This week we look at diplomatic relations between the US and Europe after the Revolutionary War.
The big issue for the United States was trade. Under the colonial system major powers generally only allowed trade between their own colonies and the mother country. This was known as mercantilism. Trade rules were regularly set up to benefit the mother country, who got a monopoly on the raw materials from the colonies and had a monopoly selling finished goods back to them.
When the American colonies had been part of the British system, they were free to trade within that system. As independent states, Britain had largely cut them out of trade. British ships still came to America with goods to sell, but Britain largely blocked or placed heavy tariffs on American exports to Britain. During the years leading up to the Revolutionary War, British merchants, upset by various trade boycotts by the colonies, began finding other sources for raw materials, and were able to operate without American resources. Many officials in London deliberately sought a policy of punishing the US for leaving the British Empire and the numerous trade benefits that went along with it.
New Secretary for Foreign Affairs
The continental Congress had created the office of Secretary for Foreign affairs back in 1780, but did not actually fill the position until more than a year later. Robert Livingston of New York took the job around the same time that the British were surrendering at Yorktown in late 1781. In that role, Livingston found himself to be acting pretty much as a secretary. He was handling correspondence with the peace commissioners in Paris, and trying to keep Congress up to date with what was happening. He didn't really have any role in making foreign policy.
Several members of Congress begged Livingston to stay on. He agreed to remain until May, 1783, but did have to return to New York for a short time to attend to his duties as chancellor. He hung around for a few months after that, leaving the position some time during the summer of 1783.
Despite still being in the middle of negotiations over the final peace treaty, Congress left the position unfilled when Livingston left.. The following year, on receiving word that John Jay was returning from Paris after concluding the peace treaty, Congress appointed him to serve as the new Secretary.
Jay received notification of his appointment two months later, when he returned to America in July 1784. Jay was not particularly interested in the job though. He had private matters to attend to in New York. I also considered running to replace George Clinton as Governor of New York. In the end, the New York legislature appointed Jay as a delegate to the Continental Congress. Jay traveled to Trenton in that capacity. After a couple of months, probably after seeing the mess that Congress had made of the foreign affairs department, Jay finally agreed to serve as Secretary beginning in December, 1784. Jay may have found the position more palatable since Congress moved to his home town of New York City in early 1785.
Jay seemed to spend most of his time working with his clerks to organize the department’s papers, making sure the critical diplomatic correspondence of the peace treaty was organized and preserved.
Jay handled all foreign correspondence on behalf of the government, but with the war over, and efforts to establish treaties in Europe largely stalled, there was not much correspondence. Even Congress itself was doing little. It struggled to gather a quorum most of the time. Congress had appointed John Hancock to return to the presidency in late 1785. Hancock, however, who was suffering various ailments, never left Boston for New York and resigned in the summer of 1786 without ever having left home. Following Hancock's resignation, Nathaniel Gorham took up the office.
European Politics
With the war over, Americans showed little interest in Foreign Affairs, or the Continental Congress for that matter. Parochial state interests were the main focus of anyone who showed interest in government at all.
Americans generally had no interest in European relations. Francis Dana, had served as the American minister to Russia during the war, and returned to Congress in 1784. He wrote to John Adams that he opposed having any American ministers in Europe. They just cost money that America did not have. Dana also feared that foreign countries sending ministers to America would simply get America involved more in the intrigues of Europe. With the war over, Americans like Dana were content to keep the Atlantic Ocean as a great divide and simply ignore the affairs happening an ocean away. Dana was not unique in this outlook. Elbridge Gerry, serving in the Continental Congress at the time, wrote Adams with similar sentiments.
Adams personally recognized the importance of foreign policy. He had originally planned to return home after the treaty of Paris had been finalized. Recognizing that this was a longer term appointment, Adams finally convinced his wife Abigail and his daughter Nabby to join him and his two sons in Europe.
Abigail leased out all their properties in Massachusetts, leaving her home in the care of a woman named Phoebe Aldee. Phoebe had been a slave of Abigail’s father, William Smith. When William died in 1783, Phoebe was freed in his will. She had recently married a free man named William Aldee. Abigail trusted her home to the newlywed couple. In the summer of 1784, Abigail and Nabby, along with two servants and a cow, set sail for London.
Upon her arrival, Abigail learned that John was still in the Hague, trying to manage some financial matters. She wrote to him to announce her arrival. Adams had to remain in the Hague for a short time, but sent their son, John Quincy Adams, to meet them. A couple of weeks later, John also arrived, but then took the whole family to Paris to deal with other diplomatic matters.
Benjamin Franklin was still in Paris, as was Thomas Jefferson, who was expected to replace Franklin as Minister to France at some point when Franklin returned home.
While Americans seem to have lost interest in foreign affairs, Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson remained busy. One big issue for them was managing debt. All of those desperate loans taken during the war had to be repaid. France, dealing with its own war debts, was pushing hard for repayment of the loans it had made to America. Since neither France nor any other European power had any continuing interest in underwriting the government in America, the only place that could continue to provide loans was private bankers in the Netherlands. Adams and the others were essentially taking out more loans to pay interest on the old loans. If America failed to make its payments, then it would be impossible to get any additional loans and the whole thing would collapse.
