The Papers of Benjamin Franklin: August 16, 1782, Through January 20, 1783

The thirty-eighth volume of the collected writings and correspondences of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin

This volume covers the five-month period ending January 20, 1783, when Britain signed preliminary articles of peace with France and Spain, and Britain and the United States declared a cessation of hostilities, effectively ending the American Revolution. Most of the volume deals with the deliberations that brought about this momentous turn of events.

Franklin had worked tirelessly since the previous April to negotiate a peace treaty, employing his diplomatic arts so as to mollify both the British and the French. For the final rounds of negotiations conducted in the fall of 1782--a day-by-day drama of difficult discussions and not infrequent setbacks--he was joined by John Adams, John Jay, and Henry Laurens. Finally, on November 30, the Americans signed a preliminary peace treaty with Britain that would take effect when Britain, France, and Spain signed treaties of their own.

Ellen R. Cohn is senior research scholar in the department of history at Yale University. She lives in New Haven, CT.