The Diplomacy of Peace With Britain

The Anglo-American Preliminary Treaty of Peace (Nov. 30, 1782)

Signed between Britain and the U.S. in which they agreed on peace terms, though the war would not end for another year.

British Peace Initiative

Yorktown (Oct. 1781). By now it was obvious that the British were losing the war. They wanted to end it: The war and the Armed Neutrality had isolated them. The war was not popular at home.

A new government was put in place, one with more conciliatory policies. They negotiated with Ben Franklin in Paris concerning possible peace terms. Yet they were still not prepared to grant independence.

Of the four, only Spain wanted to continue the war, seeking Gibralter.

American fear of Anglo-French Peace

Suspecting French intrigue and that they were to abandon the U.S., the diplomats were prepared to take action. The French were also about to grant the Missisipi to the Spanish.

Deals were being made and the French were ready to sacrifice American Interests.

Special emissary sent to London (Adams and Jay), secretly, to undertake secret negotiations. Acting behind the back of Ben Franklin.

Franklin records a protest, but keeps his distance, alleviating antagonism but allowing things to continue unchecked.

The U.S. sold out the French before the French could sell out the U.S.

<Note: Historians have responded with wide variation to the actions taken by Adams and Jay:

• Highly Patriotic Historians praise Adams and Jay for beating the maneuverings of the French.
• Hard Realists praise Adams and Jay for their realistic settlement of the problem.
• Moderate Realists are critical of Adams & Jay for recklessness and the violation of a treaty. It was only the actions of Franklin that saved the alliance with France.>

French reasons for seeking peace.

The French wanted peace too. They feared that the Americans would negotiate a separate peace treaty, leaving them alone in the fight against England.

They were also facing possible war against the Russian Empire in order to defend their allies in the Ottoman Empire. Peace with Britain could help bring the British in as a mediator in Asia.

Financial problems and the increasing danger of state bankruptsy helped too, as did the threat to their New England fisheries that England posed.

But the French could not establish peaceful relations without Spain's consent, and Spain would not do that without the capture if Gibralter, which the French had no hope of achieving.

<For appearance sake, the French complained about the actions of the American states. Brnjamin Franklin replied: "An American dispropriety, but no disrespect for France. The English flatter themselves that they have already divided us. I hope they are mistaken." The French would never want to boost the British Ego. Franklin had saved the Franco-American treaty>

The Anglo-American Peace Treaty (Sept. 3, 1783)

The French, Spanish, and Dutch all signed peace treaties almost simultaniously with the Americans.

Important Articles

These were almost identical to those settled on in the preliminary treaty of peace.

• American Independence recognized by British.
• The American State's gained recognition of very generous boundaries, as far out as the Missisipi, bordering with Spain.
• North Atlantic fisheries. Gained the "liberty" to fish those waters, but not the "right."
• Debts. Americans agreed to pay their pre-war debts to English banks. <The state legislatures later overturned this, voting to free all citizens of these pre-war debts, to the surprise and agitation of the English>.
• Treatment of Loyalists Congress agreed to "recomend" to the states that they restore the property of the 80,000 to 100,000 English loyalists that had been forced to flee the states. <These people actually lost their properties at the hands of the state governments and were the target of constant harasment>.

This was the first example of the long-time formula, "European Distress=American Advantage." Every time Europe experienced problems, the American states benefitted. In this case it was the potential for a military catastrophe that led all participants to seek a quick peace, granting the rebellious states a lot more than they had to in order to get an immediate peace treaty.

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