1To Benjamin Franklin from Dumas, 25[–28] December 1780 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society; AL (draft): Algemeen Rijksarchief This letter reports an extremely important diplomatic development, Britain’s breaking off relations with the Netherlands. The British government seems to have acted from a mixture of motives: the desire to forestall Dutch entry into the League of Armed Neutrality, resentment at what was perceived as the Netherlands’...