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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.

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 to Thomas Pinckney

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03730 Author/Creator: Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 Place Written: Germantown Type: Autograph letter signed Date: November 27, 1793 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; Height: 18.9 cm, Width: 26.1 cm Order a Copy

The letter talks about the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, negotiations with the Northwest Indians, Citizen Genet, Lafayette, and copper and silver metals for coinage. The federal government moved from Philadelphia to Germantown because of a yellow fever epidemic that lasted through the late summer and autumn. Failure of negotiations with Indian tribes led to the battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. Jefferson, in his capacity as Secretary of State, had previously requested the recall of Edmond Charles Genêt because of his outrageous behavior as Minister to the United States. In 1792, Lafayette had been declared a traitor by the French National Assembly, had fled, and been imprisoned by the Austrians. Lafayette did not return to France until 1799.

Genêt, Edmond Charles Édouard, 1763-1834
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826
Pinckney, Thomas, 1750-1828
Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834

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