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Holland to have the first ambassador to America from Europe...
Holland to have the first ambassador to America from Europe...
Item # 700872
July 15, 1783
THE EDINBURGH ADVERTISER, Scotland, July 15, 1783
* U.S. foreign minister Johannes Herman (Johan) van Berckel
Inside includes a report: "Mr. Van Berkel, envoy from the States of Holland to the U.S. of America...He goes direct for Philadelphia, accompanied by many distinguished personages...and the high stile...of this first ambassador from any European state (after the peace) to America, marks pretty clearly the intentions & decided line of conduct the Dutch intend to take."
Also: "The states of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania have fully acceded to the proposition or recommendation of Congress to levy the duty on all imports as described in the Congress resolves."
Eight pages, 8 3/4 by 11 1/2 inches, very nice condition.
background: Johannes Herman (Johan) van Berckel was a Dutch statesman and diplomat best known as one of the first foreign ministers formally received by the United States after independence. A prominent Patriot leader in Amsterdam and pensionary (legal advisor and chief official) of that city, van Berckel strongly supported commercial ties with the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. In 1780, a draft commercial treaty between Amsterdam and American representatives—found among papers captured by the British—contributed to Britain’s declaration of war on the Dutch Republic (the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War).After the Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence, van Berckel was appointed minister plenipotentiary to the United States. He presented his credentials to the Continental Congress on October 31, 1783, in Princeton, New Jersey, becoming the first Dutch envoy officially received by the new republic. His mission helped solidify diplomatic and financial relations between the Netherlands and the United States, particularly important because Dutch bankers had provided critical loans to the American cause. Van Berckel’s career reflects the early alignment between two republics grounded in commerce, finance, and shared resistance to British power.
Category: The 1600's and 1700's
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