1From John Adams to the President of Congress, 1 September 1783 (Adams Papers)
Wednesday the third of this Month is appointed for the Signature of the Definitive Treaties of Peace. Unable to obtain, any addition or Explanation, We have been obliged to agree to sign the Provisional Articles over again with only a Preamble, making them a Definitive Treaty. No Regulation of Commerce is agreed upon, and indeed we have no Commission or Authority to make any.— We have thus...
On the third Instant, Definitive Treaties were concluded, between all the late belligerent Powers, except the Dutch, who the Day before settled and signed Preliminary Articles of Peace with Britain. We most sincerely & cordially congratulate Congress and our Country in general, on this happy Event, and we hope that the same kind Providence which has led us thro’ a vigorous War, to an honorable...
I have the Honor of transmitting to your Excellency five Petitions complaining of Actions at Law contrary as is said to the Treaty of Peace. I suspect that on examining the Records of these Actions, the Petitioners will appear to have less Cause of Complaint than seems to be the Case from their Representations.— I have the Honor to be with great Respect & Esteem, Your Excellency’s Most ob t ....
I find that Congress were pleased on the 22 d . Ult: to order me, “to transmit to the Executives of the States, Abstracts of the Numbers, Names and Owners of Negroes carried away by the British in contravention to the late Treaty of Peace, and which were the Property of the Citizens of such States respectively.”— I suspect that Congress were not apprized of the Length of this Account. A very...
I have this Moment received an Order of Congress in the following Words viz t . “That the Secretary for foreign Affairs state to Congress without Delay any Information he may have received respecting the sentiments of the Court of France touching our Right of navigating the Mississippi, also that he state to Congress the territorial Claims of Spain on the east Side of the Mississippi.—[”]...
The City and County of New York have elected me one of their Deputies to the State Convention, which is to meet on the 17 th . instant at Poughkeepsie to consider and decide on the proposed fœderal Constitution. If it be agreeable to Congress I will attend, if not I will decline the Appointment. Permit me therefore to request their Directions on the Subject. I have the Honor to be with great...
In my Negociations with M r . Gardoqui I experience certain difficulties which in my Opinion should be so managed, as that even the Existence of them should remain a Secret for the present. I take the Liberty therefore of submitting to the Consideration of Congress whether it might not be adviseable to appoint a Committee with power to instruct and direct me on every point and Subject relative...
8From John Adams to the President of Congress, 25 December 1781 (Adams Papers)
Amsterdam, 25 December 1781. RC in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, III, f. 442–444). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 5:71–72. This letter consists of an English translation of Prussia’s declaration of 8 Dec., intended to remove any questions about the identity...
9From John Adams to the President of Congress, 29 December 1781 (Adams Papers)
Amsterdam, 29 December 1781. RC in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, III, f. 446–450). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 5:77–79. This letter consists of English translations of a brief note announcing Austria’s accession to the armed neutrality and the formal act...
10From John Adams to the President of Congress, 15 January 1782 (Adams Papers)
Amsterdam, 15 January 1782. RC in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, III, f. 458–459). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 5:111. In this letter, JA provided the English text of a note presented by the Russian minister, Prince Gallitzin, to Hendrik Fagel, secretary...
11From John Adams to the President of Congress, 16 January 1782 (Adams Papers)
RC ( PCC , No. 84, III, f. 462–465). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 5:114–116. In this letter JA included English translations of two items that appeared in Dutch newspapers, including the Gazette de Leyde of 8 and 11 January. The first was the representation...
12From John Adams to the President of Congress, 18 December 1781 (Adams Papers)
Having recieved an Invitation to the Hague, in order to have some Conversation with some Gentlemen in the Government concerning the further Steps proper for me to take in the present Conjuncture, I had determined to have undertaken the Journey to day: but the Arrival in Town of the Duke de la Vauguyon, determined me to postpone it until tomorrow. At noon to day, his Excellency did me the honor...
13From John Adams to the President of Congress, 25 December 1781 (Adams Papers)
Amsterdam, 25 December 1781. RC in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, III, f. 438–441). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 5:70–71). In this letter, which Congress received on 18 Sept. 1782, JA provided the text of Lord Stormont’s announcement of 8 Sept. to the...
14From John Adams to the President of Congress, 4 December 1781 (Adams Papers)
I have recieved those Instructions, with which I was honoured by Congress on the sixteenth of August, and communicated them forthwith to the French Ambassador to their High Mightinesses, and to the American Ministers at Versailles and Madrid. The Duke de la Vauguyon was of opinion, that they were very well considered, and very well timed, to counteract another Trait of British Policy, in...
15From John Adams to the President of Congress, 13 December 1781 (Adams Papers)
Amsterdam 13 December 1781. RC in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, III, f. 426–429). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 5:43–44. This letter, read in Congress on 15 March 1782 and acted upon on 26 March ( JCC Worthington C. Ford and others, eds., Journals of the...
