The Scotch brigade and the Jones incident.—Two incidents added greatly to the ill-feeling which was growing rapidly between the two countries. The British government asked for the loan of the Scotch brigade, a body of troops which had been in Dutch service for many years. The government gave a suave answer. It was willing to loan the soldiers, but not for service outside of Europe. As George III wanted the troops for American service, the answer was practically a refusal. Another incident which increased the irritation was the sojourn of John Paul Jones at Texel. For over two months he remained on Dutch soil, while the government quibbled over its rights to order his departure.
British seizures.—During 1778 British seizures of Dutch vessels increased and the demands of the merchants for convoys became more and more insistent. France took advantage of the situation to bring The Netherlands to her side. Special commercial privileges in France had been granted to several of the Dutch cities. France now decided to force the Dutch government to take a more decided stand toward England by cutting off the special privileges to all the Dutch cities except Amsterdam. This led to a demand for an immediate adjustment with France and for convoys to protect Dutch vessels against British seizures. A climax was reached on December 31, 1779, when an encounter occurred between the convoys of a Dutch fleet and British war vessels. The result was soon evident, for The Netherlands began to build a large fleet.
The secret agreement.—The United States maintained secret agents in The Netherlands throughout the war. For several years they made unsuccessful attempts to obtain a loan, but the authorities of Amsterdam finally communicated to C.W.F. Dumas, the United States representative, that they desired to conclude a treaty provided Congress would not enter into engagements with Great Britain which might prove harmful to Dutch interests. Jean de Neufville, a prominent Amsterdam merchant, at the suggestion of Van Berckel, the pensionary of Amsterdam, visited Aix-la-Chapelle in 1778, where he met William Lee, an American representative to Germany and Austria; together they formulated the draft of a treaty which, however, was not to be considered until after the recognition of American independence by Great Britain. The agreement had no legal force, for Amsterdam could not enter into a treaty without the consent of the other provinces.
The declaration of war.—In 1780 Henry Laurens sailed for The Hague for the purpose of negotiating a loan and making a treaty with The Netherlands. On September 3 he was captured off Newfoundland. Among his papers was a copy of the secret compact drawn by Neufville and Lee. The British government demanded from the States General a disavowal of the action of Amsterdam and the punishment of Van Berckel. The States General finally disavowed the act but declared its incompetence to punish Van Berckel. On November 20, in the midst of the controversy, the States General decided to join the league of armed neutrals. When this became known at London, the British minister was ordered home, and on December 20 George III issued a manifesto which was a virtual declaration of war.
READINGS
THE FRENCH AND SPANISH ALLIANCES
Corwin, E.S., French Policy and the American Alliance of 1778, pp. 1-216; Hale, E.E., Franklin in France; Lecky, W.E.H., History of England in the Eighteenth Century, IV, 42-54, 99-129, 166-185; Perkins, J.B., France in the American Revolution; Phillips, P.C., The West in the Diplomacy of the American Revolution; Trescot, W.H., Diplomacy of the American Revolution; Trevelyan, G.O., The American Revolution, Part II, 387-476; Van Tyne, C.H., The American Revolution, 203-226; Wharton, F., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, I.
THE WEST IN THE REVOLUTION
Alvord, C.W., "Virginia and the West," in Mississippi Valley Historical Review, III, 19-38; Alvord, C.W., ed., Kaskaskia Records, 1778-1700, Introduction; Gayarré, C, History of Louisiana, the Spanish Domination, ch. 3; Hamilton, P.J., Colonial Mobile, ch. 31; Hamilton, P.J., The Colonization of the South, ch. 23; James, J.A.,.ed., George Rogers Clark Papers, 1771-1781, Introduction; Roosevelt, Theodore, The Winning of the West, I, 272-327, II, 1-213; Teggart, F.J., "The Capture of St. Joseph, Michigan, by the Spaniards in 1781," in Missouri Historical Review, V, 214-228; Thwaites, R.G., and Kellogg, L.P., editors, Frontier Defense on the Upper Ohio, 1778, Introduction and maps; The Revolution on the Upper Ohio, 1775-1777, Introduction and maps; Van Tyne, C.H., The American Revolution, 269-288; Winsor, Justin, The Westward Movement, 101-187; Esarey, L., A History of Indiana, I, 47-91; McElroy, R.M., Kentucky in the Nation's History, 62-113.