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The Adams Papers
C. JAMES TAYLOR, EDITOR IN CHIEF
SERIES III
GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE AND OTHER PAPERS OF THE ADAMS STATESMEN
Papers of John Adams
Papers of John Adams
GREGG L. LINT, RICHARD ALAN RYERSON, ANNE DECKER CECERE, CELESTE WALKER, JENNIFER SHEA, C. JAMES TAYLOR
EDITORS
Volume 11 • January–September 1781
THE BELKNAP PRESS OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS AND LONDON, ENGLAND
2003
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS AND LONDON, ENGLAND
2003
Copyright © 2003 by the Massachusetts Historical Society • All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Funds for editing The Adams Papers were originally furnished by Time, Inc., on behalf of Life, to the Massachusetts Historical Society, under whose supervision the editorial work is being done. Further funds were provided by a grant from the Ford Foundation to the National Archives Trust Fund Board in support of this and four other major documentary publications. In common with these and many other enterprises like them, The Adams Papers has continued to benefit from the guidance and cooperation of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, chaired by the Archivist of the United States, which from 1975 to the present has provided this enterprise with major financial support. Important additional funds were supplied from 1980 to 1993 by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The J. Howard Pew Freedom Trust, and The Charles E. Culpeper Foundation through the Founding Fathers Papers, Inc. Since 1993, The Adams Papers has received major support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and matching support from The Packard Humanities Institute, through The Founding Fathers Papers, Inc., and from The Charles Francis Adams Charitable Trust, The Florence J. Gould Foundation, The Lyn and Norman Lear Fund, and an anonymous donor.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data (Revised for vols. 9–11)
Adams, John, 1735–1826.
Papers of John Adams.
(The Adams papers: Series III, General correspondence and other papers of the Adams statesmen)
Vols. 1–6 edited by R. J. Taylor, G. L. Lint, and C. Walker.
Vols. 7–11 edited by G. L. Lint . . . [et al.]
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. United States—Politics and government—Colonial period, ca. 1600–1775–Sources.
2. Massachusetts—Politics and government—Colonial period, ca. 1600–1775–Sources.
3. United States—Politics and government—Revolution, 1775–1783—Sources. 4. United States—Politics and government—1783–1809–Sources. 5. Presidents—United States—Correspondence. 6. Adams, John, 1735–1826. I. Taylor, Robert Joseph, 1917– II. Lint, Gregg L. III. Title. IV. Series: Adams papers: Series III, General correspondence and other papers of the Adams statesmen.
E302.A26 1977 973.4'4'08 77-4707
ISBN 0-674-65441-2 (v. 1–2)
ISBN 0-674-65442-0 (v. 3–4)
ISBN 0-674-65443-9 (v. 5–6)
ISBN 0-674-65444-7 (v 7–8)
ISBN 0-674-65445-5 (v. 9–10)
ISBN 0-674-01136-8 (v. 11)
This edition of The Adams Papers
is sponsored by the massachusetts historical society
to which the adams manuscript trust
by a deed of gift dated 4 April 1956
gave ultimate custody of the personal and public papers
written, accumulated, and preserved over a span of three centuries
by the Adams family of Massachusetts
is sponsored by the massachusetts historical society
to which the adams manuscript trust
by a deed of gift dated 4 April 1956
gave ultimate custody of the personal and public papers
written, accumulated, and preserved over a span of three centuries
by the Adams family of Massachusetts
illustration
The Adams Papers
ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE
- John Adams
- Margery Adams
- Levin H. Campbell
- Joseph J. Ellis
- Lilian Handlin
- Edward C. Johnson 3d
- Henry Lee
- Zick Rubin
- Hiller B. Zobel
EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
- Joyce O. Appleby
- Bernard Bailyn
- Joan R. Challinor
- David Herbert Donald
- Linda K. Kerber
- Thomas K. McCraw
- Gordon S. Wood
The acorn and oakleaf device on the preceding page is redrawn from a seal cut for John Quincy Adams after 1830. The motto is from Caecilius Statius as quoted by Cicero in the First Tusculan Disputation: Serit arbores quae alteri seculo prosint (“He plants trees for the benefit of later generations”).
Contents
Descriptive List of Illustrations
Code Used by John Adams, Francis Dana, and James Searle, [ca. 14 January 1781] 48
Although James Searle labeled it a cipher, this document is in fact a code. In a code, each code word has one specific counterpart in the plaintext. In the code used by Adams, Dana, and Searle, for example, “D.D.” always means Benjamin Franklin. In a cipher, however, letters or numbers are transposed or substituted according to a predetermined key.
Francis Dana and John Adams employed the code in letters exchanged between January and April 1781. The code likely originated with C. W. F. Dumas, who used the code word for Congress, “AZ,” as early as 1779, and Dana and Searle revised it to serve their needs (Weber, Codes and Ciphers
, p. 63–64). The code names, at least in some cases, clearly describe individuals and institutions, or at least how they were perceived by those who devised the code. Some, such as “Steady” for John Adams, ring true. Others, such as “Grex”—Latin for herd—to describe the States General or “Nestor” an aged, wise advisor—to denote Dumas may be less evident to today's reader.
From the original in the Adams Papers.
Titlepage of John Adams' Copy of His A Translation of the Memorial to the Sovereigns of Europe upon the Present State of Affairs Between the Old and New World into Common Sense and Intelligible English, London, 1781 94
This pamphlet is John Adams' reworking of Thomas Pownall's A Memorial, Most Humbly Addressed to the Sovereigns of Europe, on the Present State of Affairs, Between the Old and New World, London, 1780, published by John Stockdale. Thomas Pownall's Memorial influenced John Adams' views of foreign policy more than any other published work and Adams' revision of Pownall's pamphlet constitutes a clear, focused exposition of the principles that guided his diplomacy for the remainder of his career. Of more importance for Adams as minister to negotiate an Anglo-American peace was Pownall's view that Britain's economic self-interest demanded an immediate peace to reopen the American market to British merchants and manufacturers. Adams believed it essential to present that argument to the British public and leadership in a clear and articulate format, and thus undertook the task of revising Pownall's work. Edmund Jenings informed Adams of the Translation's publication in his letter of 31 January and he enclosed a copy with his letter of 7 February,
{p. R10}
which Adams acknowledged in his reply of 11 February, all below. For the origins and drafting of the Translation, see vol.
