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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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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03107.01104 Author/Creator: Place Written: Nassau Islands Type: Autograph document signed Date: 1715/02 Pagination: 1p. : docket ; 31.4 x 19.3 cm Order a Copy

The letter applauds the Council for their current type of government, which is "the most perfect Democracy upon the face of the Earth." Antidemocratious (pseudonym) feels especial admiration for the government for sustaining democracy at a time when the most powerful monarch sits on the throne of Great Britain, and pomp and regalia are in such high fashion.

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