*On this date, in 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed. Also known as the Treaty of 1763, it was signed by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France, and Spain, with Portugal in agreement, after Great Britain and Prussia's victory over France and Spain during the Seven Years' War.
The treaty's signing formally ended the Seven Years' War, known as the French and Indian War in North America. It marked the beginning of an era of British dominance outside Europe. Great Britain and France each returned much of the territory they had captured during the war, but Great Britain gained much of France's possessions in North America. Additionally, Great Britain agreed to protect Roman Catholicism in the New World. The treaty did not involve Prussia and Austria as they signed a separate agreement, the Treaty of Hubertusburg, five days later.
During the war, Great Britain had conquered the French colonies of Canada, Guadeloupe, Saint Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tobago, the French trading posts in India, the slave-trading station at Gorée, the Senegal River and its settlements, and the Spanish colonies of Manila (in the Philippines) and Havana Cuba.
France had captured Minorca and British trading posts in Sumatra, while Spain had captured the border fortress of Almeida in Portugal and Colonia del Sacramento in South America. The Treaty of Paris is frequently noted as France giving Louisiana to Spain. However, the transfer agreement had occurred with the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762), but it was not publicly announced until 1764.
The Treaty of Paris gave Britain the east side of the Mississippi (including Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which was to be part of the British territory of West Florida). On the east side, New Orleans remained in French hands (albeit temporarily). The Mississippi River corridor in what is now Louisiana was reunited following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1819.