Barbary Pirates
Another diplomatic issue developed with the Barbary states. During the Revolutionary War, American shipping had the tacit protection of the French Navy. Barbary states left American shipping alone. When the war ended, American vessels no longer had any protection. For centuries, these north African states had made a living by capturing and ransoming foreign shipping. Most European powers had established agreements that would protect their own shipping in exchange for an annual payment to these states or threat of retaliation by their navies. The US, however, had no such deal and no such navy.
In October 1784, Moroccan ships seized the Betsey, an American merchant ship. It took several months with news to arrive that the ship and crew was being held for ransom. Spain, which had a good relationship with Morocco, was able to negotiate the release crew. But with that came a message that the Americans should send an envoy to Morocco with presents for the Emperor, otherwise, future crews would be treated more harshly.
Jefferson sent an envoy to Morocco. The problem was that the US had no navy, having sold off its ships at the end of the war. It could not threaten Morocco. Further the cash-strapped Americans could not afford to pay the annual tribute demanded by the Moroccan Emperor.
While negotiations were ongoing, the situation got worse when neighboring Algeria captured two American schooners, the Maria and the Dauphin in the summer of 1785. Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli were semi-independent provinces affiliated with the Ottoman Empire. Along with Morocco, these provinces made a living by capturing ships for ransom, or collecting tribute from countries that wanted their shipping left alone.
Barbary negotiators demanded a total of about $2.6 million in order to return the ships and establish a treaty with the US. The American negotiators had received authorization from Congress to spend up to $40,000 to come to an acceptable peace with these groups.
While negotiations continued, the crews of the captured ships were enslaved and placed on starvation diets. The American negotiators had to use part of the $40,000 allocation just to provide food for the enslaved crews.
Most American shipping avoided the region. Insurance rates made it nearly impossible. Pirates captured several more ships off the coast of Portugal.
After more than a year of negotiations, in 1786, the US was able to establish a treaty with Morocco, but not the three other provinces. The American sailors would remain in slavery for more than a decade.
Jefferson and Adams met personally with the Tripoli Ambassador to London, Sidi Haji Abdrahaman. The minister was unapologetic for the attacks on American shipping. Citing the Koran, the minister argued that all unbelievers in the prophet Muhammud were subject to capture and enslavement. The only way for the attacks to end would be the payment of ransom and tribute that the Americans did not have.
Adams and the Court of St. James
Negotiations with the Barbary provinces were ongoing while the American diplomats in Europe struggled to secure other treaties. Adams managed to secure trade agreements with Prussia and Sweden. Those countries, however, had little economic impact. Trade with France was somewhat open, in part thanks to the work of Lafayette, but again not providing much in the way of economic opportunity for American traders.
Everyone knew that trade with Britain was the key to a return of the successful trade that existed before the war. Britain had debated granting the US a broader trading status in hopes of restoring a closer relationship with its former colonies. But a large portion of the British government wanted to exclude the US from trade, as a way of teaching the Americans that independence came with a price. While British merchant ships happily sold goods to the Americans, the American merchant ships were largely blocked from entering British ports.
There were other issues that continued to separate Britain and the US. The British army still occupied outposts in the Northwest Territory, in violation of the Treaty of Paris. Americans also still complained of the slaves the British removed from the continent, also in violation of the peace treaty. In response, Britain complained that the treaty also promised reimbursement to Tories who had their property confiscated. That was not happening either.
America had to establish an ambassador to Britain to negotiate these and other matters. The question was, who would be the ambassador. Adams wanted the role, but he had his detractors in Congress. One of the leading detractors was our old friend Arthur Lee, who had been a long time critic of any foreign ambassador who was not himself. Adams also had enemies on the other side of the political spectrum because of his conflicts with Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane. Many delegates also feared that Adams’ anti-slavery sentiments would prevent him from negotiating the return of stolen slaves.
Adams did not help his case by sending a letter to then Secretary Livingston, outlining his qualifications for the job. Opponents saw this as vanity and a man who was too full of himself to represent the US. British officials would just play on his vanity and prevent him from promoting US interests effectively.
In the end, Congressional debate focused on Adams and John Rutledge of South Carolina. Rutledge had served as Governor of South Carolina during much of the war, and had served again in the Continental Congress before returning to take a position as head of the South Carolina Court of Chancery. Rutledge was the favorite among southern delegates. Other states somewhat skeptical of New Englanders, or Adams personally made the race a difficult one.
During these ongoing debates, a third choice arose. Robert Livingston, the former Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and current Chancellor of New York came under consideration. Livingston from New York got support from the middle states.
