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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.

McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885 to Jefferson Davis

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01669 Author/Creator: McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885 Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 30 September 1854 Pagination: 9 p. ; 24.7 x 19.7 cm. Order a Copy

McClellan, Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, describes the Island of Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic) geographically and politically to Davis, Secretary of War. Relays information about Hispaniola obtained from the German explorer Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk. Referring to Hispaniola, states "there are no indications of either commercial or agricultural prosperity."

Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889
McClellan, George B., 1826-1885
Schomburgk, Robert Hermann, Sir, 1804-1865

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