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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.

Society of the Cincinnati, 1783-? [Constitution of the Society of Cincinnati]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.02122 Author/Creator: Society of the Cincinnati, 1783-? Place Written: New York Type: Manuscript document Date: circa June 19, 1783 Pagination: 13 p. : Height: 33.9 cm, Width: 21 cm Order a Copy

Knox's copy of the Constitution of the Society of the Cincinnati. Knox has docketed on the first page saying "Cincinnati Constitution of &c." This document consists of the minutes of the 10 May 1783 meeting regarding proposals to establish the Society of the Cincinnati (p.1), minutes of the meeting of 13 May 1783, during which the constitution was accepted (p.1), the constitution (titled "The Institution of the Society of the Cincinnati) (pp. 2-9) which is clerically signed for Baron von Steuben, and the minutes of the 19 June 1783 meeting. Also includes a transcript of a 3 June 1783 letter (in French) from the Chevalier de la Luzerne accepting the constitution on behalf of himself and fellow French officers, a description of the design of the Society's medal, and a transcript of a 10 June 1783 letter from Major [Charles] L'Enfant regarding that design (pp. 10-13). Primarily written in the hand of John Trumbull, with some passages by another unidentified individual. Pages bound together with string. Written from the "Cantonment of the American Army on Hudson's River."

Von Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin, 1730-1794

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