answer to a letter we received from Mr Oswald on the same subject
contains our unanimous sentiments respecting it, we take the liberty
of referring you to the enclosed copy of that answer.
We have the honor to be, &c.
JOHN ADAMS,
B. FRANKLIN,
JOHN JAY.
* * * * *
_Third Set of Articles._
_Monday, November 25th, 1782._ The three Commissioners, Adams,
Franklin, and Jay, met at Mr Oswald's lodgings at the _Hotel de
Muscovie_, and after some conferences Mr Oswald delivered them the
following Articles, as fresh proposals of the British Ministry, sent
by Mr Strachey, viz;
Articles agreed upon by and between Richard Oswald, the Commissioner
of his Britannic Majesty, for treating of peace with the Commissioners
of the United States of America, in behalf of his said Majesty, on the
one part, and John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, three of
the Commissioners of the said States, for treating of peace with the
Commissioner of his said Majesty, on their behalf on the other part,
to be inserted in, and to constitute the treaty of peace, proposed to
be concluded between the Crown of Great Britain and the said United
States, but which treaty is not to be concluded, until the terms of a
peace shall be agreed upon between Great Britain and France, and his
Britannic Majesty shall be ready to conclude such treaty accordingly.
Whereas reciprocal advantages and mutual convenience are found by
experience to form the only permanent foundation of peace and
friendship between States, it is agreed to form the Articles of the
proposed treaty on such principles of liberal equity and reciprocity,
as that partial advantages, (those seeds of discord,) being excluded,
such a beneficial and satisfactory intercourse between the two
countries may be established, as to promise and secure to both
perpetual peace and harmony.
ARTICLE I. His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States,
viz, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia, to be free, sovereign and independent States, that he treats
with them as such, and for himself, his heirs and successors,
relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial
rights of the same, and every part thereof; and, that all disputes
which might arise in future on the subject of the boundaries of the
said United States may be prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared,
that the following are and shall be their boundaries, viz;
ARTICLE II. From the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz; that angle
which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of St Croix
river to the highlands, along the said highlands, which divide those
rivers that empty themselves into the river St Lawrence from those
which fall into the Atlantic ocean, to the northwesternmost head of
Connecticut river, thence down along the middle of that river to the
45th degree of north latitude; from thence by a line due west on said
latitude until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataroquy; thence
along the middle of said river into Lake Ontario, through the middle
of said Lake until it strikes the communication by water between that
Lake and Lake Erie; thence along the middle of said communication,
into Lake Erie, through the middle of said Lake, until it arrives at
the water communication between that Lake and Lake Huron; thence along
the middle of said water communication into Lake Huron; thence through
the middle of the said Lake, to the water communication between that
Lake and Lake Superior; thence through Lake Superior, northward of the
Isles Royal and Philippeaux to the Long Lake; thence through the
middle of said Long Lake, and the water communication between it and
the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods; thence through
the said Lake to the most northwestern point thereof; and from thence
on a due western course to the river Mississippi, thence by a line to
be drawn along the middle of the said river Mississippi until it shall
intersect the northernmost part of the 31st degree of north latitude.
South by a line to be drawn due east from the determination of the
line last mentioned, in the latitude of 31 degrees north of the
equator to the middle of the river Apalachicola, or Catahouchi; thence
along the middle thereof to its junction with the Flint river, thence
straight to the head of St Mary's river; and thence down along the
middle of St Mary's river to the Atlantic ocean. East by a line to be
drawn along the middle of the river St Croix, from its mouth in the
Bay of Fundy to its source; and from its source directly north, to the
aforesaid highlands, which divide the rivers that fall into the
Atlantic ocean from those which fall into the river St Lawrence;
comprehending all Islands within twenty leagues of any part of the
shores of the United States, and lying between lines to be drawn due
east from the point where the aforesaid boundaries between Nova Scotia
on the one part, and East Florida on the other shall respectively
touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic ocean; excepting such Islands
as now are, or heretofore have been, within the limits of the said
Province of Nova Scotia.
