British Rear Admiral John Campbell Writes Shortly After End Of American Revolution On Continued Naval Tension Between America And Great Britain: “Request That Your Lordship Will Be Pleased To Furnish Me With Instructions How To Act In This Affair”

JOHN CAMPBELL (1720-1790). Campbell was a British naval officer rising to the rank of Rear Admiral, navigational expert, and colonial governor of Newfoundland. LS. 2 pg. 7” x 10”. July 28, 1783. Leicester fields. A letter signed “Jn: Campbell” to “Right Honble Lord North”: “My Lord Having been informed by Mr. William Newman a Principal Merchant trading to Newfoundland that an American vessel arrived at St. John’s from Boston in May last, laden with Rice and Flour And that the Customhouse had refused to admit her to an Entry and come to a resolution of detaining her until the Governor’s arrival; I think it my Duty to communicate to your Lordship this information and to request that your Lordship will be pleased to furnish me with Instructions how to Act in this Affair”. This letter from John Campbell, the Governor of Newfoundland, to Frederick North, British Home Secretary, reflects the continued distrust and disagreement between Britain and the United States as the American Revolution came to a formal resolution. Lord North served as British Prime Minister through the Battle of Yorktown, which brought down his government. In his subsequent role as Home Secretary, North was tasked with helping to complete what would become the Treaty of Paris. Though the treaty would grant shared access to the Mississippi River and American fishing rights near Newfoundland, continued British military presence near the Great Lakes and harassment of American commercial vessels in the Atlantic perpetuated tension between Great Britain and the United States for the next few decades. This tension resulted in the polarizing Jay Treaty and Embargo Act and culminated in the War of 1812. The letter is in fine condition with the first page of the letter being toned.