37

expected to bring the question to a vote on March 11, but in the meantime the delegates from South Carolina were recalled and some time was necessary to rebuild their majority.3 The final vote on the question of making the right to navigate the Mississippi an ultimatum was taken on March 24. Only one state favored the motion. Two were divided and the others voted no.3 38

The debate on the boundaries was milder and there was from the beginning greater unanimity of sentiment. Several of those opposed to the policy of Gerard informed him that they would not demand conquests beyond what really belonged to the thirteen states.39 There was considerable fear that if Canada were left to Great Britain she would prove a dangerous neighbor. Gerard reassured them with the promise of the unfaltering support of France, who would never allow them to sink back under the power of her rival. He also suggested that the whole quesiton of boundaries be left until after the peace for settlement; but this plan received no support at all in Congress.40 The debates on the acquisition of Nova Scotia convinced the New England delegates that it would not carry, and they substituted a demand for the right of fishing on the banks of Newfoundland, which was carried by a close vote.41

On March 19 Congress decided on the boundaries it would demand as an ultimatum. This boundary ran irregularly to the south end of Lake Nipissing, thence to the source of the Mississippi, down the middle of that river to the thirty-first parallel, thence along the northern boundary of Florida to the Atlantic.42 This vote was a compromise. It did not grant the demands of New England for

37 Gerard to Vergennes, March 10, 1779. (E. U., no. 143, fol. 367.) 38 Journals of Continental Congress (Ford ed.), XIII, 369. 39 Gerard to Vergennes, March 8. (E. U., VII, no. 135, new 339.) 40Gerard to Vergennes, March 12, 1779. (Ibid., no. 144, fol. 375.) 41Journals of Continental Congress (Ford ed.), XIII, 372; Gerard to

Vergennes, March 18, 1779. (E. U., VII, no. 159, fol. 407.)

42Journals of Continental Congress, (Ford ed.), XIII, 339-341.

grounds of conquest and occupation. They further contended that the surrender of this region would mean the acknowledgment of the validity of the Quebec Act, which was one of the causes of the Revolution.

The debates on the question of the boundaries and the navigation of the Mississippi continued from the 1st of March to the 19th, On the question of the Mississippi important interests in the West and South united to demand the right of navigation. Those interested in the Northwest Territory pictured the great advantages to the South of controlling the trade of this region. If our people do not get this trade, they argued, the English will get it, and thus become powerful in a region where it is to the interest of both Spain and the United States to keep them out.35

So powerful did the opposition to giving up the Mississippi become that Gerard felt it necessary to interfere. Through one of his partisans he learned that the western party proposed to treat directly with the British crown for the navigation of the Mississippi. Gerard protested vigorously against this scheme as vicious and dangerous in its purpose and unjust in its tendencies and declared that Congress acted as if it wished to dictate first to Spain, then to Great Britain. He remarked that Spain had no contract with the United States and was under no obligation to them, and that the Spanish king would never consent to surrender his rights over the Mississippi, and on this question the king of France would probably take his part. He observed that it seemed strange that Congress should think of treating with England to despoil Spain and that it appeared that America would soon be at war with the Spanish monarchy.36 This interview with Gerard was skillfully used by his friends, who believed that they had a majority against the proposition. They desired, however, to win over the important state of Virginia. They

35 Gerard to Vergennes, March 8. (E. U., no. 135, fol. 339.)
36 Ibid.

37

expected to bring the question to a vote on March 11, but in the meantime the delegates from South Carolina were recalled and some time was necessary to rebuild their majority. The final vote on the question of making the right to navigate the Mississippi an ultimatum was taken on March 24. Only one state favored the motion. Two were divided and the others voted no.3 38

The debate on the boundaries was milder and there was from the beginning greater unanimity of sentiment. Several of those opposed to the policy of Gerard informed him that they would not demand conquests beyond what really belonged to the thirteen states.39 There was considerable fear that if Canada were left to Great Britain she would prove a dangerous neighbor. Gerard reassured them with the promise of the unfaltering support of France, who would never allow them to sink back under the power of her rival. He also suggested that the whole quesiton of boundaries be left until after the peace for settlement; but this plan received no support at all in Congress. The debates on the acquisition of Nova Scotia convinced the New England delegates that it would not carry, and they substituted a demand for the right of fishing on the banks of Newfoundland, which was carried by a close vote.41

