XIX
SKETCH OF PROPOSITIONS FOR A PEACE °
There shall be a perpetual peace between Great
Britain and the United States of America, on the
following conditions.
Great Britain shall renounce and disclaim all pretence
 of right or authority to govern in any of the
United States of America.
To prevent those occasions of misunderstanding,
which are apt to arise where the territories of different
powers border on each other, through the bad conduct
 of frontier inhabitants on both sides, Britain
shall cede to the United States the provinces or
colonies of Quebec, St. John’s, Nova Scotia, Bermuda,
 East and West Florida, and the Bahama
Islands, with all their adjoining and intermediate
territories now claimed by her.
In return for this cession, the United States shall
1 On the 26th of September, 1776, Dr. Franklin was appointed one
of the Commissioners from Congress to the Court of France. Before
his departure he sketched a brief outline of the terms upon which he
supposed a peace might be made with Creat Britain, in case an opportunity
 for a negotiation should offer. His propositions were submitted
 to the secret committee of Congress, but no occasion presented
itself for using them.

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