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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02437.04997 |
| From Archive Folder | The Henry Knox Papers [0100] May-June 1791 |
| Title | William Temple Franklin to Tench Coxe providing a summary of the report of the Lords of Trade to the Privy Council |
| Date | 15 June 1791 |
| Author | Franklin, William Temple (1760-1823) |
| Recipient | Coxe, Tench |
| Document Type | Correspondence; Government document |
| Content Description | Most of the information on this record comes from a letter written by Julian P. Boyd, the editor of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, in 1969. Boyd's letter is in the file with the original document. The document is not signed, but Boyd identifies its creator as William Temple Franklin, Benjamin Franklin's grandson. Boyd claims it was sent to Tench Coxe who was serving as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. The letter is a summary of the report of the Lords of Trade to the Privy Council. This report was written mainly by Lord Hawkesbury on 28 January 1791. Having this document was a coup for the United States government, as they were in possession of it just as George Hammond, the first British minister to the U.S., received it as the basis for his diplomatic instructions. Asks him to communicate the findings with Alexander Hamilton (pg. 2). Coxe made copies of this document and sent it to Adams, Jefferson, and Knox. This copy appears to be in a secretarial hand, with no signature following the closing. The last page is a chart that appears to be summing up, a "Recapitulation," of the figures cited throughout the report. It lists the number of merchant vessels traveling between the U.S. and Britain, and the U.S. and the British West Indies before and after the Revolutionary War. The number of vessels and tonnage were vastly higher before the war than after it. |
| Subjects | Global History and Civics Government and Civics Spying Diplomacy Finance Commerce Merchants and Trade Economics Maritime Revolutionary War Caribbean |
| People | Franklin, William Temple (1760-1823) Coxe, Tench (1755-1824) Hammond, George (1763-1853) Boyd, Julien P. (fl. 1791) Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826) |
| Place written | London, England |
| Theme | Government & Politics; Merchants & Commerce; Foreign Affairs; Naval & Maritime; The American Revolution |
| Sub-collection | The Henry Knox Papers |
| Additional Information | William Temple Franklin accompanied his grandfather to France in late 1776 and worked as secretary to the American diplomatic mission during the American Revolution. A bon vivant, Temple received his highest public appointment as Secretary to the American delegation at the Treaty of Paris in 1782-1783, largely through the influence of his grandfather, but never again attained a significant post. After the elder Franklin died, Temple lived for a while with his father in England, and had an illegitimate daughter, Ellen. He then moved to France, where he won and lost a fortune in real-estate speculation. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859 |
| Transcript | Show/hide |