16From John Adams to the President of Congress, 14 January 1782 (Adams Papers)
Having recieved the Advice of several Gentlemen, Members of the States, and also the Opinion of the Duke de la Vauguyon and the Comte de Vergennes, I went to the Hague on Tuesday the 8th. day of this Month, and the next Morning at ten waited on the President of their High Mightinesses, Mr. Van den Sandheuvel of Dort, a City of Holland, to whom I made a verbal Requisition in the following...
17From John Adams to the President of Congress, 14 December 1781 (Adams Papers)
The first public Body, which has proposed a Connection with the United States, is the quarter of Oostergo, in the Province of Friesland. The Proposition is in these words: “Every impartial Patriot has a long time percieved, that in the direction of affairs relative to this War with England, there has been manifested an inconcievable Lukewarmness and Sloth: but they discover themselves still...
18From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 22, 20 March 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 20 March 1780. RC in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, I, f. 337–338). LbC ( Adams Papers ); notation: “No. 22 delivered Mr. Izard.” printed: Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:561. With this letter, read in Congress on 1 Aug., John Adams sent copies of the London...
19From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 76, 1 June 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 1 June 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 82–85). printed: Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:747–749. In this letter, read in Congress on 15 Sept., John Adams included the text of resolutions adopted on 11 May at a meeting of the citizens of Dublin. The resolutions...
20From John Adams to the President of Congress, 27 June 1781 (Adams Papers)
Major Jackson has been sometime here, in pursuance of Instructions from Colo. Laurens, in order to dispatch the purchase of the Goods, and the shipping of the Goods and Cash for the United States, which are to go by the South Carolina. But when all things appeared to be ready, I recieved a Letter from his Excellency Dr. Franklin informing me, that he feared his funds would not admit of his...
21From John Adams to the President of Congress, 18 January 1781 (Adams Papers)
Amsterdam, 18 January 1781. RC in John Thaxter’s hand PCC , No. 84, III, f. 87–44. printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 4:235–238. Read by Congress on 19 Nov., this letter consisted of English translations of two placards or edicts of the States General dated 12...
22From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 50, 23 April 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 23 April 1780. LbC ( Adams Papers ). Although a note to the Letterbook copy of Adams’letter of 3 May to the president of Congress (No. 58, calendared, below) indicates that this letter was sent and the Journal of Congress shows it to have been received on 19 Feb. 1781 ( JCC Worthington C. Ford and others, eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 , Washington, 1904–1937; 34...
23From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 39, 8 April 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 8 April 1780. RC in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, I, f. 433–435). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:602. In this letter, received by Congress on 19 Feb. 1781, John Adams provided a list of forty-six British naval vessels lost for a variety of reasons...
24From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 40, 10 April 1780 (Adams Papers)
Duplicate The Memoire of the Prince Gallitzin, Envoy Extraordinary of all the Russias to the States General, presented the third of this Month, is of too much Importance to the United States of America, and their Allies, to be omitted to be sent to Congress. It is of the following Tenor. High and Mighty Lords., “The Undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary of her Majesty the Empress of all the...
25From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 86, 17 June 1780 (Adams Papers)
The Writer on the Consequences of American Independence, Subjoins a Comparison between the United States, and the West Indies. He says the Exports from England was in 1771 £ s d To North America 4,586,882: 15: 5 £ To Dominica 170,623: 19: 3 To St Vincents 36,839: 10: 7 To Grenada 123,919:
26From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 15, 8 March 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 8 March 1780.. RC in John Thaxter’s hand ( PCC , No. 84, I, f. 311). LbC ( Adams Papers ); notation in Thaxter’s hand: “March 10th. Delivered the above to Mr Brown of Charlestown S. Carolina.” printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:539. In this letter, read by...
27From John Adams to the President of Congress, 31 May 1781 (Adams Papers)
Amsterdam, 31 May 1781. RC in John Thaxter’s hand PCC , No. 84, III, f. 181–182. printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 4:461. John Adams provided an English translation of a memorial presented to the States General on 28 April by the Danish envoy, Mestral de Saint...
28From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 24, 24 March 1780 (Adams Papers)
Mr. Burke’s Bill not being as yet public, we are not yet informed of the Extent of it. But as it already appears, that it strikes at the Department of Secretary of State for America, at the Board of Trade, there seems to be little Reason to doubt that it goes further and strikes at the American Board of Commissioners, at all the American Judges of Admiralty, Governors of Provinces, Secretaries...
29From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 77, 2 June 1780 (Adams Papers)
Paris, 1 June 1780. RC ( PCC , No. 84, II, f. 90–95). printed : Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , Washington, 1889; 6 vols. , 3:752–758. This letter, read in Congress on 5 Sept., contains John Adams’ analysis of Lord George Germain’s speech of 5 May opposing Gen. Conway’s bill to end the American war,...
War is to a Dutchman the greatest of Evils. Sir Joseph Yorke is so sensible of this, that he keeps alive a continual Fear of it by Memorials after Memorials, each more affronting to any Sovereignty of delicate Notions of Dignity, than the former. By this means he keeps up the Panick and while this Panick continues, I shall certainly have no Success at all. No Man dares engage for me—very few...