183101Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
One of the most influential of Adams’ Revolutionary writings was the pamphlet Thoughts on Government, Applicable to the Present State of the American Colonies. In a Letter from a Gentleman to His Friend , Philadelphia, 1776 ( T. R. Adams, American Independence Thomas R. Adams, American Independence: The Growth of an Idea. A Bibliographical Study of the American Political Pamphlets Printed...
183102To Benjamin Franklin from David Hall, 19 August 1766 (Franklin Papers)
Letterbook copy: American Philosophical Society Your Favour of May 19th. by Captain Cruikshanks I received for which I thank you, and shall act as you desire, with respects to the Contents of it. I presented the Account from the Post-Office to Mr. Bradford, who seemed surprised it was not paid, as he said he had given Orders for the Payment, and has told me since, that he has desired a Person...
183103Enclosure: Resolutions from Philadelphia Manufacturers, 8 May 1794 (Washington Papers)
At a General & numerous Meeting of the Manufacturers of the City of Philadelphia and such other Citizens as reprobate the imposition of an Excise upon the Infant Manufactures of America held in the State House Yard on Thursday the eighth Day of May One thousand seven hundred and Ninety four the following Resolutions, together with the Preamble were proposed & unanimously adopted. Whereas it is...
183104Introductory Note: Opinion on the Constitutionality of an Act to Establish a Bank, [23 February 1791] (Hamilton Papers)
There are at least eight manuscript versions of this famous document. One of these is an incomplete draft in Hamilton’s handwriting. The other seven are copies. The two versions that are printed below are the draft and that copy which it is assumed is the final version that was sent to George Washington. The seven copies of this document are located as follows: 1. Copy, Mr. John R. Dillard,...
183105To James Madison from an Unidentified Correspondent, 24 February 1810 (Abstract) (Madison Papers)
24 February 1810, Charleston. Criticizes the decision of the Jefferson administration to reduce the naturalization period for foreigners to four years. “Experience teaches us daily, that there is but little confidence to be placed in them.” Argues that foreigners may be “received among us” and permitted to hold land and conduct business, but they should “never … be permited to vote at...
183106To Benjamin Franklin from Charles Thomson, 24 August 1766 (Franklin Papers)
Draft: Library of Congress I do not know whether the intimacy with which you have honoured my acquaintance gives me a right to introduce any to your notice with out first having your leave; yet as I have knowledge enough of the goodness of your heart[?] to be assured of the pleasure it will give you to encourage rising genius I am induced to recommend to your notice, Ben. R a native of this...
183107Crime and Punishment in Federalist New York: Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
Years of experience as chief justice for the New York Supreme Court of Judicature (1777–79) and the Supreme Court of the United States (1789–95) had instilled Jay with a certainty that the just practice of law was necessary for maintaining good governance and social harmony. Jay affirmed this belief in his inaugural address before the state legislature: “One great object of which a people,...
183108Canons of Official Etiquette: Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
After Jefferson hosted the newly arrived British Minister Anthony Merry and his wife, Elizabeth, for dinner at the President’s House on 2 Dec., a debate over diplomatic protocol ensued. The British consul took umbrage when the widowed president did not accompany his wife to the dining room, but instead escorted Dolley Madison, whom he seated at his side. Secretary of State James Madison...
183109Editorial Note: Petition to Virginia House of Delegates (Jefferson Papers)
It is not clear when Jefferson decided to take it upon himself to respond to the grand jury presentment against Samuel J. Cabell (see TJ to Peregrine Fitzhugh, 4 June 1797 ), but he must have begun working on the draft of a petition to the Virginia House of Delegates soon after he returned to Monticello. Believing it was dangerous to let the attack on circular letters to constituents go...
183110To Alexander Hamilton from ———, [n.p., n.d.] (Hamilton Papers)
Mr. Duer the late Secretary of the Board of Treasury having informed us that in Consequence of his having Exhibited the account of our Salaries, the warrant including the same has been made out in his Favor as Secretary of the late Board. We beg Leave to inform you that we have no Objection to its issuing in that Form. We are Sir, Your most Obet. Hble Serts. Copy, New-York Historical Society,...
