The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783 by the British and American plenipotentiaries subject to ratification by the two parties before six months. It puts an end to the American Revolutionary War.
The ratification by the US Congress takes time because of absenteeism of delegates under the threat of rioting soldiers in Philadelphia. It is signed in Annapolis on January 14, 1784.
The proclamation of the ratification by the US Congress is printed as a broadside 55 x 43 cm with the full text of the Paris agreement. The Congress entrusted this task to John Dunlap, famous for printing the Declaration of Independence in July 1776. The document is distributed to the diplomats who remained in Paris, to each of the States and to the Secretaries of Treasury and War.
Despite that delay, the Americans are the first to ratify the Paris treaty. The British are suspicious. One of their diplomats, the merchant Richard Oswald, a supporter of free trade, has been formally disavowed for the conditions considered as too favorable to the Americans. Having in hands a copy of the broadside without the US seal and without the autograph signature of Congress President Thomas Mifflin, the British plenipotentiary David Hartley fears a trick and complains to Benjamin Franklin.
The Pitt government appreciates that the new world order will be favorable to British trade. The British ratification is accepted on April 9, 1784. The two delegations exchange their ratifications in Paris on May 12, now with the US seal.
Copies of the broadside are rare. Two examples are known with the Mifflin signature and the embossed seal, the other copies being only signed by the Secretary of Congress. These two documents, preserved for archives from the January 1784 circulation, were certainly completed after May 12. One of them is actually kept at the National Archives. The other is estimated $ 800K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on January 24, lot 2086.
SOLD for $ 850K including premium
The ratification by the US Congress takes time because of absenteeism of delegates under the threat of rioting soldiers in Philadelphia. It is signed in Annapolis on January 14, 1784.
The proclamation of the ratification by the US Congress is printed as a broadside 55 x 43 cm with the full text of the Paris agreement. The Congress entrusted this task to John Dunlap, famous for printing the Declaration of Independence in July 1776. The document is distributed to the diplomats who remained in Paris, to each of the States and to the Secretaries of Treasury and War.
Despite that delay, the Americans are the first to ratify the Paris treaty. The British are suspicious. One of their diplomats, the merchant Richard Oswald, a supporter of free trade, has been formally disavowed for the conditions considered as too favorable to the Americans. Having in hands a copy of the broadside without the US seal and without the autograph signature of Congress President Thomas Mifflin, the British plenipotentiary David Hartley fears a trick and complains to Benjamin Franklin.
The Pitt government appreciates that the new world order will be favorable to British trade. The British ratification is accepted on April 9, 1784. The two delegations exchange their ratifications in Paris on May 12, now with the US seal.
Copies of the broadside are rare. Two examples are known with the Mifflin signature and the embossed seal, the other copies being only signed by the Secretary of Congress. These two documents, preserved for archives from the January 1784 circulation, were certainly completed after May 12. One of them is actually kept at the National Archives. The other is estimated $ 800K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on January 24, lot 2086.
SOLD for $ 850K including premium
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