10
9
:157–221; and for a French translation with a preface by Jean Luzac published at Amsterdam in 1780, see Descriptive List of Illustrations,
No. 4, vol. 10:viii–ix.
The pamphlet's publication in London was important to John Adams and he likely was gratified, if not also surprised, when it received an excellent review in the Monthly Review; or Literary Journal of February 1781. On the titlepage of the Translation reproduced below, as well as the facing page, Adams copied the words of the reviewer: “In our Review for August 1780, We gave an Account of the 'Memorial to the Sovereigns of Europe' the author of which was not then mentioned, nor even guessed at. The Work was Supposed to have been the Production of no ordinary Pen, but rather to have come from a Masterly hand, who chose to conceal himself under the disguise of a peculiar style, and a fictitious Tale, with respect to the Birth and Parentage of the nameless Foundling.
“The Language of this Piece, was variously spoken of, at the Time of its first Publication: it is stiff and affected. It is quaint. It is disguised by a Studied Obscurity. It ought to be translated into plain English. Of the Same opinion with the last Objector, was We suppose the ingenious Author of the present Republication; who not only professes to have renderd this famous memorial into intelligible English, but also to have reduced it to common Sense: a point of Improvement, in which We did not perceive the original to Stand in much need.
“With respect to the real Author of this Performance, the present Translator Scruples not to tell Us, that the Memorial, is Said to have been written by Governor P—l. Perhaps he is right: but whoever was the Parent, or whatever were his Reasons for concealment, We think he had no cause to be ashamed of his offspring.
“We have only to add, in regard to the Merit of this Translation, as it is called, that the Republisher of the Memorial, has certainly cloathed it, in a more easy, natural, and becoming dress. He has also considerably reduced it, in Size; but Some Readers will possibly think, that while it hath gained by Elegance of Form, it hath rather Suffered, by abridgment: as the rough Diamond is reduced by the Polisher. Like the Diamond however, in the Jeweller's hand this Performance appears to much greater Advantage by having its Sentiments new Set, by a Skilfull Artist.”
Courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
William Jackson 209
William Jackson, best known as the secretary of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, was born in England in 1759, and after being orphaned at an early age was raised in Charleston, South Carolina. There, at the outbreak of the Revolution, he obtained a commission and ultimately served as an aide to Gen. Benjamin Lincoln with the rank of major. Taken prisoner at the fall of Charleston in the spring
{p. R11}
of 1780 and exchanged later in the year, he served as Col. John Laurens' secretary on the latter's European mission to obtain a loan and military supplies. The two men reached Paris in mid-March 1781 and by late April, his mission apparently a success, John Laurens prepared to return to America. Jackson, however, remained behind to serve as Laurens' agent in the Netherlands to expedite the departure of the frigate South Carolina with a cargo of military supplies (
DAB
).
Jackson reached Amsterdam in early May and found himself faced with a more arduous task than he expected. Alexander Gillon's previous efforts to outfit the South Carolina for sea, as well as a misunderstanding between Benjamin Franklin and John Laurens over the funds available to purchase the supplies that the frigate was to carry, presented formidable obstacles. Negotiations with Dutch merchants and Benjamin Franklin delayed the South Carolina's sailing until August.
John Adams first met William Jackson when the South Carolinian arrived in Amsterdam. Adams offered what little assistance he could give, but there is scant documentation in the Adams Papers of what passed between the two men during Jackson's time in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, Adams was so impressed with Jackson's probity that he entrusted his son Charles to Jackson's care when the South Carolina sailed in August. Eleven-year-old Charles, homesick and lonely since his brother John Quincy Adams departed for St. Petersburg with Francis Dana in July, was returning home. Additional letters exchanged by the two men appear in the
Adams Family Correspondence
, all dealing with the ill-fated voyage of the South Carolina and the welfare of Charles Adams (4:219–220, 228–229, 235–238, 243–244, 247
–
,
248).
This miniature of Jackson was taken from life ca. 1795 by an unidentified artist and later retouched by John Henry Brown.
Courtesy of Independence National Historical Park.
John Adams' Memorial to the States General, 19 April 1781 273
The memorial of 19 April to the States General is the single most important diplomatic document in this volume and John Adams' first major initiative as minister plenipotentiary to the Netherlands. The chain of events that began with the memorial would end a year later, on 19 April 1782, when the States General resolved to recognize the United States, admit Adams as minister plenipotentiary, and begin negotiations for a treaty of amity and commerce.
Although Adams designed the memorial to appeal to the economic self-interest of the Dutch Republic, he also emphasized the special kinship of the two republics, both born in the fires of revolution. Adams argued that if the Netherlands delayed recognizing the United States it risked exclusion from the American market. Moreover, the failure of the American Revolution through lack of support from the Dutch and other Europeans, raised the specter of a stronger and more voracious British empire.
{p. R12}
The memorial is more than a simple diplomatic document. Adams deliberately dated it 19 April, the anniversary of the battles at Lexington and Concord. Because Adams emphasized the role of the people in determining their own political fate, his memorial was for the Dutch and other Europeans a revolutionary document. In his account of the origins and meaning of that “immortal Declaration, of the fourth of July one thousand seven hundred and seventy six,” Adams insisted that the Declaration and the American Revolution itself were not the work of a few zealous leaders, but rather the result of long, intense deliberations by the whole people. Like the Dutch in their revolt against Spain, the American people possessed an indomitable will to be free; consequently, if the Dutch refused to support the American cause they would betray their own history.
On the morning of 4 May, Adams set out to present his memorial to Pieter van Bleiswyck, grand pensionary; Baron Lynden van Hemmen, president of the States General; and Hendrik Fagel, secretary to the States General. The memorial reproduced here is one of two manuscripts in the Adams Papers, both in John Thaxter's hand and labeled “Copy,” that probably were intended for van Bleiswyck and Fagel. The memorial meant for Lynden van Hemmen has not been located.
