People hate politics. It's up there with Mondays and that white crud you get at the corner of your mouth when you're really thirsty on the Things We All Despise list. The problem is, politics are important. Politics is just a word for how separate groups of people get along.
And unfortunately, people tend to get along…badly.
Usually, these groups define themselves by some convenient label, whether it's national origin, political party, religion, whether or not they like the Muppets, or nearly anything you can think of. The Treaty of Paris didn't create a division, but it acknowledged that one was there. It also allowed the sides to build on that, something Britain was keen to do.
Questions About Politics
- Were the generous concessions given to the United States a political game or was the King's delegation out-negotiated by a crew of master diplomats? What did Britain think it had to gain out of friendship with an upstart country?
- How much did Britain's concessions have to do with the larger political situation at the time? Were they worried about the United States, or was it more about France, Spain, and the Netherlands?
- The treaty acknowledges the divisions in the new United States by mentioning the Loyalists. Were the protections recommended in the treaty a genuine attempt to help them or was this a political calculation? And what did the crown stand to gain?
- How does one country relate to one that hasn't existed yet? Is the treaty a good blueprint? A bad one? Why or why not?
Chew on This
The crown used the Treaty of Paris as an attempt to stop a larger international coalition rising against it in the form of France, Spain, the Netherlands, and the new United States.
The crown used the Treaty of Paris as an attempt to make the United States recognize, once it inevitably failed, that it would be welcomed back into the fold.