Thomas Jefferson and Frederick II
Signatories of the Prussian-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce of 1785

http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/ga1-860606.htm

Frederick II of Prussia and the Treaty
In 1783, Frederick II instructed his diplomat von der Goltz in Paris to begin negotiating a treaty with the American diplomat Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America. Afterward, Friedrich Wilhelm von Thulemeier, the Prussian representative in The Hague, established contact with the American diplomat there, John Adams, who would later become the second president of the United States. From May 1784 onwards Adams and Franklin engaged in negotiations with Prussia on behalf of the American congress with the intent of securing a mutual agreement on trade and commerce as well as the deployment of armed forces in the event of war. In addition, the status of prisoners of war was also clarified.

By signing this treaty, Prussia recognized the United States as an independent nation in 1785. By 1828 it had been renewed twice. The treaty was finally ended in 1917 when the United States entered World War I.

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
The lawyer, philosopher and statesman is considered the driving intellectual force behind the American Revolution and the father of the Declaration of Independence (1776). He succeeded Benjamin Franklin as Minister to France in 1785. Under George Washington he then served as Secretary of State before becoming vice-president under John Adams. He took office as the third president of the United States in 1801 and served two terms until 1809, during which he made a significant contribution to the formation of the political guiding principles and the territorial expansion of the new democratic union.

Source: Deutsches Historisches Museum, press release from July 7, 2008