183111Visiting and Business Cards, [1757–1775] (Franklin Papers)
MS and printed cards: American Philosophical Society [1757–1775] Among Franklin’s surviving papers is a collection of personal visiting cards (or “visiting tickets” as they appear to have been called) and business cards of tradesmen and others. Some of the personal cards are handwritten, as is one of Franklin’s own after he received his doctorate; others are printed or engraved, and...
183112James Madison to Wilson Cary Nicholas, 2 August 1789 (Jefferson Papers)
Note: The letter from James Madison of 2 August 1789, published in Volume 15 of the letterpress edition, as sent to Jefferson, has been suppressed for the digital edition. It was a letter to Wilson Cary Nicholas rather than to Jefferson. See Robert A. Rutland and others, eds., The Papers of James Madison (Charlottesville, 1979), 12:320–1. (Click on the page icons to see the document as it...
183113Editorial Note: Rights of Man: The “Contest of Burke and Paine … in America” (Jefferson Papers)
What James Monroe called “the contest of Burke and Paine, as reviv’d in America,” bore a distinctly different character from its European counterpart. Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France and Paine’s Rights of Man , two of the most notable political tracts in the English language, set forth in memorable terms their authors’ commitment to diametrically opposed views of man and...
183114To Benjamin Franklin from Isaac Hunt, 21 May 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS (mutilated): American Philosophical Society It is with great Reluctance that I trouble you with [ torn ] at a time when you must be busily engaged in Affairs of the [ torn ] to Great Britain and her Colonies. I hope however you will pardon [ torn ] indulge me in a Freedom which I do and ever shall esteem a great [Favour?]. One of the Medals which Mr. Sargent sent to the College [was...
183115The Election of 1777 Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
Although the council believed that they did not have the authority to establish a permanent mode of calling elections, necessity dictated that it call for the first election for the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, and members of the legislature. On 9 May, the council ordered the sheriffs of the counties to hold elections in designated places. The occupied southern counties had...
183116Enclosure: [Letter to The New-York Daily Gazette], [1 October 1793] (Hamilton Papers)
One Andrew G. Fraunces, lately a clerk in the treasury department, has been endeavoring to have it believed, that he is possessed of some facts, of a nature to criminate the official conduct of the Secretary of the Treasury; an idea to which, for obvious reasons, an extensive circulation has been given, by a certain description of persons. The Public may be assured, that the said Fraunces has...
183117“Pacificus”: Pax Quaeritur Bello, 23 January 1766 (Franklin Papers)
Reprinted by Verner W. Crane, ed., Benjamin Franklin’s Letters to the Press 1758–1775 (Chapel Hill, [1950]), pp. 54–7, from The Public Advertiser , January 26, 1766. While there is no certainty that Franklin wrote this piece, the probability is strong, as Verner W. Crane has pointed out in Letters to the Press , pp. 54–5. The satirical vein is characteristic of a good deal of Franklin’s...
183118Second Inaugural Address: Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
Before noon on Monday, the 4th of March, Jefferson mounted his horse—probably Wildair, his prized bay saddle horse—and rode the mile and a half up Pennsylvania Avenue from the President’s House to the Capitol. Augustus John Foster, the 24-year-old secretary of the British legation in Washington, left a record of the details he observed on that day. The president, who “affects great plainness...
183119Early Political Activism Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
Even had John Jay not married the daughter of so able and active a political leader as William Livingston, it would have been difficult for him to avoid participation in public life by the spring of 1774. The repeal of the Townshend duties had brought comparative calm to the relations between New York and the British government, but the Tea Act of 10 May 1773 put an end to this peaceful...
183120Magna Britannia: Her Colonies Reduc’d, [January–February 1766] (Franklin Papers)
“Explanation” and “Moral” reprinted from William Temple Franklin, ed., Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin, LL.D. F.R.S. &c. (quarto edition, London, 1817–18), i, 219–20. Philadelphia “Explanation” reprinted from print in American Philosophical Society Library. Among the methods Franklin used during the winter of 1765–66 to gain support for the repeal of the Stamp Act was the...
