John Quincy Adams to William Eustis regarding the treaty of Ghent, Napoleonic wars, and threat of Barbery - American History 1493-1945 - Adam Matthew Digital

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Field name	Value
Collection Reference Number	GLC03626
From Archive Folder	Documents Relating to 1815
Title	John Quincy Adams to William Eustis regarding the treaty of Ghent, Napoleonic wars, and threat of Barbery
Date	31 August 1815
Author	Adams, John Quincy (1767-1848)
Document Type	Correspondence
Content Description	Discusses the Treaty of Ghent, Napoleonic Wars, threat of Barbary pirates, and the new Netherlands constitution. Re: the Napoleonic Wars, Adams writes: "France is a conquest, and as a conquest will be treated."
Subjects	Pirates Netherlands Constitution President War of 1812 Military History France Global History and Civics Napoleonic Wars Treaty Diplomacy Barbary Wars Barbary Coast Barbary Pirates Africa Government and Civics
People	Adams, John Quincy (1767-1848) Eustis, William (1753-1825)
Place written	Ealing, England
Theme	Government & Politics; War of 1812
Sub-collection	The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859
Additional Information	Although often treated as a minor footnote to the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812 was crucial for the United States. It effectively destroyed the eastern Indians' ability to resist American expansion. A coalition of Native Americans was defeated at the Battle of Tippecanoe in Indiana in 1811 and the Creek Indians were defeated in the South by General Andrew Jackson. Abandoned by their British allies, Native Americans reluctantly ceded most lands north of the Ohio River and in southern and western Alabama to the U.S. government. The war greatly strengthened America's position relative to Spain in the South and Southwest. It allowed the United States to solidify control over the lower Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Although the United States did not succeed in conquering Canada or defeating the British empire, it had fought the world's strongest power to a stalemate. Spain recognized the significance of this fact and in 1819 abandoned Florida and agreed to an American boundary running to the Pacific Ocean. The Federalist party never recovered from its opposition to the war. The proposals of the Hartford Convention became public knowledge at the same time as the Treaty of Ghent and the American victory at New Orleans. Euphoria over the war's end led many people to brand the Federalists as traitors. The party never recovered from this stigma. Finally, the war produced profound changes in New England. As a result of the war, New England importing and exporting was in ruins, and wealthy New Englanders reinvested their resources in manufacturing. Further, with its dominant political party discredited, New Englanders found new ways to influence national policy. In the future, New England would engage in far-reaching campaigns of moral reform intended to make its values the nation's values. In this letter, John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), the son of the former president and America's Minister to Britain, discusses the defiance of the terms of the treaty of Ghent by British officers.
Copyright	The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module	Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859
Transcript	Show/hide W. Eustis Esqr Minister Plenipotentiary U.S. The Hague Boston House, Ealing. 31. August 1815. Dear Sir. Your favours of the 25.th instant were left at my Office in London, by Mr Langdon whom I had hoped to have the pleasure of seeing here, where I have taken my Summer, and perhaps my winter residence - It is seven miles out of London, and had the name, by which I date, before I took it. - Mr. Langdon is so much pressed for time, that he cannot at present come out - If he comes back here, I hope to be more fortunate. He does me the favour to take this Letter. The Newspapers give us accounts from France almost every day, and some or our Countrymen are coming from that Country, almost every week - As the allied Sovereigns came to an agreement together, in the distributions at Vienna, I see no reason for doubting that they will agree equally well upon the distributions of the present day - Now probably as then the principal difficulty will be to make up the Russian portion - But as to France the case is plain enough, though there has been some mincing in stating it. France is a conquest and as a conquest will be treated. I am sorely disappointed at the "gratuitous compliment," to the Dey of Algiers - Will it always be our destiny to end with shame, what we begin with glory? - Never was there such an opportunity for putting down those Pirates, as we have had - The work was half-done, and instead of completing it we restore to the reptile the very sting we had extracted from him - And what will the Peace be worth, when he has got back his ships and men? - A snare to the unwary! Mr Changuion has been here, and is gone home - I had not the pleasure of seeing him, but he speaks well of our Country, and of the reception and treatment which he met with there - I see no occasion for us to be more solicitous for a new commercial Treaty with the Netherlands, than their Government - The old Treaty as recognized by both governments will do no harm. I know not that it will do much good- I am surprized to hear that they have no Commerce- though it is evident the policy of their great Ally will be to allow them as little of that as possible. [2] The present price at London, of all our six percent Stocks, the Interest of which is payable in the United States is 90 - The Hague never was and never will be a place of Commerce - And even at Amsterdam you will find great difficulty in disposing of any American securities. The price there always depends upon that of the London market, combined with the course of Exchange - The Exchange between this Country and Holland is about 5 per Cent below par, though an Exchange of paper for specie. Before the Battle of Waterloo it was 20 per cent below par I have received dispatches from our government of 21 July - The horizon between the two Hampshires is yet dark, and what is worse darkening. The British naval commanders, in defiance of the Treaty of Ghent, have carried away from the Untied States all the slaves they had taken -- There was no certainty that Michillimakinac had been restored -- The Agents and Traders were instigating the Indians in the North, and a British officer posted in Florida was doing the same thing with the Creeks -- Our Fishing Vessels had been turned away and warned to twenty leagues from the Coast -- The British Packet had been seized at New York for an attempt to smuggle goods -- At the same time the cabinet here have determined to increase their naval Armaments on the Lakes of Canada -- and the Ministerial Gazettes are marked with strong symptoms of hostility -- The language held here is temperate, and full of conciliatory professions -- But when the affairs of France shall be settled to their satisfaction (which I think will be soon) I expect a change of tone. - It is said they have met with some new difficulties in India, where there is a call for additional troops from Europe - This too I presume will come to nothing - The fleet however is reducing to a Peace Establishment. Mr Everett was good enough to send me a copy of the new Constitution for the Netherlands - Paper Constitutions are something in the United States; but they are something like the Baltimore Schooners, which they say, European sailors cannot manage to navigate. Mr Pederson has just embarked at Liverpool for Philadelphia - He goes out as Minister from his Danish Majesty to the United States. I am, Dear Sir, very faithfully yours John Quincy Adams. [address leaf] His Excellency. W. Eustis. Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America The Hague Mr. Langdon. [docket] J. Q. Adams Aug. 31. 1815

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