Search | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

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8 May 1792

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Document signed

Title: [An Act for regulating Processes in the Courts of the United States, and providing Compensations for the Officers of the said Courts, and for Jurors and Witnesses]

Printed document signed by Jefferson as Secretary of State. Also signed in type by Jonathan Trumbull as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Richard Henry Lee as President pro tempore of the Senate, and approved by George Washington as President. Decided at the first session of the second Congress held at Philadelphia, 24 October 1791. Establishes regulations for Court processes.

GLC03561

4 October 1859

Douglas, Stephen Arnold, 1813-1861

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Davis

Expresses gratification for the support received in Pennsylvania, the rest of the Union, and the South for his 1860 Democratic presidential bid against Abraham Lincoln. "I am under especial [sic] obligation to you and other friends in Pennsylvania for the energy and zeal with which you have sustained me in the great struggle to maintain the principles of self government. We are sure to achieve a glorious victory just as certain as our cause is just and the people are capable of understanding and defending their rights." Marked private.

GLC03569

28 April 1883

Morgan, John T., fl. 1883

Autograph letter signed

Title: to E. D. Goodwin re: his vehement opposition to new tariff

Written as Senator from Alabama. John Tyler Morgan argues against organized labor's support for a high protective tariff.

GLC03577

19 October 1868

Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875

Document signed

Title: Affix seal to ratification of Treaty with China.

This treaty, the Burlingham Treaty of 1868, amended the Reed Treaty of 1858 by allowing free immigration. That flow of people allowed the rapid expansion of western railroads through cheap labor. (Eventually, it also provoked a racial backlash on the west coast.)

GLC03578

January 2, 1912

Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930

Document signed

Title: [Presidential commutation of sentence of Robert Sawyer, convicted of murder and sentenced to death, 10 November 1905]

Sawyer had been convicted of murder on the high seas in the U.S. Circuit Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He was originally sentenced to death, but that sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Taft commuted his sentence so it would expire immediately. No reason was given for commutation. Countersigned by J.A. Fowler as Acting Attorney General. This is a printed document with blanks filled in by hand. Accompanied by red paper seal.

GLC03579.01

February 15, 1936

Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945

Document signed

Title: Pardon of Nelson H. Peach, with warrant

Pardon countersigned by Attorney General Homer S. Cummings. Accompanied by the transmittal warrant and the original envelope.

GLC03581

1853 to 1875

Header Record

Title: [Correspondence relating to John Cripps and James Gadsden] [Decimalized]

Collection of letters to John Cripps, General Gadsden's Secretary. The set contains 46 letters and 5 miscellaneous envelopes. The collection deals mainly with the state of affairs in Mexico post-Mexican War and wresting power away from Gadsden's enemies in Washington.

GLC03587

16 July 1963

Kennedy, John Fitzgerald, 1917-1963

Document signed

Title: Pardon of Otelia Pendergast re: convicted of violation of section 265

GLC03590

18 February 1864

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Document

Title: Proclamation of pardon.

Printing of the 8 December 1863 general pardon of Abraham Lincoln, with William H. Seward's coutersign, and the general orders no 64 of Attorney General Edward Townsend dated february 18 1864 dealing with refugees and rebel deserters.

GLC03591

22 June 1797

Adams, John, 1735-1826

Document signed

Title: Appointment of Charles C. Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry ministers

Appointment of the three as ministers plenipotentiary to France, countersigned by Secretary of State Pickering. The negotiations resulted in the XYZ affair.

GLC03592

9 April 1790

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Tobias Lear

Knox, Secretary of War, transmits the rough draft of a letter (not included) to Edward Telfair, Governor of Georgia. Informs Lear, President George Washington's personal secretary, that the letter is for Washington's inspection.

GLC03593

25 March 1865

Meade, George Gordon, 1815-1872

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Ulysses S. Grant

Major General Meade writes to Lieutenant General Grant to report on a unsuccessful Confederate attacks on Fort Stedman, the repulse of the enemy, and subsequent movements of Union forces under Generals Parke, Wright, and Humphreys. Written a few weeks before Lee's surrender.

GLC03549

April 26, 1864

Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant, 1818-1893

Letter signed

Title: to Braxton Bragg

Beauregard, commanding the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia, writes to Bragg, Confederate Commander in Chief at Richmond, Virginia. Transmits anonymous communications (not included), indicating that General Ambrose Burnside's column intends to move against Petersburg, Virginia, via City Point and the James River. Writes "I have already under date of the 25th instant, advised you as to the scattered condition of the Troops in this Department, and fear they could not be assembled in time to offer a stout resistance to a determined and enterprising Enemy advancing from that…

GLC03550

7 March 1864

McPherson, James Birdseye, 1828-1864

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William T. Sherman

Major General McPherson writes to Major General Sherman to report the success of an expedition to destroy Confederate railroads and equipment around Meridian, Mississippi. McPherson records the miles marched in this brief summary of operations under his command. Relates that a full report will follow.

GLC03551

12 April 1865

Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891

Manuscript document

Title: [Special Field Order no. 54]

Signed by Dodge, a Brigadier General as an official notice. Notifies the Union army that General Robert E. Lee has surrendered his entire army to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse. Ends with, "Glory to God . . A little more labor, a little more toil on our part, the great race is won and our Government stands regenerated after its four long years of bloody war."

GLC03553

06 October 1835

Bowie, James, fl. 1834-1835

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Stephen Austin re: his resignation and joining Captain Fannin's company

Written shortly before going to the Alamo Mission.

GLC03555

1755

Mitchell, John, fl. 1755-1790

Map

Title: Map of British & French Dominions in No. America [map used in Treaty of Paris]

Very large printed folded map with outline color. This is the "Treaty of Paris" map, third edition, the edition that was used in settling territorial claims in 1783. Accompanied by its original marbled-paper map case.

GLC03556

1775

Fry, Joshua, fl. 1775

Map

Title: A Map of the inhabited part of Virginia... [compiled with Peter Jefferson]

There are two prints in this document set, both are copper engravings with original outline color added. They combine to form a single map of a portion of the Colonies. The first is of Eastern Pennsylvania with the misspelling "Pensilvania", from Thomas Jeffery's American Atlas. The second is of Southern Virginia and North Carolina. The map of Virginia is engraved with a note that addresses the maps to George Dunk, Earl of Halifax. They were compiled with Peter Jefferson, father of the President, and later inserted by Jefferson's London publisher in the first English edition of Notes on the…

GLC03557

14 May 1775

Arnold, Benedict, 1741-1801

Autograph letter signed

Title: to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety

A retained copy written by Colonel Arnold four days after the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. With initialed postscript. Says last letter sent was 11 May 1775. Announces that Crown Point has been captured. Mentions logistics of moving captured cannons to Albany. Mentions future moves northward to Canada, including his intention to capture St. Johns. Says there is tension between him and Ethan Allen, who he worked with in the capture of Ticonderoga. Says "Mr. Allens Party is Decreasing & the Dispute between us is Subsiding." Similar to published version in "Naval Documents of the American…

GLC03559

1729 - 1814

Great Britain. Acts.

Header Record

Title: Collection of British Acts of Parliament re: American issues [decimalized]

GLC03562