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JQ Adams Superb Content Treaty of Ghent Talks, "Our negotiation is spinning out..."
JQ Adams Superb Content Treaty of Ghent Talks, "Our negotiation is spinning out..."
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John Quincy Adams
Ghent, Belgium, November 6, 1814
JQ Adams Superb Content Treaty of Ghent Talks, "Our negotiation is spinning out..."
ALS
An autograph letter signed by John Quincy Adams in which he exposes the British negotiation strategy during the peace talks at Ghent. 1p, measuring 7.75" x 9.75", Ghent, dated November 6, 1814. Signed "John Quincy Adams" and addressed to His Excellency William H. Crawford. Adams reveals the British strategy during ongoing negotiations, and writes of the American willingness to craft a draft treaty. He pointedly says that the delegations had to make progress or the treaty would fall through, and he hopes that the victory at Plattsburgh will result in the treaty being finalized. With flattened folds and minor additional creasing. Bold and clear signature. Overall very fine.

Reading in full:
"Mr. Gallatin and myself have received your favor of 25th ulto. and I have also to acknowledge that of the 26th addressed separately to me. We shall reply jointly to the former, but that Gentleman thinks there is no occasion for immediate urgency on the subject, and I rely upon his judgment.
Our negotiation is spinning out and unless our Government brings it to a close, will be a mere Chancery Suit. Last Monday we received a note eluding for the second time our request for an exchange of Projets [treaty drafts]. They talk of etiquette and of the advantage of receiving the first projet, instead of giving it. We shall therefore send them the first projet. But what are we to expect from Plenipotentiaries, who are obliged to send to their Privy Council for objections of etiquette and questions who shall give or receive the first draft?

I thought they were waiting partly for the issue of the campaign in America. But success and defeat there produces the same result upon them. The instant they knew of their achievements at Washington and Penobscot, they shifted their ground; rose in their demands, and proposed the basis of uti possidetis [each side keeps what it has taken]. When they heard of their defeats at Baltimore and on Lake Champlain, it became indispensable to wipe off the disgrace upon their arms, and to prosecute the War upon a larger scale. It is from Vienna, and not from America that the balance of Peace or War will preponderate.

I heartily share in all your exultation at our late success [at Plattsburgh], and in all your wishes for the future. If I am lagging in the rear of some of your hopes it is from a sluggishness in the anticipation of good, for which I have no reason to thank the character of my imagination. Certainly what you foresee is more probable than what has actually happened - May all your hopes be realized! We have received a Passport for the Transit. The Chauncey sailed on the 1st inst."

In early 1814, the British offered direct peace talks to be held at Ghent in Belgium to bring an end to the War of 1812. The U.S. accepted that offer, and appointed John Quincy Adams, the country's most experienced diplomat, as head of the American negotiating team. The four men who served with him were carefully selected by President Madison to reflect the varieties of political sentiment in the United States. First among them was Henry Clay, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and a noted War Hawk. Albert Gallatin had served as Secretary of the Treasury for both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. James Bayard was a U.S. Senator belonging to the Federalist Party who had been an opponent of the war, and was one of the 13 Senators to vote against declaring it. And lastly, Jonathan Russell was acting U.S. ambassador to Britain when war was declared. Sent to Ghent as a negotiator, Russell was also serving as ambassador to Sweden and Norway and proved instrumental in achieving the final peace terms.

William H. Crawford was U.S. ambassador to France during the negotiations, and was responsible for superintending the American consuls in Europe and keeping them informed of developments. More than that, he was an advisor to the President on the happenings on the Continent. As Ambassador to the Court of one of the two major adversaries in the conflicts in Europe, he was also actively involved in the Ghent negotiation process, advising the negotiators and responding to their confidential communiqués. He would later serve as Secretary of War and Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Madison and Monroe.

Negotiations did not get underway until August 8, 1814. At the opening session the British demanded that the land which made up Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin, the larger part of Indiana, and about one third of Ohio, should be set apart for the Native Americans, to constitute a sort of Native sovereignty under British guaranty, and to serve as a "buffer" against American expansion. They demanded also that the United States should relinquish the right of keeping any armed vessels on the Great Lakes; and, in addition to all this, they asked for the cession of a piece of Maine, and for the right of navigating the Mississippi. Collectively, these terms effectively meant the surrender of American independence and was a painful shock to the U.S. envoys. They promptly rejected the conditions, and the American public was so widely outraged when Madison published the demands that even the Federalists were against conceding.

With Napoleon's abdication in April 1814, Britain was able to dispatch a sizable number of Wellington's veterans to fight in North America. These were primarily battle-hardened veterans of the Peninsular War, and what followed was the most formidable British invasion of the War of 1812. The British, under General George Provost, arrived at Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain with an army of 11,000. A British naval squadron under Captain George Downie sailed into battle against a smaller American naval force under Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough, who was waiting at Plattsburgh Bay. Shortly after the battle began, Downie was killed, and after several hours of fighting and against all odds, the British surrendered. Provost called off the land battle and the British retreated to Canada. When news reached Ghent and Paris in late October, the Americans were overjoyed; Crawford was euphoric, while Adams was hopeful but remained a somewhat skeptical. The American victory would result in forcing the British to lower their demands and accept as a basis for peace the U.S. position of status quo antebellum, or "the state of affairs before the war".

Little progress was made in negotiations through October, and as November opened there was still no comprehensive draft treaty covering all the war's issues. The Americans wished each party to make a draft and then make an exchange. But the British saw an advantage in forcing the Americans to act first, and also claimed that it was a matter of etiquette and refused to prepare a draft. The U.S. delegation considered the strategy to be petty and inappropriate, but decided to create the draft themselves. On November 10, 1814, the American draft for a comprehensive treaty was presented to the British, in what would be the first draft treaty of Ghent.

Soon after this letter was written, the British accepted the American's position of status quo antebellum and negotiations became productive. The Treaty of Ghent was officially signed on December 24, 1814, with the U.S. giving up its designs on Canada and Britain relinquished the idea of creating a "buffer state". Their withdrawal of support marked the death of the Native American efforts to fight against encroachment onto their lands; they were the true losers in the war. The way to the American west was now open.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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    Dimensions:
  • 7.75" x 9.75"
    • Artist Name:
  • John Quincy Adams
    • Medium:
  • ALS

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