184251Dispatching a Naval Squadron to the Mediterranean, 20–21 May 1801 (Editorial Note) (Madison Papers)
On 20 and 21 May 1801 JM signed letters announcing the sailing of an American naval expedition to the Mediterranean. Circular letters went to the American ministers in Europe and to consuls in the Mediterranean, while special instructions were sent to the consuls in Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers. This flurry of correspondence had the purpose of instructing these agents to assist the expedition...
184252Madison and the Allegory of Jonathan and Mary Bull: Editorial Note (Madison Papers)
Sometime during the Missouri Crisis of 1819–21, most probably during the winter of 1821, James Madison wrote this allegory on slavery. Using a form that dated from the American Revolution, but which owed its popularity to one of Madison’s friends, James Kirke Paulding, Madison created a dialogue on slavery between Jonathan Bull, representing the northern states, and Mary Bull, representing...
184253Report on the Ground Plan of the Capitol’s New Wing, 4 April 1803 (Jefferson Papers)
Agreeably to your instructions I arrived at Washington on the 21st of March, and have since that time devoted my attention to the objects proposed by your letter of the 6th of March. After having very carefully and minutely examined the present state of the Capitol as far as it has been completed, and the foundations of the South Wing, which it is proposed to carry forward this season, I now...
184254Message to the New York State Assembly, 21 March 1798 (Jay Papers)
IN pursuance of your resolution of the 19 th instant, I have taken measures to be informed of the present intentions of the government of the United States, relative to putting the city and port of New-York in a respectable state of defence—, on receiving that information, it shall be immediately communicated to you. As the constitution of the United States has committed to our national...
184255Editorial Note on Undated Letters Assigned to 1777 (Franklin Papers)
The undated and, at least as yet, undatable material from the French years is massive. Taking notice of it all together at this point would be in keeping with our general policy of assigning each document to its earliest plausible date. Doing so, however, would not only produce a headnote of stupendous length and dullness but also, more important, would foreclose the possibility that clues...
184256Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
GW’s nomination on 22 Dec. 1791 of Thomas Pinckney, Gouverneur Morris, and William Short as ministers at London, Paris, and The Hague, respectively, occasioned significant Senate debates that ultimately involved the meaning of the “advice and consent” provision of the Constitution and the extent of presidential authority over foreign affairs. Early in his first administration the president had...
184257Receipts for Monies Received from the Treasurer of the State of New York, [9 November 1782] (Hamilton Papers)
[ Albany, November 9, 1782. ] Gives to Gerard Bancker, treasurer of the State of New York, five receipts, the first dated October 2, 1782, the last dated November 9, 1782, for money received on behalf of the Superintendent of Finance. The receipts totaled $6,434 and “10 pence.” ADS , MS Division, New York Public Library. These receipts were endorsed on the back of “Warrant to Alexander...
184258Editorial Note: The American Peace Commissioners to Robert R. Livingston (Adams Papers)
The drafting and dispatch of the commissioners’ 18 July letter to Robert R. Livingston has a curious history. What transpired and the consequences thereof reveal much about the relations between the commissioners, particularly John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. On 2 July, Capt. Joshua Barney delivered to Passy letters from Robert R. Livingston, most notably those of 25 March and 21 April (to...
184259Editorial Note on Four Undated Letters from Madame Brillon, [1777?] (Franklin Papers)
AL : American Philosophical Society We summarize these brief notes here, on the highly questionable assumption that they were written late in 1777. Their tone suggests an early phase of the relationship, but they reveal almost nothing else about it. One, with no date, is an invitation to tea with her and her family. Another, dated eight o’clock Thursday, explains that she cannot come to see...
184260Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
In 1763, John Adams made his first verifiable entry into print with the publication of his “Humphrey Ploughjogger” letter in the Boston Evening-Post on 14 March ( No. I , below). He was to use the pseudonym several more times—twice that summer, once in 1765, and twice in 1767. His authorship of the 1763 Ploughjogger pieces is attested to in his own words, written long after the fact and...
