The Dutch Origins of the Quasi War: John Adams, the Netherlands, and Atlantic Politics in the 1790s

In 1797, John Adams called together a special session of Congress. Adams informed the assembled members that he had sent new ambassadors to France and requested a buildup of the military. Adams’s belligerent message set the stage for the military engagement with France that came to be known as the Quasi War. In the message, Adams included some documents about French depredations in the Netherlands. While these documents have caused some historians pause, this article argues that the use of these documents offer insight into the much larger role the Dutch played in the Early American Republic and in Adams’s own decision-making process. In order to fully understand the origins of the Quasi War, we must consider Adams’s connections with the Netherlands and the Dutch people.