Ryswick, Peace of

A treaty signed at Ryswick, a Dutch village near The Hague, on September 20, 1697. It ended King William's War, which included raids by French and English colonists, aided by Indians, on each other's settlements. It called for the mutual restoration of all conquests but left the colonial problem unresolved. In 1702 warfare resumed in Queen Anne's War.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Ryswick, Peace Of, signed 30 September 1697, ended King William'S War between the English and French and the Iroquois and French. By its provisions, all conquests made during the war were to be mutually restored to the status quo antebellum. However, ownership of the lands surrounding Hudson Bay was to be decided by an Anglo-French joint commission. Such a commission met in 1699 but failed to reach a decision. The Anglo-French rivalry for control of North America would continue for much of the eighteenth century, culminating in the French and Indian War (1754–1763).

Bibliography

Gipson, Lawrence. The British Empire Before the American Revolution. New York: Knopf, 1958

Hawke, David F. The Colonial Experience. Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill, 1966.