Relations with Spain. ART. 9. All the grants of lands made by His Catholic Majesty, or by his legitimate authori ties, in the aforesaid territories of the two Floridas, and others which His Majesty cedes to the United States, shall be confirmed and acknowledged as valid, excepting those grants which may have been made after the 24th of January of last year, the date that the first proposals were made for the cession of these provinces, which shall be held null, in consideration of the grantees not having complied with the conditions of the cession. the sea; continuing north, along the middle of public, shall be delivered to the commissioners that river, to the thirty-second degree of latitude; which His Catholic Majesty or the Captain Genthence, by a line due north, to the thirty-third eral of the Havana may send for that purpose degree of latitude, where it strikes the Rio Roxo in order that the said territories may be delivered of Natchitoches, (Red river,) following the course up in a regular manner to the commissioners or of the Rio Roxo, to the westward, to the hun-officers appointed by the United States to redredth degree of longitude, and thirty-three and ceive them. one-fourth degree of latitude, where it crosses that river; thence, by a line due north, by the said one hundredth degree of longitude from London, according to Melish's map, till it enters the river Arkansas; thence, along the middle of the Arkansas, to the forty-second degree of latitude; thence, a line shall be drawn to the westward, by the same parallel of latitude, to the source of the river San Clemente, or Multnomah, following the course of that river to the forty-third degree of latitude; and thence, by a line due west, to the Pacific ocean. All the country belonging to His Catholic Majesty, included in the said line to the eastward, His Majesty cedes to the United States, in full property and sovereignty, forever; as also the islands in the rivers Sabine, Red river of Natchitoches, Arkansas, and Multnomah, that may be situated within the limits which are here pointed out: both parties to maintain the navigation of all of them free as respects the parts thereof which constitute their frontiers. ART. 10. The two contracting parties, animated by the most sincere desire of conciliation, and with a view of eradicating all the dissensions which have existed between them, and to secure that good harmony which they desire perpetually to maintain with each other, reciprocally renounce all claims for damages or inju ries which they themselves, as well as their respective subjects and citizens, may have suffered until the time of signing this treaty. The renunciation of the United States will extend 2. To all claims of prizes made by French privateers, and condemned by French Consuls, within the territory and jurisdiction of Spain. 3. To all claims of indemnities on account of the suspension of the right of deposite at New Orleans. ART. 5. To fix this line with more precision, and to place the landmarks which shall designate exactly the limits of both nations, each of 1. To all the injuries mentioned in the conthe contracting parties shall appoint a commis-vention of the 11th August, 1802. sioner and a surveyor, who shall meet before the termination of one year from the date of the ratification of this treaty, at Natchitoches, on the Red river, and proceed to run and mark the said line in conformity to what is above agreed upon and stipulated; they shall make out plans and keep journals of their proceedings, and the result agreed upon by them shall be considered as part of this treaty, and shall have the same force as if it were inserted therein. The two Governments will amicably agree respecting the necessary articles to be furnished to these persons, and also as to their respective escorts, should such be deemed necessary. 4. And to all the claims of citizens of the United States upon the Government of Spain, in which the interposition of the Government of the United States may have been solicited before the date of this treaty, and since the date of the convention of 1802, and which may have been made to the Department of State of this Republic, or to the Minister of the United States in The renunciation of His Catholic Majesty extends ART. 6. The inhabitants of the ceded territo-Spain. ries shall be secured in the free exercise of their religion, without any restriction; and all those who may desire to remove to the Spanish dominions shall be permitted to sell or export their effects at any time whatever, without being subject in either case to duties. ART. 7. The inhabitants of the two provinces aforesaid, and those in all the territories which His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States by this treaty, shall be incorporated in the Union of the United States as soon as possible, agreeably to the principles of the Federal Constitution, and admitted to the enjoyment of all the privileges, rights, and immunities of the other States. ART. 8. The territories of the two Floridas, which, at the time of the delivery which is to be made of them to the United States, should be occupied by the troops or authorities of the Re 1. To all the injuries mentioned in the convention of the 11th August, 1802. 2. To the sums which His Catholic Majesty advanced for the return of Captain Pike from the Provincias Internas. 