183121Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
In this, Adams’ earliest known appearance in an Admiralty action for a violation of the Acts of Trade, he and James Otis argued for Timothy Folger, Searcher and Preventive Officer at Nantucket. The lawyers were not engaged on the side of royal authority, however. Folger was a native of the island, sympathetic to Massachusetts mercantile interests. Arrayed against him were the customs officers...
183122Madison in the Fourth Congress, 7 December 1795–3 March 1797 (Editorial Note) (Madison Papers)
More than a month after the ending of the second session of the Third Congress, JM left Philadelphia to return to Montpelier, where he arrived on or about 21 April 1795. At the same time, John Beckley, clerk of the House of Representatives and JM’s political associate, departed from Philadelphia for New York, where he arranged for the publication of a pamphlet written by JM at the request of...
183123Editorial Note: The Debt to Farell & Jones and the Slave Ship The Prince of Wales (Jefferson Papers)
Most of the documents presented in this group were discovered recently among the Ended Cases of the United States Court for the Middle Circuit, Virginia District, and were involved in the case of Jones v. Wayles’ Executors concerning the slave ship The Prince of Wales , a suit begun in 1790 by Richard Hanson as attorney for William Jones, surviving partner of Joseph Farell of the house of...
183124Enclosure: Resolutions of a Meeting on Slavery in Trenton, New Jersey, 29 October 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
PUBLIC MEETING, Respecting Slavery. AT a large and respectable Meeting of the Citizens of the State of New-Jersey , held at the State-house in Trenton , the 29th of October, 1819 , pursuant to public notice, for the purpose of taking into consideration the subject of SLAVERY in States hereafter to be admitted into the Union. The Honourable J esse U pson , Vice-President of the State, was...
183125To Benjamin Franklin from Isaac Hunt, 14 December 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS (mutilated): American Philosophical Society Your friendly and obliging Favour by Captain Falconer came safe to Hand. I think myself happy in so good a Friend, and shall always endeavour by an upright Conduct to deserve your Friendship. The Judgment you have passed on my Essay does me great Honor, and [offers?] a Pleasure in reading that Part of your Letter which I want Words to express. I...
183126Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
The courts of Vice Admiralty in the colonies had been established by the Crown in 1697 primarily to provide a forum for enforcement of the Acts of Trade and Navigation, with which England sought to control colonial commerce for the benefit of the Mother Country. The courts were, of course, open for the trial of ordinary civil maritime cases, but in Massachusetts it took the earliest royal...
183127Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
Following his receipt of Congress’s official notification that Vice Admiral d’Estaing had arrived on the Georgia coast with a large French fleet, GW in the short span of the first week of October expanded and put into motion his plans for a joint campaign with the French to drive the British from New York. GW had begun contemplating an attack on the British military bastion of New York in May...
183128Note on an Extract from a Purported Letter by Franklin, 24 December 1774 (Franklin Papers)
Verner Crane reprinted an extract, published in the Boston Gazette of March 20, 1775, of a letter from London dated December 24, 1774. He conjectured that it might have been taken from one of Franklin’s letters to Cushing that are now lost. We are convinced that the writer was Arthur Lee and the recipient Samuel Adams. The extract, which deals with the impact in England of the news from the...
183129To Benjamin Franklin from Thomas Franklin, 11 October 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society I have Received all the Letters You have been so good as to Send and am not Able to Express my Self with humble thanks to you for all these great favours I and My Daughter Receive from you Likewise humbly thank Mrs. Stevenson for all her E[x]terordinary Goodness to my Daughter. It is joyfull news to me to hear my Daughter is getting better I Bless God for...
183130Final Version: First Report on the Further Provision Necessary for Establishing Public Credit, [13 December 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
[To the Speaker of the House of Representatives] In obedience to the order of the House of Representatives, of the ninth day of August last, requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to prepare and report, on this day, such further provision as may, in his opinion, be necessary for establishing the public credit The said Secretary Respectfully reports That the object, which appears to be most...
