HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRO Archive - 08/18/2008- -
'Treaty of Paris Ending the Revolcstiorzaly War
225fhAnniversny
m % ., , i , dWHEREAS, when the first rays of daylight broke otl the Lexington Green on April 19, 1775, "the shot heard round
the world" was fired as British soldiers and American patriots clashed and sparked the war of American
Independence, and y ?
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m WHEREAS, delegates to the Second Continental Congress declared on July 4, 1776that "these colonies are, and of , -1
!' Right ought to be Free and Independent Statest1 and in support ofthat declaration mutually pledged to each other
L their Lives, their Fortunes, and their Sacred Honor, and -q
WHEREAS, General George Washington led an army of American patriots who lacked everything but courage,
shouldered every burden and adversity, and persevered for eight long years to secure blessings of liberty for
themselves and their posterity, and -,
WHEREAS, the liberty of our nation was rescued often by the largesse of France's King Louis XVI and Spain's
King Carlos 111 and served by the daring of Europe's elite military officers, including La Fayette, Rochambeau, von
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Stuben, Pulaski, DeKalb and Galvez, and
WAEREAS, the surrender of British forces under the command of General Lord John Cornwatlis at the Battle of
Yorktown on October 19, 1781 by the allied forces under the command of General George Washington and General %
Comte de Rochambeau set the stage for peace initiativesabroad, and
,I -WHEREAS, Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin, John Adarns, and John Jay to represent the United States and *-
/ F David Hartley was appointed by Great Britain's King George 111 to negotiate terms for peace; and1 L: 1
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' If"" WHEREAS, on September 3, 1783, the peace commissionersof the United States and Great Britain signed a Treaty
'' '** of Peace in Paris which recognized American Independence and boundaries and declared the intention of both v
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8 .. parties to "forgetall past misunderstandings and differences" and "secure to both perpetual peace and harmony," and,g1. , "
f WHEREAS, Great Britain also signed the Treaty of Peace in Paris on September 3, 1783 with France and Spain
.F . . and provisionally with the Netherlands to bring a cessation of hostilities between the nations; and I
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WHEREAS, the Georgia Society of the Sons ofthe American Revolution, an organization of lineal descendents of
i-',. the patrioto ofthe American Revolution, encourages public observances of the 225th Anniversary afthe Treaty of
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Paris on September 3,2008;
\ L7 NOW, THEREFORE, we,the Mwor and Council hereby recognize and proclaim September 3, 2008 as Treav of ., $' Paris Day in Georgia and erlcourage public observnnces of this anniversa3y.
Given under my hand and the Seal of the City
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