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1

Codzienność hiszpańska drugiej połowy XVIII wieku w świetle korespondencji Johna i Sarah Jay

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Stelmasiak K.

Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Historica

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2001

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vol. 70

PL

Wydanie publikacji dofinansowane przez Komitet Badań Naukowych

EN

The eighteenth century was the time of the big changes in Spain. At the beginning of the century the country was weak from political and economic point of view. Foreign travellers emphasized that Spain was depopulated and destroyed. „The age of reforms” started with the reign of Philip V. His successor Ferdinand VI continued the reconstruction. The main reforms were done during the reign of Charles III. He was the outstanding administrator in Spanish history. For American diplomats who came to Europe during the war of Independence Spain was very often the first point of their travels. America had great expectations of Spain, including large - scale aid and even an alliance. Seeing that the Congress decided to send a minister plenipotentiary to Spain in September 1779. This minister was John Jay. He was the most able and distinguished man whom the Congress could spare for this important mission. The article is based on John and Sarah Jay correspondence and it documents their adventures on the voyage to Spain in 1779. Then it shows the Jays’ opinions on Spanish everday life which they made during their stay in this country. John and Sarah Jay left America in October 1779 on the ship „Confederacy” . The stormy voyage was described in the letters of Sarah Jay too her mother because John Jay himself was too seasick to attend to formal correspondence. When the Jays’ arrived at Cadiz in February 1780 no one welcomed them. John Jay was accorded no offical status by the Spanish court. In March having sent William Carmichael (John Jay’s secretary) ahead, the Jays along set out for Madrid, four hundred miles away. The route to Madrid took them through Andalusia, La Mancha and Castile. As travellers, John and Sarah Jay brought their own food, they ate it with their own utensils, and they carried their own beds. They reached the capital in April 1780. Although the Jays rented the house in Madrid, John Jay was soon engaged in following the court form country seat to country seat. King Charles III moved very often from his winter capitol of El Pardo to Aranjuez and then to the north at the two sites of El Escorial and San Ildefonso. Moving the court from one palace to another made Spain one of the most expensive diplomatic establishment in Europe. That is why Sarah Jay stayed in Madrid most the time. Generally financial problems made their stay in Spain very difficult although John Jay was supported by Benjamin Franklin from Paris. To make matters worse from the beginning Jay’s mission was a hoples one. He had lowly status at the court and he felt lonely. He showed his discontent quite often in his letters. To sum up in the correspondence, John and Sarah Jay did not put a lot of attention to everyday life in Spain. There are a few letters where we can find fascinating descriptions of their ocean voyage, broken by near-disaster and the interlude a t Martinique, and then their arrived in Cadiz and their difficult overland journey to Madrid and the Spanish court.

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Wydarzenia rewolucji amerykańskiej roku 1776 w oczach Abigail Adams

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Stelmasiak K., Uniwersytet Łódzki I. H.

Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Historica

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1999

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vol. 64

EN

Abigail Adams played a unique role in the years leading up to the declaration of American independence. She was a highly intelligent person with a forceful and a colourful personality. She was the only woman in American history to be the wife of one president and the mother of another. When Abigail Adams married John Adams in 1764, she did not expect that her life would be changed by the Revolution. Her expectations of marriage were those established by the model of her parents and grandparents. She was prepared to assume domestic responsibilities and to be supported by and dependent her husband. The American Revolution changed her life. While John Adams went to sit with the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Abigail Adams was ready to take charge at home. Writing to her absent husband Abigail Adams recounted the battles that were sweeping the countyside. She described the apalling life conditions during the war. Later Abigail Adams managed the household and the family finances successfully. She sold or traded different items which John Adams had sent her from Europe. Abigail Adams was interested in women’s rights. She belived that women were as intelligent as men. Finally Abigail Adams fullfield a man’s role but she was no feminist. She belived that women were domestic, that their primary functions were within the home as wife and mother.

3

Europa w podróżach Thomasa Jeffersona (1784–1789)

100%

Stelmasiak K.

Białostockie Teki Historyczne

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2015

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vol. Białostockie Teki Historyczne, 2015, tom 13

EN

Thomas Jefferson’s views on the contemporary world were mostly based on his own travel observations and experience. The diplomat visited Europe only once, and stayed there between 1784–1789. The major purpose of his visit was a political mission, during which he had a chance to observe France and other European countries. The present article, devoted to Thomas Jefferson’s visit to the Old Continent, describes the journeys he made to several European destinations and discusses his views and opinions on their inhabitants and culture. His correspondence, diaries and travel notes as well as Autobiography served as sources for the article. The diplomat did not publish any of his travel reports. During his five-year stay in Paris, Jefferson made three major journeys. In spring 1786 he went to England to help John Adams with business negotiations. He was received by the King in London. With some exceptions, England hardly impressed him. Another occasion to explore the European Continent was a-three-month journey to southern France and northern Italy made in spring 1787. Jefferson wanted to relax and improve his health in a warmer climate, and also to familiarise himself with the cultivation methods in southern France. Jefferson’s last European peregrination took place in spring 1788. He went to the Low Countries and the Rhineland. The purpose of the trip was to help John Adams to negotiate loans from the Dutch bankers, but the diplomat used this opportunity to make a longer journey along the Rhine to observe agriculture, tourist attractions and people’s everyday life. Leaving France in summer 1789, Thomas Jefferson could consider himself an expert on the Old Continent. The stay assured him that Europe was well ahead of the United States in almost every field, yet it lagged far behind in the government system. For this reason he believed that the future belonged to the New World.

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Codzienność hiszpańska drugiej połowy XVIII wieku w świetle korespondencji Johna i Sarah Jay

Wydarzenia rewolucji amerykańskiej roku 1776 w oczach Abigail Adams

Europa w podróżach Thomasa Jeffersona (1784–1789)