February 10, 1763

Treaty of Paris (1763)

Treaty of Paris signed, ceding Canada to Great Britain

The published treaty left New Orleans French. France had already secretly promised the city, and all of Louisiana, to Spain.

10 February 1763: three signatures in Paris

At Paris on 10 February 1763, the Duke of Bedford, the Duke of Praslin and the Marquis de Grimaldi signed the definitive peace for Great Britain, France and Spain. Portugal was a contracting party through accession — the treaty expressly acknowledges that Portugal had not signed it.

The terms had been shaped by the preliminary peace concluded at Fontainebleau in November 1762.

What changed hands

France ceded Canada with its dependencies, Cape Breton Island, and the other French islands and coasts in the Gulf and River St Lawrence. It also ceded its possessions on the eastern side of the Mississippi, New Orleans and its island excepted.

Spain ceded Florida; Britain agreed to restore Havana and its other Cuban conquests to Spain, and returned several captured Caribbean islands to France. France kept Saint-Pierre and Miquelon for its fishery, undertaking not to fortify them and to keep a guard of no more than fifty men.

The clauses with caveats

Britain promised Canada's inhabitants freedom of Roman Catholic worship — only so far as British law permitted. Former French subjects had eighteen months after the exchange of ratifications to emigrate and dispose of their property.

The public text kept New Orleans French, though France had secretly ceded the city and Louisiana to Spain in November 1762. Signature fixed the terms rather than the transfers: ratifications were due within a month, and were exchanged on 10 March.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

The signature date is well established by the treaty and surviving originals. Physical possession did not change everywhere on February 10; many clauses operated only after the exchange of ratifications.