The Dutch leadership's refusal to accept the memorial did not deter Adams' resolve to present his case to the Dutch people. He already had decided to forestall the States General from ignoring his appeal by publishing the memorial as a pamphlet in English, French, and Dutch. These pamphlets and the widespread publication of the memorial in European and American newspapers probably made it the most widely circulated of any of John Adams' political writings. For accounts of the origin, presentation, and publication of the memorial, see the notes to the memorial to the States General, 19 April, and JA's letter of 7 May to the president of Congress, both below.
From the original in the Adams Papers.
John Adams' Memorial to William V, Prince of Orange, 19 April 1781 283
John Adams' memorial to William V was a straightforward request to present his credentials as minister plenipotentiary with the power to negotiate a Dutch-American commercial treaty. Repeating the theme of his memorial to the States General of the same date, Adams invoked history as a spur for diplomatic recognition. In the final paragraph he declared: “The Subscriber thinks himself particularly fortunate to be thus accredited to a Nation, which has made such memorable Exertions in favour of the Rights of Men, and to a Prince, whose illustrious Line of Ancestors and Predecessors have so often supported in Holland and England those Liberties for which the United States of America now contend.”
The copy of the memorial reproduced here is that which Adams presented to William V's secretary, Baron de Larrey, on the morning of 4 May; and which Larrey returned that afternoon. For an account
{p. R13}
of Adams' effort to present the memorial, see his letter of 7 May to the president of Congress, below.
From the original in the Adams Papers.
John Adams' Commission as One of Five Ministers to Negotiate an Anglo-American Peace Treaty, 15 June 1781 372
This commission, which Adams received on 24 August, superseded that of 29 September 1779 that named John Adams sole United States minister plenipotentiary empowered to negotiate an Anglo-American peace treaty (to Benjamin Franklin, 25 Aug., below; JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 4:178–179, 194). The new commission was the clearest manifestation of France's determination to curb Adams' influence in any Anglo-American negotiations. Although it must have come as a severe blow, Adams' contemporary writings say little about his reaction to the appointment other than a letter to Benjamin Franklin of 25 August, below. Adams declared “I am very apprehensive that our new Commission will be as useless as my old one. Congress might very safely I believe permit Us all to go home, if We find no other business, and stay there some Years: at least until every British Soldier in the United States is killed or captivated. Till then Britain will never think of Peace, but for the purposes of Chicanery.” For an account of Congress' decision to expand the number of peace negotiators, see Commissions and Instructions for Mediation and Peace, Editorial Note, 15 June, below; and the notes to the Joint Commission to Negotiate a Peace Treaty, 15 June, below.
From the original in the Adams Papers.
Instructions to the Joint Commission to Negotiate an Anglo-American Peace Treaty, 15 June 1781 375
The instructions to the joint commission were far different from those that guided John Adams as the sole American minister pleni-potentiary empowered to negotiate an Anglo-American peace treaty (JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 4:181–183). In 1779 Congress directed Adams to seek the “the Advice of our Allies,” using also his discretion and knowledge of American interests. The 1781 instructions required the American negotiators “to make the most candid and confidential communications upon all subjects to the ministers of our generous Ally the King of France to undertake nothing in the Negotiations for Peace or truce without their knowledge and concurrence and ultimately to govern yourselves by their advice and opinion.” The ability of the French minister at Philadelphia, the Chevalier de La Luzerne, to bend Congress to the dictates of French foreign policy is clearly evident from these instructions. For an account of Congress' decision to expand the number of peace negotiators, see Commissions and Instructions for Mediation and Peace, Editorial Note, 15 June, below; and the notes to the Instructions to the Joint Commission to Negotiate a Peace Treaty, 15 June, below.
In this volume Adams says no more about his instructions than he did about the commission that accompanied them (Descriptive
{p. R14}
List of Illustrations,
No. 6, above). This reticence may be owing to Adams being unaware of the sharp contrast between the instructions of 1779 and those of 1781. As can be seen in the illustration, Adams deciphered only one passage in the third paragraph of the instructions that contains the injunction, quoted above, that the commissioners be governed by the views of the French government. Adams' failure to decipher the entire paragraph, probably because of difficulties with the Lovell cipher, lends credence to his assertion that he did not learn of the instruction until he arrived at Paris in 1782 to join the peace negotiations (JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 3:38).
From the original in the Adams Papers.
John Temple, Portrait by Gilbert Stuart 451
Portrait by Gilbert Stuart, 1806, after the original by John Trumbull, 1784. Trumbull's portrait of Temple is in the Canajoharie Library and Art Gallery, Canajoharie, New York. Copies by Stuart are at the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina.
John Temple was a native Bostonian and a former royal customs official. In 1773 he moved to England, but in 1778 and 1779 he visited the United States in pursuit of a peace settlement based on reconciliation. His actions then, coupled with his previous service to the Crown, raised American suspicions; conversely he was also at odds with the North Ministry, which vilified him in the London press for his support of Americans (vol. 10:418).
In 1781 Temple planned to return to America to make a new effort at peace. To advance this goal he met with John Adams sometime before 16 August. The meeting resulted in Adams' letter of that date to the president of Congress, below, in which he indicated his view that Temple was serious in desiring to serve the United States by ending the war. Adams did not intend his letter to either recommend Temple or endorse his purpose in going to America. For an account of the controversy over Temple's loyalty and intentions that broke out immediately upon his arrival at Boston in late October, and Adams' unintentional role in it, see his letter of 16 August to the president of Congress, note 1, below.
Courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Introduction
Docno: PJA11d001
Public Diplomacy at the Hague
At the beginning of 1781, John Adams was focused more on securing a loan than on achieving diplomatic recognition of the United States. He had received a commission to raise funds in mid-September 1780 and had strived unsuccessfully to do so for the remainder of the year.1 Early in 1781 he redoubled his efforts and on 1 March contracted with Jean de Neufville & Fils to borrow one million guilders.2 It was soon clear that the Anglo-Dutch war and the refusal of the Dutch Republic to recognize the United States made it impossible to raise such a sum on behalf of the United States; but Adams had done his duty under his commission and, however much the failure might damage his reputation, he believed it was a risk worth taking.3
For John Adams the arrival of his commission and instructions as minister to the Netherlands in mid-March was a call to action. Convinced that Dutch recognition of the United States was the key to obtaining the much needed loan, Adams embarked on the most daring initiative of his diplomatic career. His memorial to the States General dated 19 April, but presented on 4 May, was a passionate, forthright appeal for immediate recognition.4 Adams emphasized the economic and political benefits that would follow from a formal acknowledgment of American independence and left no doubt that failure to act would entail grave risks for the Netherlands. His commentary on the nature of the American Revolution and the origins
{p. R16}
of that “immortal Declaration” of 4 July 1776 made the memorial more than a routine instrument of diplomacy; it offered the Dutch and other Europeans a radical vision of the ordinary citizen's role in determining his or her political fate. Fully as daring as the initiative itself was John Adams' decision to publish the memorial as a pamphlet in English, French, and Dutch in order to ensure that it reached the widest possible audience and prevent the States General from tabling and ignoring it.
John Adams' correspondence provides a clear and comprehensive record of American diplomacy in the Netherlands. This is particularly true of his letters to the president of Congress. Equally important are the many letters that Adams exchanged with C. W. F. Dumas, who acted as his agent, translator, and advisor throughout the period. The correspondence with Dumas and that with the French ambassador, the Duc de La Vauguyon, illuminates both the circumstances that led Adams to present his memorial and French reservations about his initiative. Even more revealing, however, are the comments that Adams made years later when he published many of his letters in the Boston Patriot; his remarks appear here in the annotation.
John Adams' efforts in the Netherlands were not France's major concern in 1781. At the suggestion of Great Britain, Austria and Russia offered to act as mediators of the Anglo-French war, and with the conflict stalemated in the early months of 1781 such an alternative to military victory held some attraction for France. The prospect of mediation moved the Congress in June, at the behest of the French minister, the Chevalier de La Luzerne, to remove John Adams as the sole peace negotiator and transfer his powers to a five-man commission, of which he was the first named member. It also modified its peace ultimata so as to place the United States commissioners firmly under French control.5 But the Comte de Vergennes needed to make a decision about mediation before news of Congress' action could reach Europe and he summoned Adams to Paris in July for consultations. In the resulting correspondence, far more extensive on Adams' part, the American minister argued passionately that the United States was fully and unambiguously independent and sovereign and could not participate in any negotiations unless it was recognized as such beforehand.6 Because he was the only American then authorized
{p. R17}
to negotiate, Adams' arguments played a role in France's decision to reject the mediation, but so too did British intransigence and the improving military situation in the United States.
In late August, soon after his return to the Netherlands from Paris, John Adams fell dangerously ill. He would later write that “My Feet had well nigh Stumbled on the dark mountains.”7 Adams' illness has long piqued the curiosity of his biographers, resulting in much speculation about its nature. The editors of this volume share that curiosity because the illness resulted in a six-week period during which he wrote no letters and did no business. They have concluded that an exact diagnosis, based as it must be on incomplete and imprecise testimony about the nature and progress of the disease, is impossible from a distance of over two hundred years.8
John Adams' correspondents in this volume change little from those in volume 10. Edmund Jenings continued to provide intelligence from England and to serve as a sounding board for Adams' observations on peace negotiations and the progress of his efforts for Dutch recognition and a loan. In the Netherlands Adams corresponded with members of the patriot or anti-stadholder party, most notably François Adriaan Van der Kemp, Joan Derk van der Capellen tot den Pol, Jean Luzac, and Antoine Marie Cerisier. Together with bankers such as Hendrik Bicker, Nicolaas and Jacob van Staphorst, and Jean de Neufville, they advised Adams on how to proceed, both with bankers in Amsterdam, where he lived, and with government officials at The Hague, which he visited frequently. With a missionary's zeal Adams sought to increase European understanding of the United States and the American Revolution through frequent contributions to Antoine Marie Cerisier's Le politique hollandais, the Gazette d'Amsterdam, and, to a lesser degree than previously, the Gazette de Leyde. Adams' friend and official secretary, Francis Dana, was an indispensable source of intelligence and advice, first from Paris and then from St. Petersburg, to which he, as the newly appointed (but never recognized) United States minister, traveled with John Quincy Adams in mid-1781. Adams' other correspondents included familiar names such as Thomas Digges, William Lee, John Bondfield, Jonathan Williams, Joshua Johnson, and John Jay.
Adams' correspondence with Benjamin Franklin was extensive and
{p. R18}
important throughout the period. Their letters discussed the perilous financial position of the United States in Europe: the problems resulting from John Laurens' efforts to raise money in France and the Netherlands, the fate of the goods left in the Netherlands by Alexander Gillon, the progress of Adams' efforts to raise a Dutch loan, and, perhaps most importantly, the difficulties that Congress caused by irresponsibly issuing bills of exchange without knowing if funds were available to pay them. Indeed, Franklin offered to share Adams' cell should the bills be protested and he be thrown into debtors prison.9 Perhaps the most important conclusion to be drawn from the Adams-Franklin correspondence is how little their views differed regarding the business before them.
The documents included in this volume offer an unparalleled view of John Adams the diplomat. They trace his first efforts to chart a course through the tricky shoals of Dutch politics. They delineate his views of the Dutch nation, the prospects for an Anglo-American peace, the European political situation, and those with whom he came into contact during his quest for recognition. The volume begins with Adams depressed at his failures in 1780 and end with him fighting for his life against the ravages of a debilitating illness. In the interim he laid the groundwork for what he would forever believe to be his greatest diplomatic victory: Dutch recognition of United States independence.
Volume 11 of the Papers of John Adams chronicles nine months of John Adams' diplomatic career. The 332 letters printed, 32 letters calendared, and 82 letters omitted from this volume must be considered in conjunction with the 115 letters for the same period printed in the
Adams Family Correspondence
, 4:57–223. Those letters provide additional information on Congress' decision to create a five-member peace commission, the voyage of the South Carolina with Charles Adams as a passenger, John Quincy Adams' journey to Russia with Francis Dana, and other important topics. In addition to Abigail Adams, John Adams' most important correspondents are John Quincy Adams, Richard Cranch, John Thaxter, William Jackson (Charles Adams' shipboard guardian), Isaac Smith Sr., and Cotton Tufts. Finally, the
Diary and Autobiography of John Adams
, especially 2:451–458, contains important details on Adams' activities in the Netherlands, and the Diary of John Quincy Adams, 1:76–101, chronicles the younger Adams' journey to St. Petersburg with Francis Dana.
