The defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown demonstrated the inability of England to conquer America. Throughout the war, George III, with characteristic perseverance, had clung resolutely to the purpose of overcoming the rebellious colonists, and when this last disaster came, he still spoke of continuing the contest. But the opposition in Parliament gained force daily, and it soon became evident, even to the obdurate monarch, that he must give way.
At the end of 1781, England saw herself surrounded and beset by enemies; Spain, France, and Holland were arrayed in arms against her; no ally on the Continent gave her encouragement or assistance; her colonies were gone; disasters in various parts of the world seemed to bring both ignominy and defeat. The assaults on the ministry were repeated at intervals throughout the winter, and on March 20, 1782, Lord North announced his resignation. He had many times before asked the king to relieve him from office, but he had retained his position because of the solicitation of his sovereign. With him disappeared all purpose of conquering America and all hope of maintaining in its impurity the personal and arbitrary government of George III.*
The king was so overcome with chagrin that he actually threatened to flee to Hanover. The royal yacht was said to be in readiness to carry the royal suite across the channel. He assured North that his sentiments of honor would not permit him to send for any of the party of the opposition and personally treat with them; but he soon took heart, and, though he insultingly refused to negotiate with Rockingham except through a mediator, he was ultimately compelled to accept that minister as the head of a new cabinet. Rockingham had been persistently the friend of the Americans. The Whigs whom he represented are said even to have called the American army "our army" and to have rejoiced at American successes. George III. hated them with a virile hatred. Lord North is said to have jokingly remarked that the Whigs had accused him in the past of issuing false bulletins, but that he never issued one so false as that in which his successors announced their accession to office, each paragraph of which began with the words, "His majesty has been pleased to appoint."
Besides Rockingham, who was prime-minister and without whose influence a ministry could not have been formed, Lord Shelbume and Charles James Fox entered the cabinet; the former took the home and colonial departments; Fox, the brilliant debater, the ardent friend of America, was made secretary of state for foreign affairs. It was plain that peace must soon come on the basis of independence for the rebellious colonies; in fact, Rockingham had refused to take office on any other basis. The cabinet, however, was made up of diverse elements, was confronted with intricate problems, and was soon distracted by internal dissension. Fox and Shelbume were incompatible in temperament. Fox was frank, outspoken, and head strong. Shelbume had the reputation of being insincere and fond of following devious paths to a goal that lay straight before him. False or not, he was a man of ideas and of broad statesmanship, and it is a matter of no small importance for America that there now came into commanding position a man who could look a big question in the face.
There were various grounds of dissension between the two secretaries, each of whom was suspicious of the other. Among other difficulties arose the question as to the method of treating with America. If the commissioners from the United States were to be considered representatives of a free country, negotiations would naturally be conducted by Fox. If, on the other hand, the states were to be granted their independence only as a result of the treaty, the business naturally fell in Shelburne's department. Fox contended that by a minute adopted on May 23 the cabinet had practically recognized American independence; but to this construction Shelbume could not agree. Fox also felt that the colonial secretary was not acting frankly in the conduct of certain negotiations which Mr. Oswald was carrying on quite informally with Dr. Franklin at Paris. The end came soon. Rockingham, who for some time past had been in ill health, died July 1, 1782; Fox immediately resigned and Shelburne was made prime minister.
The American Congress had long since made preparations for peace. At first John Adams received appointment as sole commissioner. But Adams was intractable and blunt, and succeeded in getting into difficulties with Vergennes in Paris. The French minister to America, whose business it was to look out for his master's interests, secured the appointment of four additional commissioners — Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson at first declined to serve, and, though he accepted a second appointment, he did not, in fact, leave America. Laurens, having been captured by the British in crossing the ocean, was, at the time of his appointment, a prisoner in London, and after his release was unable to take a prominent part in the negotiations for peace. Adams, in the summer of 1782, was busy at The Hague, where he at last succeeded in making a treaty with the Netherlands, winning for himself, to his infinite delight, the title of the "Washington of Negotiations." He, too, was not ready in the spring to take part in the discussions that were beginning at Paris between Franklin and the English representative, Oswald.
Jay had for some time been in Spain, following the Spanish court about and seeking with such humility as he possessed to secure for his country an acknowledgment of independence and the grant of a few much needed piasters. His experiences had been irritating in the extreme, and when Franklin summoned him to Paris in the spring of 1782 he shook the Spanish dust from willing feet and passed over the Pyrenees to the pleasanter task of negotiating for peace with men that were willing to treat him with respect and consideration. A good deal of American history is contained in Franklin's message asking Jay to come to his aid in France. "Spain has taken four years to consider whether she should treat with us or not," said he. "Give her forty, and let us in the meantime mind our own business."
