century knew nothing of honesty or fair dealing in their official capacity, unless in rare instances they told the truth merely to deceive more completely. Once he had recovered from his surprise, his wrath very likely gave way to admiration.

THE PEACE OF PARIS

By the final treaty of September 3, 1783, Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States, and gave to the Americans both the Northwest and Southwest territories. The northeastern boundary line between Maine, or Massachusetts as it was then, and New Brunswick, was not drawn with sufficient clearness, but a satisfactory settlement was made later. The western boundary was the Mississippi, while the southern was along the thirty-first parallel, the northern boundary of Florida. There was a subsequent difficulty here, however, because of a secret article in the preliminary draft. England and the United States had agreed that if England retained Florida, the boundary should run along the line thirty-two degrees, thirty minutes, whereas if Spain should get it, the boundary was to be pushed south to the thirty-first parallel. Florida went to Spain, and the government soon learned that Spanish Florida was smaller by some fifty thousand square miles than English Florida would have been. Not unnaturally, Spain claimed the larger territory, and that question remained a constant source of ill-feeling until 1795.

Thanks to the determination of John Adams, the United States received the rights to the fisheries off Newfoundland. Then the treaty stated that the United States would place no obstacles in the way of the collection of British debts, which were due at the outbreak of the Revolution, and also that Congress would advise the states to be generous in their treatment of the Tories. Finally the navigation of the Mississippi River was to be open to both Englishmen and Americans. This last provision was not binding upon Spain, and with her hold on both sides of the river at its mouth she could easily close it to all outsiders.

The Americans secured an unusually good bargain, so good that Vergennes declared the British had bought a peace, instead of making one. British concessions in the fisheries, and in territory exceeded anything he thought possible, so he wrote, and he might have added, anything which he desired. No one could deny that so far as the separation from England was concerned, the war had been a success.

CHAPTER XX

PROBLEMS OF THE FRONTIER, 1783-1787

When the Americans had won their diplomatic triumph at Paris, they had good reason to believe that their troubles with foreign problems and European intrigue were practically over. The war was finished, boundaries were defined with reasonable clearness, and the treaty provided for putting the new nation in command of its own territory. What more could be desired? But before the hopes of the United States could be realized, there were discouraging trials ahead, destined to arouse bitter resentment, and for a time to make impossible the realization of important aims.

THE NORTHWEST POSTS

For one thing, the United States had not by any means severed the bonds between itself and Europe. The whole American frontier bordered on the possessions of Great Britain and Spain, and out of these connections there developed a set of diplomatic tangles which by comparison make the great negotiations of 1782 look delightfully simple. In the region bounded by the Canadian line, through the lakes, the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and the Allegheny Mountains, the old Northwest Territory, the United States soon found itself confronted by a situation with which it was not powerful enough to deal. This section, turned over to the Americans by the Peace of Paris, was virtually unsettled. There were, however, scattered over the country fur-traders, and troops, located at carefully selected strategic points with a view to protecting the important routes of transportation. There were eight of these posts, beginning with the two guarding the route from Lake Champlain: Dutchman's Point, and Pointe au Fer. Three others controlled the upper St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario: Oswegatchie, Oswego, and Niagara; Fort Erie guarded the eastern end of Lake Erie, while Detroit was the key to the passage between Lakes Erie and Huron. Michilimackinack covered the entrances to Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior. The possessor of these posts could hold the whole Northwest.

These were all in British hands at the close of the war, but Article II of the treaty called for their surrender with "all convenient speed." The British government continued to hold these posts until 1796, thereby creating one of the major difficulties of the American government. Although the Americans had won the war, as early as 1784 the British government determined not to give up the territory. The chief reason for this conscious violation of the treaty was the furtrade, the richest single branch of commerce in North America. The center of this trade was at Montreal, with England as the final market. The furs themselves were secured mostly from the Indians, and more than half the annual supply came from the tribes living south of the newly established boundary. So, if the terms of the treaty were carried out without some arrangement for controlling the trade, all that on the American side would eventually be diverted to Albany and New York, and Canada would be ruined.

Another explanation of the British course is to be found in the Indian problem. Most of the tribes had fought against the Americans during the war, and they looked upon their transfer to their enemy, the United States, as an act of bad faith on the part of England. English Cabinet members, British officials in Canada, and British agents at the posts all sympathized with the Indians, and encouraged them in their hostile attitude toward the new nation. From the centers of British authority liberal supplies of munitions were distributed among the Indians. In 1787, the British government instructed the governor of Canada to hold the posts at all costs, to recapture them if they should be taken, and to use the help of the Indians in case American forces attacked the forts.

While these were the real reasons for this policy, the pretexts given were that the United States had violated two parts of the treaty: one relating to British debts, the other to the Loyalists. But the records show clearly that the authorities had made up their minds to retain the Northwest before there had been any question of Congressional inability to enforce the treaty, and that the Cabinet merely seized upon its violation by the states as a good excuse.

THE RIGHT OF DEPOSIT

In the Southwest territory there were other problems, equally as serious as those in the Northwest. Before and during the Revolution settlements had been made in Kentucky and Tennessee, and these