To George Washington from George Walton, 27 July 1789
From George Walton
Augusta [Ga.] 27th July 1789
Sir,
I do myself the honor to enclose to you a copy of an Order of the Council of this State dated the 17th Instant.1
The facts on which the complaints are founded are real, and capable of being supported by the most unequivocal testimonials—I am well aware of the delicacy of a proceding which should lead us into a dispute with the Catholic Monarch; and of the pain it must necessarily give our great Ally; but I Should willingly hope that such discussions might take place, with the representative from Madrid, that the evils complained of might be procured to be removed without any misunderstanding between the two Nations. I have the honor to be, with profound respect and attachment, Your Most Obt Servant
Geo. Walton
LB, G: Executive Letter Books.
1. The proximity of Spanish Florida to Georgia had made the recovery of runaway slaves a perennial problem in Georgia that had escalated during the 1780s. Repeated appeals to the Continental Congress had little result, and a fresh attempt under the new government was launched with the order of the Georgia council of 17 July that “the Governor be requested to write to the President of the Union, and to the Deputies of this State in Congress, on the subject of the Spaniards harboring the Slaves of the Citizens of this State, and to press that measures be taken for having them restored. And preventing it in future” (MS journal of the Georgia executive council, 41, in Microfilm Collection of Early State Records).