Continental Congress: Letters from John Adams

John Adams, born 1735, was in the Netherlands in 1780 (that country then being the only well-functioning Republic in the world) apparently seeing how their government worked, trying to establish a line of credit, and trying to negotiate a peace treaty with Britain.

From Amsterdam on 25 Sep 1780, John Adams wrote that the people in the Netherlands thought that the American Revolution was simply a "desultory Rage" without order. In short, they expected the Revolution to amount to nothing. This letter did not reach America until 29 Jan 1781!