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Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing) 2 0 Browse Search
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Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Secret committee. (search)
Secret committee. On Nov. 29, 1775, the Congress resolved That a committee of five be appointed for the sole purpose of corresponding with our friends in Great Britain, Ireland, and other parts of the world, and that they lay their correspondence before Congress when directed, and that all expenses that might arise by carrying on such correspondence, and for the payment of such agents as the committee might send on this service, should be defrayed by the Congress. This was the germ of the American State Department, and the initial step in the foreign diplomacy of the United States. The members chosen were Benjamin Harrison, Dr. Franklin, Thomas Johnson, John Dickinson, and John Jay. A correspondence was immediately opened with Arthur Lee, in London, and C. W. Dumas (a Swiss gentleman), residing in Holland.