One country recognizing another doesn't mean that two countries are at a party and realize they totally know each other from that war thing. It's one country openly acknowledging that another country is a real, legitimate country—not some place where a couple of weirdos who made a flag out of tinfoil live.
For the United States, this was what the Revolutionary War was all about. Before this, the U.S. wasn't a country. It was a colony under the authority of the British Empire. Recognition by other countries came first, and then the Treaty of Paris forced Britain to do it. This speaks to legitimacy, and the treaty was what granted it.
Questions About Legitimacy
- What determines if a country is legitimate or not? Recognition by other countries? Belief on the part of the inhabitants? A homogeneous population? The opposite?
- Was the United States a legitimate country before the Treaty of Paris? Why or why not?
- Did the Treaty of Paris make the United States a legitimate country? For European powers? How about for the various Native American nations?
- Who grants a country legitimacy? Is it an all-or-nothing proposition?
Chew on This
While the Treaty of Paris made the United States a real country in the eyes of the Europeans, it had little to no effect on the Native American powers.
The United States, as a rebel power, needed legitimacy from Great Britain to truly be a country. In this one case, the Treaty of Paris was vital to the new country's standing.