183481Introductory Note: To George Washington, [14 April 1794] (Hamilton Papers)
The threat of war with Great Britain in the spring of 1794 was met in the United States with proposals for reprisals, for strengthening American defenses, and for negotiation. Most individuals who urged negotiation also advocated that the task be entrusted to a special envoy. Secretary of State Edmund Randolph stated on April 6 that he was “among the first, if not the first, who suggested this...
183482Editorial Note: Reports on Mediterranean Trade and Algerine Captives (Jefferson Papers)
For two and a half centuries after the brothers Barbarossa of Algiers had ceased to terrorize the Mediterranean, the great powers of Europe stood silent and subservient before their petty successors, allowing and even encouraging them to carry on their piracies because, as makeweights in the grand scales of politics, their usefulness seemed to counterbalance their cost in lives, tribute, and...
183483The Foreign Affairs Committee to the Commissioners, 30 April 1778 (Adams Papers)
By the Gazettes which accompany this letter you will see that the Enemy are entering upon a plan which must shortly perplex us much, unless we receive dispatches from you to enlighten us as to your Situation and Transactions of which we have had no information since the latter end of May. As we have heard of the loss of Capt. Johnston and Capt. Wickes and know that John Folgier was robbed, we...
183484Franklin’s Case, [c. 1 March 1784] (Franklin Papers)
D and incomplete press copy of D : American Philosophical Society The Patient is now in his 79th. Year. When a Young Man he was sometimes troubled with gravelly Complaints; but they wore off without the Use of any Medecine, and he remained more than Fifty Years free from them. In the Autumn of 1782, he had a severe Attack accompanied with what was thought to be a Gouty Pain in the Hyp, and...
183485Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
In the spring of 1774, when Adams was kept busy helping to draft the impeachment articles against Peter Oliver and reviewing the historical basis for Massachusetts land claims against New York, the Town of Boston found uses for him as well, particularly as passions mounted over the Port Act and, later, the Massachusetts Government and Administration of Justice Acts. The precise contribution...
183486Schedule A: [Estimate of the Funds Proposed in the Annexed Report], [13 December 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
Dollars 4000.000 Gallons of distilled spirits imported from foreign Countries at 8 Cents ⅌ Gallon } 320 000 3500 000 Gallons of spirits distilled in the United States from foreign Materials at 11 Cents ⅌ Gallon } 385 000 3000 000 ditto distilled from Materials of the United states at 9 Cents ⅌ Gall. } 270 000 Total Dollars 975 000 This schedule is in the writing of a clerk.
183487John Adams’ Service in the Continental Congress (Adams Papers)
The first session of the Second Continental Congress began on 10 May 1775 and ended officially on 1 August. What went on at the congress, apart from the actions recorded in the printed journal, remains a matter for some conjecture. For the First Congress, one of the best sources is Adams’ Diary, but from April to September 1775 the burden of business apparently kept Adams from getting down his...
183488Notes on the Movements of the Mediterranean Squadron, on or before 16 June 1803 (Jefferson Papers)
1802, Nov. 3. sailed from Leghorn. took under convoy vessel bd. to Palermo 11. entered Palermo. 15. sailed for Malta. 20. arrived there. had to repair Bowsprit. Dec. 7. bowsprit got in. but crew sickly with Influenza. 25. left Malta. 26. went into Syracuse to see if provns cheapr than Malta. dearer. 1803. Jan. 1. sailed for Malta. 4.
183489To Benjamin Franklin from George Read, 14 April 1766 (Franklin Papers)
MS not found; reprinted from William T. Read, Life and Correspondence of George Read (Philadelphia, 1870), p. 23. From your known goodness, and the knowledge you have of me and my family, I have presumed to beg the favor of you to apply to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury on my behalf, for the appointment of Collector of the Port of New Castle, made vacant by the death of Mr. William...
183490Memorandum from an Unidentified Correspondent, [post 1 July] 1812 (Madison Papers)
Can the President call forth the militia of the Union, or any part of that militia, without the aid of the State Executives? This question must be decided by the constitution, and by the three acts of May 8, 1792—Feby 28, 1795, and April 10, 1812. The constitution authorizes the calling forth of the Militia on three occasions only. 1. To execute the laws of the union. 2. To suppress...
