Digital Collections

The Library of Congress website contains a variety of digital materials related to the Treaty of Paris and the American Revolution, including manuscripts, government documents, and newspaper articles. Provided below is a link to the home page for each relevant digital collection along with selected highlights.

Benjamin Franklin Papers

Benjamin Franklin Papers
The papers of statesman, publisher, scientist, and diplomat Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) consist of approximately 8,000 items, with most dating from the 1770s and 1780s.

Selected highlights from this collection:

Treaty of Paris, September 3, 1783.
Benjamin Franklin's letterbook copy of the treaty ending the Revolutionary War.
Benjamin Franklin Papers: Series I, 1772-1783; Franklin's journal, peace commission, 1782 (vol. 13)
Benjamin Franklin Papers: Series I, 1772-1783; Records of the United States legation, Paris, France; Peace commissioners; 1780-1783 (vol. 8)
Benjamin Franklin Papers: Series I, 1772-1783; Records of the United States legation, Paris, France; Peace commissioners; 1780-1783 (vol. 8a)

Congressional Publications

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
This collection contains congressional publications from 1774 to 1875, including debates, bills, laws, and journals.

Journals of the Continental Congress

April 11, 1783
The Continental Congress issued a proclamation "Declaring the cessation of arms" against Great Britain.
April 15, 1783
The preliminary articles of peace were approved by Congress.
January 14, 1784
The Treaty of Paris was ratified by Congress.

The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States

The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States
This six-volume set includes a wide variety of documents related to the peace negotiations with Great Britain during the American Revolution, as well as biographical information on the American Peace Commissioners Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay.

Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention

Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774 to 1789
This collection contains 277 documents relating to the work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution. Items include extracts of the journals of Congress, resolutions, proclamations, committee reports, and treaties.

Selected highlights from this collection:

Exhibitions

Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words - Treaty of Paris
An online exhibition that indicates the depth and breadth of Benjamin Franklin's public, professional, and scientific accomplishments through important documents, letters, books, broadsides, and cartoons. This exhibition includes a section on the Treaty of Paris.
Creating the United States: Peace
This online exhibition offers insights into how the nation’s founding documents were forged and the role that imagination and vision played in the unprecedented creative act of forming a self–governing country. The section Creating the Declaration of Independence: Peace contains a copy of the Preliminary Articles of Peace, November 30, 1782.
John Bull & Uncle Sam: The American Revolution
This exhibition includes a map used by the British and American peace negotiators in Paris in the fall of 1782 to delineate the boundaries of the original territory that became the United States.

George Washington Papers

George Washington Papers
The complete George Washington Papers collection from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 65,000 documents.

Selected highlights from this collection:

United States and Great Britain, November 30, 1782, Provisional Articles to Treaty
George Washington, April 18, 1783, General Orders
On April 18, 1783, Washington issued General Orders to the Continental Army announcing the "Cessation of Hostilities between the United States of America and the King of Great Britain."

Printed Ephemera

Printed Ephemera: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
The Printed Ephemera collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history.

Selected highlights from this collection:

Peace, liberty, and independence. Philadelphia, March 24, 1783.
A broadside published in Baltimore outlines the principal articles of the preliminary peace treaty signed with Great Britain.
New-York, November 26, Last Sunday night arrived the Lord Hyde Packet in 47 days from Falmouth. From the English papers...The definitive treaty, between Great-Britain and the United States of America, signed at Paris the 3d day of September, 1783.

Thomas Jefferson Papers

Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606 to 1827
The complete Thomas Jefferson Papers from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 27,000 documents. On November 12, 1782, Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson as an additional commissioner to join John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and Henry Laurens in Europe to negotiate a peace treaty with Great Britain. Winter weather delayed Jefferson's departure, and Congress eventually withdrew the appointment on April 1, 1783.

Selected highlights from this collection:

United States Congress to American Peace Commissioners, August 1782, Instructions; Fisheries; Indian Affairs; Canada; with Copy.
United States Congress to American Peace Commissioners, August 1782, "Report of Instructions to Ministers for Negotiating Peace".
United States Congress Peace Treaty Commission, April 1, 1783, Resolution Releasing Thomas Jefferson from Appointment as Peace Commissioner.
United States Congress to American Peace Commissioners, October 29, 1783, Instructions to Negotiate Peace.
Autobiography Draft Fragment
Jefferson recounted the events surrounding the ratification of the Treaty of Paris by Congress in his Autobiography Draft Fragment, in which his entry for January 14, 1784, states that "Delegates from Connecticut having attended yesterday, and another from S. Carolina coming in this day, the treaty was ratified without a dissenting voice."

Today in History

April 15, 1783
Congress ratified preliminary articles of peace ending the Revolutionary War with Great Britain on April 15, 1783.
September 3, 1783
On September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, bringing the Revolutionary War to its final conclusion.
January 14, 1784
Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris on January 14, 1784, officially establishing the United States as in independent and sovereign nation.

Treaty of Paris: Primary Documents in American History

History, Humanities & Social Sciences: Ask a Librarian

Digital Collections

Benjamin Franklin Papers

Selected highlights from this collection:

Congressional Publications

Journals of the Continental Congress

The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States

Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention

Selected highlights from this collection:

Exhibitions

George Washington Papers

Selected highlights from this collection:

Printed Ephemera

Selected highlights from this collection:

Thomas Jefferson Papers

Selected highlights from this collection:

Today in History