John Adams and His Letterbooks
John Adams' Letterbooks continue to be of great benefit to the editors of the Papers of John Adams. They were also very useful to John Adams in his lifetime. The editors have used the Letterbooks to reconstruct Adams' correspondence when the recipient's copies of letters have been lost, as well as to trace the drafting process of letters and important documents, such as Adams' memorial of 19 April 1781 to the States General of the Netherlands. John Adams kept Letterbooks in order to retain a record of his diplomatic activities and as a defense against charges by his critics in Congress and elsewhere.10 It was Adams' need to defend and explain his actions that led him in retirement to turn to his Letterbooks as the source both for letters copied into his Autobiography and for those that he published in the Boston Patriot from 1809 to 1811.
For the period covered by this volume, John Adams used four Letterbooks—numbered 13, 14, 16, and 17—that appear respectively on reels 101, 102, 104, and 105 of the Adams Papers microfilm edition. For detailed descriptions of the first two, which contain copies of public and private letters written between 14 August 1780 and 26 April 1782, see the Introduction to volumes 9 and 10.11
Letterbook 16, entitled “Holland Vol. 2,” contains letters and documents for the period from 8 March 1781 to 29 March 1782. All, in one way or another, document Adams' efforts to achieve Dutch recognition of the United States and his own admission as minister. Included are his letters to the president of Congress and to the secretary for foreign affairs, drafts of his memorial of 19 April 1781 and “Requisition Verbale” of 9 January 1782 to the States General, and, as the Dutch decision to recognize the United States drew near, copies of petitions and addresses from various Dutch cities and towns demanding such action.
Letterbook 17 is entitled “Mediation of The Imperial Courts 1781.” The first 33 pages contain copies of letters and documents exchanged with the Comte de Vergennes in July 1781 when Adams visited Paris to confer with the French foreign minister over the Austro-Russian mediation proposal. They are followed by copies of letters, also relating to the mediation, from the French minister at St. Petersburg to Francis Dana, which Dana sent to Adams for his information. Also
{p. R20}
included is a loose four-page document dated 10 December 1780 and entitled “List of Letters received [by Congress] from the Honble. John Adams since the 30th of July last.” The final 133 pages of the Letterbook are blank.
Notes on Editorial Method
With the publication of volume 11 of the Papers of John Adams,
Adams Papers
volumes will appear singly, rather than in two-volume sets. The editorial apparatus, however, will remain the same. Each volume will begin with an introduction and close with a list of omitted documents and an index. The editors of the series will continue to follow the principles set down in previous volumes, see especially the Notes on Editorial Method in volumes 1 and 9.
Eleven documents written by John Thaxter for John Adams are calendared or printed in volume 11. They include John Thaxter's letters to the president of Congress written at Amsterdam in July 1781 while John Adams was at Paris, and those he wrote for Adams during the latter's illness.12
The use of ciphers and codes by Adams and his correspondents is also noteworthy. The Lovell cipher, first appearing in volume 9, is used in letters from the president of Congress, the Committee for Foreign Affairs, and James Lovell. These letters contain long passages consisting solely of numbers. In accordance with past practice, the editors have replaced the cipher numbers with the deciphered text between double parallel lines.13 Lovell and his contemporaries often made mistakes when enciphering the passages. The most frequent was the failure to take the cipher number from the correct column of numbers in the proper sequence. John Adams recognized such errors and adjusted his decipherment accordingly. The editors, following his lead, have ignored such slips. When words are misspelled, however, or when cipher numbers are omitted, repeated, or entered in no coherent sequence the resulting, sometimes garbled, text is printed within the double parallel lines. When necessary, the editors
{p. R21}
have consulted retained copies of the letters to supply a coherent decipherment in the notes. The editors have taken a different course in dealing with the code Adams and Dana used in their correspondence in early 1781. Because they employed distinctive code names for individuals, the names have been retained in the printed text and are followed immediately by the plain text equivalents between double parallel lines.14
1. For JA's commission of 20 June 1780 and its arrival see vol. 9:452–453; for his efforts to raise a loan in 1780, see vol. 10:index.
2. Contract for a Loan with Jean de Neufville & Fils,
[1 March]
, below. See also the draft contracts of 22 Jan. and
[ante 2 Feb.]
and the Plan for the Negotiation of a Dutch Loan,
[ca. 24 Feb.]
, all below.
3. To Jean de Neufville & Fils, 27 March, below. For JA's retrospective justification of his decision to contract with the Neufville firm for the loan, as well as a very critical appraisal of that decision by the Amsterdam mercantile firm of Nicolaas & Jacob van Staphorst, see his letter of 2 Feb. to Jean de Neufville & Fils, note 4, below.
8. For an account of JA's illness and various diagnoses that have been proposed, see note 1 to his letter of 25 Aug. to Benjamin Franklin, below.
9. From Benjamin Franklin, 22 Feb., below.
10. Vol. 7:427.
11. “John Adams and His Letterbooks,” vol. 9:xix–xx.
12. The letters Thaxter wrote to the president of Congress are dated 7 (
2
first and second
), 10, 13 (
2
first and second
), 17, and 21 July, all calendared below. Those written during JA's illness are of 30 Aug. to Benjamin Franklin; 10 and 24 Sept. to C. W. F. Dumas; and 19 Sept. to Joseph Reed, all below.
13. For an example of the treatment of text enciphered with the Lovell cipher, see James Lovell's letter of 2 Jan., below; for an explanation of the cipher, see vol. 9:271–272;
Adams Family Correspondence
, 4:393–399.
14. See the code used by John Adams, Francis Dana, and James Searle,
[ca. 14 Jan.]
, below, and Descriptive List of Illustrations,
No. 1, above; for an example of the treatment of the encoded text, see Francis Dana's letter of 1 Jan., below.
