Benjamin Franklin establishe the first overseas mission of the United States in Paris in 1779. On April 19, 1782, John Adams was received by the States-General, and the Dutch Republic became the second country, after France, to recognize the United States as an independent government. Adams then became the first U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands and the house that he had purchased at Fluwelen Burgwal 18 in The Hague, became the first American embassy anywhere in the world.