La réception du traité de Paris (1783) et l’imaginaire des relations franco-américaines

• Published in: Transatlantica Vol. 2; no. 2
• Main Author: Campangne, Hervé-Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Association Française d'Etudes Américaines 01.03.2020
• Subjects: American Revolutionary War; diplomacy; France–United States relations; historiography; iconography; Treaty of Paris
• ISSN: 1765-2766; 1765-2766
• DOI: 10.4000/transatlantica.13200

This article deals with representations of France–United States relations at the time of the treaties of Paris and Versailles (1783). It provides a study of the numerous texts and abundant iconography that dealt with the treaties in the years 1783-1784 on both sides of the Atlantic. Written from the perspective of cultural history, its goal is to go beyond traditional historiographic perspectives and show that the French and the Americans did not share the same vision of the relationship between their two nations. As the American War of Independence ended and a new world order arose, a divide soon developed between, on the one hand, an idealized vision of the French–American friendship and, on the other hand, the realities of international trade and politics. The images and representations analyzed in this study played a key role as France–United States relations were being shaped: as such, they provide important insights into interactions between the two nations in the 1780s and beyond.