Acknowledgments
Many individuals and institutions contributed to the successful completion of the current volume. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of former staff members Joanna M. Revelas, who translated French documents, and Alice D. Burley, who transcribed Adams correspondence for this and many future volumes of the Papers of John Adams. Conrad E. Wright, Editor of Publications at the Massachusetts Historical Society, served as the project's interim Editor in Chief and his perceptive comments were invaluable in preparing the final manuscript.
The Adams Papers continues to benefit from many long-standing relationships. Once again, we owe a debt of gratitude to our colleagues at the Papers of Benjamin Franklin, especially Ellen R. Cohn, Jonathan R. Dull, and Kate M. Ohno, for answering our many queries. Our thanks to the Boston Athenaeum for their continuing willingness to share their unique resources with us, and particularly to Stephen Nonack, Head of Reference, for his assistance with the Gazette de Leyde. We are also grateful for the help provided by Edward B. Doctoroff, Head of Administrative Services at Harvard's Widener Library.
Our many friends at Harvard University Press continue to support our efforts and facilitate the production of each volume. We wish to thank Assistant Director/Design and Production Manager John Walsh as well as Ann Louise Coffin McLaughlin, our editor of thirty years, now retired. The support of Kevin Krugh of Technologies 'N Typography was critical to our producing camera-ready copy; his efforts are deeply appreciated.
New-found friends, such as Prof. Ward W. Briggs of the University of South Carolina who graciously provided Latin translations, have also come to our aid.
It would have been impossible to produce this volume without the unmatched holdings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, but of even more importance was the assistance provided by the devoted and learned staff of the Society. In particular the editors wish to thank William M. Fowler Jr., Director; Peter Drummey, Librarian; Brenda
{p. R23}
Lawson, Associate Librarian and Curator of Manuscripts; Mary E. Fabiszewski, Senior Cataloger; Nicholas Graham, Reference Librarian; Carrie Foley, former Assistant Reference Librarian; Kate DuBose, Assistant Reference Librarian; and Jennifer Smith, Photographic Services. We would also like to express our deep appreciation to the members of the Adams Papers Administrative Committee for their great interest in and devoted service to this project.
Guide to Editorial Apparatus
In the first three sections (1–3) of the six sections of this Guide are listed, respectively, the arbitrary devices used for clarifying the text, the code names for designating prominent members of the Adams family, and the symbols describing the various kinds of MS originals used or referred to, that are employed throughout The Adams Papers in all its series and parts. In the final three sections (4–6) are listed, respectively, only those symbols designating institutions holding original materials, the various abbreviations and conventional terms, and the short titles of books and other works, that occur in volume 11 of the Papers of John Adams. The editors propose to maintain this pattern for the Guide to Editorial Apparatus in each of the smaller units, published at intervals, of all the series and parts of the edition that are so extensive as to continue through many volumes. On the other hand, in short and specialized series and/or parts of the edition, the Guide to Editorial Apparatus will be given more summary form tailored to its immediate purpose.
Textual Devices
The following devices will be used throughout The Adams Papers to clarify the presentation of the text.
| [. . .], [. . . .] | One or two words missing and not conjecturable. |
| [. . .], [. . . .] | More than two words missing and not conjecturable; subjoined footnote estimates amount of missing matter. |
| [ ] | Number or part of a number missing or illegible. Amount of blank space inside brackets approximates the number of missing or illegible digits. |
| [roman] | Conjectural reading for missing or illegible matter. A question mark is inserted before the closing bracket if the conjectural reading is seriously doubtful. |
| <italic> | Matter canceled in the manuscript but restored in the text. |
| [italic] | Matter editorially inserted. |
| ||roman|| | Matter editorially decoded. |
Adams Family Code Names
| First Generation | |
| JA | John Adams (1735–1826) |
| AA | Abigail Adams (1744–1818), m. JA 1764 |
| {p. R25} | |
| Second Generation | |
| JQA | John Quincy Adams (1767–1848), son of JA and AA |
| LCA | Louisa Catherine Johnson (1775–1852), m. JQA 1797 |
| CA | Charles Adams (1770–1800), son of JA and AA |
| Mrs. CA | Sarah Smith (1769–1828), sister of WSS, m. CA 1795 |
| TBA | Thomas Boylston Adams (1772–1832), son of JA and AA |
| Mrs. TBA | Ann Harrod (1774?–1845), m. TBA 1805 |
| AA2 | Abigail Adams (1765–1813), daughter of JA and AA, m. WSS 1786 |
| WSS | William Stephens Smith (1755–1816), brother of Mrs. CA |
| Third Generation | |
| GWA | George Washington Adams (1801–1829), son of JQA and LCA |
| JA2 | John Adams (1803–1834), son of JQA and LCA |
| Mrs. JA2 | Mary Catherine Hellen (1806?–1870), m. JA2 1828 |
| CFA | Charles Francis Adams (1807–1886), son of JQA and LCA |
| ABA | Abigail Brown Brooks (1808–1889), m. CFA 1829 |
| ECA | Elizabeth Coombs Adams (1808–1903), daughter of TBA and Mrs. TBA |
| Fourth Generation | |
| JQA2 | John Quincy Adams (1833–1894), son of CFA and ABA |
| CFA2 | Charles Francis Adams (1835–1915), son of CFA and ABA |
| HA | Henry Adams (1838–1918), son of CFA and ABA |
| MHA | Marian Hooper (1842–1885), m. HA 1872 |
| BA | Brooks Adams (1848–1927), son of CFA and ABA |
| LCA2 | Louisa Catherine Adams (1831–1870), daughter of CFA and ABA, m. Charles Kuhn 1854 |
| MA | Mary Adams (1845–1928), daughter of CFA and ABA, m. Henry Parker Quincy 1877 |
| Fifth Generation | |
| CFA3 | Charles Francis Adams (1866–1954), son of JQA2 |
| HA2 | Henry Adams (1875–1951), son of CFA2 |
| JA3 | John Adams (1875–1964), son of CFA2 |
Descriptive Symbols
The following symbols will be employed throughout The Adams Papers to describe or identify in brief form the various kinds of manuscript originals.
