John Jay’s Draft of a Patent, 15 August 1782
John Jay’s Draft of a Patent
[15 August 1782]1
George the Third &c.—to Richard Oswald Esqr: &c. Greeting. Whereas by a certain act &ca. (here insert enabling Act)
And Whereas in pursuance of the true Intent & meaning of the said act, and to remove all Doubts & Jealousies which might otherwise retard the Execution of the same we did on the______Day of last, instruct Sir Guy Carlton, &ca., our General &ca., To make known to the People of the said Colonies in Congress assembled, our royal Disposition & Intention to recognize the said Colonies as Independent States, and as such to enter with them into such Treaties of peace amity and Commerce2 as might be honorable and convenient to both Countries.3
And Whereas further in pursuance of the said act we did on the Day of authorize and commission You the said Richd. Oswald (here insert Commission)4
Now Therefore to the End that a period may be put to the Calamities of War, and peace Commerce and mutual Intercourse ^may be^ the more speedily restored We do hereby, agreable to our royal Word, for ourselves and our Successors, recognize the said Thirteen Colonies as free & independent States.5 And it is our will & pleasure that You for ^do^ forthwith proceed to treat with the Commissioner or Commissioners already appointed or to be appointed for that purpose by the Congress of the said States (and with him or them only) of & concerning the Objects of your said Commission, which we do hereby confirm; and that this Declaration be considered by You as a preliminary Article to the proposed Treaty & be in substance or in the whole inserted therein, or incorporated therewith. And it is our further will and pleasure that on recieving this Declaration ^these Letters^6 which we have caused to be made patent, and our great Seal to be hereunto affixed, You do deliver the same to the said Commissioner or Commissioners to be by him or them transmitted to the Congress of the United States of America as an Earnest of the Friendship and Good Will which we are disposed to extend to them. Witness &c—7
AD, UkLPR: FO 27/ 2. Endorsed by Oswald: “Draft proposed / by Mr Jay, 16 August / 1782 / But now dispensed with / as not necessary”, with the clerk’s entry: “Inclosed with the / Observations of 15 and 17 / of August 1782:” C, UkLPR: FO 95/ 511; LbkC, misdated 10 Aug., MiU-C: Shelburne 70; C, embedded in JJ to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 17 Nov. 1782, LbkC, DNA: PCC, item 110, 2: 160–62. For a variant version based on the PCC text, see , 6: 16–17.
1. 15 August is the date on which JJ and BF agreed to revise JJ’s previously prepared draft of the patent after Oswald pointed out that Carleton had been instructed to inform Congress that Britain intended to recognize American independence not, as JJ had thought, “to propose Treaties of Peace &c. to the Congress.” See Richard Oswald’s Notes on Conversations with Benjamin Franklin and John Jay, 15–17 Aug. 1782, below.
2. In PCC and : “such a treaty of peace.”
3. JJ embedded a copy of the instructions issued to Guy Carleton on 25 June 1782 in his letter to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 17 Nov. 1782, below. In this paragraph and below, spaces left blank in the manuscript.
4. JJ embedded the text of Oswald’s commission, made official on 7 Aug. 1782, in his letter to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs of 17 Nov. 1782, below. See that letter also for the conversation between Vergennes, BF, and JJ on the commission issued to Oswald under the date 25 July 1782, and for JJ’s insistence that it was inadequate.
5. For a second proposed revision to Oswald’s commission that altered the form but preserved the principle of direct recognition of American independence, see John Jay’s Draft of a Proposed Alteration in Oswald’s Commission, 9 Sept., below.
6. In PCC and : “these presents.”
7. JJ embedded a copy of this patent in his letter to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs of 17 Nov. 1782, below.