184351Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
In 1806 an act of the Virginia General Assembly established the Rivanna Company in order to improve the navigation of the Rivanna River between Milton and Charlottesville . This section of the river included property owned by Jefferson. After receiving title to this tract under his father ’s will, he spent many years and thousands of dollars building a canal, mills, and a dam along the Rivanna...
184352Address from the Inhabitants of Marblehead, 16 March 1789 (Adams Papers)
the Inhabitants of Marblehead in Common with their fellow Countrymen have ever felt Strongly impressed with Sentiments of gratitude and satisfaction for the eminent Services rendered by you to the United States of America. in all their foreign Negotiations, which have been Committed to your Charge, in considering the result of those Negotiations we find Ourselves under Very peculiar...
184353Creation of the National Capital, 6 April 1791 (Editorial Note) (Madison Papers)
In the 1790 legislative skirmish over the national capital, JM led the fight for the Potomac site, but once that battle was won the executive branch took charge. Thereafter, JM was not officially involved in planning the new federal district. His interest, however, never flagged, and he was frequently consulted from the summer of 1790 onward (Memorandum on the Residence Bill, ca. 29 Aug. 1790,...
184354Extracts from Destutt de Tracy’s Reflections on Montesquieu’s First Twelve Books, [ca. 12 June 1809] (Jefferson Papers)
nous trouvons dés le livre second que les gouvernemens viennent tous Se ranger dans deux classes, Savoir ceux qui Sont fondés Sur les droits généraux des hommes, et ceux qui Se pretendent fondés Sur des droits particuliers . Montesquieu n’a pas adopté cette division. Il classe les gouvernemens d’après la circonstance accidentelle du nombre des hommes qui Sont les depositaires de l’autorité: et...
184355Introductory Note: From George Washington, [14 July 1798] (Hamilton Papers)
This letter contains the first mention in Hamilton’s extant correspondence of the question of who was to serve directly under Washington in his capacity as “Commander in Chief of all the armies raised, or to be raised, in the United States.” When Washington wrote this letter, he assumed that Congress would pass “An Act to augment the Army of the United States, and for other purposes,” which...
184356Enclosure: [Account with Le Guen], April 1800 (Hamilton Papers)
April 1800. Compte a Monrs Burr Pour Onoraire jusqua Ce jour $2500. Plus fait Compte de Son ordre a Mr. Green 250. Compte D’Interet Sur Dollars 11200 ce que jai avancée En trois Sommes differentes et divers Epoques depuis Le Mois de Juillet et Aout 1798 au 15 avril 1799 Pour 8 mois a raison de 7⅌% 522.66/100 Interet d’un An Sur Cette de 13200 dollars 924. Dollars...
184357Operating under the Continental Boycott Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
By the late summer and early fall of 1775, the regulation of American trade under the association of the previous year preempted a heavy share of debating time in the Continental Congress. According to the terms of the association, imports from Great Britain and Ireland were to cease after 1 December 1774, while exportation of goods from the colonies was to end in September 1775. The problems...
184358From Benjamin Franklin to [Hugh Roberts], 27 February 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : University of Pennsylvania Library I receiv’d your kind Letter of Nov. 27. You cannot conceive how much Good the cordial Salutations of an old Friend do the Heart of a Man so far from home, and hearing frequently of the Abuses thrown on him in his Absence by the Enemies that Party has rais’d against him. In the meantime I hope I have done even those Enemies some Service in our late...
184359Editorial Note: Annual Message to Congress (Jefferson Papers)
On Monday, 7 Dec. 1801, the opening day of the first regular session of the Seventh Congress, a joint committee consisting of Joseph Anderson and James Jackson of the Senate and Samuel Smith, Roger Griswold, and Thomas T. Davis of the House of Representatives called on the president to report that both houses were “ready to receive any communications.” Jefferson had already decided that his...