| D | Diary (Used only to designate a diary written by a member of the Adams family and always in combination with the short form of the writer's name and a serial number, as follows: D/JA/23, i.e. the twenty-third fascicle or volume of John Adams' manuscript Diary.) |
| Dft | draft |
| Dupl | duplicate |
| FC | file copy (Ordinarily a copy of a letter retained by a correspondent other than an Adams, for example Jefferson's press copies and polygraph copies, since all three of the Adams statesmen systematically entered copies of their outgoing letters in letterbooks.) |
| {p. R26} | |
| Lb | Letterbook (Used only to designate Adams letterbooks and always in combination with the short form of the writer's name and a serial number, as follows: Lb/JQA/29, i.e. the twenty-ninth volume of John Quincy Adams' Letterbooks.) |
| LbC | letterbook copy (Letterbook copies are normally unsigned, but any such copy is assumed to be in the hand of the person responsible for the text unless it is otherwise described.) |
| M | Miscellany (Used only to designate materials in the section of the Adams Papers known as the “Miscellany” and always in combination with the short form of the writer's name and a serial number, as follows: M/CFA/32, i.e. the thirty-second volume of the Charles Francis Adams Miscellany—a ledger volume mainly containing transcripts made by CFA in 1833 of selections from the family papers.) |
| MS, MSS | manuscript, manuscripts |
| RC | recipient's copy (A recipients copy is assumed to be in the hand of the signer unless it is otherwise described.) |
| Tr | transcript (A copy, handwritten or typewritten, made substantially later than the original or than other copies—such as duplicates, file copies, letterbook copies—that were made contemporaneously.) |
| Tripl | triplicate |
Location Symbols
| CtY | Yale University |
| DLC | Library of Congress |
| DNA | The National Archives |
| MB | Boston Public Library |
| MdHi | Maryland Historical Society |
| MHi | Massachusetts Historical Society |
| NN | New York Public Library |
| NNC | Columbia University Library |
| NNPM | Pierpont Morgan Library |
| PHi | Historical Society of Pennsylvania |
| PPAmP | American Philosophical Society |
| TxU | University of Texas |
Other Abbreviations and Conventional Terms
-
Adams Papers - Manuscripts and other materials, 1639–1889, in the Adams Manuscript Trust collection given to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1956 and enlarged by a few additions of family papers since then. Citations in the present edition are simply by date of the original document if the original is in the main chronological series of the Papers and therefore readily found in the microfilm edition of the Adams Papers (see below). The location of materials in the Letterbooks and in the volumes of Miscellany is given more fully and, if the original would be hard to locate, by the microfilm reel number.
-
Adams Papers Editorial Files - Other materials in the Adams Papers editorial office, Massachusetts Historical Society. These include photoduplicated documents (normally cited by the location of the originals), photographs, correspondence, and bibliographical and other aids compiled and accumulated by the editorial staff.
-
Adams Papers, Adams Office Files - The portion of the Adams manuscripts given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Thomas Boylston Adams in 1973.
-
Adams Papers, Microfilms - The corpus of the Adams Papers, 1639–1889, as published on microfilm by the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1954–1959, in 608 reels. Cited in the present work, when necessary, by reel number. Available in research libraries throughout the United States and in a few libraries in Canada, Europe, and New Zealand.
-
The Adams Papers - The present edition in letterpress, published by The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. References to earlier volumes of any given unit take this form: vol. 2:146. Since there will be no over-all volume numbering for the edition, references from one series, or unit of a series, to another will be by title, volume, and page; for example, JA, Diary and Autobiography, 4:205.
-
Algemeen Rijksarchief - Algemeen Rijksarchief, The Hague.
-
Arch. Aff. Etr., Paris, Corr. Pol., E.-U. - Archives du Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, Paris, Correspondance Politique, Etats-Unis.
-
AVPR, Moscow - Arkhiv vneshnei politiki Rossii, Moscow.
-
Koninklijk Huisarchief - Koninklijk Huisarchief, The Hague.
-
PCC - Papers of the Continental Congress. Originals in the National Archives: Record Group 360. Microfilm edition in 204 reels. Usually cited in the present work from the microfilms, but according to the original series and volume numbering devised in the State Department in the early 19th century; for example, PCC, No. 93, III, i.e. the third volume of series 93.
Short Titles of Works Frequently Cited
-
Adams Family Correspondence - Adams Family Correspondence, ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1963– .
-
T. R. Adams, American Controversy - Thomas R. Adams, The American Controversy, A Bibliographical Study of the British Pamphlets About the American Disputes, 1764–1783, Providence and New York, 1980; 2 vols.
-
Allen, Mass. Privateers - Gardner Weld Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution (Massachusetts Historical Society, Collections, vol. 77), Boston, 1927.
-
Amer. Philos. Soc., Procs. - American Philosophical Society, Proceedings.
-
Cal. Franklin Papers, A.P.S. - I. Minis Hays, comp., Calendar of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin in the Library of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1908; 5 vols.
-
Cambridge Modern Hist. - The Cambridge Modern History, Cambridge, Eng., 1902–1911; repr. 1969, [New York]; 12 vols.
-
Catalogue of JA's Library - Catalogue of the John Adams Library in the Public Library of the City of Boston, Boston, 1917.
-
DAB - Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone, eds., Dictionary of American Biography, New York, 1928–1936; 20 vols. plus index and supplements.
-
Davies, ed., Docs. of the Amer. Rev., 1770–1783 - Documents of the American Revolution, 1770–1783, (Colonial Office Series), ed. K. G. Davies, Irish University Press, Shannon, 1972–1981; 21 vols.
-
Davis, Joseph II - Walter W. Davis, Joseph II: An Imperial Reformer for the Austrian Netherlands, The Hague, 1974.
-
De Madariaga, Armed Neutrality of 1780 - Isabel de Madariaga, Britain, Russia and the Armed Neutrality of 1780, New Haven, 1962.
-
Dict. Amer. Fighting Ships - U.S. Navy Department, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History Division, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Washington, 1959– .
-
Digges, Letters - Letters of Thomas Attwood Digges, ed. Robert H. Elias and Eugene D. Finch, Columbia, S.C., 1982.
-
DNB - Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee, eds., The Dictionary of National Biography, New York and London, 1885–1900; 63 vols. plus supplements.
-
Dull, French Navy and Amer. Independence - Jonathan R. Dull, The French Navy and American Independence: A Study of Arms and Diplomacy, 1774–1787, Princeton, 1975.
