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Browsing: Papers of John Adams, Volume 15
Docno: ADMS-06-15-02-0133
Recipient: President of Congress
Recipient: Boudinot, Elias
Date: 1783-09-10
The American Peace Commissioners to the President of Congress
[dateline] Passy, 10th: Septr. 1783.
[salute] Sir,
On the third Instant, Definitive Treaties were concluded, between all the late belligerent
Powers, except the Dutch, who the Day before settled and signed Preliminary Articles
of Peace with Britain.
We most sincerely & cordially congratulate Congress and our Country in general, on
this happy Event, and we hope that the same kind Providence which has led us thro’
a vigorous War, to an honorable Peace, will enable us to make a wise & moderate Use
of that inestimable Blessing.
We have committed a Duplicate Original of the Treaty to the Care of Mr. Thaxter, who will go immediately to L’Orient, whence he will sail in the French Packet
to New-York. That Gentleman left America with Mr. Adams as his Private Secretary, and his Conduct having been perfectly satisfactory
to that Minister, we join in { 283 } recommending him to the Attention of Congress. We have orderd Mr. Grand to pay him one hundred and thirty Louis d’ors, on account of the reasonable
Expences to be incurr’d by his Mission to Congress, and his Journey from thence to
his Family at Hingham in the Massachusetts Bay. For the Disposition of the Money he
is to account.1
The Definitive Treaty being in the Terms of the Provisional Articles, and not comprehending
any of the Objects of our subsequent Negociations, it is proper that we give a summary
Account of them.
When Mr Hartley arrived here he brought with him only a set of Instructions signed by the
King. We objected to proceeding with him until he should have a Commission in Form.
This occasioned some Delay—a proper Commission was however transmitted to him, a Copy
of which was shortly after sent to Mr. Livingston.2
We having been instructed to obtain if possible an Article for a Direct Trade to the
West Indies, made to Mr. Hartley the Proposition No 1.3
He approved of it greatly and recommended it to his Court, but they declined assenting
to it.
Mr Hartley then made us the Proposition No 2. but on being asked whether he was authorized to sign it, in Case we agreed to
it, he answer’d in the Negative.4 We therefore thought it improper to proceed to the Consideration of it until after
he should have obtained the Consent of his Court to it. We also desired to be informed
whether his Court would or would not comprehend Ireland in their Stipulations with
us.
The British Cabinet would not adopt Mr Hartley’s Propositions but their Letters to him were calculated to inspire us with
Expectations, that as nothing but particular local Circumstances, which would probably
not be of long duration, restrained them from preferring the most liberal System of
Commerce with us, the Ministry would take the earliest Opportunity of gratifying their
own Wishes as well as ours, on that Subject.—
Mr Hartley then made us the Proposition No 3.5 At this Time we were informed that Letters for us had arrived in France from Philada.. We expected to receive Instructions in them, and told Mr. Hartley that this Expectation induced us to post pone giving him an Answer for a
few Days.
The Vessel by which we had expected these Letters, it seems had not brought any for
us. But at that Time Information arrived from America, that our Ports were all opened
to British Vessels. Mr { 284 } Hartley thereupon did not think himself at Liberty to proceed, until after he should
communicate that Intelligence to his Court and receive their further Instructions.
Those further Instructions never came, and thus our Endeavours as to commercial Regulations,
proved fruitless. We had many Conferences & recd long Memorials from Mr Hartley on the Subject; but his Zeal for Systems friendly to us, constantly exceeded
his Authority to concert and agree to them.
During the long Interval of his expecting Instructions, for his Expectations were
permitted to exist almost to the last, we proceeded to make & receive Propositions
for perfecting the definitive Treaty. Details of all the Amendments, Alterations,
Objections, Exceptions &ca. which occurr’d in the Course of these Discussions would be Voluminous. We finally
agreed that he should send to his Court, the Project or Draft of a Treaty No 4.6 He did so, but after much Time, and when pressed by France, who insisted that we
should all conclude together, He was instructed to sign a Definitive Treaty in the
Terms of the Provisional Articles.
Whether the British Court meant to avoid a Definitive Treaty with us, thro’ a vain
Hope from the exagerated Accounts of Divisions among our People, and Want of Authority
in Congress, that some Revolution might soon happen in their Favour, or whether their
dilatory Conduct was caused by the Strife of the two opposite and nearly equal Parties
in the Cabinet, is hard to decide.—
Your Excellency will observe, that the Treaty was signed at Paris, & not at Versailles.
Mr Hartley’s Letter No. 5, & our Answer No 6. will explain this.7 His Objections, and indeed our Proceedings in general, were communicated to the French
Minister, who was content that we should acquiesce, but desired that we would appoint
the signing early in the Morning, and give him an Account of it at Versailles by Express,
for that he would not proceed to sign on the Part of France, ’till he was sure that
our Business was done.