184261III. Extract and Commentary Printed in the New York Minerva, [2 May 1797] (Jefferson Papers)
“Our political situation is prodigiously changed since you left us. Instead of that noble love of liberty, and that republican government, which carried us triumphantly thro the dangers of the war, an Anglo-Monarchico-Aristocratic party has arisen.—Their avowed object is to impose on us the substance , as they have already given us the form , of the British government. Nevertheless, the...
184262Proclamation on Ratification of the Convention with France, 21 December 1801 (Jefferson Papers)
Whereas a Convention for terminating certain differences, which had arisen between the United States of America and the French Republic, was concluded and signed by the Plenipotentiaries of the two nations, duly and respectively authorised for that purpose, and was duly ratified and confirmed by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate, which convention so...
184263Report of the Oversight Committee on the Department of Foreign Affairs, 14 August 1788 (Jay Papers)
The Committee appointed to enquire fully into the Proceedings of the Department of Foreign Affairs Report.— That two Rooms are occupied by this Department, one of which the Secretary reserves for himself and the Reception of such Persons as may have Business with him, and the other for his Deputy and Clerks. That the Records and Papers belonging to the Department are kept in a proper Manner,...
184264To Benjamin Franklin from Benjamin Gale, 15 November 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society Had I been apprized of your Crossing [ torn ] a Second time in the Service of your Country [ torn; Exp]erience of past favours, and the well known [ torn ] temper of your Mind, I should almost have been [ torn ] to have Asked the favour of you, to have recom[mended] me to the notice of some Gentleman of Charecter eminent in the practice of Phisick in...
184265Subscriptions to the Academy, 14 November 1749 (Franklin Papers)
DS : University of Pennsylvania Archives The 14th: Day of November in the Year of our Lord One Thousand seven Hundred and forty-nine. For the Encouragement of this useful good and charitable Undertaking, to enable the Trustees and their Successors to begin, promote, continue and enlarge the same, humbly hoping, through the Favour of Almighty God, and the Bounty and Patronage of pious and...
184266Editorial Note: Threat of Disunion in the West (Jefferson Papers)
Early in 1791 there arose an urgent demand by Georgia planters for the return of slaves that had escaped into the Floridas. Simultaneously, Kentucky leaders, already angry over fumbling measures of frontier defense taken by the federal government and long embittered by its inattention to their need for access to the sea, intensified their old threats of separation in warnings as candid as they...
184267Editorial Note: The Holy Cause of Freedom (Jefferson Papers)
It is surprising that, except for contemporary newspaper publication, the text of this lofty summation of Jefferson’s “attachment to the general rights of mankind” has been so long neglected. Tucker and Randall gave extended accounts of the welcome to Jefferson by the slaves of Monticello, but were silent as to that by the citizens of Albemarle. Neither Thomas Jefferson Randolph nor any of the...
184268[June 1753] (Adams Papers)
At Colledge. A Clowdy, Dull morning, and so continued till about 5 a Clock, when it began to rain m o derately But continued not long, But remained Clowdy all night in which night I watched with Powers. The first day of the first quarter of the 1753–1754 academic year ( MH-Ar : Steward’s Records, Quarterbill Books, 1720–1756). For a discussion of the impulses and influences leading JA to start...
184269Annual Message to Congress: Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
By October 1804, composing the annual message to Congress was a part of Jefferson’s autumn routine. As in previous years, the president circulated a draft among the heads of the executive departments for comment before submitting his final version to Congress. In 1804, however, this review process did not include the attorney general, Levi Lincoln, whose departure from Worcester on 26 Oct....
184270Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
Ann Josselyne of Marlborough claimed that John Harrington of the same town was the father of her illegitimate child born in June 1768. At the Middlesex General Sessions, Concord, September 1769, she was fined five shillings for fornication, and her accusations were tried. After hearing evidence and the oath of the complainant that Harrington was the father, the court ordered him to pay support...
