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Swan, James, 1754-1830 to Henry Knox

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.04743 Author/Creator: Swan, James, 1754-1830 Place Written: Paris, France Type: Autograph letter Date: 3 October 1790 Pagination: 4 p. : Height: 22.8 cm, Width: 19 cm Order a Copy

Writes that he received Knox's letter from a year ago and would have replied sooner if he had anything interesting to say. He asks Knox to look at a letter he sent to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson regarding a contract for "supplies to the french navy and the Kinds Rationers in the Colonies-to receive in payment for such orders from the Treasury...in part of the debt of the United States to france." Swan describes that the bankers in Amsterdam are holding out from repaying any "Company or persons who may hold the bonds, other than the Government here." Swan is concerned that a trading partnership cannot develop as a result "unless Mr. Jefferson by his recommendation to the Secretary of the Treasury and to the President, shall propose an Instruction to the Dutchmen...that they shall pay the money due to France." Swan wishes for Knox to exert his influence on both Jefferson and Hamilton in order to achieve a favorable trading relationship.

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826
Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804
Swan, James, 1754-1830

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