The Day after the Signature of the Treaty, Mr. Hartley wrote us a congratulatory Letter No 7. to which we returned the Answer No. 8.—8
He is gone to England, and expects soon to return—which, for our Parts we think uncertain.
We have taken Care to speak to him in strong Terms, on the Subject of the Evacuation
of New-York, and the other important Subjects proper to be mentioned to him.— We think
we may rely on his doing every thing in his Power to influence his Court, to do what
they ought to do, but it does not appear that { 285 } they have as yet formed any settled System for their Conduct relative to the United
States.— We cannot but think that the late & present Aspect of Affairs in America
has had, and continues to have, an unfavourable Influence, not only in Britain but
throughout Europe.—
In whatever Light the article respecting the Tories may be view’d in America, it is
consider’d in Europe as very humiliating, to Britain, and therefore as being one which
we ought in Honour to perform and fulfil with the most scrupulous Regard to good Faith,
& in a manner least Offensive to the Feelings of the King & Court of G. Britain, who
upon that Point are extremely tender.
The unseasonable & unnecessary Resolves of various Towns on this Subject, the actual
Expulsion of Tories from some Places, and the avow’d Implacability of almost all who
have published their Sentiments about the Matter, are Circumstances which are construed,
not only to the Prejudice of our national Magnanimity and good-Faith, but also to
the Prejudice of our Government.
Popular Committees are consider’d here as with us, in the Light of Substitutes to
Constitutional Government, and as being only necessary in the Interval between the
Removal of the former and the Establishment of the present.
The Constitutions of the different States have been translated & published, and Pains
have been taken to lead Europe to believe, that the American States not only made
their own Laws, but obey’d them.9 But the continuance of popular Assemblies conven’d expressly to deliberate on Matters
proper only for the Cognizance of the different Legislatures & Officers of Government,
and their proceeding not only to ordain, but to enforce their Resolutions, has exceedingly
lessen’d the Dignity of the States in the Eyes of these Nations.
To this we may also add, that the Situation of the Army, the Reluctance of the People
to pay Taxes, and the Circumstances under which Congress removed from Philadelphia,
have diminish’d the Admiration in which the People of America were held among the
Nations of Europe, & somewhat abated their Ardor for forming Connections with us,
before our Affairs acquire a greater Degree of order & Consistance.—
Permit us to observe, that in our Opinion the Recommendation of Congress, promised
in the 5th: Article, should immediately be made in the Terms of it and published; and that the
States should be requested to take it into Consideration as soon as the Evacuation
by { 286 } the Enemy shall be compleated. It is also much to be wished that the Legislatures
may not involve all the Tories in Banishment and Ruin, but that such Discriminations
may be made, as to entitle the Decisions to the Approbation of disinterested Men,
and dispassionate Posterity.—
On the 7th: Inst. we received your Excellency’s Letter of the 16th: June. last, covering a Resolution of Congress of the 1st May directing a Commission to us for making a Treaty of Commerce &ca. with G. Britain. This Intelligence arrived very oportunely to prevent the Anti-American
Party from ascribing any Delays on our Part to Motives of Resentment in England to
that Country. Great Britain will send a Minister to Congress as soon as Congress shall
send a Minister to Britain, & we think much Good might result from that Measure.
The Information of Mr Dumas, that we encouraged the Idea of entering into Engagements with the Dutch to
defend the Freedom of Trade, was not well founded.— Our Sentiments on that Subject
exactly correspond with those of Congress; nor did we even think or pretend that we
had Authority to adopt any such Measures.10
We have Reason to think that the Emperor and Russia, & other Commercial Nations, are
ready to make Treaties of Commerce with the United States. Perhaps it might not be
improper for Congress to direct that their Disposition on the Subject, be communicated
to those Courts, & thereby prepare the Way for such Treaties.
The Emperor of Morrocco has manifested a very friendly Disposition towards us: He
expects and is ready to receive, a Minister from us, and as he may either change his
Mind, or may be succeeded by a Prince differently disposed, a Treaty with him may
be of Importance. Our Trade to the Mediterranean will not be inconsiderable, and the
Friendship of Morrocco, Algiers, Tunis & Tripoli, may become very interesting, in
case the Russians should succeed in their Endeavours to Navigate freely into it by
Constantinople.