Despite some personal dislike of Adams and distrust of New Englanders, Adams’ years of experience in Europe convinced a majority of delegates to support him. John Jay, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs had worked alongside Adams in the final peace treaty negotiations, and supported him. In the final vote, nine states supported the motion to send Adams to the Court of St. James in London.
Having received word of his appointment, Adams prepared to move his family from Paris to London. His son, John Quincy, returned to America to take up studies at Harvard. The rest of the family crossed the Channel in May 1785.
On June 1, days after his arrival, Adams presented his credentials to King George III. The meeting could have been an awkward one. After all, Adams had spent the previous decade calling the king a tyrant, while the king saw this colonial upstart as a traitor who likely would have been hanged for his actions under other circumstances.
That said, both men were focused on improving relations between their two countries. Adams expressed a “desire to cultivate the most friendly and liberal Intercourse between your Majesty’s Subjects and their Citizens.” The king responded:
I was the last to consent to the Separation, but the Separation having been made and having become inevitable, I have always said, as I say now, that I would be the first to meet the Friendship of the United States as an independent Power. . . let the Circumstances of Language; Religion and Blood have their natural and full Effect.
After the formal comments, the king chatted up Adams, commenting that even though he had spent quite some time in France, that he was a big fan of the French. Adams simply responded that he had no attachment but to my own country. The king replied, “An Honest man will never have any other.”
The next day, Adams was in court again, along with all the other ambassadors, to celebrate the king’s birthday. Once again, Adams and the king struck up a conversation and seemed to get along well.
Despite hitting it off well with the king, Adams had to wait weeks before gaining an audience with the British Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Lord Carmarthen. Congress had instructed Adams to press the government on issues of trade, the return of slaves, and the removal of British forces from the Northwest Territory
When he finally got the meeting, Adams made the argument to Lord Carmarthen that opening British ports to US trade would allow American merchants to get the money required to repay British merchants for prewar debts. So would the repayment of property stolen by the British army. Allowing the Americans to move into the Northwest Territory would also improve the US economy. If Britain wanted its debts repaid, the US would have to be allowed to make some money.
Carmarthen listened politely to Adams’ concerns and asked that they be put in writing. But the British minister was noncommittal and refused to put forward any possible resolution to these issues.
With little movement on diplomatic issues, the Adamses settled into a rented house on Grosvenor Square in London. Across the street lived former Prime Minister, Lord North. Two men who sought the destruction of each other for so many years, now found themselves to be neighbors. The Adamses hired a domestic staff and received visitors regularly. The following summer, Jefferson visited Adams in London. It was during this time the two men met with the Tripoli Ambassador, as I discussed earlier. Adams also spent much of his time visiting the English countryside and visiting historic sites.
While Adams’ time in Britain was a pleasant one for him and his family, he never reached any resolution with the British government over the issues that separated the two countries. Britain and the United States could not establish a treaty on trade issues. The issues over reimbursements for the patriot’s slaves or for Tory property would never be resolved to anyone’s satisfaction.
Adams spent three years in London, patiently working on these issues to no avail. Finally, in 1788, after the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia increased his desire to return home and get more involved in domestic politics, Adams departed London left for home.
Next Week, we return to the southern US as officials make treaties with the Cherokee and begin westward movement.
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Next Episode 339 Hopewell Treaties
Previous Episode 337 Mount Vernon Conference
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Further Reading
Websites
BATTISTINI, ROBERT. “Glimpses of the Other before Orientalism: The Muslim World in Early American Periodicals, 1785—1800.” Early American Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, 2010, pp. 446–74. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23546653
ROJAS, MARTHA ELENA. “‘Insults Unpunished’: Barbary Captives, American Slaves, and the Negotiation of Liberty.” Early American Studies, vol. 1, no. 2, 2003, pp. 159–86. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23546474
Treaty with Morocco June 28 and July 15, 1786 https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/bar1786t.asp
“To John Jay from John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, 28 March 1786,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jay/01-04-02-0147
John Adams - Audience with King George III, 1785: https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/eyewitness/html.php?section=19
Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless noted)
“Jefferson American Minister in France” Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 30, Iss. 180, Oct. 1872.
Varg, Paul A. Foreign Policies of the Founding Fathers, East Lansing: MSU Press, 1963.
Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*
Abrams, Jeanne E. A View from Abroad: The Story of John and Abigail Adams in Europe, NYU Press, 2021.
Graebner, Norman A., Richard Dean Burns, & Joseph M. Siracusa Foreign Affairs and the Founding Fathers: From Confederation to Constitution, 1776–1787, Praeger, 2011.
Kilmeade, Brian and Don Yaeger Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History, Sentinel, 2015.
Lambert, Frank The Barbary Wars: American independence in the Atlantic World, Hill and Wang, 2005.
McCullough, David John Adams, Simon & Schuster, 2001.
Montross, Lynn The Reluctant Rebels, Harper & Brothers, 1950.
Morris, Richard B. The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence, Harper & Row, 1965 (borrow on Archive.org).
Smith, Page John Adams, Vol. 2, Doubleday & Co. 1962.
* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
