The Paris Peace Treaty

In April of 1782, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay went to Paris to meet with the British and make a peace agreement. The Paris Peace Treaty of 1783 gave the colonies complete independence. The Americans now had control of all the land in the original thirteen colonies, and as far west as the Mississippi River.

Life in America changed after the Revolutionary War. Most of the women had not actually fought in the war, but had taken on extra jobs at home because their husbands weren’t there. They still had their own household work to do, but during the war, they also had to run the farms or other family businesses as well. They got used to making decisions that had always been made by the men. When the men came home from war, they naturally began to include their wives a little more in the important decisions for the family.