3. To all injuries caused by the expedition of Miranda, fitted out and equipped at New York. 4. To the revenue collected by the United States in the territories of Florida that have been occupied by their troops, and to the indemnities which His Catholic Majesty is entitled to for the injuries caused to his Royal Crown by those invasions. Finally, to all claims of subjects of His Catholic Majesty upon the Government of the United States, in which the interposition of His Catholic Relations with Spain. Majesty's Government has been solicited before the date of this treaty, and since the date of the convention of 1802, or which may have been made to the Department of Foreign Affairs of His Majesty, or to his Minister in the United States. ART. 11. The convention entered into between the two Governments on the 11th August, 1802, ratifications of which were exchanged on the 21st December, 1818, is annulled in that part which relates to the payment of the injuries which the United States and their citizens claim; it being agreed between the two high contracting parties that these injuries shall be paid integrally by the United States from the proceeds of the public or crown lands of the two Floridas and other territories ceded by His Majesty in this treaty; so that both Governments consider all their claims, and those of their subjects and citizens, as cancelled from this date, excepting those claims which the citizens of the United States may have against Spanish individuals, or which the latter may have upon the citizens of this Republic. ART. 12. The treaty of limits and navigation of 1795 remains confirmed in all and each one of its articles, excepting the second, third, fourth, twenty-first, and the second clause of the twentysecond article, which, having been altered by this treaty, are no longer valid. With respect to the fifteenth article of the same treaty of friendship, limits, and navigation, of 1795, in which it is stipulated that the flag shall cover the property, the two high contracting parties agree that this may be so understood with respect to those Powers who recognise this principle; but, if either of the two contracting parties shall be at war with a third party, and the other neutral, the flag of the neutral shall cover the property of enemies whose Government acknowledge this principle, and not of others. ART. 13. In order to avoid frauds, and the great evils which arise from concealing the destination of vessels by clearing out, in general terms, for the West Indies, Spanish main, Europe, &c., the two high contracting parties have agreed that, in future, all merchant vessels belonging to their respective subjects or citizens shall be cleared out for a special port, either at their respective custom-houses or in those of other Powers, from whose ports said vessels may depart in continuation of their primitive voyage, or in case they should undertake a new one; and the merchant vessels of either of the two nations that, in violation of their clearances, should enter other ports, without justifying the motives which induced them to it, or should be met with on the high seas by their vessels of war or privateers cleared out in violation of this article, shall be detained, proceeded against, and, upon conviction, forfeited. ART. 14. In case there shall be just cause to suspect the character of the vessels, or which should not be cleared out for a specified port, as is stipulated in the preceding article, or that the cargo belongs to enemies of either of the con tracting parties whose Governments do not recognise the principle that the flag covers the property, or which shall consist of articles contraband of war, such vessels may be detained and sent to the nearest and most convenient port to which the ship of war or privateer that may have detained such a vessel belongs, where she shall be adjudged agreeably to the law of nations, and the practice established by other maritime Powers. And it is agreed that adjudication shall be had with the least delay possible; and if it shall be proved that the detention or capture was unjust, it shall not only be the duty of the tribunal where the case was tried to release the vessel and cargo, but it shall decide the corresponding indemnity for the damages and injuries that may have been sustained, to be paid by the captors, and, in their defect, by the Government by whom they shall be commissioned. ART. 15. Both contracting parties, wishing to favor their mutual commerce, by affording in their ports every necessary assistance to their respective merchant vessels, have agreed that the sailors who shall desert from their vessels in the ports of the other shall be arrested and delivered up at the instance of the Consul, who shall prove, nevertheless, that the deserters belong to the vessels that claim them, exhibiting the document that is customary in their nation; that is to say, that the Spanish Consul in an American port shall exhibit the roll of the vessel, and the American Consul in a Spanish port the document known by the name of articles; and if the name of the deserter or deserters who are claimed shall appear in the one or the other, they shall be arrested, held in custody, and delivered to the vessel which they shall belong. ART. 16. His Catholic Majesty having condescended to make the cessions to the United States which are specified in the present treaty, in compliment to the United States, with the object of cancelling all the claims they have demanded of the Royal Crown, the United States will certify, in due form, that they have not received any compensation from France for the injuries they suffered from her privateers, Consuls, and tribunals, on the coasts and in the ports of Spain; and they will present an authentic statement of the prizes made, and of their true value, that Spain may claim from France the return of this amount. ART. 17. It being mutually advantageous to the commerce of Spain and of the United States to facilitate the communication between both nations for a limited time in the territories ceded by this treaty, until they can agree upon the regulations relating to commerce which may be best adapted to favor the same, the two high contracting parties agree that Spanish vessels which may arrive loaded solely with the produce or manufactures of Spain, directly from the ports or colonies, shall be admitted