ARTICLE III. The citizens of the said United States shall have _the
liberty_ of taking fish of every kind on all the banks of
Newfoundland, and also in the Gulf of St Lawrence; and also to dry and
cure their fish on the shores of the Isle of Sables and on the shores
of any of the unsettled bays, harbors and creeks of the Magdalen
Islands, in the Gulf of St Lawrence, so long as such bays, harbors and
creeks shall continue and remain unsettled; on condition that the
citizens of the said United States do not exercise the fishery, but at
the distance of three leagues from all the coast belonging to Great
Britain, as well those of the continent as those of the islands
situated in the Gulf of St Lawrence. And as to what relates to the
fishery on the coast of the Island of Cape Breton out of the said
gulf, the citizens of the said United States shall not be permitted to
exercise the said fishery, but at the distance of fifteen leagues from
the coasts of the Island of Cape Breton.
ARTICLE IV. It is agreed, that the British creditors shall meet with
no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value, in sterling
money, of such _bona fide_ debts as were contracted by any persons
who are citizens of the United States, before the year 1775.
ARTICLE V. It is agreed, that restitution shall be made of all
estates, rights and properties in America, which have been confiscated
during the war.
ARTICLE VI. There shall be a full and entire amnesty of all acts and
offences, which have been or may be supposed to have been committed on
either side, by reason of the war, and in the course thereof; and no
one shall hereafter suffer in life or person, or be deprived of his
property, for the part he may have taken therein. All persons in
confinement on that account, shall immediately on the ratification of
the treaty in America, be set at liberty; all prosecutions which may
be depending in consequence of any of the said offences, shall cease,
and no fresh prosecutions shall at any time hereafter be commenced
thereupon.
ARTICLE VII. There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between his
Britannic Majesty and the said States, and between the subjects of the
one, and the citizens of the other; wherefore all hostilities both by
sea and land shall then immediately cease; all prisoners on both sides
shall be set at liberty; and his Britannic Majesty shall with all
convenient speed and without causing any destruction, withdraw all his
armies, garrisons and fleets from the said United States, and from
every port, place and harbor within the same, leaving in all
fortifications the American artillery that may be therein. And shall
also order and cause all archives, records and papers, belonging to
any of the said States or their citizens, which in the course of the
war may have fallen into the hands of his officers, to be forthwith
restored and delivered to the proper States and persons to whom they
belong.
ARTICLE VIII. The navigation of the Mississippi, from its source to
the ocean, shall forever remain free and open to the subjects of Great
Britain and citizens of the United States.
SEPARATE ARTICLE. It is hereby understood and agreed, that in case
Great Britain, at the end of the present war, shall be, or be put in
possession of West Florida, the line of north boundary between the
said province and the United States, shall be a line drawn from the
mouth of the river Yazoo, where it unites with the river Mississippi,
due east to the river Apalachicola.
* * * * *
ARTICLE PROPOSED AND READ TO THE COMMISSIONERS, BEFORE
SIGNING THE PRELIMINARY ARTICLES.[13]
It is agreed, that his Britannic Majesty will earnestly recommend it
to his Parliament to provide for and make a compensation to the
merchants and shopkeepers of Boston, whose goods and merchandise were
seized and taken out of their stores, warehouses and shops, by order
of General Gage and others of his commanders and officers there; and
also to the inhabitants of Philadelphia, for the goods taken away by
his army there; and to make compensation, also, for the tobacco, rice,
indigo, and negroes, &c. seized and carried off by his armies under
Generals Arnold, Cornwallis, and others, from the States of Virginia,
North and South Carolina, and Georgia, and also for all vessels and
cargoes, belonging to the inhabitants of the said United States, which
were stopped, seized, or taken, either in the ports, or on the seas,
by his Governors, or by his ships of war, before the declaration of
war against the said States.
