- William Carmichael
William Carmichael (c. 1739 - 1795) was an American statesman and diplomat from
Maryland during and after the Revolutionary War. He participated inBenjamin Franklin 's mission to Paris in 1776-8, represented Maryland in theContinental Congress in 1778 and 1779 and was the principal diplomat for the United States toSpain from 1782 to 1794.Carmichael was born sometime around 1739 at the family home ("Round Top") in
Queen Anne's County, Maryland , on the Chester River just oppositeChestertown . Apparently, he was sent to Europe for his education, at theUniversity of Edinburgh inScotland . He was living inChestertown in 1774, and was a member of its Committee of Correspondence during the local controversy over dutiable tea (the so-called "Chestertown Tea Party"). But by the time the Revolutionary War began, he had decamped to London, England, and soon after, in 1776, made his way to Paris, carrying letters to the Continental Congress sewn inside the cover of a pocket dictionary.In 1776 the Congress named Carmichael as a "Secret Agent", first as an assistant to
Silas Deane . He is credited with befriending the Marquis deLafayette and recruiting the teenage aristocrat to the American cause; whenLafayette traveled to America, he carried with him a letter of introduction from Carmichael to George Washington's aideTench Tilghman , a fellow Marylander from the Eastern Shore. Carmichael later represented American interests at the court ofFrederick II of Prussia inBerlin . He returned to America in February 1778 and the Maryland Assembly sent him as a delegate to the Continental Congress.Carmichael clashed repeatedly with many of his fellow countrymen, particularly Arthur Lee and John Jay, and his tenure in Congress was a brief and stormy one. His true milieu was the world of European courts and high society, and his principal value to his native country was as an astute and well-informed observer of European political intrigues. In 1779, then, Carmichael returned to the Old World, this time to
Madrid as a diplomatic representative to Spain for the United States. At first, he was Secretary to the Legation headed byJohn Jay . When Jay returned in April 1782 Carmichael became "Chargé d'Affaires ," remaining in this post at the Spanish royal court until illness forced his replacement in 1794.In 1792, President
George Washington appointed Carmichael a commissioner plenipotentiary (together withWilliam Short ) to negotiate a treaty with Spain protecting American navigation rights to the Mississippi River. The treaty was concluded shortly after Carmichael's death, and became known as theTreaty of San Lorenzo orPinckney's Treaty ,Thomas Pinckney having stepped in to complete the negotiations. Carmichael was also involved in negotiations to free American mariners who had been taken captive by the Dey ofAlgiers , a situation that later led to theBarbary Wars .William Carmichael died in Madrid, Spain on
February 9 ,1795 and is buried in the Protestant cemetery there. He left a Spanish wife and daughter, who returned to theEastern Shore of Maryland and were eventually compensated by the U.S. Congress for Carmichael's services.External links
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000161 Carmichael’s Congressional biography]
* [http://www.washcoll.edu/wc/news/press_releases/2005/10/26_teaparty.pdf "Tea and Fantasy," by Adam Goodheart, The American Scholar, Autumn 2005]succession box
title=U.S. Chargé d'Affaires in Spain
before=John Jay
after=William Short
years=1783–1794
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