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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.

Lee, Francis Lightfoot, 1734-1797 to Arthur Lee

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00975 Author/Creator: Lee, Francis Lightfoot, 1734-1797 Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: December 10, 1778 Pagination: 3 p. ; 25 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Warns his brother, then on a diplomatic mission with Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane to obtain aid from France during the American Revolution, about the intrigue surrounding the recently recalled Deane. Indicates that Deane has formed a faction within Congress determined to "remove all the old friends of Liberty & Independence." Comments that he does not know Deane's specific intentions but suggests that he arm himself with "the means necessary, both for attack & defence."

Lee, Francis Lightfoot, 1734-1797
Lee, Arthur, 1740-1792
Deane, Silas, 1737-1789
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790

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