FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
May 21, 2013
Mark Edwards,
Public Affairs Manager
617-720-1713, ext. 30
@bostonhistory.org
1763: A Revolutionary Peace
New exhibition at Old State House features exclusive original British
signed copy of Treaty of Paris, never before shown in North America
Boston, MA:
The Bostonian Society is pleased to announce the May 25th opening of an exclusive new exhibition,
1763: A Revolutionary Peace, exploring the history and significance of an epoch-making peace on the
occasion of its 250th anniversary. Britain’s original signed copy of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which
forever redrew the geo-political boundaries of European North America, is the featured object of the
exhibition, and has never been seen on the North America continent until now.
For much of the mid eighteenth-century Britain fought its rivals France and Spain in a global contest for
commerce and colonies, the most notable of these struggles culminating in the Seven Years (or French
and Indian War). On the 10th of February, 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed, putting an end to the
seven year war. Celebratory fireworks exploded in the night sky over London and Paris. Here in
Boston, a great crowd gathered beneath the balcony of the Old State House to hear peace officially
proclaimed
“The Bostonian Society is proud to be the institutional home for the 1763 Peace of Paris initiative,” said
President and Executive Director Brian W.J. LeMay. “Commemorating 1763 is a most appropriate
activity to undertake as we celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Old State House, a key wartime
command post and center stage for colonial Boston’s official celebrations of the peace.”
The Paris treaty of 1763 literally redrew the map of North America, giving Britain all lands east of the
Mississippi River, including Spanish Florida. Lands west of the Mississippi (and New Orleans)
remained French, but because France had secretly transferred those claims to its ally Spain, the treaty
effectively ended France’s presence on the continent’s mainland.
Britain had won the war, but now faced complex challenges in integrating new territories, peoples
(including Native nations and French inhabitants), and governments into the new order. Even as the
Treaty of Paris promised the start of a new era of peace and prosperity, it also sowed seeds of
discontent from which a new crisis in the British Empire would soon grow.
“The Old State House is the perfect place to tell this story of war, peace, and history’s surprises.” said
Donald C. Carleton, Jr., 1763 Peace of Paris Commemoration director and exhibition guest curator. “I’m
thrilled to partner with the Bostonian Society to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the 1763 Peace
of Paris, and share Britain’s copy of this critical historical document with the American public for the first
time ever.”
Belonging to the British United Kingdom, the Treaty on display at the Old State House is one of three
manuscript treaty texts signed by representatives of Britain, France, and Spain. Other objects featured
in this exhibition include weapons and artifacts from the Seven Years War, medals marking peace
between the British Crown and formerly French-allied First Nations, and a Native American wampum
treaty belt. This special exclusive exhibition will be on view at the Old State House from May 25 through
October 7, 2013. Additionally, a symposium on 1763 and its repercussions for the peoples of the
Americas will be held on June 7th at Faneuil Hall at 2:00pm. The panel features historians Fred
Anderson, Jack Greene, Pauline Maier, Paul Mapp and other experts. Please e-mail @gmail. for
information.
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About the Bostonian Society:
The Bostonian Society was established in 1881 to preserve colonial America’s most historic public
building - the Old State House - and to illuminate the stories these halls tell of how Boston gave rise to
our country’s most powerful founding ideas. Since 2005, the Bostonian Society has raised over $3.4
million for the preservation and interpretation of the Old State House, on behalf of the City of Boston.
Each year, it spends over $400,000 to maintain the building and to open it to the public. In 2013, the
Bostonian Society invites America to join it in celebrating the 300th anniversary of this national
treasure.
About the 1763 Commemoration Initiative:
Among the expert advisors to the 1763 initiative are the distinguished historians of the period Robert
Allison (Suffolk University), Fred Anderson (University of Colorado, Boulder), David Bell (Princeton),
Colin Calloway (Dartmouth), and Eliga Gould (University of New Hampshire).
Numerous generous supporters have made this exhibition possible, including the Ruby W. and LaVon
P. Linn Foundation; chapters of the Society of Colonial Wars, led by Massachusetts and the General
(national) Society; and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Other essential supporters and
partners include the Bostonian Society, Boston National Historical Park, the Trustees of the Lowell
Institute, the Massachusetts Historical Society, Mass Humanities, the Omohundro Institute of Early
American History & Culture, the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, the John Carter Brown Library at
Brown University, French & Indian War 250, Fort Ligonier, the New England Historic Genealogical
Society, The Norman B. Leventhal Mapping Center, Mapping Boston, the British Consulate General
Boston, the Consulate General of France in Boston, Consulate General of Canada in Boston, the
Mouvement nationale des Québécoises et Québécois and a group of generous private individuals.
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