184271Political Changes and Challenges in the War of 1812: Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
Jay’s retirement from the governorship coincided with the onset of a decline in the fortunes of the Federalist Party. Although no longer in public office, Jay nonetheless followed political developments as they unfolded in New York and throughout the nation from the vantage of his rural retreat in Bedford. He maintained an active interest in elections and legislation, domestic affairs, and...
184272From Benjamin Franklin to Daniel Burton, 21 November 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Being informed that Mr. Jonathan Odell purposes applying to the Venerable Society, for an Appointment to the Mission of Burlington in New Jersey, I beg leave to acquaint you that from the Character he bears I apprehend such Appointment may be very agreable to the Congregation there; and that if the Society think fit to favour his Request, I shall...
184273To Benjamin Franklin from Samuel Wharton, [June 1766] (Franklin Papers)
ALS (incomplete): American Philosophical Society [ First part missing ] That the Proprietors must have lost their Interest, Otherwise Mr. F, could not have got, that Obnoxious Man, John Hughs appointed —Indeed! To do them Justice, I verily think, They believe it is all Over, with Them, for your Old Acquaintance Dr. Thomas Bond told Me last Night, They were extremely Mortified and disappointed....
184274Minutes of the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia, [2 April 1821] (Madison Papers)
At a meeting of the Visitors of the University of Virginia at the said University on Monday the 2d. of April 1821. present Th: Jefferson Rector, James Breckenridge, Chapman Johnson & James Madison. A letter having been recieved by the Rector from Thomas Appleton of Leghorn stating the prices at which the Ionic & Corinthian capitels wanting for the Pavilions of the University may be furnished...
184275Enclosure: [List of Clerks Engaged in Registers Office], 11 May 1792 (Hamilton Papers)
Division of the Treasury Records Names Salary Employment Revenue arising from Impost, Tonnage and Excise. Joshua Dawson 700 Superintends and Examines the Accounts of Impost Tonnage and Excise. He also corrisponds with, and forwards to, the several Commissioners of Loans Certificates for the public Debt. He forwards to the several Collectors of the Customs blanks for registering vessels. He...
184276Editorial Note
(Adams Papers)
Adams returned to Braintree from Philadelphia on 21 December 1775 and departed from Watertown for the Continental Congress five weeks later on 25 January 1776 ( JA, Diary and Autobiography Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. , 2: 226 , 227 ). Relatively little is known about his activities and thinking in this period, for he wrote...
184277Editorial Note: Notes on Commerce of the Northern States (Jefferson Papers)
Among Jefferson’s well-ordered archives at Monticello was one category labeled “Rough draughts, notes &c. while Member of Congress and Minister Plenipo. at Paris” (Vol. 1: xiii). The present series of documents must have been systematically arranged in that or a similar group, along with others pertaining to the same subject (see Neil Jamieson to TJ, 12 and 14 July 1784 ; Ralph Izard to TJ, 10...
184278The Disputed Election of 1792: Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
From spring 1792 through March 1793 the state of New York was rocked by a stormy political campaign for the governorship, in which John Jay challenged longtime governor George Clinton, and by a still stormier dispute over the election returns. That the Clintonians stole that election seems clear, but the Federalists were themselves not sinless. New York’s Federalists wished to challenge...
184279Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
The litigation arising from Samuel Clap’s will is illustrative of two very important features of the Massachusetts system of distributing decedents’ estates: the necessity that wills be executed under conditions of capacity and formality similar to those required in English law; the interaction and conflict between the Province probate court system and the courts of common law in dealing with...
184280From Benjamin Franklin to Jonathan Williams, 28 April 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society I have received several of your kind Favours since my Arrival in England, the last by your good Brother, the Subject not in the least disagreable as you apprehend, but in Truth it has not been at all in my Power to do what you desir’d; if for no other Reasons, yet for this, that there has been no Vacancy. I congratulate you on the Repeal of that Mother of...