Much we think will depend on the Success of our Negociations with England. If she
should be prevailed upon to agree to a liberal System of Commerce, France & perhaps
some other Nations, will follow her Example; but if she should prefer an exclusive
monopolizing Plan, it is probable that her Neighbours will continue to adhere to their
favorite Restrictions.—
Were it certain that the United States, could be brought to act as a Nation, and would
jointly and fairly conduct their Commerce on { 287 } Principles of exact Reciprocity with all Nations, we think it probable that Britain
would make extensive Concessions.— but on the Contrary, while the Prospect of Disunion
in our Councils, or want of Power and Energy in our Executive Departments exist, they
will not be apprehensive of Retaliation, and consequently lose their principal Motive
to Liberality. Unless with respect to all foreign Nations and Transactions, we uniformly
act as an entire united Nation, faithfully executing and obeying the Constitutional
Acts of Congress on those Subjects, we shall soon find ourselves in the Situation
in which all Europe wishes to see us, Vizt. as unimportant Consumers of her Manufactures & Productions, and as useful Labourers
to furnish her with raw Materials.—
We beg leave to assure Congress that we shall apply our best Endeavours to execute
this new Commission to their Satisfaction, & shall punctually obey such Instructions
as they may be pleased to give us relative to it.— Unless Congress should have nominated
a Secretary to that Commission, we shall consider ourselves at Liberty to appoint
One; and as we are satisfied with the Conduct of Mr Franklin, the Secretary to our late Commission, we propose to appoint him, leaving
it to Congress to make him such Compensation for his Services as they may Judge proper.
Count de Vergennes communicated to us a Proposition (Viz No 9 herewith inclosed) for
explaining the 2d & 3d Articles of our Treaty with France, in a manner different from the Sense in which
we understand them. This being a Matter in which we had no Right to interfere, we
have not express’d any Opinion about it to the Court.11
With great Respect, / We have the honor to be, / Sir, / Your Excellency’s / most obedient
& / most humble Serts:
[signed] John Adams.
[signed] B Franklin
[signed] John Jay
RC and enclosures (PCC, No. 85, f. 370–422); internal address: “To his Excellency / Elias Boudinot Esqre: / President of Congress.” LbC-Tr (Adams Papers); APM Reel 103. For the enclosures, see notes 3–8.
1. Ferdinand Grand paid John Thaxter 130 Louis d’Or, or ₶3,120, on 12 September. On the
same day JA wrote to the Paris banking firm of Van den Yver Frères, ordering it to pay Thaxter
£100 for his salary, which was to be charged to the Dutch loan consortium’s account
and by them to the United States (DNA:RG 39, Foreign Ledgers, Public Agents in Europe, 1776–1787, Microfilm, Reel 1, f. 187,
367; LbC, APM Reel 108).
2. For David Hartley’s commission of 14 May, which he presented to the commissioners
on the 19th, see JA, D&A, 3:130–131. A copy was enclosed with the commissioners’ 24 May letter to Robert R. Livingston
(vol. 14:490–492).
4. For Hartley’s observations on the commissioners’ proposal of 29 April and his proposed
agreement, both presented to the commissioners on 21 May, see JA, D&A, 3:131–134, 123–124; vol. 14:485–486.
5. See this proposal at June 1783, calendared, above.
6. See the draft Anglo-American definitive treaty at [ante 19 July], above.
9. As the commissioners indicate, there had been numerous European printings of the American
constitutions, the most recent being the collaboration between Benjamin Franklin and
the Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Constitutions des treize États-Unis de l’Amérique, Paris, 1783. A copy of that work, with a bookplate designed by JA, is in his library at MB (Catalogue of JA’s Library). For a Dutch edition of the American constitutions, the second volume of which was
dedicated to JA, see vol. 13:xii; and for more on the French edition prepared by Franklin and Rochefoucauld, see vol.
14:505. For JA’s bookplate, see Descriptive List of Illustrations, No. 4, above.
10. For Boudinot’s reference to C. W. F. Dumas and Congress’ resolution of 12 June revoking
the power of its ministers in Europe to accede to the Armed Neutrality, see the 16 June letter from the president of Congress to the commissioners, and note 3, above.
11. On 20 May the Comte de Vergennes sent Franklin, in his capacity as minister to France,
a proposed convention to prevent misunderstandings arising from a misinterpretation
of Arts. 2 and 3 of the Franco-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce (PCC, No. 85, f. 420–421; Wharton, Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev., 6:436–437). The difficulty, likely reflecting French concerns over a possible Anglo-American
commercial treaty, was that Art. 2 might be interpreted to allow either the United
States or France to grant an exclusive favor to a third party, thereby contravening
the most favored nation clause in Art. 3 (Miller, Treaties, 2:5–6). Franklin apparently had not previously sent the proposed convention to Congress.
When Congress acted on 11 May 1784, it rejected the French proposal for a convention
but instructed Franklin to assure “his most Christian Majesty” that “it will be our
constant care to place no people on more advantageous ground than the subjects of
his Majesty” (JCC, 27:368–369). This led to an exchange of notes between Vergennes and Franklin that
established an official, mutually agreed upon interpretation of Arts. 2 and 3. Vergennes
wrote on 27 Aug. 1783 to request a declaration or official letter from Franklin stating
the position of the United States with respect to the articles. Franklin replied on
3 Sept. and quoted directly from Congress’ resolution of 11 May. Vergennes answered
on 9 Sept. that the assurances provided by Franklin were satisfactory (Miller, Treaties, 2:158–161).
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, 2018.
http://www.masshist.org/apde2/
http://www.masshist.org/apde2/