541To Alexander Hamilton from Joseph Whipple, 1 February 1792 (Hamilton Papers)
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, February 1, 1792. “The Packet herewith enclosed contains the Accts. of the Revenue Cutter Scammel to the 31 of December last. In addition to the payments made to Cap Yeaton for his Wages and Rations from the date of his Commission (the 21st. of March 1791), he claims allowance of Wages & Rations from the 6th. of Octr. 1790 as the time of his appointmt: as Stated in...
542Introductory Note: From Oliver Wolcott, Junior, 29 March 1792 (Hamilton Papers)
This letter concerns the problem of the so-called lost million. As early as September, 1775, Pierre August Caron de Beaumarchais, the French writer and courtier, had attempted to persuade the French government of the desirability of aiding the American colonies in their revolt against England. When, in the spring of 1776, the French government agreed to send supplies from France to the...
543Introductory Note: To George Washington, 4 April 1792 (Hamilton Papers)
The completion of the census of 1790 offered Congress its first opportunity to reapportion representation to conform to the population. The Constitution provided that each state should have at least one representative, that the membership of the House of Representatives should “not exceed one for every 30,000,” and that for purposes of representation the slave population should be counted as...
544Introductory Note: To Thomas Jefferson, [20–27 May 1792] (Hamilton Papers)
On March 5, 1792, George Hammond, the British Minister to the United States, submitted to Jefferson a detailed account of the failure of the United States to abide by the provisions of the treaty of peace of 1783. On May 29, Jefferson wrote an extensively documented reply to Hammond’s charges. Jefferson had completed the draft of his letter to Hammond by May 15, 1792, but he delayed sending it...