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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.

Oswald, Eleazer, 1755-1795 The Independent Gazetteer; Or, The Chronicle of Freedom. [Vol. 7, no. 728 (April 12, 1788)]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09728 Author/Creator: Oswald, Eleazer, 1755-1795 Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Newspaper Date: 12 April 1788 Pagination: 4 p. ; 28.7 x 23.7 cm. Order a Copy PDF Download(s): Download PDF

One newspaper published by Eleazer Oswald entitled "The Independent Gazetteer; Or, The Chronicle of Freedom" dated April 12, 1788. The newspaper features advertisements and news on shipping. Of particular note is a petition by Prince Hall against the kidnapping of African American seamen. The petition was presented to the General Court of Massachusetts. It enlightens the court of discontent due to the kidnapping of freed African American sailors who were sold into slavery. It asks that actions be taken to protect the African American sailors in Boston so that they no longer have to live in fear and lose money due to not working. It also notes that some ships that sail from Boston are slave ships that after selling their cargo of enslaved humans return to port "like honest men after having sported with the lives and liberty of their fellow men, and at the same time call themselves Christians." The newspaper also prints a letter from Mr. Lambert to Thomas Jefferson encouraging commerce between France and the United States.

Hall, Prince, 1738-1807
Oswald, Eleazer, 1755-1795
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826
Lambert, Charles-Guillaume, 1726-1793

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