183491Minutes of the New-York Manumission Society, 10 February 1785 (Jay Papers)
The Society met according to Adjournment and proceeded to Elect, by Ballot, their Officers and standing Committee, and on counting the Ballots: John Jay Esq r : appeared to be elected President, Samuel Franklin Vice President, John Murray Jun r . Treasurer; and John Keese Esq r . Secretary and the following Persons were Elected to be of the Standing Committee Viz t . Melancton Smith Esq r .,...
183492To Benjamin Franklin from James Johnson, [28 April 1766] (Franklin Papers)
MS not found; reprinted from George Everett Hastings, The Life and Works of Francis Hopkinson (Chicago, [1926]), p. 122. The Bishop of Worcester presents his Respects to Dr. Franklin and begs the favour of Him to let the Inclos’d to Mr. Hopkinson go in his Packet when He has an opportunity of sending to Philadelphia. For James Johnson, Bishop of Worcester, whose kinship to the Hopkinson family...
183493To James Madison from an Unidentified Correspondent, 20 July 1821 (Madison Papers)
Excuse me of taking the liberty to send you one of the papers inclosed within concerning the African Abolition of Slave Trade. RC ( DLC ). Addressed to JM at Washington, and franked. Docketed by JM: “Africans in Boston, Celebration by.” JM’s copy of this broadside, entitled Celebration of Freedom (Boston, 1821; Shoemaker 4931), with text that begins: “Monday the Africans and descendants of...
183494Deed of Trust for the Loganian Library, 25 March 1760 (Franklin Papers)
Transcript: Commissioner of Records, City of Philadelphia; abstract: American Philosophical Society On Aug. 28, 1754, William Logan and James Logan, sons of James Logan, deceased (above, I , 191 n), his son-in-law John Smith, and Hannah Smith, his surviving daughter, together with Israel Pemberton, William Allen, Richard Peters, and Benjamin Franklin, executed a deed of trust establishing the...
183495The Moot Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
An elite group of New York lawyers systematically continued their legal education by organizing the Moot, a law society that met between 1770 and 1775 to debate points of law. Of the approximately seventy lawyers practicing in New York City at this time, twenty belonged to the Moot, and its members included William Livingston, John Tabor Kempe, and William Smith. The Moot was modeled on The...
183496Editorial Note: The Great Collaborators (Jefferson Papers)
The subject of that day’s dinner conversation—the French protest against the tonnage acts of 1789 and 1790 and its impact on the political contests that were dividing the government —was indeed important. But not a word exchanged between the Virginia Congressman and the Secretary of State on that winter day has been preserved. What Madison—and of course Jefferson—gained then and later in their...
183497“F.B.”: On the Paving of Chancery Lane, 4 January 1766 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in The Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser , January 4, 1766 While there is no certainty that Franklin wrote this squib, the editors agree with Verner W. Crane ( Letters to the Press , pp. 44–5) that “the probability . . . is strong enough to justify its inclusion” among his writings. The style and lightness of touch are characteristic; his interest in street paving appears several...
183498Editorial Note on Promissory Notes, 1783 (Franklin Papers)
Seventeen escaped prisoners made their way to Passy and received financial assistance from Franklin during the period covered by this volume. Benjamin Ramsdell of Massachusetts, captured aboard the ship Three Sisters , received 96 l.t. on February 10. Thomas Moore was given 48 l.t. on February 23. Four men applied for assistance on March 9, each of whom received 24 l.t. They were Richard...
183499Editorial Note on Franklin’s Purported Address to the Irish People, 4 October 1778 (Franklin Papers)
The Hibernian Journal: or, Chronicle of Liberty published in its issue of November 2–4, 1778, an open letter “To the Good People of Ireland,” signed by Franklin and dated Versailles, October 4, 1778. It was a long and uninspired diatribe against British policy, and ended with a promise that all restraints on Irish trade and manufacture would be removed. Publication in Dublin disturbed the Lord...
183500Lafayette, John Jay’s Self-Appointed “Political Aide-de-Camp” Takes on the Spanish Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
Several months after the victory at Yorktown Congress gave Lafayette permission to return to France where, it hoped, he would press the French to continue to support the United States with money and military forces. The Marquis, however, did not confine himself to this assignment. He frequently attended the conferences of the American Commissioners with Oswald during the fall of 1782 and...
