133

John Trumbull (1756-1843).

Letter concerning the resolution of Jay's Treaty, written as secretary to John Jay.

London, 13 December 1794
One page, 9¼ x 7¼ inches; mailing folds, losses at all four corners, minor dampstaining.

  • Notes: When the United States needed to negotiate a trade treaty with Great Britain in 1794, they sent the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Jay to London, accompanied by the most renowned painter of the Revolution John Trumbull (1756-1843) as his secretary. The federal government was a bit smaller then. One of the central issues was compensation for almost 300 American merchant ships which had been seized by the British navy. The resulting "Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation" or simply "Jay's Treaty" was signed on 19 November 1794, and went to the Senate for approval.

    This letter was addressed a few weeks later by Jay's secretary Trumbull to Samuel Bayard (1767-1840), an American claims agent in London: "It is impossible to soon have made out the proper receipts for such a mass of papers as are in Mr. Jay's possession relative to captures &c &c, yet I have selected a considerable number, which I am ready to deliver to you, whenever you shall have leisure to compare them with, and sign the proper receipt." 
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