184360From Benjamin Franklin to Deborah Franklin, [February–March 1766] (Franklin Papers)
ALS (fragment): American Philosophical Society There is a brown Paper Packet for you directed but contains chiefly a Letter and Parcel of News papers for Billy, which pray send to him directly. I mean the Newspapers. You need not indeed open the Pacquet, if it were not to take out a Letter or two for Neighbour Sumain, and the Beans. But pray send him up the Papers directly before they are...
184361The Commissioners Defend the Treaty Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
Livingston followed his letter of 25 March 1783 criticizing the conduct of the American commissioners with a dispatch of 14 April to John Adams in which he implied that Congress had ratified the preliminary articles and agreed to release its prisoners. This letter, received on 15 June, was the first news of Congress’s response to the preliminary treaty to reach the commissioners. Livingston’s...
184362Receipt to the Trustees of the American Iron Company, 30 May 1799 (Hamilton Papers)
[ New York, May 30, 1799. “I have receiv’d a deed from Peter Goelet & other Trustees of the American Iron Company. I certify that the fourth or last installment of the Purchase money with Interest remains to be paid, which will pay on demand. New York, May 30, 1799. Alexr Hambleton.” Receipt not found. ] This receipt is quoted in, and has been taken from, Goelet to Robert Troup, August 19,...
184363Introductory Note: To Rufus King [13 August 1793] (Hamilton Papers)
This letter marks Hamilton’s initial involvement in a protracted and acrimonious dispute between Rufus King and John Jay on the one hand and Edmond C. Genet on the other. Briefly stated, the controversy centered on whether Genet on July 6, 1793, at the height of the crisis over the sailing of the Little Sarah , had or had not told Alexander J. Dallas that “he would appeal from the President to...
184364Editorial Note (Adams Papers)
Until comparatively recent times the valor of naval crews was stimulated by the prospect of a share in the proceeds of enemy vessels and goods captured as prize. The complicated questions of property and the law of war which this system of hazard pay produced were adjudicated in every country by special tribunals, administering a more or less common body of international law. From its...
184365Enclosure: Schedule A, [9 January 1790] (Hamilton Papers)
SCHEDULE A Supposititious Statement of Accounts Between the United States and Individual States. States. Ratio. Balances due to the states respectively. Proportion of each state of the aggregate of those balances according to the ratio. Balances against certain states. Balances in favor of certain states. Proportion of each state in the aggregate of the balances against certain states....
184366Editorial Note: Jefferson’s Reports of Balloting in the House of Representatives (Jefferson Papers)
On 12 Feb. Jefferson sent copies of Thomas Paine’s Compact Maritime , newly printed from manuscripts received in January, to eleven of his friends in Virginia. He accompanied at least some, and presumably all, of the pamphlets with brief letters, written at 7:00 a.m. and updated in a postscript at 1:00 p.m. , in which he gave a succinct account of the progress of voting in the House of...
184367Introductory Note: From Philip Schuyler, [31 August 1795] (Hamilton Papers)
The opening paragraph of this letter contains the first reference in Hamilton’s extant correspondence to a series of business transactions in which he was to be involved for several years as the representative of Schuyler and certain other New Yorkers. When Schuyler wrote this letter, he believed that he, Barent Bleecker, Edward Goold, and William Greene had a claim to a portion of Cosby Manor...
184368To James Madison from an Unidentified Correspondent, 10 December 1815 (Madison Papers)
Believing it essential to the happiness of every Community that each Individual should aid in promoting the Public Good, leads me, without apology to submit the following Suggestions: Of Primary Importance to this Country, in order to securing its Peace & Prosperity, is the Balance of Trade. One Means to obtain this, is, our own Manufactures. Of these, the most essential are, every article...
184369To Benjamin Franklin from the Associates of Dr. Bray, [4 December? 1766] (Franklin Papers)
Printed form with ms insertions in blanks: American Philosophical Society The Associates of Dr. Bray, for establishing Parochial Libraries, and instructing the Negroes in the British Plantations, meet on Thursday the 4 Day of December at Ten o’Clock, at their Office at the Angel and Bible, in Ave-Mary Lane. Addressed: To / Dr. Franklin Near / The Strand For the Associates of Dr. Bray, a...