into all the ports of the two Floridas that may be lawfully open to the trade of other nations, for the space of twelve years, without paying more duties for their produce or merchandise, or greater ton Relations with Spain. nage duty, than what are paid by vessels of the United States. During said time no other nation shall be entitled to the same privileges in the ceded territories. The twelve years shall begin three months after exchanging the ratifications of the present treaty; at the expiration of said time, Spanish vessels shall be received in said territories on the same footing as the most favored nations. lots and squares, vacant lands, public edifices, fortifications, barracks, and other buildings, which are not private property, archives and documents, which relate directly to the property and sovereignty of said provinces, are included in this article. The said archives and documents shall be left in possession of the commissioners or officers of the United States duly authorized to receive them. ART. 3. The boundary line between the two countries, west of the Mississippi, shall begin on the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the river Sabine, in the sea; continuing north, along the western bank of that river, to the thirty-second degree of latitude; thence, by a line due north, to the degree of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo of Natchitoches, or Red river; thence, fol ART. 18. The present treaty shall not be in force until ratified in due form by the contracting parties; and the ratifications shall be exchanged in six months from this time, or sooner if possible. In witness whereof, we, the underwritten Plenipotentiaries of His Catholic Majesty and of the United States of America, have signed, by virtue of our powers, the present treaty of friendship and limits, and have thereunto affixed our seals, re-lowing the course of the Rio Roxo westward, to spectively. Done at Washington, this day of February, 1819. Counter projet of a treaty, communicated by Mr. Adams to Don Luis de Onis the 12th of February, 1819. The United States of America and His Catholic Majesty, desiring to consolidate, on a permanent basis, the friendship and good correspondence which happily prevail between the two parties, have determined to settle and terminate all their differences and pretensions, by a treaty, which shall designate with precision the limits of their respective bordering territories in North America. the degree of longitude one hundred and two degrees west from London, and twenty-five degrees from Washington; then, crossing the said Red river, and running thence, by a line due north, to the river Arkansas; thence, following the course of the southern bank of the Arkansas, to its source, in latitude forty-one degrees north; and thence, by the parallel of latitude, to the South sea: the whole being as laid down in Melish's map of the United States, published in Philadelphia, improved to the 1st of January, 1818. But, if the source of the Arkansas river should be found to fall north or south of latitude forty-one degrees, then the line shall run from the said source due south or north, as the case may be, till it meets the said parallel of latitude forty-one degrees; and thence, along the said With this intention, the President of the Uni- parallel, to the South sea; the Sabine and the ted States has furnished with their full powers said Red and Arkansas rivers, and all the islands John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State of the in the same, throughout the course thus desaid United States; and His Catholic Majesty scribed, to belong to the United States; and the has appointed the most excellent Lord Don Luis western bank of the Sabine, and the southern de Onis Gonzales Lopez y Vara, Lord of the town banks of the said Red and Arkansas rivers, of Rayaces, perpetual regidor of the corporation throughout the line thus described, to belong to of the city of Salamanca, knight grand cross of Spain. And the United States hereby cede to the royal American order of Isabella the Catho- His Catholic Majesty all their rights, claims, and lic, decorated with the lys of La Vendée, kaight-pretensions to the territories lying west and south pensioner of the royal and distinguished Spanish order of Charles the Third, member of the Supreme Assembly of the said royal order, of the council of His Catholic Majesty, his Secretary, with exercise of decrees, and his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near the United States of America. And the said Plenipotentiaries, after having exchanged their powers, have agreed upon and concluded the following articles: ARTICLE 1. There shall be a firm and inviolable peace and sincere friendship between the United States and their citizens, and His Catholic Majesty, his successors and subjects, without exception of persons or places. ART. 2. His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States, in full property and sovereignty, all the territories which belong to him, situated to the eastward of the Mississippi, known by the names of East and West Florida. The adjacent islands, dependent on said provinces, all public of the above described line; and His Catholic Majesty cedes to the said United States all his rights, claims, and pretensions to any territories east and north of the said line, and, for himself, his heirs, and successors, renounces all claim to the said territories forever. ART. 4. To fix this line with more precision, and to place the landmarks which shall designate exactly the limits of both nations, each of the contracting parties shall appoint a commissioner and a surveyor, who shall meet, before the termination of one year from the date of the ratification of this treaty, at Natchitoches, on the Red river, and proceed to run and mark the Isaid line from the mouth of the Sabine