John Adams has left on record that when he went abroad as
our representative in 1778, and again when the Treaty of 1783
was negotiated, his knowledge of the fisheries and his sense
of their importance were what induced him to take the mission.
He declared that unless our claims were fully recognized,
the States would carry on the war alone. He said:
"Because the people of New England, besides the natural claim
of mankind to the gifts of Providence on their coast, are
specially entitled to the fishery by their charters, which
have never been declared forfeited."
In the debate on the articles of peace in the House of Lords,
Lord Loughborough, the ablest lawyer of his party, said:
"The fishery on the shores retained by Britain is in the
next article not ceded, but recognized as a right inherent in
the Americans, which though no longer British subjects, they
are to continue to enjoy unmolested."
This was denied nowhere in the debate.
John Adams took greater satisfaction in his achievement when
he secured our fisheries in the treaty of 1783 than in any
other of the great acts of his life.
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