John Adams (toekomstig President van de VS) vraagt Nederlandse bankiers om een lening (1782)

10 comments
  1. Understanding that the request 10 million guilders translates to 300 billion dollars in current days makes the lines of “A modest amount” and “a modest man” even more funnier.

  2. Dit was echt een topserie, heb hem gezien toen hij net uit was en een paar jaar geleden nog een keer. Paul Giamatti is geweldig als John Adams, Washington en Jefferson worden ook heel goed neergezet.

  3. Adams was the American colonies’ “Ambassador” to the Netherlands at a time when America’s only diplomatic missions were in the Netherlands and France. He also visited several times while he was assigned to France when France hosted America’s only diplomatic mission.

    There’s not a lot of context to the clip, but it seems like the loan he’s requesting would support the American revolution—by 1782 the colonies had declared independence (1776) but hadn’t yet won the Revolutionary War (1783). Our current Constitution wasn’t written yet (written 1787) but the Articles of Confederation (ratified 1777) functioned to very loosely unite the states while leaving them sovereign and more powerful than the central government.

    I haven’t seen this miniseries—it looks interesting but I’m scratching my head at the portrayal of him as a bumbler. Most accounts I’ve read indicate he was very eloquent but filled with self doubt.

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