40

On March 19 Congress decided on the boundaries it would demand as an ultimatum. This boundary ran irregularly to the south end of Lake Nipissing, thence to the source of the Mississippi, down the middle of that river to the thirty-first parallel, thence along the northern boundary of Florida to the Atlantic.42 This vote was a compromise. It did not grant the demands of New England for

37 Gerard to Vergennes, March 10, 1779. (E. U., no. 143, fol. 367.) 38 Journals of Continental Congress (Ford ed.), XIII, 369. 39Gerard to Vergennes, March 8. (E. U., VII, no. 135, new 339.) 40 Gerard to Vergennes, March 12, 1779. (Ibid., no. 144, fol. 375.) 41 Journals of Continental Congress (Ford ed.), XIII, 372; Gerard to Vergennes, March 18, 1779. (E. U., VII, no. 159, fol. 407.)

42Journals of Continental Congress, (Ford ed.), XIII, 339-341.

the possession of Nova Scotia, but laid claim to the whole region of the Great Lakes. At the same time the South and West received no promise of the navigation of the Mississippi or the possession of the Floridas. In this contest the partisans of Gerard had not yet showed their full strength. They felt sure of a majority in favor of the French policy, but were confronted by the untiring opposition of Lee. Such was the changing character of Congress that no policy could well be assured; and the partisans of Gerard were waiting until the time when they could carry their measure "by such a majority that Mr. Lee would find himself the only one in opposition."43

The vote of vote. of Congress in March on the question of the boundaries and the Mississippi had satisfied no one. On the question of the fisheries the anti-Gallican party had been active. New England was not content with the idea of having the English on its northern boundaries and renewed its proposal to conquer Canada.45 Gerard was tireless in his opposition to this plan and urged upon Congress the futility of continuing the war for this purpose. 46 While he admitted that the treaty of alliance did not define the limits of the states whose independence was guaranteed, he still insisted that the guarantee could not be made to apply to territories not in the possession of the United States. 47

By July Gerard had come to feel that his policy with regard to the boundaries was triumphant. He had built up a large party in and out of Congress, but he had lost his influence over the leading men. He depended on men of minor caliber, like Jenifer of Maryland, who sided with the French policy and favored limiting the boundaries of the United States as much as possible.48

43 Gerard to Vergennes. (E. U., VIII, no. 10.)

44 Doniol, Histoire, IV, 175.

45 Gerard to Vergennes, March 14. (E. U., VIII, no. 48, new 83.) 46 Ibid.

47 Gerard to Vergennes, March 21. (Ibid., no. 59, new 88.)

On the 12th of July Gerard held a conference with Congress in committee of the whole, in which he reviewed the whole history of French intervention and declared that the world was convinced that the war had no object of conquest but only to secure the independence of the United States. In this conference he urged also that Congress should seek the favor of Spain by the offer of such moderate terms as would incline His Catholic Majesty to the American interests.49

As a result of his management Gerard believed that he held the affair of boundaries well under control. He did not flatter himself that Congress would renounce all its former pretentions, but he believed it would make no objection to the cession of the Floridas to Spain and would tacitly let go the navigation of the Mississippi. He even expressed his belief that if necessary it would willingly abandon Georgia.50

The partisans of Gerard had postponed the final vote on the boundaries until a time when they could hope to carry their plan by an overwhelming majority. On July 18 Gerard wrote that the committee of foreign affairs stood eight to four in favor of his measure, and that his party worked unceasingly to win over votes. One of the most active supporters of this policy was John Jay, the president of Congress. Gerard, who himself took an active part in the campaign, thought that it was time to bring the question to a vote and to pass some measures favored by the opposition in return for their support on the boundaries. He felt that the strength of the anti-Gallicans was weakened by the failure of England to offer favorable terms of peace; but if the opposition should carry the vote in Congress, he proposed to attack its validity on the ground that the Articles of Confederation provided that every state must ratify a treaty.51

49 Journals of Continental Congress (Ford ed.), XIV, 829-835. 50Gerard to Vergennes, July 20, 1779. (E. U., IX, no. 46, new 109.) 51 Doniol, Histoire, IV, 221-222.