Papers of John Adams, volume 18
Agreably to your Lordships request expressed to one of Us in Conversation, and again communicated to Us through Mr Fraser, We have drawn up the enclosed Project of a Treaty of Commerce, which We do ourselves the Honour to propose to the Consideration of his Majestys Ministers.1
We have the Honour to be My lord / your Lordships most obedient and / most humble servants
Th: Jefferson
st.2
The Subjects of His Britannic Majesty may frequent all the Coasts and Countries Bay’s, Harbours, Creeks, Rivers and Ports of the United States of America, and reside and trade there, in all Sorts of Produce, Manufactures, and Merchandize, and Shall pay within the said United States, no other or greater Duties, Charges, or fees whatsoever than the natural born Citizens of the United States themselves are or shall be obliged to pay; and they shall enjoy all the Rights, Priviledges, and Exemptions in trade Navigation and Commerce which the natural born Citizens of the said United States do or shall enjoy.
d.
In like manner, the Citizens of the United States of America may frequent all the Coasts and Countries, Bay’s, Harbours, Creeks, Rivers and Ports of His Britannic Majesty, and reside and trade 230 there in all Sorts of Produce Manufactures and Merchandize, and shall pay in the Dominions of His said Majesty no other or greater duties, Charges, or Fees whatsoever than the natural born Subjects of Great Britain are or shall be obliged to pay; and they shall enjoy all the Rights, Priviledges and Exemptions in Trade, navigation and Commerce which the natural born Subjects of Great Britain do or shall enjoy—saving nevertheless to the Chartered Companies, trading to the East Indies and to Hudson’s Bay their rights—
d.
More especially each Party shall have a right to carry all kinds of Produce Manufactures and Merchandize of whatever Place they may be the growth, or Manufacture, in their own Vessells navigated by their own or any other seamen to any Parts of the Dominions of the other, where it shall be lawfull for all Persons freely to purchase them, and thence to take Produce, Manufactures and Merchandize, of whatever place or Growth, which all Persons shall in like manner be free to sell them, paying in both Cases such Duties, Charges and Fees, only as are or shall be paid by the natural-born subjects of Great Britain, in the Dominions of His Britannic Majesty, and the natural born Citizens of the said United States within their Dominions. Nevertheless each Party reserves to itself the right to prohibit in their respective Countries the Exportation or Importation of any Species of Goods or Commodities whatsoever. in this Case the Subjects or Citizens of either of the contracting Parties shall not import or export the Merchandize prohibited by the other. But if one of the Contracting Parties permits any Person of their own or any other Nation to import or export the same Merchandize—the Citizens or Subjects of the other shall immediately enjoy the same Liberty—
th.
The Contracting Parties grant to each other the Liberty of having each in the Ports of the other Consuls, Vice-Consuls, Agents and Commissaries of their own appointment— But if any such Consuls shall exercise Commerce they shall be submitted to the same Laws and usages to which the private Individuals of their Nation are Submitted in the same Place—
His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America agree that this Treaty shall be in force during years from the 231 Exchange of Ratifications— And that this treaty shall be ratified on both sides and the Ratifications exchanged within one year from the Day of its signature
RC in JA’s hand and enclosure in WSS’s hand (PRO:FO 4, State Papers, vol. 4, f. 163–170); internal address: “The Right Honourable / The Marquis of Carmarthen / His Britannic Majestys / Principal Secretary of State / [fo]r foreign Affairs”; endorsed: “Grosvenor Square Apr. 4: / 1786. / Mr. Adams & Mr. Jefferson.”; notation: “Copy with the Project / [se]nt to Mr. Pitt.”; notation on enclosure: “Project.” LbC (Adams Papers); APM Reel 112. Some loss of text due to a tight binding.
With JA’s 13 March letter to Carmarthen, above, the commissioners began their effort to obtain a response from the British government to JA’s 29 July 1785 submission of a draft Anglo-American commercial treaty (vol. 17:280–282). With this letter and its enclosure they were responding to William Fraser’s 3 April 1786 letter to JA (Adams Papers). Fraser, Carmarthen’s undersecretary, wrote that because the previous draft “was not confined to Commercial Matters only,” Carmarthen wished to receive from the commissioners a “Project of a Treaty of Commerce containing only such Points as are necessary for that Purpose.” The fact that one day later JA and Thomas Jefferson responded to Carmarthen’s request by lifting five articles from the 29 July 1785 draft and then departed on a tour of English gardens likely indicates their belief that the new draft was no more likely to receive a substantive response than the original one, and in this they were correct. For the commissioners’ report on their efforts, see their 25 April 1786 letter to John Jay, below.
This article and the following four articles correspond to Arts. 2, 3, 4, 25, and 27 of the draft submitted by JA in July 1785 (vol. 17:223–236). It should be noted, however, that the conditions for trade in Arts. 1–3 in this draft are based on the reciprocal rights accruing to “natural born” citizens or subjects of the two countries rather than the most favored nation as was the case with the 1785 draft.