied the American objective of winning sufficient territorial concessions to allow for westward expansion. The U.S. would double in size again with the Louisiana Purchase two decades hence, but America was already on its way to spanning the continent when the ink touched parchment, 240 years ago this month.  

Despite the rout at Yorktown, the favorable terms of the treaty were not a foregone conclusion. In fact, the final text was made possible only when Adams, Franklin, and Jay decided to declare independence from Congress and their French ally.  

The Revolutionary War was merely the North American theater of a world war that involved not only the Americans taking up arms against the British, but also the French, Spanish and Dutch. Combat spread across the globe from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean to India.  

Likewise, the Treaty of Paris was part of the larger “Peace of Paris” that ended the wider conflict. The interlocking agendas of the various powers created complexity, leading Franklin to remark, “There were so many interests to be consider’d and settled in a peace between five different countries that it was well not to flatter ourselves with a very speedy conclusion.”

Counterintuitively, the three American peace commissioners found they could get a better deal from the British without the French. The Earl of Shelburne, Britain’s new prime minister, saw an opportunity for a strong commercial relationship between Britain and her former colonies. War and empire are extremely expensive. Shelburne wanted the benefits of trans-Atlantic trade without the cost of maintaining overseas colonies.  Conversely, the French sought to keep the new nation small, weak and economically dependent on France.

Realizing that negotiating separately with the British was the best path to prosperity, the American peace commissioners took it upon themselves to do just that. This was an explicit violation of the instructions they received from Congress as well as an implicit violation of the 1778 agreement that brought France into the war. But Adams, Franklin and Jay knew it would be easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission and that the terms of the agreement with Britain would be an offer Congress could not refuse.

Franklin said, “there never was a good war or a bad peace.” Right on war, Franklin’s comments on peace are forgivable because he could not have foreseen the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. But the Peace of Paris was a terrific conclusion to the war for the Americans. The Spanish also faired well, receiving Florida from Britain in exchange for minimal effort. And despite losing the war, Britain gained substantially from the peace. France was the big loser, gaining a few shards of the British Empire at an enormous financial cost, the consequences of which would precipitate the French Revolution.

The Treaty of Paris officially created the United States of America which prides itself on being a “nation of laws.” The Declaration of Independence did not have the force of law. The Treaty of Paris did. True freedom cannot be merely declared. It must be won.

Paul F. Petrick is an attorney in Cleveland, Ohio.