Secretary for Foreign Affairs (Robert R. Livingston) to the American Peace Commissioners, 21 April 1783
Secretary for Foreign Affairs (Robert R. Livingston)
to the American Peace Commissioners
Philadelphia 21st. April 1783
gentlemen
Upon the receipt of the provisional Articles and a subsequent account brought by a Vessel despatched by Count De Estaing1— I wrote the Letter No 1 to Sir Guy Carleton and No 2 to Admiral Digby2 to which I received the answers No. 3 and 4— You will find them cold and distant,3 those they wrote to the Minister of France in answer to similar communications made by him were still more so, and contain the same illiberal doubts which are mentioned in mine—expressed in much stronger terms—4 When they received an authentic account of the Treaty, they sent a Copy of it—no part being omitted to Congress thro’ the General, when the Proclamation for the cessation of Hostilities was received at New York, it was sent to me by an Officer with the Letters No. 5 and 6 to which I returned the answer No. 7 & 8—5 after this two great questions were agitated in Congress—1st: Whether they should proceed to the immediate Ratification of the provisional Articles, and 2dly. whether they should release their Prisoners—some maintained with respect to the first of these points, that they knew not in what light to consider the provisional Articles, whether as Preliminaries or a definitive Treaty— That the Preamble said they were to constitute the Treaty while at the same time, they were only to be inserted in it, these Terms they considered as contradictory— And they wished to have explanations from you on this Head to know what the operation of a Ratification would be and they inferred from your silence that none was necessary—they observed that no time was set for the evacuation of New-York that the Ratification would in some measure compel them to release their Prisoners and thus strengthen their Hands, when it was possible that the definitive Treaty might not take Effect between Great Britain and France, and that the Ratification and the restoration of Prisoners, if it left us nothing more to do, was in some sort to desert our Allies. To this it was answered, that the Provisional Articles were only to be received as Preliminary, that from the very nature of them, they could not be definitive, that the Ratification would not alter the nature of them, but confirm them as they stood; that they were confessedly very advantageous to us, that the neglecting any such acceptation of them as was necessary on our part would give the Enemy a pretence for violating the Stipulations they contained, that the principal points between France and Great Britain being settled, we had no reason to apprehend a failure of a definitive Treaty. That it was important to shew that we were determined to adhere in every particular to the Engagements you had made— These arguments prevailed, and the Resolution No 9 passed directing the Ratification which I enclose—6 It is probable that the definitive Treaty will be signed before this can reach you, otherwise it would be extremely desirable that some ambiguities in the provisional Articles should be cleared up, and other objects which have been at different times touched upon in my public Letters, attended to The sixth Article7 is not so precisely expressed as to point out to what time the word Future refers whether to the Signature of the provisional Articles— Whether to the Act which gave it the force of a Treaty—or to the definitive Treaty tho’ I should suppose the second to be the intention from the opposition between the word now and the time of the Ratification in America.
The 7th. Article leaves the Time for the evacuation of NewYork upon so loose a footing that I fear our troublesome guests will long continue to be such unless a day is fixed on for their departure in the definitive Treaty. You can easily conceive the impatience that the distressed Inhabitants of NewYork feel at every moments delay, and the fears and Jealousies that prevail among them least it should be meant to retain these Posts as pledges for the performance of the Stipulations in favor of the Tories. By the Debates in Parliament on the third of March it is evident that they had then no orders to evacuate8
You will observe that the Ratification does not extend to the separate Article.9 The Treaty between Spain and Great Britain renders it unnecessary, And Congress not caring to express any Sentiment upon that Subject— I refer you to my Letters to Doctor Franklin and Mr. Jay upon the Subject of a free Trade with the West Indies and the logwood Trade—which are important objects here. And I hope will be attended to in your definitive Treaty.10 It were to be wished that the ambiguity with respect to the time of the cessation of Hostilities upon this Coast was cleared up and the construction we put upon it adopted to wit—that by as far as the Canaries was intended the latitude of the Canaries, which construction can be supported by a variety of Arguments, and is extremely important to us as a number of our Vessels have been taken since the third of March.11 I have the honor to be Gentlemen with great Esteem and Respect your most obedt humble. servt
(Signed) Robt R Livingston12
Enclosed Correspondence between Mr. Livingston & Sir Guy Carleton and Admiral Digby.
Resolutions directing the Ratification of the Preliminary Articles.
LbkC, DNA: PCC, item 118: 413–17. Notation: “1st Copy by Colo. Ogden / 2plicate by Packet Washington / 3plicate”.
