Diplomacy in the American Revolutionary War

The initial civil war between Great Britain and its rebelling thirteen colonies in Congress was broadened into a worldwide conflict between Britain and other European Great Powers. The English colonial insurgents in North America became the "centerpiece of an international coalition" to check and then compromise British preeminence in the North Atlantic.[41] The rebelling Americans needed outside help if they were to be successful. Their "Continental" forces suffered repeated reverses early on. The cause of US independence flickered as its major port cities were either occupied or blockaded, its naval forces proved ineffectual, and its armies suffered repeated defeats in pitched battles at the hands of British regulars and their allied auxiliaries from German principalities.^[41]

Initially the Continental Congress persevered with financial contributions from the personal fortunes of the richest colonials to compensate for smaller states refusing to pay their full requisitions, It kept an army in the field by the leadership of

At that, France broke its military treaty of alliance with the US. First, the French-US treaty guaranteed US independence; but Spain neither joined their alliance as formally invited in Article X, nor did Spain guarantee US independence in the Franco-Spanish treaty. Second, the French-US treaty pledged France to war with Britain until US independence in Article XII; but its treaty with Spain pledged France to war with Britain until Spain gained Gibraltar, regardless of whether Britain agreed to US independence beforehand. And the terms of this secret Aranjuez treaty to gain Gibraltar were made without the knowledge or consent of the US as a party to the Franco-Spanish alliance against Britain. That directly violated Article IV of the French-US treaty. Third, in the French-US treaty Article VI, the French renounced all territory belonging to Great Britain. That provided for Britain to cede fishing rights to the US at Newfoundland, which it did at Anglo-US conclusive peace; but the Franco-Spanish treaty stipulates that they will conquer Newfoundland from the British and then share it only between themselves.^[45]

In 1780, to deter further aggression by Great Britain at sea, neutral Continental powers with continuing trade among Britain's thirteen rebelling colonies formed the First League of Armed Neutrality, including Austria, Russia, and Prussia. These insisted that the Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1766 provided for free trade among British dominions, only excepting military contraband or in view of a belligerent's stationary blockade on a port.^[46]

These additional conflicts around the globe with France and Spain strained Britain's resources for the war in America. The French blockaded Barbados and Jamaica, to damage British trade.^[47] The British defeated a French naval force on December 15 and captured St. Lucia.^[48] But in 1779, the French began capturing British territories, seizing St. Vincent and Grenada.^[49] Britain lost the Battle of Grenada badly in 1779.^[50] France and Spain failed to invade England, but a Franco-Spanish fleet decisively defeated a large British convoy bound for the West Indies off the Azores.^[51] The defeat was catastrophic for Britain.^[52] Spain failed to capture the British naval station at Gibraltar, but the British blockade of Spain and France proved ineffective.^[51]

Britain would choose to abandon imperial rule of its Thirteen Colonies, but instead rely on the British-US common history, family kinship, and trade. It would break any future US dependence on a military alliance with France by providing for a territory large enough to grow into a military power on the American continent. After giving up on the American colonies, the redirected treasury, growing navy, and enthusiastic home recruitment to take revenge on the French all combined to lead the British navy to victories around the world 1782–1784. Britain was able to dictate the terms and sequence in four separate bi-lateral peace treaties with the Americans, France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic.

Britain's response to the deal

The terms of the peace, particularly the proposed treaty with the United States, caused a political storm in Britain. The concession of the Northwest Territory and the Newfoundland fisheries, and especially the apparent abandonment of Loyalists by an Article which the individual States would inevitably ignore, were condemned in Parliament. The last point was the easiest solved—-British tax revenue saved by not continuing the war would be used to compensate Loyalists and many received free land in Nova Scotia. Nevertheless, on 17 February 1783 and again on 21 February, motions against the treaty were successful in Parliament, so on 24 February Lord Shelburne resigned, and for five weeks the British government was without a leader. Finally, a solution similar to the previous year's choice of Lord Rockingham was found. The government was to be led, nominally, by the Duke of Portland, while the two Secretaries of State were to be Charles Fox and, remarkably, Lord North. Richard Oswald was replaced by a new negotiator, David Hartley, but the Americans refused to allow any modifications to the treaty— partly because they would have to be approved by Congress, which with two Atlantic crossings, would take several months. Therefore, on 3 September 1783, at Hartley's hotel in Paris, the treaty as agreed to, by Richard Oswald the previous November, was formally signed, and at Versailles, the separate treaties with France and Spain were also formalised.^[40]

Treaty of Paris

The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ratified by the Congress of the Confederation on January 14, 1784, and by the King of Great Britain on April 9, 1784 (the ratification documents were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784), formally ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the United States of America, which had rebelled against British rule starting in 1775.

