IV. The Early Modern Period, 1500–1800 > I. North America, 1500–1789 > 5. Reform, Resistance, and Revolution, 1763–1789 > 1783, Sept. 3
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  The Encyclopedia of World History.  2001.
 
 
1783, Sept. 3
 
DEFINITIVE TREATY OF PEACE between Great Britain and United States, signed at Paris. It recognized the independence of the United States. Provisions of the treaty with respect to the northeastern and northwestern boundaries led to later difficulties with Britain, while the southern boundary provision led to trouble with Spain. Full rights in the Newfoundland fisheries were guaranteed to the United States. Creditors of neither country were to encounter legal obstacles to collection of debts, while the Congress would recommend to the states the restoration of the confiscated estates of loyalists. Navigation of the Mississippi was to be open to both Great Britain and the United States. The treaty failed to mention Native Americans.  1
 
1783–87
 
THE CRITICAL PERIOD OF AMERICAN HISTORY. The Articles of Confederation had gone into effect in 1781, and with the achievement of independence in 1783 the young nation found itself in a difficult economic situation, treated as a foreign people by Britain as well as by other European countries and denied participation of their ships in the trade of the British West Indies, so important in their economy before the revolution. Far-reaching economic dislocations resulted, producing a deep depression in 1784–85, from which the country began to recover in 1787. The Articles of Confederation received the blame and were widely believed to be inadequate. The economic situation was aggravated by paper money experiments of the states and by the inability of Congress to raise an adequate revenue. This period also witnessed the settlement of loyalists from the United States in Canada. Thousands of these established themselves in New Brunswick (separated from Nova Scotia, Aug. 16, 1784) and in Upper Canada. The British government assigned lands to them (100 acres to each head of a family and 50 acres to each member) and spent some $30 million in equipping them. The immigration gave Canada a more English composition and aroused sentiment of the English settlers against the Quebec Act.  2
 
1783
 
Newburgh Conspiracy. Alexander Hamilton and Robert Morris failed to get Washington's support for a military takeover of the government.  3
 
1787
 
The NORTHWEST ORDINANCE enacted, providing for the government of the Northwest. The region was to be divided into not less than three and not more than five districts, which, after passing through a territorial or colonial stage, should be admitted to statehood. This principle of coordinancy, or ultimate statehood, became the basic and distinguishing feature of the American colonial system of the 19th century. Slavery and involuntary servitude were prohibited in the area and land was provided for public education.  4
 
1787
 
Shays Rebellion. Under the leadership of Daniel Shays, discontented and indebted farmers in western Massachusetts blocked courts from executing foreclosures on farms and broke into local jails and released debtors before Governor James Bowdoin placed 4,000 troops in the field and ended the revolt.  5
 
1787, May
 
The CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONassembled at Philadelphia. The inability of Congress to raise revenue, the outbreaks of disorder, and the obstructions to commerce resulted in an increasing desire for a more perfect government. Commissioners from Virginia and Maryland met at Mount Vernon in 1785 to consider the possibility of a uniform commercial code. This conference made clear the need for wider cooperation, so Virginia invited all the states to send delegates to a convention at Annapolis (1786). This convention was attended by delegates from only five states, who proposed a convention to meet at Philadelphia in May 1787. Congress officially called such a convention to convene on May 5. All states except Rhode Island were represented.  6
 
1787, Sept. 17
 
After four months of labor, the Constitution was signed by the delegates present. The document was sent to the states for ratification, with the provision that it should become operative upon the acceptance of nine states.  7
 
1788, June
 
Ratification by New Hampshire, the ninth state, placed the Constitution in operation. In several states the anti-Federalists exacted promises of amendments in return for unconditional ratification. The Constitution represented a series of compromises: states could not issue their own currency; slaves were counted as three-fifths of a person toward Southern representation in Congress; Congress could not enact export duties on cash staples produced by the South, and it could not legislate against the international slave trade for 20 years. (See North America, 1789–1914)  8
 
 
 
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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