1To John Adams from Matthew Robinson-Morris, 25 April 1786 (Adams Papers)
I am honor’d with your letters both by M r. Partridge and by the post and am proud to observe; that we so much concur in our public and political sentiments. I am particularly pleas’d to agree with you in the reciprocal opinion; that the closest union and connection between our two countries is one of their very first and greatest mutual interests. I do for that and other reasons so...
2Proposed Portuguese-American Treaty of Commerce, 25 April 1786 (Adams Papers)
There were three attempts in the mid-1780s to negotiate a Portuguese-American commercial treaty; all failed, and only the third resulted in a final treaty ready for signature. The first was undertaken by Benjamin Franklin in 1783, and although he submitted a draft treaty to Congress after negotiations with Vicente, Conde de Sousa Coutinho, the Portuguese ambassador to France, the effort came...