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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.

Russell, Benjamin, 1761-1845 Columbian centinel. [Vol. 17, no. 50 (September 1, 1792)] and Columbian centinel. [Vol. 17, no. 51 (September 5, 1792)]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00281 Author/Creator: Russell, Benjamin, 1761-1845 Place Written: Boston, Massachusetts Type: Newspaper Date: September 1792 Pagination: 8 p. : newspaper ; 45 x 29 cm. Order a Copy PDF Download(s): GLC00281 PDF

Two issues of the Columbia Centinel bound together from September 1 and 5 of 1792. Issue 50 contains a letter written by Thomas Paine directed to Henry Dundas, Secretary of State for the Home Department in Great Britain. Paine defends his work Rights of Man. Compares and upholds a representative system of government over a hereditary system. Contains reports regarding the French Revolution, Native Americans in the Northeast, and advertisements of sale. Issue 51 contains the conclusion of Paine's letter to Dundas. Compares poverty in Britain and America. Includes reports on affairs in France and Poland, including older French officers' dismay that men from any social class may obtain commissions. It also contains advertisements of sale for homes, land, and ship rentals. The issues also feature a letter to the editor about smallpox.

Russell, Benjamin, 1761-1845
Paine, Thomas, 1737-1809
Dundas, Henry, 1742-1811
Washington, George, 1732-1799

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