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War and Conflict

Spanish-American War

What is the Treaty of Paris?

There has been more than one Treaty of Paris. The following international agreements were signed in the French capitol:

In 1763 representatives of Great Britain, France, and Spain signed a treaty, which, along with the Treaty of Hubertusburg (February 15, 1763), ended the Seven Years’ War (1756–63).

On September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris, which had been under negotiation since 1782, was signed by the British and the Americans, represented by statesmen Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), John Adams (1735–1826), and John Jay (1745–1829). The agreement officially ended the American Revolution (1775–83), establishing the United States as an independent country and drawing the boundaries of the new nation—which extended west to the Mississippi River, north to Canada, east to the Atlantic Ocean, and south as far as Florida, which was given to Spain.

In 1814 and 1815 treaties were signed ending the Napoleonic Wars, which the French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) had begun shortly after taking power in 1799.

In 1856 European nations signed a treaty in Paris ending the Crimean War (1853–56) and outlawing the wartime practice of privateering.

The Treaty of Paris that was signed December 10, 1898, settled the conflict that had resulted in the Spanish-American War (1898). This treaty provided for Cuba’s full independence from Spain. It also granted control of Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States. The pact further stipulated that the United States would pay Spain $20 million for the Philippine Islands.

In 1951, in the wake of World War II (1939–45), Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany signed the Treaty of Paris, which established the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). The desire was to bring about economic and political unity among the democratic nations of Europe. This agreement paved the way for the European Union effected by the Maastricht Treaty, an economic agreement signed by representatives of 12 European countries in the Netherlands in 1992.