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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 Ann Welsh re: denying pension to widow of Revolutionary War officer

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC07172 Author/Creator: Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 Place Written: Washington, District of Columbia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 1805/03/12 Pagination: 1 p. : Height: 25.1 cm, Width: 20.1 cm Order a Copy

"Having fallen during the war, no right of half pay could arise in their case . . . A legislature must follow general rules, and never do for one person what they would not do for every other under the same circumstances . . . [commutation] has never been done by any nation . . . no one could say what it would add to the national Debt."

Welsh, Anna, fl. 1791
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

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