John Adams to the President of Congress, 25 May 1781

To the President of Congress

Amsterdam, 25 May 1781. RC PCC, No. 84, III, f. 169–170. printed: Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. description begins The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, ed. Francis Wharton, Washington, D.C., 1889; 6 vols. description ends , 4:435–436.

John Adams provided an English translation of a convention signed at Versailles on 1 May by the Comte de Vergennes and the Dutch ambassador, Lestevenon van Berkenrode, establishing the conditions under which French or Dutch vessels recaptured from the British by privateers or warships of the respective countries would be returned to their owners. It was in Adams’ view “the first Step towards more intimate Connections, between this Republick on one side and France and the United States of America, on the other.”

RC (PCC, No. 84, III, f. 169–170). printed: (Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. description begins The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, ed. Francis Wharton, Washington, D.C., 1889; 6 vols. description ends , 4:435–436.)

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Source Project: Adams Papers
Title: John Adams to the President of Congress, 25 May 1781
Author: Adams, John
Recipients: President of Congress
Huntington, Samuel
Date: 25 May 1781

Reference

Cite as: “John Adams to the President of Congress, 25 May 1781,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-11-02-0248. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 11, January–September 1781, ed. Gregg L. Lint, Richard Alan Ryerson, Anne Decker Cecere, Celeste Walker, Jennifer Shea, and C. James Taylor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003, p. 336.]