The other combatant nations at war with Britain at the time were

The British-Thirteen Colony conflict had lasted over six years from 1775 Lexington to 1781 Yorktown. About three years into the conflict, France and the US struck an agreement at the Treaty of Alliance (1778) that promised those two would consult before concluding peace with Britain for US independence. Then the next year, France and Spain consorted in secret at the Treaty of Aranjuez (1779) to promise those two would fight until Spain gained Gibraltar, at the choke-point passage between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. After the Yorktown defeat and Parliament's resolution to end American fighting, British Prime Minister Shelburne sought to separate the US from warring France by strengthening the American peace settlement so that in the future, the US would not depend militarily on France. He also sought to strengthen Britain with continued to trade with the future US. French Foreign Minister Vergennes sought to influence the "American Settlement" for the long term interests of France. He wanted to weaken the US militarily to ensure its future dependence on France in a perpetual military alliance against Britain.^[54][b]

In Paris, the three Great Power belligerents in the Anglo-French War floated distinctly different proposals for a mutual "American Settlement" apportioning territory for the United States. The first map shown is the French, the most restrictive of the US, with a western boundary at the Appalachian Mountains to match the British 1763 Proclamation Line, an item used to indict George III in the US Declaration of Independence. The second, Spanish map allows for additional Mississippi River Basin upland just west of the Appalachians for the US. But it also requires that the British cede its colony of Georgia to Spain in violation of the Franco-American alliance of 1778, and contrary to the British announcement for US independence by George III in December 1782. The third, British map was accepted by Congress in April 1783, with US territory west to the middle of the Mississippi River as a preliminary agreement. Congress had interpreted its national interest to be found in the peace treaty that ceded the most expansive territory considered by the European Great Powers. It trusted British treaty guarantees with bonds of history, family and trade over remonstrances from the ministers of France and Spain who were motivated by a secret treaty that the US had not agreed to.^[c]

• Maps proposed for US territory by France (1782), Spain (1782), Great Britain (1783)
• 
  French: readopt Royal Proclamation of 1763^[d]
• 
  Spanish: Britain is meant to cede Georgia to Spain;
  US gains easternmost sliver of western Quebec.^[e]
• 
  British and US: "Conclusive" Treaty of Paris,
  US west to Mississippi River midpoint^[f]

The agreement

Based on preliminary articles made 30 November 1782 in Paris, the George III announcement for American independence in his December 5, 1782

The American Congress of the Confederation ratified the treaty of Paris on January 14, 1784, and copies were sent back to Europe for ratification by the other parties involved, the first reaching France in March. British ratification occurred on April 9, 1784, and the ratified versions were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784. It was not for some time, though, that the Americans in the countryside received the news due to the lack of communication.

On September 3, Britain also signed separate agreements with France and Spain, and (provisionally) with the Netherlands. In the treaty with Spain, the colonies of

• Jenkinson, Charles A Collection of All the Treaties of Peace, Alliance, and Commerce Between Great Britain and Other Powers vol. 3, pages 334 onward. London, Debrett (1785), via Google Books— accessed 2008-01-03

Treaty enforcement

Privileges which the Americans had received from Britain automatically when they had colonial status were withdrawn, (including protection from North African pirates in the Mediterranean that led to the First and the Second Barbary Wars). Individual states ignored Federal recommendations, under Article 5, to restore confiscated Loyalist property, and also evaded Article 6 (e.g. by confiscating Loyalist property for "unpaid debts"). Some, notably Virginia, also defied Article 4, and maintained laws against payment of debts to British creditors. The British also largely ignored Article 7, which called for the return of all runaway slaves who had escaped to British lines.^[57]

The real geography of North America turned out not to match the details, given in the Canadian boundary descriptions. The Treaty specified a southern boundary for the United States, but the separate Anglo-Spanish agreement did not specify a northern boundary for Florida, and the Spanish government assumed that the boundary was the same as in 1764, when Britain had enlarged the territory of West Florida. While that dispute continued, Spain used its new control of Florida to block American access to the Mississippi, in defiance of Article 8.^[57]

In the Great Lakes area, the British adopted a very generous interpretation of the stipulation that they should relinquish control "with all convenient speed", because they needed time to negotiate with the Native Americans, who had kept the area out of United States control, but had been completely ignored in the Treaty. Even after that was accomplished, Britain retained control as a bargaining counter in hopes of obtaining some recompense for the confiscated Loyalist property.^[58] This matter was finally settled by the Jay Treaty in 1794, and America's ability to bargain on all these points was greatly strengthened by the creation of the new constitution in 1787, and victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

Aftermath

US ministers abroad

In 1784, the British allowed trade with the United States but forbade some American food exports to the West Indies, while British exports to America reached £3.7 million, and imports only £750,000. This imbalance caused a shortage of gold in the U.S. In 1784, New York-based merchants opened the China trade, followed by Salem, Boston, Philadelphia. In 1785, John Adams was appointed first minister to the Court of St James's (Great Britain), and Jefferson replaced Franklin as minister to France. In 1789, the Jay–Gardoqui Treaty granted Spain the exclusive right to navigate the Mississippi River for 30 years, but was not ratified because of opposition from Western states. George Washington appointed John Quincy Adams United States Ambassador to the Netherlands in 1794, and to Portugal in 1796.

In 1793, a worldwide war erupted between Great Britain and France, and their respective allies. In April, George Washington issued a proclamation announcing the neutrality of the United States in the conflict among the belligerent nations of Europe.^[60] America remained neutral until 1812, did business with both sides, and was harassed by both sides.

Britain

In 1795, the United States signed the Jay Treaty with Britain which averted war, and led to a decade of peaceful trade, but failed to settle neutrality issues. The British eventually evacuated the Western forts, with boundary lines and debts (in both directions), settled by arbitration. The treaty was barely approved by the Senate (1795) after revision, and was intensely opposed. It became a major issue in formation of the first party system.

Spain

The

• Diplomacy of John Adams
• History of U.S. foreign policy, 1776–1801

Notes