Search

A collection of letters and documents pertaining to the American Revolution, or to personages who figured in it. Among the persons represented in the collection are John Adams, Edmund Burke, Aaron Burr, Lord Cornwallis, Benjamin Franklin, Nathanael Greene, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, John Paul Jones, Marquis de Lafayette, Henry Brockholst Livingston, Robert Morris, William Pitt, Benjamin Rush, Baron von Steuben, and George Washington. The largest group of manuscripts in the collection is the sixteen letters of Henry Laurens, the South Carolina planter, and his son, John Laurens, among which is a "manumission letter" written by Henry Laurens to his son on 14 August 1776, shortly after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. For the text of this letter see: A LETTER FROM HENRY LAURENS TO HIS SON JOHN LAURENS, AUGUST 14, 1776.

A collection of letters and documents pertaining to the American Revolution, or to personages who figured in it. Among the persons represented in the collection are John Adams, Edmund Burke, Aaron Burr, Lord Cornwallis, Benjamin Franklin, Nathanael Greene, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, John Paul Jones, Marquis de Lafayette, Henry Brockholst Livingston, Robert Morris, William Pitt, Benjamin Rush, Baron von Steuben, and George Washington. The largest group of manuscripts in the collection is the sixteen letters of Henry Laurens, the South Carolina planter, and his son, John Laurens, among which is a magnificent "manumission letter" written by Henry Laurens to his son on 14 August 1776, barely a month after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. For the text of this letter see: A LETTER FROM HENRY LAURENS TO HIS SON JOHN LAURENS, AUGUST 14, 1776.

Letters, manuscripts, documents, and letterbooks of Jay and of many members of his family. The letters touch on every aspect of American life and government of the period, and contain correspondence from such prominent individuals as John Adams, George Clinton, James Duane, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Rufus King, John Paul Jones, Marquis de Lafayette, Robert B. Livingston, William Livingston, Gouverneur Morris, Robert Morris, Edmund Randolph, Philip Schuyler, and George Washington. There are approximately 500 letters from Jay, primarily drafts of correspondence to the persons listed above, as well as his correspondence as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 1784-1789. The manuscripts and documents include many reports, commissions, and diplomas, as well as a draft copy of THE FEDERALIST Number 5 and Jay's oath of office as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court; also included are manumission documents, and a group of documents from Trinity Church, where his father was a vestryman from 1715 to 1785. The collection includes copies of Jay's letter book as Secretary of State, 10 Oct. 1788-25 Dec. 1792, and of four letters from John Armstrong, 19 June-27 Dec. 1810; and a copy of the pair of silverplated candlesticks from the Treaty of Paris, 3 Sept. 1783, reproduced by the Smithsonian Institution.

Office records for the publication project, and photocopies and microfilm copies of Jay letters and related documents.