184281To Benjamin Franklin from James Pemberton, 1 May 1766 (Franklin Papers)
Draft: Historical Society of Pennsylvania It is not with a view to add to the number of thy Correspondents, and thereby encrease thy trouble of writing; but from a motive of regard that I Send this. Conscious of thy integrity abilities and firmness to Serve thy Country I rest fully Satisfied in respect to myself but Observing with Concern every occasion however frivolous is taken to keep alive...
184282The Federalist Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
To refute the numerous articles critical of the Constitution that New York newspapers were carrying in late September and early October 1787, The Federalist essays written under the pseudonym “Publius” were quickly launched. Although Hamilton is usually credited with conceiving the idea of The Federalist, there is no concrete evidence whether Jay or Hamilton initiated the plan. James Madison...
184283To George Washington from Officers among the Sappers and Miners, 19 December 1780 (Washington Papers)
[ West Point, 19 Dec. 1780 ]. Capt. Lt. David Bushnell and four other officers write about “the many disagreeable circumstances that attend us and the many embarrasments under which we labour.” They do not receive “equal priviledges with the rest of the Officers in the Continental Army,” and their service “has hitherto been such as not to entitle us to any great share of Military respect.”...
184284Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
In June 1765 at Boston, James Warden endorsed two bills of exchange drawn on a New York mercantile house and delivered them to Joseph Alcock of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In September the bills were presented on Alcock’s behalf to the drawee in New York, who refused to accept or pay them. Alcock’s New York correspondent immediately procured a “protest,” the affidavit of a notary public to the...
184285John Jay and the New York State Constitution of 1777 Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
On 10 May 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution calling for the “respective assemblies and conventions of the United Colonies” to form new governments that would “best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular, and America in general.” The provincial congress of New York responded to this call on 24 May, appointing a committee to report a plan for a...
184286From Benjamin Franklin to ———, 6 January 1766 (Franklin Papers)
Draft: American Philosophical Society I have attentively perus’d the Paper you sent me, and am of Opinion that the Measure it proposes of an Union with the Colonies is a wise one: but I doubt it will hardly be thought so here, ’till tis too late to attempt it. The Time has been when the Colonies, would have esteem’d it a great Advantage as well as Honour to them to be permitted to send Members...
184287Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
Upon his marriage to the widow of Daniel Parke Custis on 6 Jan. 1759, GW assumed the management of what was at the time one of the most profitable estates in Virginia. The Custis estate, which included plantations in six counties in eastern Virginia worked by slaves valued at nearly £9,000 Virginia currency, was largely the creation of Martha Custis’s father-in-law, the eccentric John Custis...
184288An American in England Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
The Definitive Peace settled, Jay could now contemplate a long-deferred trip to England to collect a legacy left by the Peloquin family and to take the cure at Bath for a variety of ailments. His correspondence had for many months contained references to his poor health, but official duties prevented his departure from Paris until 9 October. Traveling by way of Calais and Dover, he reached...
184289To Thomas Jefferson from Philadelphia Merchants and Others, 2 February 1803 (Jefferson Papers)
The Memorial of the subscribers, Merchants and others of the City of Philadelphia Respectfully sheweth— That they have heard with concern that applications have been made for the removal from Office of Allen McLane Esquire Collector of the Port or District of Wilmington in the State of Delaware— That your Memorialists have been for many years, well acquainted with the said Allen McLane, and...
184290John Jay and the New York Gradual Abolition Act of 1799: Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
According to William Jay, John Jay, himself a slaveowner but a longtime opponent of slavery, seemed to have determined on becoming governor that, as far as his influence could effect it, a bill for the gradual abolition of slavery should be moved at every session of the legislature until it was enacted into a law, or until he ceased to be governor. However, William also claimed that rather...
