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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.

Sargent, Winthrop, 1753-1820 to Henry Knox

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.03757 Author/Creator: Sargent, Winthrop, 1753-1820 Place Written: Boston, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: January 12, 1788 Pagination: 3 p. : address : docket ; Height: 29.9 cm, Width: 19.4 cm Order a Copy

Congratulations Knox on the birth of son. Mentions their "friend Platt" noting, "It appears to me that we have not placed any 'Bars in the way of military Associators' & that soldiers would find it very much to their interests to take their Lands with us..." Referring to state ratification of the Constitution, writes "French & English war, Dutch Interests & every thing else indeed are giving way to the important Business of the Convention." Mentions Massachusetts delegate Samuel Adams's opposition to ratification. Notes that Connecticut's ratification (9 January 1788) will have a positive influence on Massachusetts' ratification. In a postscript, mentions Elbridge Gerry and Samuel Adams. Knox writes, "answered the 20th" beneath the docket.

Sargent, Winthrop, 1753-1820
Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Gerry, Elbridge, 1744-1814
Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

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