Report on Treaty and Convention with the Netherlands, [23 January] 1783

Report on Treaty and Convention with
the Netherlands

MS (NA: PCC, No. 19, I, 29–32). In JM’s hand, except as mentioned in n. 16. Docketed by JM, “Report of the Committe[e] on the letter of the 8th. of Ocr. 17[82] from Mr. Adams with the copi[es] of Treaty & Convention accompan[y]ing the same.” Below this docket, Charles Thomson added: “Mr. Madison Mr. Hamilton Mr. Elsworth Passed Jany 23d, 1783.”

[23 January 1783]

The Committee consisting of Mr. Madison Mr. Hamilton & Mr. Elseworth to whom were referred the letter of the 8th. of Ocr. 1782 from the Minister Plenipo: at the Hague with copies of a Treaty of Amity & Commerce, and of a convention concerning vessels recaptured,1 Report, That on a comparison of the former with the instructions given to the said Minister Plenipo: on that subject,2 they find that no variations have taken place which affect the substance of the plan proposed by Congress. Those which the Committee have thought most worthy of being remarked to Congress are

1st. the clause in Art: 4. which imposes some degree of restraint on the exercise of religious worship:3

2dly the clause in Art: 5 which restrains the protection to be afforded by Ships of war of one party to vessels of the other party, to cases in which they shall have a common enemy:4

3dly. the tenor of Art: 6. which seems more cautiously5 to exclude any claims by Citizens or subjects of one of the parties, to the privilege of holding real estates within the jurisdiction of the other party:6

4thly. the clause in Art: 10. which provides that no examination of papers shall be demandable in cases of vessels convoyed by Ships of war of either of the parties; but that credence shall be given to the word of the officer conducting the convoy.7

5thly. the clause in Art: 12. which extends from 2 to 6 months the period after a declared war between one of the parties & another nation, within which effects of the other party on board the vessels of such nation shall be exempt from confiscation:8

6thly. the clause in Art: 18th. which extends from 6 to 9 months and in some contingences still farther, the period after a rupture between the parties themselves, which shall be allowed to their Citizens & subjects respectively to retire with their effects:9

Art: 22d. which confines the reservation in favor of the Treaty between his M. C. M. & the U. S. to the 9, 10, 17, & 22d: Articles thereof; which reservation will be in like manner confined with respect to his C. M. in case of his accession to the said Treaty.10

On the whole the Committee are of opinion that the Treaty ought to be immediately & fully accepted & ratified, & accordingly report an Act for that purpose

With respect to the Convention entered into by the said Minister concerning vessels recaptured, the Committee are of opinion that although no express authority has been delegated by Congress on that subject, at least if the said Convention is to remain in force after the termination of the present war, yet that the same is adapted to the mutual advantage of the parties, and ought also to be forthwith ratified;11 an Act for which purpose the[y] accordingly add to their report

Acts of Ratification

The United States of America in Congress Assembled to all who shall see these presents, Greeting.

Whereas by our Commission dated at Philada. the day of John Adams12 formerly a Delegate from Mass: & &c. was nominated and constituted our Minister with full powers on the part of the U. S. of America, to concert & conclude with persons equally empowered on the part of their High Mightinesses the States Genl. of the United Netherlands, a Treaty of Amity & Commerce, having for its basis the most perfect equality and for its object the mutual advantage of the parties; we promising in good faith to ratify whatever should be transacted by virtue of the said commission: And Whereas our said Minister in pursuance of his full powers, at the Hague on the 8th. day of Octobr. 1782, with Geo. Van Randwyk &c &c plenipotentiaries13 named for that purpose on the part of their High Mightinesses the States Genrl. of the U. Netherlands did conclude & sign on the part of their said high Mightinesses &c. and of the U. S. of America a Treaty of Amity & Commerce in the words following, to wit.

insert the Treaty14

Now Be it Known that we the said U. S. of America in Congress Assembled have accepted & approved, & do by these presents ratify & confirm the said Treaty, and every Article & clause thereof; and we do authorise & direct our Minister Plenipo: at the Hague to deliver this our act of ratification in exchange for the ratification of the said Treaty by their H.M. the States Genl. of the U. Netherlands

Done in Congress at Philada. & &c.