And it is farther agreed, that his Britannic Majesty will also
earnestly recommend it to his Parliament to make compensation for all
the towns, villages, and farms, burnt and destroyed by his troops, or
adherents, in the said United States.
FACTS.
There existed a free commerce, upon mutual faith, between Great
Britain and America. The merchants of the former credited the
merchants and planters of the latter, with great quantities of goods,
on the common expectation, that the merchants, having sold the goods,
would make the accustomed remittances; that the planters would do the
same by the labor of their negroes, and the produce of that labor,
tobacco, rice, indigo, &c.
England, before the goods were sold in America, sends an armed force,
seizes those goods in the stores; some even in the ships that brought
them, and carries them off; seizes, also, and carries off the tobacco,
rice, and indigo, provided by the planters to make returns, and even
the negroes, from whose labor they might hope to raise other produce
for that purpose.
Britain now demands that the debts shall, nevertheless, be paid.
Will she, can she, justly, refuse making compensation for such
seizures?
If a draper, who had sold a piece of linen to a neighbor on credit,
should follow him, take the linen from him by force, and then send a
bailiff to arrest him for the debt, would any court of law or equity
award the payment of the debt, without ordering a restitution of the
cloth?
Will not the debtors in America cry out, that, if this compensation be
not made, they were betrayed by the pretended credit, and are now
doubly ruined; first, by the enemy, and then by the negotiators at
Paris, the goods and negroes sold them being taken from them, with all
they had besides, and they are now to be obliged to pay for what they
have been robbed of?
FOOTNOTE:
[13] This _Article_, and the _Facts_ which follow, were drawn up by Dr
Franklin, and intended to be insisted on, in case the British
Commissioners persevered in their demands respecting the fisheries.
See _Franklin's Correspondence_, Vol. IV. p. 50.
* * * * *
TO M. DE LAFAYETTE,
Paris, November 28th, 1782.
Sir,
We have received the letter you did us the honor to write on the 25th
instant.
Our country has had early and repeated proofs both of your readiness
and abilities to do her service. The prospect of an inactive campaign
in America induced us to adopt the opinion, that you might be more
useful here than there; especially, in case the negotiation for peace,
on the part of France in England, should be committed to your
management; for your knowledge of our affairs and attachment to our
interest, might have been very advantageous to us on such an occasion.
But as an opportunity now offers of your being instrumental in
producing a co-operation, which would, probably, put a glorious and
speedy termination to the war in America, we, for our part, perfectly
approve of your going with Count d'Estaing, in the manner proposed.
We have the honor to be, &c. &c.
JOHN ADAMS,
B. FRANKLIN,
JOHN JAY.
* * * * *
PROVISIONAL ARTICLES OF PEACE.
Articles agreed upon by and between Richard Oswald, Esq. the
Commissioner of his Britannic Majesty for treating of peace with the
Commissioners of the United States of America, in behalf of his said
Majesty on the one part, and John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay,
and Henry Laurens, four of the Commissioners of the said States for
treating of peace with the Commissioner of his said Majesty, on their
behalf, on the other part; to be inserted in, and to constitute the
treaty of peace, proposed to be concluded between the Crown of Great
Britain and the said United States. But which treaty is not to be
concluded, until terms of peace shall be agreed upon between Great
Britain and France, and his Britannic Majesty shall be ready to
conclude such treaty accordingly.
Whereas reciprocal advantages and mutual convenience are found by
experience to form the only permanent foundation of peace and
friendship between States, it is agreed to form the articles of the
proposed treaty on such principles of liberal equity and reciprocity,
as that partial advantages (those seeds of discord) being excluded,
such a beneficial and satisfactory intercourse between the two
countries may be established, as to promise and secure to both
perpetual peace and harmony.
