Treaty Of Paris (America's Ratification Day)

When we think about the birth of our country, we rightly think of July 4, 1776 – the day the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration Of Independence. After that, however, a war had to be fought to gain our independence, and there needed to be recognition by Great Britain that the United States of America was its own country. Even after the Battle Of Yorktown in 1781, there were skirmishes and small-scale battles, so a treaty to end the hostilities and establish territorial boundaries was needed. While the Treaty of Paris was signed by representatives of the U.S. and England on September 3, 1783, it wasn't officially ratified until January 14th, 1784, also known as Ratification Day.

The song "Treaty Of Paris" is a patriotic anthem, marked by snare drums, piccolo, and a full symphonic treatment. There are some slightly challenging moments for vocalists, like the melody in measures 23 through 27, but our studio singers were able to learn it with enough repetition. The melody is always covered by at least one instrument or section in the orchestra, like trumpets, horns, or strings. For the low A's, which occur several times, substitute a C natural if needed. The only divisi in the piece is from bar 71 to the end, where singers break into three parts, but if you only perform one part, sing the top notes.

In performance, this song would be appropriate at any patriotic celebration such as Ratification Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, etc. Have your singers wear red, white, and blue. Use streamers or anything with a stars and stripes pattern if you like. American flags (current or historic) could be incorporated, and patriotic bunting can help decorate the stage. It might also be helpful for you or some of your students to tell the audience what the Treaty of Paris and Ratification Day are, since it's possible some may not have heard of it.

1783 or 1784?

Our artist, Stephanie Rodriguez, chose to add 1783 to her pieces to illustrate this tune even though John's lyrics specify the ratification date of 1784. Since both dates are technically correct for the Treaty of Paris itself, use this as a cross curricular opportunity for discussion.