Your continued donations help Wikipedia grow and improve!

Treaty of Paris (1763)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on February 10, 1763, by the Kingdom of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. Together with the Treaty of Hubertusburg, it ended the French and Indian War and the Seven Years' War. The treaties marked the beginning of an extensive period of British dominance outside of Europe.

While the bulk of conquered territories were restored to their pre-war owners, the British made some substantial overseas gains at the expense of France and, to a lesser extent, Spain. Preferring to keep Guadaloupe, France gave up New France and all of its claims to the territory east of the Mississippi River to Britain. Spain ceded Florida to the British, but later received New Orleans and French Louisiana from France; Manila and Cuba were restored to Spain. France retained Saint Pierre and Miquelon and recovered Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Lucia, in exchange for Dominica, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Tobago going to the British. In India, the French lost out to the British, receiving back its "factories" (trading posts), but agreeing to support the British client governments, as well as returning Sumatra and agreeing not to base troops in Bengal. The British garrison on the Mediterranean island of Minorca was returned to her control, having been captured by the French at the outbreak of hostilities in Europe.

Britain returned the slave station on the isle of Gorée to the French, but gained the Senegal River and its settlements. Britain agreed to demolish its fortifications in Honduras, but received permission from Spain to keep a logwood-cutting colony there. Britain confirmed in the treaty the rights of its new subjects to practice the Roman Catholic religion and received confirmation of the continuation of the British king's Hanoverian right as a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire.

It is sometimes claimed that the British King George III renounced his claim to be King of France by the treaty. However, this a historical myth, and it is also falsely attributed to some of the treaties of the French Revolutionary Wars. Such a renunciation is nowhere in the text of the treaty, and, in fact, George III continued to be styled "King of France" and used the fleurs-de-lis as part of his arms until 1801, when Britain and Ireland united. It was dropped then because it was simply regarded as anachronistic, not because of French pressure.

[edit]