The burden of the early negotiations fell, therefore, on the shoulders of Franklin and of his young colleague. Franklin was then one of the most famous men in Europe. He was versed in the methods of diplomacy, for his earlier experiences in England as colonial agent may well be called diplomatic, and during his stay in Paris, which was the center of continental interest, he had taken many a lesson. He was naturally shrewd, discerning, and sagacious. He had become wonted to French society, which he doubtless found agreeable. He was a firm believer in Vergennes's fairness of purpose, and he was not ready or not willing to suspect foul play or insidious intrigue. Jay was then thirty-six years of age, but he had already played a conspicuous role in politics. He was proud-spirited, sensitive, and bold. His life in Spain had not been conducive to peace of mind, and even before he left that country he had gathered some serious doubts as to the good faith and friendly purpose of the French ministry. He did not fit easily into the life of Paris, but retained an enthusiastic patriotism and loyalty to America and American ways. "They" (the French), he said at one time, "are not a moral people; they know not what it is." His firmness, energy, and sagacity admirably supplemented the calm, complacent temper of the more experienced diplomat.
The situation in the spring of 1782 was complicated. The revolt of the American colonies had brought in its train a great European war. France, seeking revenge for the disasters of twenty years before, had made war on England, and had finally succeeded in bringing the elusive court of Spain to take a like step (1779). Holland also had joined the allies. The countries of the north and east were joined in the so-called "Armed Neutrality," which was unfriendly in spirit to Great Britain.* For some time France had been bearing the burden of the American war, if, in fact, one could longer call it American; she was at the head of a great alliance against which England with accustomed bravery was fighting sturdily and well. Vergennes, looking out upon the field, had more than one fear that the combination he had arranged with infinite patience and cunning would go to pieces before his eyes, and that France would have little for her pains except ruined finances and the qualified friendship of independent America. The United States was weak, and congressional councils were distracted by rival factions. Spain was eager only for her own gain, and could not be relied on to be either steadfast or considerate. She had entered the war, not for any abstract policy of state, but to win substantial accessions of territory. "The Spanish," said the French minister Montmorin, "like little children, are to be attracted only by shining objects."
Anxious that America should not leave France in the lurch by making an independent treaty with England, the French representative in America induced Congress to instruct the commissioners for peace "to make the most candid and confidential communications upon all subjects to the ministers of our generous ally, the king of France; to undertake nothing in the negotiations for peace or truce without their knowledge and concurrence; and ultimately to govern yourselves by their advice and opinion." These were somewhat humiliating directions; but of course America was bound in honor not to make a separate treaty or to leave France to fight her way to peace as best she might. When Spain entered the war, by the secret treaty with France of April, 1779, it was agreed that one purpose of the war should be certain additions to Spanish territory, and notably the conquest of Gibraltar. Inasmuch as the purpose of the alliance between America and France had been declared to be the independence of the United States, it is plain that France and Spain, without the knowledge of America, had entered into an agreement which might prolong the war for purely European purposes entirely foreign to American interests or desires. We may doubt, therefore, the wisdom and policy of these instructions from Congress, although the United States was bound by every dictate of honor and good conscience not to abandon France on trivial grounds or for selfish ends.
In the spring of 1782, before Jay came to Paris, and while Fox was still in the cabinet, informal negotiations began between Franklin and Oswald, and by this means certain commimications were submitted to Shelbume. Franklin dwelt on the desirability of reconciliation, "a sweet word," and suggested that "reparation" might be voluntarily made by England to those who had suffered peculiarly in the war by the burning of homes and villages. "Nothing would have a greater tendency to conciliate. And much of the future commerce and returning intercourse between the two countries may depend on the reconciliation." With refreshing courage, as if representing a conquering nation, he mildly suggested that England should of her own accord give up Canada. Oswald was in turn told by Shelburne that reparation would not be heard of, and that he was to "make early and strict conditions, not only to secure all debts whatever due to British subjects, but likewise to restore the Loyalists to a full enjoyment of their rights and privileges." "No independence," he was informed, was "to be acknowledged without their being taken care of." He was also told that England must hold as far as the Penobscot River. These instructions formed the core of the British demands, and we thus see at the beginning the subjects that were to be discussed at greatest length and that constituted the most serious obstacles to final agreement: the debts of British merchants; compensation to the loyalists; the northern and eastern boundary. Later there was added to these subjects of controversy the right of the Americans to make use of the Newfoundland fisheries.
Oswald was at last fully commissioned to treat for peace. He was a Scotch merchant, not a trained diplomatist. Owing to his possession of estates in America and his connections with that country, he had been at times consulted by the government during the war. Like Shelburne he was a disciple of Adam Smith, and a man of liberal principles. He was of a mild, temperate, and friendly disposition, but scarcely a match in wits for the talented American commissioners with whom he came into competition.
The first difficulty arose concerning the sufficiency of Oswald's commission. He was authorized to treat with the commissioners of "Colonies or plantations," and to conclude with "any person or persons whatsoever, a peace or truce with the said Colonies or plantations." To Jay, whom sombre experiences in Spain had perhaps made unusually sensitive, such a commission seemed entirely unsuitable, and he flatly refused to treat seriously with Oswald on any such basis. The states had long since ceased to be colonies or plantations, he asserted, and until England was ready to negotiate with the United States he would go no further. Franklin, on the other hand, thought that the commission was satisfactory enough.
