From the American Commissioners: Propositions Made to David
Hartley for the Definitive Treaty (unpublished)
Propositions made to Mr. Hartley for the Definitive Treaty.
1st. To omit in the Definitive Treaty the Exception at the End of
the 2d. Article of the Provisional Treaty; Viz: These Words,
“Excepting such Islands as now are or heretofore have been within
the Limits of the said Province of Nova Scotia.”
2dly. The Prisoners made respectively by the arms of his Britannic
Majesty and the United States by Land and by Sea, not already set
at Liberty shall be restored reciprocally and bonâ fide
immediately after the Ratification of the definitive Treaty
without Ransom, and on paying the Debts they may have contracted
during their Captivity. And each Party shall respectively
reimburse the Sums which shall have been advanced for the
Subsistance of the Prisoners by the Sovereign of the Country where
they shall have been detained according to the Receipts and
attested Accounts and other authentic Titles which shall be
produced on each Side.
3dly. His Britannic Majesty shall employ his good offices and
Interposition with the King or Emperor of Morocco or Fez, the
Regences of Algier Tunis and Tripoly, or with any of them, and
also with every other Prince, State or Power of the Coast of
Barbary in Africa and the Subjects of the said King or Emperor,
States and Powers and each of them, in order to provide as fully
and efficaciously as possible for the Benefit, Conveniency and
Safety of the said United States and each of them, their Subjects,
People and Inhabitants, and their Vessels and Effects, against all
Violence, Insult, Attacks or Depredations on the part of the said
Provinces and States of Barbary or their Subjects.
4thly. If War should hereafter arise between Great Britain and the
United States, which God forbid, the Merchants of either Country
then residing in the other shall be allowed to remain Nine months
to collect their Debts and settle their affairs, and my depart
freely, carrying off all of their Effects without Molestation or
Hindrance. And all Fishermen, and Cultivators of the Earth, and
all Artisans and manufacturers unarmed and inhabiting unfortified
Town, Villages and Places who labour for the common Subsistance
and Benefit of Mankind and peacably follow their respective
Employments, shall be allowed to continue the same, and shall not
be molested by the armed Force of the Enemy, in whose Power by the
Events of War they may happen to fall; but if any thing is
necessary to be taken from them for the use of such armed Force,
the same shall be paid for at a reasonable Price. And all
Merchants or Traders with their unarmed Vessels employed in
Commerce, exchanging the Products of different Places and thereby
rendring the Necessary Conveniences and Comforts of Human Life
more easy to obtain and more general, shall be allowed to pass
freely unmolested. And neither of the Powers, Parties to this
Treaty, shall grant or issue any Commission to any private armed
Vessel impowering them to take or destroy such trading Ships, or
intercept such Commerce.
5thly. And in case either of the contracting Parties shall happen
to be engaged in War with any other Nation, it is farther agreed
in order to prevent all the Difficulties and Misunderstandings
that usually arise, respecting Merchandize heretofore called
Contraband, such as Arms, Ammunition and Military Stores of all
Kinds, that no such Articles carrying by the Ships or Subjects of
one of the Parties to the Enemies of the other, shall on any
Account be deemed Contraband, so as to induce Confiscation and a
Loss of Property to Individuals: Nevertheless it shall be lawful
to stop such Ships and detain them for such length of Time as the
Captors may think necessary to prevent the Inconvenience or Damage
that might ensue from their proceeding on their Voyage, paying
however a reasonable Compensation for the Loss such arrest shall
occasion to the Proprietors. And it shall farther be allowed to
use in the Service of the Captors, the whole or any Part of the
military Stores so detained, paying to the owners the full Value
of the same.
6thly. The Citizens and Inhabitants of the said United States or
any of them, may take and hold real Estates in Great Britain
Ireland or any other of his Majesty’s Dominions, and dispose by
Testament, Donation or otherwise of their Property real or
Personal in favour of such Persons, as to them shall seem fit; and
their Heirs, Citizens of the said United States or any of them,
residing in the British Dominions or elsewhere, may succeed them
ab intestato, without being obliged to obtain Letters of
Naturalization.
The Subjects of his Britannic Majesty, shall enjoy on their
Part, in all the Dominions of the said United States an entire and
perfect Reciprocity, relative to the Stipulations contained in the
present Article.
7thly. The Ratifications of the devinitive Treaty shall be
expedited in good and due Form, and exchanged in the Space of Five
Months (or sooner if it can be done) to be computed from the Day
of the Signature. 8thly Query. Whether the King of Great Britain
will admit the Citizens of the United States to cut Log-Wood in
the District alloted to his Majesty by Spain, and on what Terms?