Following is draft text you may use to develop a resolution through which your city, county, or state leaders or legislative councils may participate in commemorating the 225th anniversary of the treaty that recognized U.S. independence and in expressing gratitude to our long-term national friends. This is based on a resolution drafted by the Louisiana Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Here is a LINK TO A DOC FILE with the text shown below. You may download and edit this text to insert the name of your organization and that of the appropriate leader or legislative body that will adopt and proclaim the resolution..

RESOLUTION on the 225th Anniversary of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, Ending the American Revolution, recognizing that our allies and our foe of that time have remained or become our good friends.
WHEREAS,    when the first rays of daylight broke on the Lexington Green on April 19, 1775, "the shot heard round the world" was fired as British soldiers and American patriots clashed and sparked the War for American Independence, and

WHEREAS,    delegates to the Second Continental Congress declared on July 4, 1776 that "these colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States" and in support of that declaration mutually pledged to each other their Lives, their Fortunes, and their Sacred Honor, and

WHEREAS,    General George Washington led an army of American patriots who lacked everything but courage, shouldered every burden and adversity, and persevered for eight long years to secure blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity, and

WHEREAS,    the liberty of our nation was rescued often by the largesse of France's King Louis XVI and Spain's King Carlos III and served by the daring of Europe's elite military officers, including La Fayette, Rochambeau, von Stuben, Pulaski, and Galvez, and

WHEREAS,    the surrender of British forces under the command of General Lord John Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown on October 19, 1781, to the allied forces under the command of General George Washington and General Comte de Rochambeau set the stage for peace initiatives abroad, and

WHEREAS,    Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay to represent the United States, and King George III appointed David Hartley to represent Great Britain in negotiating terms for peace; and

WHEREAS,    on September 3, 1783, the peace commissioners of the United States and Great Britain signed a Treaty of Peace in Paris which recognized American independence and boundaries and declared the intention of both parties to "forget all past misunderstandings and differences" and "secure to both perpetual peace and harmony," and

WHEREAS,    on that same day in Paris Great Britain also signed Treaties of Peace with France and Spain and provisionally with the Netherlands to bring a cessation of hostilities between the nations:

Now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED,    that the [Council / Legislature] of the [City / County / State / Commonwealth] of __________________

(1) commemorates the 225th Anniversary of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 2008;

(2) recognizes the enduring friendship between the United States and its first allies - France and Spain;

(3) reaffirms the value of the deep friendship that has developed between the United States and Great Britain since the signing of the Treaty of Paris; and

(4) directs the Secretary of this body to prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the ____________________ [name of the group that proposed the resolution to the organization making the resolution] as an expression of this body's admiration for its efforts to promote patriotism and to educate citizens about the achievements and sacrifices of the patriots of the American Revolution.