184291To Benjamin Franklin from Joseph Galloway, 13 January 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society I received your favours of Sept. 26, and Novr. 9th. We are Sensible of the many Obstructions and unavoidable Difficulties which you have met with in proceeding on our Petitions. And from the perfect Confidence we repose in you we have not the least doubt, but that every thing has been done for the Obtaining the Desirable Object, a Royal Government, should...
184292Madison’s National Gazette Essays, 19 November 1791–20 December 1792 (Editorial Note) (Madison Papers)
JM wrote eighteen unsigned essays that Philip Freneau published in the National Gazette between 21 November 1791 and 22 December 1792. (For details of his encouragement of Freneau’s newspaper, see The Origins of Freneau’s National Gazette , 25 July 1791.) Each essay bears the heading “For the National Gazette .” Two of them, forming a single, extended essay— “Money”—were probably written...
184293Silas Deane: A Worrisome Correspondent Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
During the late summer and fall of 1780, Jay’s heavy burden of diplomatic duties was hardly lightened by the receipt of a flurry of letters from a longtime friend, Silas Deane. As agent of two secret committees of Congress, Deane had been dispatched to France in April 1776 to secure supplies and explore the possibilities of French recognition and alliance. He later was named commissioner,...
184294Invoice from William Duane, 3 February 1802 (Jefferson Papers)
1802 To Wm. Duane. Dr. Jany. 4th. To 1 Glass Inkstand 1. Feby 3 To 1 Bottle Red Ink .31 “ To 1 Ream of Printed Letters 22. To 2 Wedgwood Inkstands
184295Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
On 14 October 1772 George Dawson, an officer of the royal navy, who since at least 1768 had been commissioned to assist in the enforcement of the Acts of Trade off the New England coast, seized the sloop Dolphin and her cargo at Holmes Hole, Martha’s Vineyard. The cause of the seizure was a defect in the vessel’s papers. She had been built and registered in Marshfield, Massachusetts, in 1759,...
184296Enclosure: [Account of Funded Stock on the Books of the Treasury], March 1794 (Hamilton Papers)
An Account of Funded Stock on the Books of the Treasury, on which Attachments have been Laid. Time when notice of the Attachment was given at the Office. By whom attached. Proprietors of the Stock. Six &⅌ Cents. Three &⅌ Cents. Deferred. Dollars. Cents. Dollars. Cents. Dollars. Cents. 1793. June 29th: 11 Minutes past 7. A: M: Robert Morris.
184297From Benjamin Franklin to Charles Thomson, 27 September 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : Library of Congress I received your very kind Letter of May 20. which came here while I was absent in Germany. The favourable Sentiments you express of my Conduct with regard to the Repeal of the Stamp Act, give me real Pleasure; and I hope in every other matter of publick Concern, so to behave myself as to stand fair in the Opinions of the Wise and Good: What the rest think and say of...
184298Editorial Note (Madison Papers)
When JM returned to Virginia in 1772, after three years at the College of New Jersey, the colony was in the throes of a religious revival. Baptist preachers, usually zealous but unlettered, itinerated through the province paying little heed to the statutes regulating the holding of religious services. This disregard of law was compounded by derogatory attacks on the Established Church. As...
184299Mathew Carey & Son to Thomas Jefferson, 18 December 1817 (Jefferson Papers)
M r Carstairs has politely favoured us with the perusal of a letter from you , requesting a copy of the Carpenter’s Prices, & mentioning your intention to forward to us an order for books the for the College Library.— The Book of Prices which we sent to him, is the latest that has been published in this city, but is, we understand, very incorrect.— Supposing that it may be of assistance to...
184300John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, 15 November 1813 (Jefferson Papers)
I cannot appease my melancholly commiseration for our Armies in this furious Snow Storm, in any way So well as by Studying your Letter of Oct. 28. We are now explicitly agreed, in one important point, viz t That “there is a natural Aristocracy among men; the grou n ds of which are Virtue and Talents.” you very justly indulge a little merriment upon this Solemn Subject of Aristocracy. I often...