to the Red river, and from the Red river to the river Arkansas, and to ascertain the latitude of the source of the said river Arkansas, in conformity to what is above agreed upon and stipulated; they shall make out plans and keep journals of their proceedings, and the result agreed upon by Relations with Spain. them shall be considered as part of this treaty, and shall have the same force as if it were inserted therein. The two Governments will amicably agree respecting the necessary articles to be furnished to those persons, and also as to their respective escorts, should such be deemed ne cessary. ART. 5. The inhabitants of the ceded territories shall be secured in the free exercise of their religion, without any restriction; and all those who desire to remove to the Spanish dominions shall be permitted to sell or export their effects at any time whatever, without being subject, in either cases, to duties. ART. 6. The inhabitants of the territories which His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States by this treaty shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States as soon as may be consistent with the principles of the Federal Constitution, and admitted to the enjoyment of all the privileges, rights, and immunities of the citizens of the United States. ART. 7. The officers and troops of His Catholic Majesty in the territories hereby ceded by him to the United States shall be withdrawn, and possession of the places occupied by them shall be given, within six months after the ratification of this treaty, or sooner if possible, by the officers of His Catholic Majesty, to the commissioners or officers of the United States duly appointed to receive them. ART. 8. All grants of land made by or in the name of His Catholic Majesty in the aforesaid territories, after the 24th of January, 1818, shall be held null, the conditions of the said grants not having been performed by the grantees. All grants made before that date by His Catholic Majesty, or by his legitimate authorities, in the said territories, the conditions of which shall have been performed by the grantees according to the tenor of the respective grants, and none other, shall be confirmed and acknowledged as valid. ART. 9. The two contracting parties reciprocally renounce all claims for damages or injuries which they themselves, as well as their respective citizens and subjects, may have suffered, until the time of signing this treaty. The renunciation of the United States will extend 1. To all the injuries mentioned in the convention of the 11th of August, 1802. 2. To all claims on account of prizes made by French privateers, and condemned by French Consuls, within the territory and jurisdiction of Spain. 3. To all claims of indemnities on account of the suspension of the right of deposite at New Orleans in 1802. 4. To all claims of citizens of the United States upon the Government of Spain, arising from the unlawful seizures at sea, and from the unlawful seizure of vessels or cargoes belonging to citizens of the United States in the ports and territories of Spain or the Spanish colonies. The renunciation of His Catholic Majesty ex tends 1. To all the injuries mentioned in the convention of the 11th August, 1802. 2. To the sums which His Catholic Majesty advanced for the return of Captain Pike from the Provincias Internas. 3. To all injuries caused by the expedition of Miranda, that was fitted out and equipped at New York. Finally, to all the claims of subjects of His Catholic Majesty upon the Government of the United States, in which the interposition of His Catholic Majesty's Government has been solicited before the date of this treaty, and since the date of the convention of 1802, or which may have been made to the Department of Foreign Affairs of His Majesty, or to his Minister in the United States. And the high contracting parties respectively renounce all claim to indemnities for any of the recent events or transactions of their respective commanders and officers in the Floridas. ART. 10. The convention entered into between the two Governments on the 11th August, 1802, the ratifications of which were exchanged on the 21st December, 1818, is annulled. ART. 11. The United States, exonerating Spain from all demands in future on account of the claims of their citizens to which the renunciations herein contained extend, undertake to make satisfaction for the same to an amount not exceeding five millions of dollars. To ascertain the full amount and validity of these claims, a commission, to consist of three commissioners, citizens of the United States, shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; which commission shall meet at the city of Washington, and, within the space of three years from the time of their first meeting, shall receive, examine, and decide upon the amount and validity of all the claims included within the descriptions above mentioned. The said commissioners shall take an oath or affirmation, to be entered on the record of their proceedings; for the faithful and diligent discharge of their duties; and, in case of the death, sickness, or necessary absence of any such commissioner, his place may be supplied by the appointment as aforesaid, or by the President of the United States during the recess of the Senate, of another commissioner in his stead. The said commissioners shall be authorized to hear and examine, on oath, every question relative to the said claims, and to receive all suitable authentic testimony concerning the same; and the Spanish Government shall furnish all such documents and elucidations as may be in their possession, for the adjustment of said claims, according to the principles of justice, the laws of nations, and the stipulations of the treaty between the two parties of 27th October, 1795; the said documents to be specified when demanded at the instance