184370Instruction to Virginia Delegates in re Contracts, 4 and 7 June 1783 (Madison Papers)
FC (Virginia State Library). Resolved that the Delegates representing this State in Congress be instructed to take proper Steps for procuring and transmitting to the Executive of this State copies of all Accounts and Vouchers relative to disbursements and Contracts made with the Individuals of this State by any person acting under the authority of Congress in order that a proper inquiry may be...
184371Editorial Note: The Virginia Constitution (Jefferson Papers)
The three drafts of Jefferson’s proposed bill outlining the “fundamental constitutions of Virginia,” here brought together for the first time, are so important in the light they cast upon Jefferson’s early ideas of government and upon the drafting of the Declaration of Independence that they require special comment and a particular form of presentation. Each of the three drafts printed below...
184372To Benjamin Franklin from David Hall, 12 July 1766 (Franklin Papers)
Letterbook copy: American Philosophical Society I receiv’d your kind letter of May the 9th by the Packet, for which I am much obliged, and observe what you say as to the Accounts; but, as you are pleased to express your Satisfaction, with respect to my Desire of settling every thing right, and my Sentiments are exactly the same as to you, we can not, as you remark, have any Difference:...
184373Endorsing Independence and Supporting Washington Editorial Note (Jay Papers)
By the time the Fourth New York Congress made a quorum at White Plains on 9 July, the Continental Congress had already acted on independence, and the first order of business for the New York legislature was consideration of a letter from their delegates in Philadelphia enclosing a copy of the Declaration of Independence. John Jay drafted the committee report on the Declaration, which was...
184374To Thomas Jefferson from Robert R. Livingston: Editorial Note (Jefferson Papers)
On 12 Mch., Robert R. Livingston began a letter to the president that reported on his activities in general terms, mentioning his efforts to influence Napoleon Bonaparte about Louisiana, his discussions with the Spanish ambassador concerning the Floridas, and French attitudes toward the United States and Great Britain. The next day, a Sunday, Livingston interrupted his writing to attend an...
184375Editorial Note: The Northern Journey of Jefferson and Madison (Jefferson Papers)
Long before Hamilton’s friend Robert Troup made this observation he had become convinced that the enemies of the Secretary of the Treasury were resolved to defeat his policies by destroying him politically. He saw this danger most ominously manifested in the southern states, particularly in Virginia. Now, as Jefferson and Madison paused in New York City at the beginning of their northward...
184376Treasury Department Circular to the Commissioners of Loans, 8 April 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
[ Philadelphia, April 8, 1791. On May 3, 1791, Nathaniel Appleton wrote to Hamilton : “Your circular Letter 8th April is received.” Circular not found. ]
184377From Benjamin Franklin to Rudolph Erich Raspe, 21 July 1766 (Franklin Papers)
ALS : Landesbibliothek, Kassel I had a Bill on Messrs. Michael David, & Fils, for 526 ⅓ Reichs Thalern. I receiv’d 50 Ducats in Specie, and a Bill on Franckfurth for 134 Ducats, making in all but 184 Ducats. I request the Favour of Monsr. Raspè to speak of it to Monsr. David, and to get the Mistake rectified, receiving and retaining in his Hands the Money still due to me, to pay for such Books...
184378Introductory 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...
184379Editorial Note (Washington Papers)
The effectiveness of an army rests in large measure on the quality of its officers. GW recognized this truth. He held that only gentlemen should serve as officers, insisted that officers not fraternize with their men, and consistently encouraged officers to study to improve their martial skills. Major General Steuben’s military manual, which GW carefully reviewed during its creation, served as...
184380Treasury Department Circular to the Commissioners of Loans, 6 June 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
In consequence of an enquiry made of me, I think it necessary to inform you that I consider the holders of Certificates received from the Government of any State in lieu of certificates of the federal debt, as having a right to subscribe those State Certificates to the Loan of the Assumed debt, and I consider the State as having a right to subscribe the continental Certificates which they have...