ARTICLE I. His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States,
viz. New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia, to be free, sovereign, and independent States; that he treats
with them as such; and, for himself, his heirs and successors,
relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial
rights of the same, and every part thereof; and that all disputes,
which might arise in future on the subject of the boundaries of the
said United States, may be prevented, it is hereby agreed and
declared, that the following are and shall be their boundaries, viz.
ARTICLE II. From the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz. that angle,
which is formed by a line drawn due north, from the source of St Croix
river to the highlands, along the highlands which divide those rivers
that empty themselves into the river St Lawrence from those which fall
into the Atlantic ocean, to the northwesternmost head of Connecticut
river; thence down along the middle of that river to the 45th degree
of north latitude; from thence by a line due west on said latitude,
until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataroquy; thence along the
middle of said river into Lake Ontario; through the middle of said
Lake until it strikes the communication by water, between that Lake
and Lake Erie; thence along the middle of said communication into Lake
Erie; through the middle of said Lake until it arrives at the water
communication between that Lake and Lake Huron, thence along the
middle of said water communication into the Lake Huron; thence through
the middle of said Lake, to the water communication between that Lake
and Lake Superior; thence through Lake Superior, northward of the
Isles Royal and Philippeaux to the Long Lake; thence through the
middle of said Long Lake and the water communication between it and
the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods; thence through
the said Lake, to the most northwestern point thereof; and from thence
on a due west course to the river Mississippi; thence by a line to be
drawn along the middle of the said river Mississippi until it shall
intersect the northernmost part of the 31st degree of north latitude;
south by a line to be drawn due east from the determination of the
line last mentioned in the latitude of 31st degree north of the
equator, to the middle of the river Apalachicola or Catahouchi, thence
along the middle thereof, to its junction with the Flint river, thence
straight to the head of St Mary's river, to the Atlantic ocean. East
by a line to be drawn along the middle of the river St Croix, from its
mouth in the Bay of Fundy to its source; and from its source directly
north to the aforesaid highlands, which divide the rivers that fall
into the Atlantic ocean from those which fall into the river St
Lawrence; comprehending all islands within twenty leagues of any part
of the shores of the United States; and lying between lines to be
drawn due east, from the points where the aforesaid boundaries,
between Nova Scotia on the one part, and East Florida on the other,
shall respectively touch the Bay of Fundy, and the Atlantic ocean;
excepting such islands as now are or heretofore have been within the
limits of the said Province of Nova Scotia.
ARTICLE III. It is agreed, that the people of the United States shall
continue to enjoy unmolested the right to take fish of every kind, on
the Grand Bank, and on all the other banks of Newfoundland; also in
the Gulf of St Lawrence, and at all other places in the sea, where the
inhabitants of both countries used at any time heretofore to fish. And
also that the inhabitants of the United States shall have liberty to
take fish of every kind on such part of the coast of Newfoundland, as
British fishermen shall use, (but not to dry or cure the same on that
island) and also on the coasts, bays and creeks of all other of his
Britannic Majesty's dominion in America. And that the American
fishermen shall have liberty to dry and cure fish, in any of the
unsettled bays, harbors and creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen islands,
and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled; but so soon
as the same or either of them shall be settled, it shall not be lawful
for the said fishermen to dry or cure fish at such settlement, without
a previous agreement for that purpose, with the inhabitants,
proprietors, or possessors of the ground.
ARTICLE IV. It is agreed, that creditors on either side shall meet
with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value, in
sterling money, of all _bona fide_ debts, heretofore contracted.
ARTICLE V. It is agreed, that the Congress shall earnestly recommend
it to the Legislatures of the respective States, to provide for the
restitution of all estates, rights, and properties, which have been
confiscated, belonging to real British subjects, and also of the
estates, rights, and properties of persons resident in districts in
the possession of his Majesty's arms, and who have not borne arms
against the said United States; and that persons of any other
description shall have free liberty to go to any part or parts of any
of the Thirteen United States, and therein to remain twelve months
unmolested in their endeavors to obtain the restitution of such of
their estates, rights, and properties, as may have been confiscated.
