1To George Washington from Samuel Huntington, 20 May 1780 (Washington Papers)
...s reluctance to recognize America’s independence, British efforts to instigate a war between France and other European powers, potential secret treaties between various European powers and Britain, and the French king’s wish for an alliance between the United States and Spain (see
It appearing to me of Importance that I should as soon as possible be informed of the measures which the Honorable Arthur Lee Esquire might have taken, leading to a Treaty between the United States and Spain: I did on the 26
3Jean Luzac to John Adams: A Translation, 14 September 1780 (Adams Papers)
...result of the threat posed by Louis XIV earlier in the century. But the policies of Louis XVI were not those of Louis XIV and it was time for the Dutch to join with France and its allies, the United States and Spain, as well as the League of Armed Neutrality under Catherine II, in their efforts to establish the rights of all nations to trade freely on the high seas.
4From John Jay to Floridablanca, 22 September 1781 (Jay Papers)
, below. For his previously expressed rejection of some aspects of the Franco-American treaty as a basis for a treaty between the United States and Spain, see
5Propositions for a Treaty with Spain, 22 September 1781 (Jay Papers)
For Floridablanca’s statement that the Franco-American treaty of alliance could never be made the basis of a treaty between the United States and Spain, see
6To John Adams from John Jay, 15 December 1781 (Adams Papers)
, p. 241–243. Jay was all the more frustrated because in July, in accordance with Congress’ instructions, he had removed the most serious point of conflict between the United States and Spain by renouncing American claims to the navigation of the Mississippi River.
7Rayneval’s Memoir on the Boundaries between Spain and the United States, 6 September 1782 (Jay Papers)
...French Minister commented on “the extravagance of the Americans’ claims and views,” adding that “a confidential note” had been sent to JJ demonstrating what the limits of its boundaries ought to be, and stating that both the United States and Spain demanded “countries to which neither of them has acquired rights, and which it will be very nearly impossible to accord them.” See
8Notes on Debates, [30 December] 1782 (Madison Papers)
...“wartime.” John Jay (New York) on 27 September 1779 had been elected by Congress as a minister plenipotentiary “to negotiate a treaty of alliance and of amity and commerce” between the United States and Spain. Congress itself further instructed him on 15 February 1781 “to recede” from “the claim of the United States to the free navigation of the River Mississippi, and a free port or...
9Report on Navigation of the Mississippi River, 25 February 1786, enclosing John Jay to Alexander Fowler, 13 February … (Jay Papers)
...and am sorry you have experienced the Difficulties and Disappointments mentioned in it. It is to be hoped that all territorial Questions between the United States and Spain will be amicably settled, and that both Parties will in the mean Time cultivate that Disposition which is most likely to promote that End—Whatever Resolutions Congress may take on your Letter shall be communicated to You...
10To George Washington from James Monroe, 20 August 1786 (Washington Papers)
Negotiations between Foreign Secretary John Jay and Don Diego de Gardoqui to form a treaty between the United States and Spain began in the summer of 1785 after the arrival of the Spanish envoy in New York in May. Congress’s instructions to Jay were to secure the free navigation of the Mississippi River and the 31º latitude as the...