In testimony whereof &c.15

Whereas J Adams our Minister Py at the Hague on the 8th. day of Octr 1782,16 with George Van Randwyck &c &c17 Ministers Plenipo: of the Lords the States Genl. of the United Netherlands, did conclude & sign on the part of the said Lords &c. the States Genl of the Ud Netherlands and of the U.S. of A. a convention concerning vessels recaptured in the words following to wit,

insert the convention18

Now Be it known that we the said U.S. of A. in Congress assemb[led] have accepted & approved & do by these presents ratify & confirm the same; and do authorise & direct the Minister Plenipo: of the U.S. at the Hague, to deliver this our Act of Ratification in exchange for the Ratification of the said Convention by the Lords the States Genl. of the U. Netherlands.

Done in Congress &c &c

In Testimony whereof, &c &c.

X19

The Committee further report & recommend the following Proclamation

By the U.S. in Congress Assembled

A Proclamation

Whereas in pursuance of a Plentipotentiary Commission given on the 29 day of Decr. 1780 to John Adams Esqr. a Treaty of Amity & commerce between their High Mightinesses the States Genl. of the U. Netherlands & and t[he] U. States of Amer: was on the 8th. day of Ocr. 1782 by the said J.A. concluded with Plentipotentiaries named for that purpose by their s[aid] High Mightinesses the States Genl. of the United Netherlands, & Wher[eas] the said Treaty hath been this day approved & ratified by the U.S. in Congress Assembled, as the same is contained in the words following to wit20

insert the Treaty from the American Column only

And Whereas a Convention concerning Vessels recaptured was at the place & on the day abovemend. concluded by the said Minister Plenipo: on the part of these U.S. with the said Plenipotentiaries on the part of the said Lords the States General of the United Netherlands; and the same hath been this day approved & ratified by the U.S. in Congress Assembled, as it is contained in the words following, to wit21

insert the Convention from the American Column only

Now therefore to the end that the said Treaty & Convention may with all good faith be performed & observed on the part of these U. States All the Citizens & inhabitants thereof, and more especially all Captains & other officers & seamen belonging to any Vessels of war of these U.S. or any of them, or of any private armed vessels commissioned by Congress, are hereby enjoined & required to govern themselves strictly in all things according to the stipulations above recited, And it is

Done in Congress &c.

In Testimony whereof &c.22

1. For the reference of John Adams’ dispatch and enclosures to the committee, see JM Notes, 21 Jan. 1783, and nn. 2, 3.

2. For “the instructions” of 29 December 1780 as modified on 16 August 1781, see JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XVIII, 1206–17; XXI, 877–80; Papers of Madison description begins William T. Hutchinson, William M. E. Rachal, et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison (6 vols. to date; Chicago, 1962——). description ends , IV, 391–92; 394, n. 24; 410–11; 412, n. 9. For the treaty and convention, see JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXIV, 68–82.

3. Article IV guaranteed “entire and perfect liberty of conscience” to “the subjects and inhabitants of each party,” provided that all of them submit “as to the public demonstration of it, to the laws of the country” (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXIV, 69). Article IV of Adams’ instructions called for “full and entire liberty to worship in their own way, without any kind of molestation” (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XVIII, 1208). For Adams’ comment on Article IV of the treaty, see Wharton, Revol. Dipl. Corr description begins Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States (6 vols.; Washington, 1889). description ends ., V, 805.

4. JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXIV, 70. In Article V of the instructions, the expression “in cases when they may have a common enemy” is “omitted,” and in its stead appears “upon all occasions” (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XVIII, 1208).

