Volume 13 begins at the end of March 1788, when Jefferson and Adams were still in Amsterdam carrying on negotiations with the Dutch bankers for a loan to carry the national debt until the new government could be firmly established under the proposed Constitution, and concludes on 7 October 1788. It includes the extensive notes Jefferson made during his journey up the Rhine and through the wine-growing country of Germany and northern France, one of which recorded his first ideas for the improvement of the moldboard plough—a subject which was to develop into one of his major contributions to the welfare of mankind.

This volume also encompasses detailed reports from America of the debate over the proposed new Federal Constitution, Jefferson’s continued efforts to insure favorable accounts of American affairs in European newspapers, his further negotiations with the French government to broaden the basis of American trade, his continued interest in the exchange of plants and seeds between America and France, and his carefully-considered advice to Americans travelling abroad, together with the letters of Shippen, Rutledge, and Short, who were travelling under his guidance.