September 3 Birthday
On September 3, 1783, American and British representatives signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the American Revolution. The treaty recognized the United States as an independent nation and established its borders — the Mississippi River to the west, the Great Lakes to the north, and Florida to the south. The borders were remarkably generous — Britain gave up far more than the Americans had won on the battlefield. Britain did this partly because it wanted good relations with its former colonies and partly because it was more worried about France and Spain. Frederick Douglass escaped slavery on this day in 1838. He was twenty. He boarded a train in Baltimore wearing a sailor's uniform, borrowed identification papers, and rode to Philadelphia, then to New York. He had been enslaved for twenty years. He taught himself to read, which was illegal. He became the most powerful orator of the abolitionist movement and wrote three autobiographies. He met with Lincoln at the White House. He was the first African American nominated for Vice President — on the Equal Rights Party ticket in 1872, without his consent. People born on September 3 fall under the zodiac sign of Virgo. The birthstone is Sapphire and the birth flower is Aster. Historical events on September 3 include 1783: Treaty of Paris signed, officially ending Revolutionary War, 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany, 1838: Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery in Maryland. Famous people born on September 3 include Fritz Lang (1890), Al Jardine (1942), Charlie Sheen (1965).