Boundaries of the United States according to the 1783 Treaty of Paris, 1784

The 1784 map of the United States shows that the western border of the country, as determined by the Treaty of Paris, would be the Mississippi River.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, McMurray, William and Robert Scot, "The United States according to the definitive treaty of peace signed at Paris Sept. 3d. 1783," 1784

Description

This 1784 map shows the boundaries of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Negotiations to end the war included debates about how far west the western border of the United States would be. According to the Treaty of Paris, the final agreement was that the Mississippi River would be the western border of the United States.

Transcript of U.S. Map of Boundaries defined by the 1783 Treaty of Paris

Source-Dependent Questions

List two or three things you observe about this map as compared to a modern United States map. Pay particularly close attention to the borders.
How does this map compare with the one you created after reading the Treaty of Paris?
Look at the inset of this map. Notice that several countries claimed land to the west of the Mississippi River. From a British perspective, how would the presence of those other countries impact negotiations for the western border of the United States after the Revolutionary War?

Citation Information

McMurray, William and Robert Scot, "The United States according to the definitive treaty of peace signed at Paris Sept. 3d. 1783," 1784. Courtesy of Library of Congress