Browsing: Papers of John Adams, Volume 10

1. Adopted on the same day that JA was appointed minister to the Netherlands ( JCC , 18:1204, 1206), these instructions were sent under a covering letter of 1 Jan. 1781 from the president of Congress (Adams Papers; Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. , 4:224). That letter, which reached JA on or about 19 March 1781 (same, 4:313), also contained JA's commission and a proposed Dutch-American treaty (both below), and a congressional resolution of 5 Oct. (see note 3). JA's appointment was occasioned most immediately by Henry Laurens' capture, but see also JA's letters to Congress of 24 and 25 Sept. (Nos. 9 and 10, above), and particularly note 3 to the latter.