Announcing the Peace

After the Treaty of Paris was ratified, Congress asked each state to issue a proclamation letting its citizens know that peace was at hand. On January 15, 1784, the day after the treaty was ratified, the Maryland Gazette announced to Maryland the good news that the war was officially over, and independence was won. News of the ratification arrived too late in the day for the paper to publish a complete account of the treaty, and a separate “extraordinary” edition of the paper was printed the next day to inform readers of the details of this very significant event.