183131To Benjamin Franklin from Jonathan Potts, 22 October 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society You will receive by this post several Letters in my favour from Gentlemen of your Acquaintance in Philadelphia and by the first Vessels from Pennsylvania you will receive Letters, in favour of my Good friend and Relation Mr. Rush and myself from your Son the Govenour of the Jerseys (who has honoured me with a Letter to Sir Alex: Dick of Edinburgh) and also...
183132To James Madison from an Unidentified Correspondent, 9 June 1812 (Madison Papers)
The moment is now approaching which will probably place in your hands the Destinies of millions, a moment important to yourself your country and Posterity: You have arrived at a crisis which requires not only the aid of much human wisdom but of an Almighty hand for the rule of your Government: To you Sir the American Empire is now entrusted To you Sir the American Nation look up for Safety and...
183133To Thomas Jefferson from Joseph Anderson, William Cocke, and William Dickson, 19 February 1803 (Jefferson Papers)
Some days ago , we had the honer to adress you, in Conjunction with the Members of Congress from Georgia and Kentucky; upon the Subject of a Road, from Danville, through Tennessee, to Augusta in Georgia—In Support of that adress, we now beg leave to present some resolutions pass’d by our Legislature and inclos’d to us by the Governor—from the Tenor of those Resolutions , it will appear that...
183134Editorial Note: Jefferson’s Comments on François Soulés’ Histoire (Jefferson Papers)
The assistance that Jefferson gave to the French historian François Soulés (1748–1809) was assumed by Ford, iv ;, 300, to have been based on “the MSS. or proof-sheets … which he submitted to Jefferson.” Sowerby, i , 223, seems to imply that Jefferson employed page-proofs in making his comments, since he “probably had bound the two volumes that the author sent him for his corrections.” There...
183135From the Faculty Committee for General Purposes to the Visitors of the University of Virginia, 9 September 1826 (Madison Papers)
The Committee to whom was referred such matters of a general nature as it would be proper to suggest to the Visitors, having taken the same into consideration, report: That the following representations be made by the Faculty to the Visitors at their next meeting: 1st. The expediency of attaching to each Pavilion the two adjoining Dormitories. The occupation of these Dormitories, as at...
183136To James Madison from an Unidentified Correspondent, 6 March 1812 (Madison Papers)
The Sentiments of an individual on the Great subject of national concern may be thought assuming and intruding but when proceeding from upright honest principles produced by perhaps the Superior and immediate Spirit of our divine maker to be suggested to the rulers of the country now assembled by a humble private character without any party spirit in such case as this apoligy seems...
183137Minutes of the Supreme Court, 7–8 February 1791 (Jay Papers)
At the Supreme Court of the United States begun and held at Philadelphia (being the Seat of the national Government) on the first Monday of February and on the Seventh day of said month Anno Domini 1791— Present. The Honb le . John Jay Esq r . Chief Justice. The Honb le . William Cushing, James Wilson, and James Iredell Esq rs ., Associate Justices. Proclamation is made and the Court is...
183138To James Madison from an Unidentified Correspondent, 10 October 1812 (Madison Papers)
It is one of the greatest blessings of our republican Goverment and administration; the Ease, and facility with which, any man can approach the chief magistrate of the nation; and however weak he may be in his political opinions, if he has the love of his Country at heart, it will be a free pasport to his president, under these considerations I have taken the liberty to suggest some few...
183139[Draft of “An Act to incorporate ‘the Associates of the Jersey Company’”], [May–June 1804] (Hamilton Papers)
Although William H. Richardson, Jersey City: A Study of Its Beginning, Its Growth, and Its Destiny (Jersey City, New Jersey, 1927), 26, and Winfield, Jersey City Charles H. Winfield, A Monograph on the Founding of Jersey City (New York, 1891). , 59, attribute the draft of the bill of this act to H, no evidence has been found that H wrote it. For the text of the act, see New Jersey Laws , 29th...
183140The General Assembly Session of October 1785 (Editorial Note) (Madison Papers)
The Virginia legislative session of 1785 was a complicated interplay of power politics and constitutional issues. Even before the delegates and senators met in Richmond, the people were excited by the issues which would be discussed. Petitions concerning slavery and emancipation raised tempers on a subject which would long occupy the General Assembly. The attempt to gain state funds to support...
