Treaty of Paris: Freedom and Tyranny Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Article.Sentence)

Quote #4

It is agreed that creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling money of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted. (4.1)

While it's weird to modern eyes to see a matter of debts looked at as part of freedom, it was. The exchange of money and debt is an important part of commerce, and property rights were a huge part of what needed to be guaranteed. So asserting that loans could still be collected was a matter of freedom.

Quote #5

All prisoners on both sides shall be set at liberty, and his Brittanic Majesty shall with all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets from the said United States, and from every post, place, and harbor within the same; leaving in all fortifications, the American artilery that may be therein. (7.2)

It's very easy to look at history from this time as the history of white guys. This quote here is literally the only time people of color are mentioned in the treaty. At all…despite Native Americans forming a significant part of the fighting forces. Here, the treaty treats "Negroes" —African Americans—as property. Legally, at the time, they were. It would take another four score and seven years to rectify that monstrous injustice.