A large part of the year 1780 John Adams devoted to building a network of relations in the Netherlands. Politicians, bankers and Patriots could rely on his unremitting attention. The struggle in America did not go as well as Congress would wish and more than ever they were in need of money. Adams noticed that his initial optimism about his chances to acquire a loan was in danger of evaporating. The endless deliberations and the decision making procedures of the Dutch Republic, that were totally incomprehensible to him, started to undermine his confidence. What annoyed him most were the Dutch frugality and greed. He wrote to a friend: "Such a Nation of Idolators at the Shrine of Mammon never existed, I believe". Nevertheless he kept trying, with the help of the Dutch Patriot Baron Joan Derk van der Capellen tot den Pol, to convince the policy makers of the purpose and necessity of a formal relationship with the new American Republic. But the rulers in Amsterdam and The Hague kept tarrying.

A fresh approach
In the spring of 1781 Adams decided on a completely new approach. He chose an unorthodox method. Contrary to protocol, on 19 April 1781 he wrote a sixteen page letter to the States General proposing that the two countries enter into a treaty. He suggested in his letter that such a treaty would result in profitable trade relations and considerable financial gain for the Netherlands. The document was translated into English, French and Dutch with the help of his Dutch friends and distributed as a pamphlet in many thousands of copies among the supporters of the American cause. Now all they could do was wait.

Setback
When an answer remained forthcoming, John Adams became seriously ill. In all probability he had contracted malaria in his Amsterdam canalside house and it took months before he had more or less recovered. All these setbacks had worn him out, which hampered his recovery. The struggle in America did not go as desired in the summer of 1781. The Americans lost the important port of Charleston to the British and general Gates suffered a crushing defeat near Camden. The treason of the American general  Benedict Arnold was an additional setback. In view of these circumstances many of his Dutch contacts did not want to have anything more to do with him. Besides, the British ambassador, Joseph Yorke, was putting pressure on the Netherlands by threatening with war. This threat was to become a reality at the end of the same year.

The tide is turning
Then, finally, there is some good news. On 23 November 1781 the news reached Adams that the British had been defeated near Yorktown. The British general Cornwallis surrendered his army, which in effect put an end to the American War of Independence. Shortly after, John Adams ventured to press the States General for a reply to his earlier request. The time had come to let go of the prudence that for such a long time had characterised Dutch diplomacy. In The Hague it was no longer considered likely that the British would be able to recover militarily. When the States of Friesland were the first to proclaim themselves in favour of recognition, Adams bought a large house on Fluwelen Burgwal in The Hague, in anticipation of further official arrangements. This was to become the first embassy in American history.

Success!
The important province of Holland voted in March 1782 for the proposed recognition, the other provinces followed suit. On 19 April, a year after he had made his request and six years after the American Declaration of Independence, John Adams was officially acknowledged as ambassador. This made the Republic, after France, the second country to enter into formal relations with the young American nation.
This did not mean that the requested loan was all settled now as well. That did not happen until Tuesday  8 October 1782, when Adams, in the Trèves Room on Binnenhof (the seat of government), was able to conclude a loan of 5 million guilders (2 million dollars), at 5% interest. This was not the 10 million dollars Congress had asked for, but all parties were nevertheless content. The commission that John Adams had taken upon himself, had finally succeeded.