29th Oct., 1783.
No. 1.
Whereas on the 30th Day of November, 1782, articles were agreed upon by and between Richard Oswald, Commissioner of his Britannic Majesty, &c., on the one part and John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, J. Jay and H. Laurens, four of the Commissioners of the United States on the other part, which articles were agreed to be, &c.
And whereas the United States in Testimony of their entire approbation & satisfaction in the said articles did by a solemn Act and unanimous vote of more than nine States on the day of ratify and confirm the said articles and did, afterwards by the unanimous vote of nine States, viz, on the 29th Day of October, 1783, instruct and direct their Commissioners to urge forward the definitive Treaty to a speedy conclusion and unless there should be an immediate prospect of obtaining articles or explanations beneficial to the United States in addition to the provisional articles, to agree to adopt the said provisional articles as the substance of a definitive treaty.
And whereas the terms of peace being agreed upon and a definitive Treaty of Peace concluded and signed between Great Britain & France on the 3d day of September, 1783, and on the same day the articles above mentioned between Great Britain and the United States of America, the solemn ratification of which has been previously exchanged, were according to the stipulations therein contained constituted a definitive Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and Great Britain without any adddition or alteration farther than was necessary to make the same definitive and were accordingly confirmed and signed by the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the two powers duly authorised for the purpose with and an additional clause stipulating that the solemn ratification of the said Treaty executed in good and due form shall be exchanged between the contracting parties in the space of six months or sooner if possible to be computed from the day of the signature of the definitive Treaty,
Therefore,
Resolved, That Congress immediately proceed to ratify the definitive
Treaty in the following words, viz, In other words. As nine States had instructed their Ministers to convert the preliminary articles into a definitive treaty, and the Ministers who had perfectly complied, seven States might ratify what had been agreed to and ordered by nine.