1. On the arrival of the cutter Triomphe with news of a general peace, see the editorial note “Congress Debates the Commissioners’ Conduct” on pp. 338–39; and Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the American Peace Commissioners, 25 Mar. 1783, above; , 20: 74; , 5: 84–93; and , 24: 210–211. Congress immediately ordered the agent of marine (Robert Morris) to recall all armed vessels cruising under its commissions, and referred Lafayette’s letters to committees. For Morris’s order to officers of armed vessels commissioned by the United States, see , 7: 635–36.
2. See RRL to Carleton and to Digby, both 24 Mar. 1783, , 6: 336–37. RRL enclosed in the letter to Carleton the certified copy of the comte d’Estaing’s orders he had requested of La Luzerne, a copy of Congress’s resolution of that day recalling American armed vessels, and an extract from Lafayette’s letter to him. Although not mentioned by RRL, La Luzerne had also recommended that American commercial vessels remain in port until more particular information about the cessation of hostilities arrived. See La Luzerne to Vergennes, 26 Mar. 1783, FrPMAE: CP-EU, 23: 376v–377v.
3. See Carleton to RRL, 26 Mar., and Digby to RRL, 27 Mar. 1783 (, 6: 346, 348). Carleton informed RRL that he had “hitherto abstained from all hostilities” and would not initiate any unless required to maintain British security, but that he could not declare an absolute end to them until he had received orders from Britain, which he hoped would soon arrive. He then raised the issue of release of prisoners on both sides as required by the seventh article of the provisional treaty. Digby’s letter echoed Carleton’s. Official news of the peace reached New York on 5 Apr., and Carleton and Digby ordered cessation of hostilities the following day. Their letters reached Philadelphia on 8 Apr.; Congress proclaimed the cessation of hostilities on 11 Apr. See , 7: 635–36.
4. Carleton’s and Digby’s letters to La Luzerne have not been found. La Luzerne reported that Congress’s order recalling its armed vessels had been issued as a result of merchant pressure and had anticipated that the British were not likely to agree to cessation of hostilities until they received official notification. See La Luzerne to Vergennes, 26 Mar. 1783, FrPMAE: CP-EU, 23: 381r-v.
5. See Carleton to RRL and Digby to RRL, both 6 Apr. 1783, DNA: PCC, item 119, 270, 272; RRL to Congress, 10 Apr., to Carleton, 11 Apr., and to Digby, 12 Apr. 1783, , 6: 365, 367–68, 369–70.
6. For the resolution that constituted this enclosure, see , 4: 241–52. RRL recommended on 11 Apr. that Congress order the secretary of war and the superintendent of finance to release all prisoners immediately. His report was committed to Madison, Richard Peters, and Hamilton, whose report, Hamilton dissenting, was presented on 14 Apr. Madison and Peters held that Congress was not obliged to ratify the provisional treaty, and that an immediate discharge of prisoners was inadvisable because it might lessen the chance that Congress would be reimbursed for funds it had expended to feed them. Congress, finding the committee’s recommendation “not consonant” to majority opinion, deferred a decision. On 15 Apr., impelled by a sense of urgency, Congress unanimously decided to ratify the provisional articles and discharge the prisoners. Although the resolution stood, Hamilton had second thoughts about releasing British prisoners before a timetable for the evacuation of British forces had been established. For a detailed discussion of Congress’s consideration of when the cessation of hostilities would go into effect, of the need to ratify the provisional articles, and of whether to release prisoners, see , 6: 445–46, 450–59, 466–67.
7. See the Preliminary Articles of Peace, 30 Nov. 1782, above.
8. For the order to evacuate, see Hartley to the American Peace Commissioners, 14 June 1783, below. For La Luzerne’s hope that British evacuation of New York would be delayed, see the editorial note “Congress Debates the Commissioners’ Conduct” on p. 340n8.
9. For a discussion about whether or not Congress ratified the separate article, see , 15: 437–38n4
10. See the Secretary for Foreign Affairs to JJ, 4 Jan. 1783, and notes, above. On the American Intercourse Bill, see the editorial note “Negotiating a Trade Agreement” on p. 374. For a broad-based attempt to persuade European powers to open the West Indies trade to American vessels, see , 8: 469.
11. Under the general peace treaty the cessation of hostilities at sea was to become effective at different times in different latitudes. See , 6: 451.
12. For the reply, see the American Peace Commissioners to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 18 July 1783, below.