The United States of America, part 1 (1783-1830) | Page 8

He
was distressed, as he wrote to Livingston, Secretary of Foreign Affairs,
at being obliged to consume the labour of his fellow-citizens upon the
foolish ostentation of a Court presentation. Anxious concerning the
reception which he would meet from representatives of other nations,
he was relieved to find that custom required them to call first upon a
new-comer. "We shall now see," he wrote, "who will and who will
not."
As a whole, his reception by both Court and diplomatic corps was
satisfactory, especially the courtesies shown him by the King. But he
was chagrined to find what a small impression the birth of his country
had made on British memory and British policy. Political independence
had been allowed, but commercial independence was denied. No treaty
of commerce could he add to the existing treaty of peace. The West

India ports remained closed to American trade. Pitt's bill to annul the
Navigation Acts so far as they concerned the United States was
dropped in Parliament. It was feared to put the Americans on the same
footing as European nations, lest they might be able to retain the trade
which they had enjoyed as British colonists. Certain additional
restrictive measures were put into force. "Our trade was never more
completely monopolised by Great Britain when it was under the
direction of the British Parliament," Madison complained to Monroe.
Neither would Britain grant the new sovereign power the courtesy of
sending a Minister in return for Adams.
"At present," Lord Sheffield advised in his book on _Observations on
the Commerce of the American States_, which passed through several
editions, "the only part Britain should take is most simple and perfectly
sure. If the American States choose to send consuls, receive them, and
send a consul to each State. Each State will soon enter into all the
necessary regulations with the consul and this is the whole that is
necessary."
This gentle insinuation that the Confederation had no force and the
suggestion of uncertainty whether the new nation consisted of one or
thirteen powers contained too much truth to be pleasant to the
Americans.
Mrs. John Adams, exchanging the social station accorded her in
Braintree, Massachusetts, for the diplomatic colony at London, found
herself of little service in aiding her husband's social standing. She
shared his Americanism. She wrote home that she had never seen an
assembly room in America which did not exceed that at St. James in
point of elegance and decoration, and that the women of the Court, in
all their blaze of diamonds set off with Parisian rouge, could not match
the blooming health, the sparkling eye, and modest deportment of the
dear girls of her native land. When presented to the King, she declared
that her reception stung her like an adder, although His Majesty was
kind enough to salute her cheek. She thought Queen Charlotte rather
embarrassed and Mrs. Adams confessed to a disagreeable feeling. Yet
the Queen simply inquired whether Mrs. Adams had gotten into her
new house and how she liked it. Years after, Mrs. Adams confessed
that the humiliation of Queen Charlotte was no sorrow for her. Three
years of neglect could not be readily forgotten or forgiven.

"Nothing but retaliation, reciprocal prohibitions, and imposts, and
putting ourselves in a posture of defence," the American Minister
informed his Government, could make an impression on England.
National action along any of these lines was impossible, because each
State had control of its own commerce. Individual retaliation was a
burlesque. Virginia at one time placed a tonnage duty on British vessels
four times that charged French and Dutch traders with whom the
United States had treaty arrangements. British vessels simply avoided
Virginia ports and sailed freely into those of other States. "When
Massachusetts set on foot a retaliation of the policy of Great Britain,"
wrote Madison, sending the news to Jefferson in France, "Connecticut
declared her ports free. New Jersey served New York the same way.
And Delaware, I am told, has lately followed the example, in
opposition to the commercial plans of Pennsylvania." Many similar
cases might be cited. Some wag likened such efforts to a man who
plugged up most carefully the worm-holes in one end of a cask and
knocked the whole head out at the other end.
Fully three-fourths of all shipping to be seen in American ports flew the
British flag; yet American vessels could bring only American goods
into British ports. American ships were positively forbidden to trade in
the British West Indies, and American vessels sold in England could
not be used in British colonial trade. Under these circumstances, John
Adams became convinced that nothing but a complete change in the
form of the American National Government, giving over the control of
commerce into the hands of the Confederation, would be