John Jay Papers
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To John Jay from John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, 28 March 1786

From John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

Grosr. square March 28th. 1786

Sir

Soon after the arrival of Mr. J. in London, we had a conference with the Ambassador of Tripoli, at his House

The amount of all the information we can obtain from him was that a perpetual peace was in all respects the most advisable, because a temporary treaty would leave room for increasing demands, upon every renewal of it, and a stipulation for annual payments would be liable to failures of performance which would renew the war, repeat the negotiations & continually augment the claims of his nation & the difference of expense would by no means be adequate to the inconvenience, since 12.500 Guineas to his Constituents with 10 pr. Cent. upon that sum for himself, must be paid if the treaty was made for only one year—

That 30.000 Guineas for his Employers and ^£^3.000 for himself were the lowest terms upon which a perpetual peace could be made & that this must be paid in Cash on the delivery of the treaty signed by his sovereign—that no kind of Merchandize could be accepted

That Tunis would treat upon the same Terms but he could not answer for Algiers or Morocco, we took the liberty to make some inquiries concerning the Grounds of their pretentions to make War upon Nations who had done them no Injury, & observed that we considered all mankind as our friends who had done us no wrong, nor had given us any provocation—

The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the Laws of their profit, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, & to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every musselman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise—

That it was a law that the first who boarded an Enemy’s Vessell should have one slave, more than his share with the rest, which operated as an incentive to the most desperate Valour and Enterprize, that it was the Practice of their Corsairs to bear down upon a ship, for each sailor to take a dagger, in each hand, & another in his mouth, and leap on board, which so terrified their Enemies that very few ever stood against them—that he verily believed the Devil assisted his Countrymen, for they were almost always successful—We took time to consider and promised an answer, but we can give him no other, than that the demands exceed our Expectations & that of Congress so much that we can proceed no further, without fresh instructions

There is but one possible way, that we know of to procure the money, if Congress should authorize us to go to the necessary expense & that is to borrow it in Holland—We are not certain it can be had there—But if Congress should order us to make the best terms we can with Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers & Morocco, and to procure this money, wherever we can find it, upon terms like those of the last loan in Holland, our best endeavours shall be used to remove this formidable obstacle out of the way, of the prosperity of the United States—

Inclosed is a Copy of a letter from P. R. Randall Esqr. at Barcelona, the last from Mr. Barclay was dated Bayonne,—It is hoped we shall soon have news from Algiers & Morocco, & we wish it may not be more disagreable than this from Tunis & Tripoli—1 We are &c

J.A.
T.J.

His Excellency / John Jay

C, DLC: Jefferson (EJ: 10117). Endorsed: “Copy”. LbkC, DNA: PCC, item 86, 369–71. With note: “The aforegoing Letter was taken from a Copy furnished by Mr. Jefferson for the purpose, the original having been communicated to Congress and referred by them to a Committee, which never reported ^on^ nor returned it.—H. Remsen junr.—” Enclosure not found.

1JJ received this letter on 23 May and referred it to Congress. On 26 May it was referred back to JJ with a motion of Charles Pinckney directing him to prepare instructions for the ministers to negotiate treaties with any authorized representatives of the Barbary states and to borrow a sum not exceeding 3,000,000 Dutch florins for effecting the treaties. In the OFA Journal description begins Daily Journals, Office of Foreign Affairs, 1784–1790, 2 vols., Papers of the Continental Congress, RG 360, item 127, National Archives (M247). Accessed Fold3.com. description ends for May 1786 (EJ: 3763), JJ indicated that the letter from Randall supposedly enclosed was missing. See JJ to the President of Congress, 23 May 1786, Dft, NNC (EJ: 5815); LbkC, Domestic Letters, 2: 319–20 (EJ: 1958). For the response, see JJ’s report of 29 May 1786, below; and the editorial note “The Barbary States: A Problem with No Ready Solution,” above.

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