183501Editorial Note on the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety’s Regulations for Associators and Nonassociators, 26 August 1775 (Franklin Papers)
The drafting subcommittee appointed on August 3, to implement Congress’ plan for the militia, completed its work on the 25th. The next day the full committee debated, revised, and adopted its report, which endorsed the Congressional plan, encouraged nonassociators to enlist, requested from the county committee lists of those who had and had not joined, established rules for appointing officers...
183502To James Madison from an Unidentified Correspondent, 12 May 1813 (Madison Papers)
I see with pain by the public papers that the British have burnt several places of no Importance but this Shews they mean to carry on the War to distroy & burn all they can of course we must relatiate, there are 500 Towns in Cornwal, Scotland, & Ireland where the Cheasepeak frigate, might go & burn with as much ease as the British ships now burn our little Towns in Virginia & Maryland, as a...
183503Enclosure No. II: [Willink, van Staphorst, and Hubbard, Amsterdam], [18 March 1793] (Hamilton Papers)
Dr. 1793. Jan: 1st. To balance in their hands 1.744.750. “ Residue of the last 3/m loan, to be recd: 360.000. “ balance for which the Commissioners will be in advance on the 1st March 1793. 72.265. Flo. 2,177,015. 1793. Contra—Cr.—. By premium on the residue of the 3/m loan at 5 ⅌ Cent 18,000.
183504Minutes of the Provincial Commissioners, 20 July 1764 (Franklin Papers)
MS : Massachusetts Historical Society The provincial commissioners named in the Supply Act of May 30, 1764, assumed their duties almost at once. Their activities in directing the recruitment, maintenance, and disposition of the troops authorized by the provincial government are reflected in part by the pay orders they approved (above, pp. 221–4) and by the commissions and orders Governor Penn...
183505Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
In August 1768, William Dix, a pauper, was removed from Boston to Chelsea by virtue of the warrant of John Hill, a Boston justice of the peace. The selectmen of Chelsea petitioned the Suffolk General Sessions in April 1769 for his return to Boston and for reimbursement of their expenses in his behalf. The petition, which was drafted by John Adams and is printed below, urged that Dix was not an...
183506Receipt of Payment for Carriage Equipment, [3 February 1810] (Madison Papers)
1810 Coll. Robert Patten for the President of the United States, Dr, to Robert Fielding febr. 3. 1810 To 3 new full plated Globes for the Chariot 30,— six ℔ of the best wax canoles for do 4,80 a Case for do. & Porterage 2,— $36,80 Recd payment from Coll Patten Ms ( DLC ). Canole: a variant spelling of cannel, a hard bituminous coal that burns very brightly; also sometimes written channel
183507Minutes of the New-York Manumission Society, 21 May 1789 (Jay Papers)
At a quarterly Meeting of the Society for promoting the manumission of Slaves and protecting such of them as have been or may be Liberated, held at the House of John Simmons in the City of New York on Thursday the 21 st Day of May 1789. Present John Jay President, Matthew Clarkson Vice President, John Murray Jun r . Treasurer, John Keese Secretary, Jacob Watson, D r . James Cogswell, Robert...
183508To James Madison from an Unidentified Correspondent, [ca. 9 September 1814] (Madison Papers)
The present Circumstances of our Country looks very alarming, & for want of resources makes it so much the worse, would it not be well for the proper Authoritys of every State Government to Borrow Money on its own Acct. and receive no less of any Individual or Co. then one Hundred dollars, the State to Pledge itself in 6 or 7 years for the Payment of it this will effect a willingness for...
183509Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
Two leading natural resources of the North Shore, clams and salt-marsh hay, provided the stakes in this unusual trespass action. The land in question lay largely under water in what was then Chebacco Parish, Ipswich, and is now a part of the town of Essex, apparently in the area known today as Cross Island, near the mouth of the Essex River. Ipswich people, and those from neighboring...
183510To Benjamin Franklin from Ann Penn, 16 September 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society I hope you are Recoverd. from your late fatigue and indisposition, my dear Springett has been very Ill of a fever I had 2 the most Eminent Physicians to attend him. He is better, but is very weak. I have him in the Country for the air, he would write to you himself but it would fatigue him to much, but joyns with me in in our best wishes for your self and...