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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.

Adams, John, 1735-1826 to Catharine Macaulay

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01788 Author/Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826 Place Written: Braintree, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: December 28, 1774 Pagination: 4 p. : Height: 20 cm, Width: 16 cm Order a Copy

Adams describes the effects of the Boston Port Bill upon the government and people of the colony. He warns that the arrest of Parliament's opponents "will produce Resistance, and Reprisals, and a Flame through America, Such as Eye hath not yet Seen, nor Ear heard nor hath it entered into the Heart of the Minister or his Minions to conceive." He prophesies resistance and reprisals.

Adams, John, 1735-1826
Macaulay, Catharine, 1731-1791

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