183141To Benjamin Franklin from David Hall, 3 March 1766 (Franklin Papers)
Letterbook copy: American Philosophical Society I was in hopes of a Letter from you by the Packet, but disappointed, was glad however to know from those that had, that you was well. Inclosed have sent you a Copy of the Accounts settled by Mr. Parker with me on your Account, which I hope will be Satisfactory, as, to the best of my Knowledge I think they are right; tho’, as I suppose he told...
183142Minutes of the New-York Manumission Society, 17 August 1787 (Jay Papers)
Present John Jay Esq r . President, Matthew Clarkson Esq r . V. Pres t ., John Murray Jun r . Treasurer, John Keese Secretary, Willet Seaman, William Shotwell, Richard Lawrence, Alexander Hamilton, Doct r Walter Minto, Egbert Benson, Doct r John Bard, Ebenezer Hazard, James Hardy, Robert Harpur, White Matlack &c. The Committee appointed last Evening to draw a Memorial to the fœderal Convention...
183143Oration on JA’s Birthday, 19 October 1801 (Adams Papers)
Your neighbours and friends assembled to celebrate the anniversary of your natal day, beg leave to approach you with sincere congratulations upon the pleasing occasion. Be assured Sir, that no lapse of time can abate our respect and gratitude for your long, laborious and faithful public services, or diminish our affectionate attachment to your person and character. An attachment founded in the...
183144To Benjamin Franklin from Mary Stevenson, 9 March 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society You will give us great pleasure if you will favour us with your company to day, our dinner shall be ready at any hour you will appoint, four o’clock will be as convenient to us as any other time; say you will come and you make us happy. My mother gave us hope that you might come to day, and thought it was the only one you could. I will flatter myself that I...
183145Introduction (Adams Papers)
In shaping the necessarily complex plan of a comprehensive edition of the papers of the Adams family, the editors decided to prepare and publish first the Diary of John Adams, with its important though fragmentary supplement, his Autobiography written long after he had given up keeping a diary. Among many good reasons for this decision, one was strictly practical and especially persuasive. The...
183146EnclSchedule G, [9 January 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
SCHEDULE G Table Shewing What Annuity Would be Enjoyed by the Survivor of Any Two Persons Of Certain Ages, for the Remainder of Life, After the Determination of the Life in Expectation, Upon The Present Payment of One Hundred Dollars, Computing Interest at Four per Cent. Per Annum, And the Duration of Life According to Doctor Halley’s Tables. Age of the youngest. Age of the eldest. Annuity of...
183147Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
In the summer of 1805 William Wirt asked Jefferson to supply him with information for a prospective work on the famed Virginia revolutionary Patrick Henry . In his reply Jefferson agreed to help but warned that his evaluation of his onetime friend and later political adversary would bear a “mixed aspect.” Although he regarded Henry as “the best humored man in society I almost ever knew, and...
183148Editorial Note: Charges Against Arthur St. Clair (Jefferson Papers)
A former general in the Continental army and president of the Confederation Congress, Arthur St. Clair had served as governor of the Northwest Territory since its creation by Congress in 1787. With the establishment of a territorial legislature in 1799, St. Clair, a Federalist, found himself repeatedly at odds with the growing Republican presence in the territory, which centered on the town of...
183149John Jay and the Response to the XYZ Affair in New York: Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
John Jay’s summoning of a special session of the New York state legislature in July 1798 initiated his formal response to the deteriorating relations with France and the public furor over the French demands for bribes, loans, and United States assumption of liability for losses resulting from French seizures of American ships and cargoes that came to be known as the XYZ affair. In 1797 the...
183150Minutes of the Supreme Court, [6–11 August 1792] (Jay Papers)
Monday August 6th. 1792. At a Supreme Court of the United States, begun and held at Philadelphia (being the present seat of the National Government) on the first Monday of August and on the sixth day of the said Month Anno Domini 1792— Present. The Honb le . John Jay Esq r . Chief Justice. The Honble— William Cushing, James Wilson, John Blair, James Iredell, & Thomas Johnson Esq rs .,...