Washington, George. Manuscript letter signed, to John Adams, 3 March 1795

WASHINGTON, GEORGE 

LETTER SIGNED ("G:O WASHINGTON"), AS PRESIDENT, TO JOHN ADAMS, RELATED TO THE CONTENTIOUS JAY TREATY

1 page (9 7/8 x 7 6/8 in.; 252 x 199 mm) 4to, blank integral leaf, 3 March 1795, marked "Duplicate," docketed by Adams; toned, primarily marginal stain. In half black morocco and marbled paper-covered board folding-case.

A summons from the President

"The President of the United States. To the Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate. Certain matters touching the public good requiring that the Senate shall be convened on Monday the 8th of June next; you are desired to attend at the Senate Chamber in Philadelphia on that day..."

It was in the 8th of June that legislators began to debate the matter of the Jay Treat, or the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, which was ultimately forged between the United States and Great Britain in 1795. The agreement resolved some of the issues that had remained outstanding since the Treat of Paris of 1783 (which ended the American Revolutionary War), and helped foster a decade of amicable trade between the U.S. and Britain during the French Revolutionary Wars. 

Alexander Hamilton was the architect of the Treaty, and it was supported by Washington. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it angered the French, and helped the pro-Treaty Federalists and the anti-Treaty Jeffersonian Republicans build momentum.

Letters from Washington to Adams are rare, with only one other having appeared at auction in the last forty years.