of the said commissioners. The payment of such claims as may be admitted and adjusted by the said commissioners, or the major part of them, to an amount not exceed ing five millions of dollars, shall be made by the Relations with Spain. United States, either immediately at their Treasury, or by the creation of stock bearing an interest of six per centum per annum, payable from the proceeds of sales of public lands within the territories hereby ceded to the United States, or in such other manner as the Congress of the United States may prescribe by law. The records of the proceedings of the said commissioners, together with vouchers and documents produced before them, relative to the claims to be adjusted and decided upon by them, shall, after the close of their transactions, be deposited in the Department of State of the United States, and copies of them, or any part of them, shall be furnished to the Spanish Government, if required, at the demand of the Spanish Minister in the United States. ART. 12. The treaty of limits and navigation of 1795 remains confirmed in all and each one of its articles, excepting the second, third, fourth, twenty-first, and the second clause of the twentysecond article; which, having been altered by this treaty, or having received their entire execution, are no longer valid. With respect to the fifteenth article of the same treaty of friendship, limits, and navigation, of 1795, in which it is stipulated that the flag shall cover the property, the two high contracting parties agree that this shall be so understood with respect to those Powers who recognise this principle. But, if either of the two contracting parties shall be at war with a third party, and the other neutral, the flag of the neutral shall cover the property of enemies whose Governments acknowledge this principle, and not of others. ART. 13. Both contracting parties, wishing to favor their mutual commerce, by affording in their ports every necessary assistance to their re spective merchant vessels, have agreed that the sailors who shall desert from their vessels in the ports of the other shall be arrested and delivered up at the instance of the Consul, who shall prove, nevertheless, that the deserters belong to the vessels that claim them, exhibiting the document that is customary in their nation; that is to say, the American Consul in a Spanish port shall exhibit the document known by the name of arti cles, and the Spanish Consul in an American port the roll of the vessel; and if the name of the deserter or deserters who are claimed shall appear in the one or the other, they shall be arrested, held in custody, and be delivered to the vessel to which they shall belong. ART. 14. The United States hereby certify that they have not received any compensation from France for the injuries they suffered from her privateers, consuls, and tribunals, on the coasts and in the ports of Spain, for the satisfaction of which provision is made by this treaty; and they will present an authentic statement of the prizes made, and of their true value, that Spain may avail herself of the same, in such manner as she may deem just and proper. in due form, by the contracting parties, and the ART. 15. The present treaty shall be ratified, ratifications shall be exchanged in six months from this time, or sooner if possible. In witness whereof, the underwritten Plenipotentiaries of the United States of America and of His Catholic Majesty have signed, by virtue of their powers, the present treaty of amity, settlement, and limits, and have thereunto affixed their seals, respectively. Done at Washington, this ary, 1819. day of Febru †Paper received by the Secretary of State from Mr. Hyde de Neuville, 16th February, 1819. Remarks of the Chevalier de Onis. ART. 1. Agreed to.* ART. 2. Requires a more explicit explanation.* ART. 3. The Chevalier de Onis requires that the boundary between the two countries shall be the middle of the rivers, and that the navigation of the said rivers shall be common to both nations. Remarks of the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State maintains that the United States have always intended that the property of the river should belong to them. He insists on this point, as an essential condition, as the means of avoiding all collision, and as a prin †Mr. De Onis being at this time confined by indisposition, at his request Mr. Hyde de Neuville had a personal interview with the Secretary of State on the 15th of February, at which there was a full and free discussion of the projet of Mr. De Onis, delivered February 9th, and of the counter-projet communicated by him to Mr. De Onis, February 13th. Immediately after this interview, Mr. De Neuville reduced to writing this paper, in which are noted the objections of Mr. De Onis to parts of the counter-projet, the replies to those objections by the Secretary of State, and the points to which both parties were agreed. He sent a copy of the paper the next morning to the Secretary of State, and another copy to Mr. De Onis. Being intended merely as a private minute, that both parties might be satisfied of the correctness in which their respective remarks were stated, it was drawn up partly in French, and partly in our own language. The passages here marked with asterisks are in English in the original paper. The rest is translated. The minutes upon the eighth article, compared with the draught in the projet of Mr. De Onis, with that of the counter-projet by the Secretary of State, and with the article as finally expressed in the treaty, fully elucidate the understanding of the parties that the grants of land dated before, as well as after the 24th January, 1818, were annulled, excepting those upon which settlements had been commenced, the completion of which had been prevented by the circumstances of Spain, and the recent revolutions in Europe. |