Vergennes agreed with Franklin, and by advising the Americans to proceed with the negotiations, to content themselves with the substance and not make too much ado about the shadow, he aroused Jay's suspicions. Jay believed that Vergennes did not desire the independence of America until all possible use had been made of her, and that in the end American interests would be sacrificed to Spain. In this mood he went so far as to explain to Oswald that it was good policy for England to render America independent of France, and that a new commission recognizing the states as independent would have the desired effect. Franklin finally consented to accept Jay's theory and demand a new commission before beginning formal negotiations for peace.
At this juncture there fell into Jay's hands a copy of a letter written by M. Marbois, a secretary of the French legation in America, to Vergennes. The writer commented on the work of Samuel Adams in raising a strong opposition to any treaty which did not assure to the states the right to the Newfoundland fisheries, and the letter disclosed a very critical, not to say unfriendly, tone toward the United States. Thus for various reasons Jay became convinced that France was willing, if not anxious, not only to keep America from obtaining a share of the fisheries, but to limit the extension of the territory in the west, and that Vergennes was desirous of propitiating the Spaniards at America's expense. The dearest object of Spain, as Jay well knew, was to shut off the Americans from the Gulf of Mexico, and to make it almost a closed sea washing the shores of her colonies, which she kept in commercial as well as political subjection to herself. To this end the states must be kept back from the Mississippi and, if possible, confined to the region east of the summits of the Appalachian Mountains.
M. Rayneval, one of Vergennes's secretaries, approached Jay on the subject of the boundaries, saying that as the Americans had no inherent right to the western country they were overbold in claiming it all. A few days after this conference he sent to the American commissioner a memoir urging a compromise of the conflicting claims of Spain and the United States, and marking off a proposed limit which would deprive the Americans of nearly the whole of the Mississippi Valley. The land south of the Ohio was to be divided into two parts, over the eastern portion of which the United States was to have some sort of control, inasmuch as the Indians inhabiting it were to be under the protection of the United States. Even this portion, however, did not reach to the Mississippi, and the navigation of at least the lower part of the river was evidently to be denied to the American settlers in the west. As to the fate of land north of the Ohio, Spain, the memoir conceded, could have nothing to say. From Rayneval's communication Jay concluded that the French court "would, at a peace, oppose our extension to the Mississippi" and our claim to a free navigation of the river; that she would probably support the British claim to all the country above the thirty-first degree of latitude, and certainly to all the country north of the Ohio; and that in case we should not agree to divide with Spain in the manner proposed, France would aid Spain in obtaining the territory she desired and would agree that the residue should be left to England.
Concerning the right to navigate the Mississippi and the title to the western country there had been much discussion in Congress; but in the final instructions the commissioners were not ordered to insist on title to the west or a right to use the river. The American negotiators knew well, however, that Congress desired the land beyond the motmtains, and Jay may have had some suspicion that Congress had retreated from its earlier position because of the efforts of the French representatives in America. He was determined, at any rate, that France should not sacrifice the interests of the states to satisfy the hungry maw of Spain.
While matters were in this condition Jay learned that Rayneval, while pretending to go to the country, had secretly departed for London, and he made up his mind that the object of the expedition was to influence Lord Shelbume against America, to discover whether the English would agree to divide the fisheries with France to the exclusion of all others, and to impress upon the English minister Spain's determination "to possess the exclusive navigation of the Gulf of Mexico," and to keep the states from the Mississippi. Promptly and with admirable daring, Jay cast aside all scruples concerning his instructions. Without consulting Franklin, not to say the ministers "of our generous ally, the king of France," he prevailed on Benjamin Vaughan, an Englishman and a friend of Franklin, to go to England and show the ministry that it was "the obvious interest of Britain immediately to cut the cords" which tied America to France. The commissioners, Jay said, were determined faithfully to fulfil all engagements of the treaty with the French court, but to be bound by the French construction of their engagements was quite another thing. Vaughan was also urged to make further representations for counteracting the machinations of Rayneval, and to impress on Shelburne the policy of "taking a decided and manly part respecting America."
Without needing to use much persuasion, Vaughan secured the issue of a new commission, authorizing Oswald to treat with representatives of the United States of America. Before the end of September it was brought to Oswald, and negotiations could now commence in earnest. Jay was unwilling to acquaint Vergennes with the course of their proceedings, and Franklin finally, with some reluctance, agreed to break his instructions and to go on without reference to the wishes of France. There is an old story, which may not be true, but which is as good as if it were, because it discloses a real situation, that one day when Franklin and Jay were sitting together Franklin asked, "Would you break your instructions?" "As I break this pipe," said Jay, and he threw the fragments into the fire.