5. JM interlineated “more cautiously” above a canceled “more explicitly.”

6. The words “real estates” do not appear in Article VI of either the instructions or the treaty. The matter in question concerned the degree of liberty to be accorded to a citizen or subject of one of the countries to dispose of property owned by him in the other country during his lifetime, or by bequests in his will, or by his heirs or executors after his death. In the instructions, the types of property are particularized as “effects, merchandise, money, debts or goods, moveable or immoveable.” In the treaty, the word “effects” alone appears (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XVIII, 1209; XXIV, 70–71). Although, as used in law, the word “effects” does not include realty, thus sustaining JM in a position he had assumed but which Congress had refused to endorse, the committee viewed the word “cautiously,” because the “extreme incorrectness” of the English version of the treaty warranted doubt whether the Dutch word had been translated accurately (Papers of Madison description begins William T. Hutchinson, William M. E. Rachal, et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison (6 vols. to date; Chicago, 1962——). description ends , IV, 410–11; 412, n. 9; JM Notes, 23 Jan. 1783). The treaty also contained stipulations, not found in the instructions, concerning the scope of the freedom with which “guardians, tutors, or curators” could dispose of “effects” bequeathed to minors. For Adams’ comment on Article VI of the treaty, see Wharton, Revol. Dipl. Corr description begins Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States (6 vols.; Washington, 1889). description ends ., V, 804.

7. In the instructions there was no exception under which, in time of war, an “examination of papers” could not be demanded (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XVIII, 1211–12; XXIV, 71–72).

8. This tripling of the period in which immunity from confiscation was guaranteed probably reflected the concern of the Dutch over their trade in the distant East Indies. See JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XVIII, 1213–14; XXIV, 72–73.

9. Although a six-months’ limit had been stipulated in the seventeenth article of the instructions, “Art: 18th” of the treaty extended this limit to nine months. The “contingences still farther” allowed a ship “the time necessary” to complete its voyage and prohibited capture “if the declaration of war was not or could not be known in the last port” which the vessel had entered (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XVIII, 1215; XXIV, 74–75).

10. Taken in sequence, the “9, 10, 17, & 22d: Articles” of the treaty between France and the United States excluded the citizens or subjects of the one country from sharing the inshore fisheries of the other country; excluded the “citizens and inhabitants” of the United States from sharing in “the right” of the French to fish on the “banks of Newfoundland” and “part of the coast of that island,” and in the inshore fisheries of St. Pierre and Miquelon; forbade the United States or any state thereof to levy export duties on French merchandise shipped from them—this guarantee in “compensation of the exemption” from export duties on molasses carried by citizens of the United States from the French West Indies; and stipulated that, in the event of war between France and the United States, neither country for six months after the beginning of hostilities would molest “merchants” of the one country living in the other or prevent them from “selling and transporting their goods and merchandises” (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XI, 427–28, 433, 435–36).

“Art: 22d” of the treaty between the Netherlands and the United States stipulated that nothing in the treaty should “be understood in any manner to derogate from” the four articles summarized above or from similar articles in a treaty which might be concluded between the United States and his Catholic Majesty King Charles III of Spain (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXIV, 75–76). For Adams’ comment upon Article XXII of the treaty with the Netherlands, see Wharton, Revol. Dipl. Corr description begins Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States (6 vols.; Washington, 1889). description ends ., V, 805. See also JM Notes, 29 Jan. 1783, n. 3.

11. For the text of the “Convention between the Lords the States General of the United Netherlands and the United States of America, concerning vessels recaptured,” see JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXIV, 80–82. This agreement established “some uniform principles” with regard to prizes captured by the warships of each nation and to “vessels of the subjects of either party, captured by the enemy and re-captured by vessels of war commissioned by either party.” Congress had authorized Adams as minister to the Netherlands to conclude “such treaty, conventions and agreements as he shall judge conformable to the ends we have in view.” Congress later directed him to propose a Franco-Dutch-American alliance “limited in its duration to, the present war” (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XVIII, 1205; XXI, 877). Adams evidently believed that this limitation did not also apply to conventions.