And that Congress shall also earnestly recommend to the several
States, a reconsideration and revision of all acts or laws regarding
the premises, so as to render the said laws or acts perfectly
consistent, not only with justice and equity, but with that spirit of
conciliation, which on the return of the blessings of peace should
universally prevail. And that Congress shall also earnestly recommend
to the several States, that the estates, rights, and properties, of
such last mentioned persons shall be restored to them, they refunding
to any persons who may be now in possession, the _bona fide_ price
(where any has been given) which such persons may have paid on
purchasing any of the said lands, rights, and properties, since the
confiscation. And it is agreed, that all persons who have any interest
in confiscated lands, either by debts, marriage settlements, or
otherwise, shall meet with no lawful impediment in the prosecution of
their just rights.
ARTICLE VI. That there shall be no future confiscations made, nor any
prosecutions commenced against any person or persons, for or by reason
of the part which he or they may have taken in the present war, and
that no person shall on that account suffer any future loss or
damage, either in his person, liberty, or property, and that those
who may be in confinement on such charges at the time of the
ratification of the treaty in America, shall be immediately set at
liberty, and the prosecutions so commenced be discontinued.
ARTICLE VII. There shall be a firm and perpetual peace, between his
Britannic Majesty and the said States, and between the subjects of the
one and the citizens of the other, wherefore all hostilities, both by
sea and land, shall then immediately cease. All prisoners on both
sides shall be set at liberty; and his Britannic Majesty shall, with
all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction, or carrying
away any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants,
withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets, from the said United
States, and from every port, place, and harbor, within the same,
leaving in all fortifications the American artillery that may be
therein. And shall also order and cause all archives, records, deeds,
and papers belonging to any of the said States, or their citizens,
which in the course of the war may have fallen into the hands of his
officers, to be forthwith restored and delivered to the proper States
and persons to whom they belong.
ARTICLE VIII. The navigation of the Mississippi river, from its source
to the ocean, shall forever remain free and open to the subjects of
Great Britain and the citizens of the United States.
ARTICLE IX. In case it should so happen, that any place or territory,
belonging to Great Britain or the United States, should be conquered
by the arms of either from the other, before the arrival of these
Articles in America, it is agreed, that the same shall be restored
without difficulty, and without requiring any compensation.
Done at Paris, the thirtieth day of November, in the year one thousand
seven hundred and eightytwo.
RICHARD OSWALD,
JOHN ADAMS,
B. FRANKLIN,
JOHN JAY,
HENRY LAURENS.
Witness, CALEB WHITEFOORD,
_Secretary to the British Commission_.
W. T. FRANKLIN,
_Secretary to the American Commission_.
SEPARATE ARTICLE. It is hereby understood and agreed, that in case
Great Britain, at the conclusion of the present war, shall recover or
be put in possession of West Florida; the line of north boundary
between the said Province and the United States, shall be a line drawn
from the mouth of the river Yazoo, where it unites with the
Mississippi, due east, to the river Apalachicola.
Done at Paris, the thirtieth day of November, in the year one thousand
seven hundred and eightytwo.
RICHARD OSWALD,
JOHN ADAMS,
B. FRANKLIN,
JOHN JAY,
HENRY LAURENS.
Attest, CALEB WHITEFOORD,
_Secretary to the British Commission_.
W. T. FRANKLIN,
_Secretary to the American Commission_.
* * * * *
TO FRANCIS DANA AT PETERSBURG.
Paris, December 12th, 1782.
Sir,
We have the honor to congratulate you on the signature of the
preliminary treaty of peace, between his Britannic Majesty and the
United States of America, to be inserted in the definitive treaty when
France and Britain shall have agreed upon their terms. The articles,
of which we do ourselves the honor to enclose you a copy, were
completed on the 30th of last month.