Ratification Day

Every year, the U.S. celebrates January 14 as ‘Ratification Day,’ a holiday celebrating the ratification of the Treaty of Paris by the U.S. Continental Congress, ending the Revolutionary War and establishing the United States as an independent nation.

The treaty was drafted and signed in Paris on September 3, 1783, more than one year after the last shots of the war were fired. France, Spain, and the Netherlands also signed separate treaties with Britain. The Continental Congress gathered at the Maryland State house in Annapolis for the pivotal vote.