12. The date of John Adams’ commission was 29 December 1780 (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XVIII, 1205).

13. The States-General of the Netherlands required that a treaty to which it was a party be signed by two “deputies” for Holland and one deputy for each of the other six provinces. Although George Van Randwyck and the other seven Dutch signatories are named in JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXIV, 67, the spelling of their names does not agree in every instance with that in [David] Hunter Miller, ed., Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America (8 vols.; Washington, 1931–48), II, 95. See also JM Notes, 23 Jan. 1783, n. 2.

14. Following “Treaty,” “from the American Column only” is canceled. Although the journal of Congress reproduces those documents only as rendered in English, Hunter Miller prints the treaty and the convention in parallel columns of Dutch and English (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXIV, 68–78, 80–82; Treaties, II, 59–95). For the agitation in Congress respecting the “extreme incorrectness” of the “American” version and the final decision that the matter be “dropped,” see JM Notes, 23 Jan.; 29 Jan. 1783.

15. The treaty was ratified on 27 December 1782 by “their High Mightinesses, the States General of the United Netherlands” and on 23 January 1783 by “The United States in Congress Assembled.” See JM Notes, 29 Jan. 1783, n. 2. The absence from Philadelphia of Robert R. Livingston, secretary for foreign affairs, explains why he delayed signing the treaty until shortly after his return on 11 February 1783 (Burnett, Letters description begins Edmund C. Burnett, ed., Letters of Members of the Continental Congress (8 vols.; Washington, 1921–36). description ends , VII, 43, n. 3). The ratifications were exchanged at The Hague on 23 June 1783 (Wharton, Revol. Dipl. Corr description begins Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States (6 vols.; Washington, 1889). description ends ., VI, 502). See also Papers of Madison description begins William T. Hutchinson, William M. E. Rachal, et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison (6 vols. to date; Chicago, 1962——). description ends , V, 296, n. 2. For the words following “In testimony whereof,” see JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXIV, 66.

16. Following “Whereas,” JM originally wrote “the said J Adams &c.” After canceling “the said” and “&c.,” someone other than JM interlineated above “Adams” “our Minister Py at the Hague.” Following “on the,” JM’s “day & at the place aforesaid” was deleted and replaced by “8th. day of Octr 1782,” interlineated in an unknown hand (NA: PCC, No. 19, I, 31).

17. JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXIV, 67.

18. Following “convention,” “from the American Column only” is canceled. See n. 14.

19. For the words following “In Testimony whereof,” see JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXIV, 67.

20. For slight changes in phraseology, word arrangement, and punctuation of this preamble as printed in the official journal, see JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXIV, 67–68.

21. The same comment as in n. 20 applies to this preamble. See JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXIV, 80.

22. The words “And it is” and “In Testimony whereof &c,” are omitted in the printed journal. The “&c” following “Done in Congress” is replaced in the journal by “this twenty-third day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, and of our sovereignty and independence the seventh” (JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXIV, 82). Congress thereby authorized Elias Boudinot, the president, to issue a proclamation calling for an observance of the provisions of the treaty and convention five months before their ratification by the two countries was exchanged. See n. 15, above; Delegates to Harrison, 28 Jan. 1783; JCC description begins Worthington Chauncey Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, 1904–37). description ends , XXV, 983.

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Source Project: Madison Papers
Title: Report on Treaty and Convention with the Netherlands, [23 January] 1783
Author: Madison, James
Date: 23 January 1783

Reference

Cite as: “Report on Treaty and Convention with the Netherlands, [23 January] 1783,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-06-02-0030. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, vol. 6, 1 January 1783 – 30 April 1783, ed. William T. Hutchinson and William M. E. Rachal. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1969, pp. 56–62.]