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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.

Judson, Andrew T., 1784-1853 to William S. Holabird

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05636.04 Author/Creator: Judson, Andrew T., 1784-1853 Place Written: Canterbury, Connecticut Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 10 November 1839 Pagination: 2 p. : address : free frank Height: 25.1 cm, Width: 20.4 cm Order a Copy

Judson, who presided over the district (and circuit) court proceedings of the Amistad, informs Holabird that he has not yet heard from President Martin Van Buren or Secretary of State John Forsyth regarding the case. Suggests Holabird review a similar case, "10th Wheaten 133. The Plattsburgh." Writes "That is a Late case, long since the Spanish Decree of 1817, and yet it turns wholly on the question of fitting out in the U. S. or Cuba. If in the U. S. she was rightfully condemned but if in Spain a restoration is the admitted course. Such seems to me to be the argument in that case..."

Judson, Andrew Thompson, 1784-1853
Holabird, William S., 1794-1855
Forsyth, John, 1780-1841
Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862

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