To the Kings most excellent Majesty The Peti Humb Petition of the Freeholders & Freemen of the Colonies of New Hampshire Massachuses Bay Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pensylvania, the Governm t of on Delaware, Maryland Virginia North Carolina South Carolina & the Parish of S t . Johns in the Colony of Georgia, by their Representatives convened in general Congress at the City...
2Address to the People of Ireland, 28 July 1775 (Jay Papers)
To the people of Ireland. From the Delegates appointed by the United Colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Lower Counties on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, in General Congress at Philadelphia, the 10th of May, 1775 . Friends and Fellow-subjects! As the...
3From John Jay to Gouverneur Morris, August 1775 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d your Letter of the 28 th Ult. and take the earliest opportunity wh. has offered of answering it. The Principles on which you account for hav g delayed Notices of Tryal on the West Chester Causes merit my Acknowledgm ts You need be under no apprehension of Non Suits in case you sh d . prevail upon yourself to postpone the Tryal which I confess I cant forbear wishing may be the...
4From John Jay to Stephen Rapalje, 15 September 1775 (Jay Papers)
We are inform d . that a considerable Quantity of Drugs & Medicines are in y r . Possession belonging to a Gent. in England or Ireland. The Congress are desirous of purchasing such of them as may be of use to the Army, & I am desired to apply to you for that Purpose—Be so kind therefore as to inform me by the first opportunity whether you will dispose of them. Be assured that y r . Compliance...
5From John Jay to Alexander McDougall, 17 October 1775 (Jay Papers)
I am much obliged to you for your friendly Letter by M r Fine—his Business will soon be determined— The Hint you give is by no Means pleasing—I wish your Apprehensions were without Foundation tho ’tho I have too good an opinion of your Discernment to entertain Hopes of your being mistaken. You will much oblige me by a few Lines now & then—I need ^ not ^ caution you to be careful by what Hands...
6From John Jay to Alexander McDougall, 26 October 1775 (Jay Papers)
I have rec d . your Letter by M r . Clough and you may rely on my paying due Attention to your Recommendation M r . Fine has a Letter from us to your Convention inclosing a Resolve of Congress enabling them to ship on their Account Provisions &c. to the Foreign West Indies for the Purpose of purchasing Ammunition &c. Under this Resolve I apprehend you may avail yourself of M r . Fine’s...
Proposals. That two Battallions of Marines be raised consisting of one Collonell, two Lt. Collonells, two Majors &c. (officers as usual in other Regiments) that they consist of five hundred Privates each Battalion, exclusive of Officers. That particular Care be taken that no Persons be appointed to office or inlisted into Said Battalions but such as have actually Served in the Merchant Service...
8From John Jay to the President of the New York Provincial Congress (Nathaniel Woodhull), 26 November 1775 (Jay Papers)
I have the honour of transmitting to you the enclosed Resolutions of Congress relative to the Island of Bermuda. We have not yet had the Pleasure of hearing that you had made a House, and are not without some Anxiety on that head. In a few days we shall write you collectively, and should be glad frequently to be informed of the State of the Province. The New England Exploit is much talked of,...
9Contract between the Secret Committee and Thomas Mumford for Supplying Gunpowder, 28 November 1775: résumé (Franklin Papers)
Owner anonymous; transcript furnished by courtesy of Dr. Joseph E. Fields, Joliet, Ill. (1957) Less than a month after the creation of the secret committee Silas Deane, one of its members, wrote his friend Thomas Mumford to suggest that he come to Philadelphia to find out what profit could be made under the committee’s aegis. The letter seems to have crossed one from Mumford, who explained...
10The Committee of Secret Correspondence to [Arthur Lee], 30 November 1775 (Franklin Papers)
Copy: University of Virginia Library On November 29, 1775, Samuel Chase brought before Congress a proposal to send ambassadors to France. John Adams seconded the motion, and a vehement debate ensued. A number of alternatives were advanced, and one finally gained approval: to appoint a five-member committee of secret correspondence for the purpose of opening communication with friends of...