Franklin received them May 18, June 30, and July 8 by two couriers: Alexandre Pochard (Dumas' friend[4] and later companion to Fleury Mesplet[5]) and a man named Vaillant.

In December 1775, Franklin thanked Dumas:[6][7] It came to us in good season, when the circumstances of a rising State make it necessary to frequently consult the Law of Nations.Franklin also said that this book by Vattel, "has been continually in the hands of the members of our Congress now sitting".

To do more than state the proposition is absolutely unnecessary in view of the practical illustration afforded by the almost universal legislation to that effect now in force.In the United States, Vattel was one of the treatise writers that influenced James Madison's concept of the freedom of the seas in defense of the principle "free ships make free goods" (in other words, if the ships were neutral, the goods on board were deemed neutral).

[11] In the longest work Madison ever wrote, he relied heavily upon Vattel to support his argument that the Rule of 1756 had no legal basis.

[12] According to James Madison, Vattel was "justly charged with failing too much in the merit of a careful discrimination; and sometimes with delivering maxims, which he either could not reconcile, or does not take pains to explain."

Additionally, neutral nations were encouraged to accept that certain types of goods might be justifiably seized by belligerents, and these seizures should not be construed as acts of war.