Think of this as the rough draft of the Treaty of Paris. It was important to get a document in place for everyone to mostly agree upon a framework…especially as the other option was "we all line up and start shooting cannons at each other some more."

The articles are virtually identical—even down to the language used—but the biggest difference is the number of articles: the Provisional Articles has nine, the official treaty ten. The articles even line up perfectly. So Article 10, which only appears in the Treaty of Paris, is the one stipulating that it had to be ratified in six months.

If they weren't going to change anything, you have to wonder why they bothered at all.