Preparatoirlyk plan, van een tractaat van commercie
Subtitle: aan te gaan tussen hun hoog mog de staaten van de seeven Vereenigde provincien van Holland, en de dertien Vereenigde staaten van Noord-America; om ingevallen Engeland haar voor vrye volkeren erkent, als dan zulks te brengen, ter tavel van hun hoog-moogende
Published: 1780
Place of publication: Amsterdam?
Language: dut
Number of pages: 17
Other titles: Plan of a treaty ...
Notes: Caption title; endorsed title on p. [18]: Papieren door Zyn Hoogheid ter vergadering van hun ed. groot mog. op den 20 October 1780 overgegeeven.

This project for a future treaty of commerce had been secretly concerted at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1778 between Jean de Neufville, a merchant, professing to act under the instructions of Van Berckel, pensionary of Amsterdam, and William Lee, an American commissioner to Berlin. In October 1780, when Henry Laurens was captured by the British while on his way from America to Holland, a draft of it was found among his papers, and although it was neither authorized nor sanctioned by the States-General nor by Congress, it served as a pretext for England's declaration of war against the Netherlands.--cf. Fiske's American revolution, v. 2, p. 155-157, and Winsor's Narrative and critical history of America, v. 7, p. 64-68.

Knuttel 19421 (under endorsed title); Sabin 65110.

A Dutch-English ed. has title "Plan of a treaty of commerce to be entered into between ... the Estates of the seven United States of Holland, and the thirteen United States of North America".--cf. Sabin 63286.