1. In his letter of 10 May, Floridablanca informed JJ that Spanish merchants who shipped merchandise on vessels flying the Portuguese flag were greatly agitated by reports that Congress intended to issue letters of marque against Portuguese shipping. If these reports were true, he requested that Spanish goods captured on these vessels be returned to their owners and that the orders be suspended until the American policy had been adequately publicized. See Floridablanca to JJ, 10 May 1782, LS, in Spanish, NNC (EJ: 8201); Dft, SpMaAHN: Estado, leg. 3885, exp. 7, doc. 4 (EJ: 12097).

2. No congressional authorization of letters of marque against Portugal was issued. There was, however, ongoing litigation regarding the seizure of a Portuguese ship by a Massachusetts privateer in 1777. See PRM description begins E. James Ferguson et al., eds., The Papers of Robert Morris, 1781–1784 (9 vols.; Pittsburgh, Pa., 1973–99) description ends , 2: 333–36. Unfounded rumors of the American capture of Portuguese ships and of an American declaration of war against Portugal were circulating in Spain and France in April and May 1782. See PBF description begins William B. Willcox et al., eds., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin (39 vols. to date; New Haven, Conn., 1959–) description ends , 37: 372, 376, 395, 409, 440.