-
Edler, Dutch Republic and American Revolution - Friedrich Edler, The Dutch Republic and the American Revolution, Baltimore, 1911.
-
Evans - Charles Evans and others, comps., American Bibliography: A Chronological Dic• {p. R29} tionary of All Books, Pamphlets and Periodical Publications Printed in the United States of America [1639–1800], Chicago and Worcester, 1903–1959; 14 vols.
-
Ferguson, Power of the Purse - E. James Ferguson, The Power of the Purse: A History of American Public Finance, 1776–1790, Chapel Hill, 1961.
-
Franklin, Papers - The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Leonard W. Labaree, William B. Willcox (from vol. 15), Claude A. Lopez (vol. 27), Barbara B. Oberg (from vol. 28), Ellen R. Cohn (from vol. 36), and others, New Haven, 1959– .
-
Greene, Papers - The Papers of Nathanael Greene, ed. Richard K. Showman, Dennis Conrad (from vol. 8), and others, Chapel Hill, 1976– .
-
Hoefer, Nouv. biog. générale - J. C. F. Hoefer, ed., Nouvelle biographie générale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours, Paris, 1852–1866; 46 vols.
-
JA, Corr. in the Boston Patriot - Correspondence of the Late President Adams. Originally Published in the Boston Patriot. In a Series of Letters, Boston, 1809[–1810]; 10 pts.
-
JA, Diary and Autobiography - Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols.
-
JA, Papers - Papers of John Adams, ed. Robert J. Taylor, Gregg L. Lint, and others, Cambridge, 1977– .
-
JA, Works - The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author, ed. Charles Francis Adams, Boston, 1850–1856; 10 vols.
-
James, British Navy in Adversity - W. M. James, The British Navy in Adversity: A Study of the War of American Independence, London and New York, 1926.
-
JCC - Worthington C. Ford and others, eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774– 1789, Washington, 1904–1937; 34 vols.
-
Jefferson, Papers - The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen (from vol. 21), John Catanzariti (from vol. 24), Barbara B. Oberg (from vol. 29), and others, Princeton, 1950– .
-
JQA, Diary - Diary of John Quincy Adams, ed. David Grayson Allen, Robert J. Taylor, and others, Cambridge, 1981– .
-
Laurens, Papers - The Papers of Henry Laurens, ed. Philip M. Hamer, George C. Rogers Jr. and David R. Chesnutt (from vol. 5), David R. Chesnutt and C. James Taylor (from vol. II), and others, Columbia, S.C., 1968–2003; 16 vols.
-
Leeb, Origins of the Batavian Rev. - I. Leonard Leeb, The Ideological Origins of the Batavian Revolution: History and Politics in the Dutch Republic, 1747–1800, The Hague, 1973.
-
Mackesy, War for America - Piers Mackesy, The War for America, 1775–1783, Cambridge, 1965.
-
Mahan, Navies in the War of Amer. Independence - Alfred Thayer Mahan, The Major Operations of the Navies in the War of American Independence, Boston, 1913.
-
Mass., Acts and Laws - Acts and Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts [1780–1805], Boston, 1890– 1898; 13 vols.
-
MHS, Colls., Procs. - Massachusetts Historical Society, Collections and Proceedings.
-
Middlekauff, Glorious Cause - Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789, New York, 1982.
-
Miller, ed., Treaties - Hunter Miller, ed., Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America, Washington, 1931–1948; 8 vols.
-
Morris, Papers - The Papers of Robert Morris, 1781–1784, ed. E. James Ferguson, John Catanzariti and E. James Ferguson (from vol. 6), Elizabeth M. Nuxoll and Mary A. Gallagher (from vol. 8), and others, Pittsburgh, 1973–1999; 9 vols.
-
Morris, Peacemakers - Richard B. Morris, The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence, New York, 1965.
-
Naval Docs. Amer. Rev. - Naval Documents of the American Revolution, ed. William Bell Clark, William James Morgan (from vol. 5), Michael J. Crawford (from vol. 10), and others, Washington, 1964– .
-
OED - The Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford, 1933; 12 vols. and supplements.
-
Parliamentary Hist. - The Parliamentary History of England, from the Earliest Period to the Year 1803, London, 1806–1820; 36 vols.
-
Penna. Archives - Pennsylvania Archives. Selected and Arranged from Original Documents in the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Philadelphia and Harrisburg, 1852–1935; 119 vols. in 123.
-
Repertorium der diplomatischen Vertreter aller Länder - Ludwig Bittner and others, eds., Repertorium der diplomatischen Vertreter aller Länder seit dem Westfälischen Frieden (1648), Oldenburg, &c., 1936–1965; 3 vols.
-
Rowen, Princes of Orange - Herbert H. Rowen, The Princes of Orange: The Stadholders in the Dutch Republic, Cambridge, Eng., 1988.
-
Schulte Nordholt, Dutch Republic and Amer. Independence - Jan Willem Schulte Nordholt, The Dutch Republic and American Independence, transl. Herbert H. Rowen, Chapel Hill, 1982.
-
Scott, ed., Armed Neutralities of 1780 and 1800 - The Armed Neutralities of 1780 and 1800: A Collection of Official Documents Preceded by the Views of Representative Publicists, ed., James Brown Scott, New York, 1918.
-
Sibley's Harvard Graduates - John Langdon Sibley and Clifford K. Shipton, Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Boston, 1873–.
-
Smith, ed., Letters of Delegates - Paul H. Smith and others, eds., Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789, Washington, 1976–1998; 25 vols.
-
Stinchcombe, Amer. Rev. and the French Alliance - William C. Stinchcombe, The American Revolution and the French Alliance, Syracuse, 1969.
-
Weber, Codes and Ciphers - Ralph E. Weber, United States Diplomatic Codes and Ciphers, 1775–1938, Chicago, 1979.
-
Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. - Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, Washington, 1889; 6 vols.
-
WMQ - William and Mary Quarterly.
volume 11
Papers
January–September 1781
Cite web page as: Founding Families: Digital Editions of the Papers of the Winthrops and the Adamses, ed.C. James Taylor. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 2007.
http://www.masshist.org/ff/
http://www.masshist.org/ff/