1Plain Truth, 17 November 1747 (Franklin Papers)
...the Success which attends our Enemies by Cruizing in our Bay without risque or opposition,” Palmer told the Assembly on October 16, “it may reasonably be expected that they will continue their Depredations in the Spring, and in all likelyhood block up the Trade of this flourishing Colony—a Loss which we apprehend will be sensibly felt by all sorts of People.” But the Assembly remained...
2From George Washington to John Augustine Washington, 18 July 1755 (Washington Papers)
I have not, as yet, composed the latter. But by the all powerful dispensatns of protected beyond all human
3Adams’ Argument for the Defense: 3–4 December 1770 (Adams Papers)
“If I can but be the instrument of preserving one life, his blessing and tears of transport, shall be a sufficient consolation to me, for the contempt of all mankind.” ...that the spirit of the law upon such occasions, is conformable to humanity, to commonsense and feeling; that it is all benignity and candor. And the trial commences with the prayer of the Court, expressed by the Clerk,...
4A Full Vindication of the Measures of the Congress, &c., [15 December] 1774 (Hamilton Papers)
...common sense is apparent in many respects: They endeavour to persuade us, that the absolute sovereignty of parliament does not imply our absolute slavery; that it is a Christian duty to submit to be plundered of all we have, merely because some of our fellow-subjects are wicked enough to require it of us, that slavery, so far from being a great evil, is a great blessing; and even, that our...
5The Farmer Refuted, &c., [23 February] 1775 (Hamilton Papers)
and splenetic, that I will venture to pronounce it one of the most ludicrous performances, which has been exhibited to public view, during all the present controversy....passion for conceit, and a noble disdain of being fettered by the laws of truth. These, Sir, are important qualifications, and these all unite in you, in a very eminent degree. So that, though you may never expect the...
6Notes of Proceedings in the Continental Congress, 7 June–1 August 1776 (Jefferson Papers)
The text of the Notes of Proceedings (hereafter referred to as Notes) as here presented was inserted by Jefferson in the manuscript of his Autobiography; all previous editors of Jefferson’s papers have printed it with the Autobiography at the place where Jefferson inserted it (..., or rather suspended, 29 July 1821, is a MS of 90 leaves, all versos being blank save three; however, Jefferson...
7To George Washington from Landon Carter, 31 October–2 November 1776 (Washington Papers)
...the Manœuvres of my dear Washington, whose happy success must treasure up the blessings, possibly of Millions yet Unborn; for without affecting to be enthusiastically religious I never read of a divine instrument of human happiness, but I carry the gratitude of ages, back to record the rembrance of such a friend to mankind. But let me not tire you with my own heartfelt expectations. Can you...
8From George Washington to Samuel Huntington, 20 August 1780 (Washington Papers)
for from all the accounts we receive from thence the affairs of the Southern States seem to be so exceedingly disordered, and their resources so much exhausted, that whatever should be undertaken there, must chiefly depend on the means carried from......either not be undertaken at all, or being undertaken, may fail—I am perswaded Congress are not inattentive to the present State of the Army,...
9Memorial to the States General, 19 April 1781 (Adams Papers)
...Crown of Great Britain, were made, the People, who now compose the United States of America, were a Part of the English Nation; as such, Allies of the Republick, and Parties to those Treaties; entitled to all their Benefits, and chearfully submitting to all their Obligations....Englishmen, and reducing them to the worst of all Forms of Government; starving the People, by blockading the...
10To George Washington from Unknown Author, 15 July 1784 (Washington Papers)
[The author, who was a planter, probably in Virginia but possibly in Maryland, and a man with some knowledge of the classics, rings all the changes on the declension of the American Revolution from its early days of glory to its present sorry state in 1784. His jeremiad on the corruption of American society and its institutions repeats things often said before and......People of all Ranks...
11New York Assembly. Remarks on an Act Granting to Congress Certain Imposts and Duties, [15 February 1787] (Hamilton Papers)
It becomes therefore necessary,—to obviate such misapprehension, if any exists, and to discharge my duty at all events,—to lay the subject fully before the committee, and to detail, at large, my reasons for wishing to see the bill in its present form prevail. will protect me I may safely confide in the candour of the committee; to that standard I chearfully submit.
12New York Assembly. Remarks on an Act Acknowledging the Independence of Vermont, [28 March 1787] (Hamilton Papers)
The first objection is drawn from that great principle of the social compact—that the chief object of government is to protect the rights of individuals by the united strength of the community. with a probability
13From Thomas Jefferson to William Drayton, 30 July 1787 (Jefferson Papers)
...them requiring water, and three growing on highlands. The rice of Carolina is said to have come from Madagascar, and DePoivre tells us it is the white rice which is cultivated there. This favors the probability of it’s being of a different species originally from that of Piedmont, and time, culture and climate may have made it still more different. Under this idea I thought it would be well...
14The Federalist No. 6, [14 November 1787] (Hamilton Papers)
...we should be exposed, in a state of disunion, from the arms and arts of foreign nations. I shall now proceed to delineate dangers of a different, and, perhaps, still more alarming kind, those which will in all probability flow from dissentions between the States themselves, and from domestic factions and convulsions. These have been already in some instances slightly anticipated, but they...
15The Federalist Number 43, [23 January] 1788 (Madison Papers)
2. “To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of congress, become the seat of the government of the United States; and to exercise like authority... ...all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the states, in which the same shall be, for the erection of...
16An Address to the People of the State of New-York on the Subject of the Constitution, Agreed Upon at Philadelphia, the … (Jay Papers)
When the King of Great-Britain, misguided by men who did not merit his confidence, asserted the unjust claim of binding us in all cases whatsoever, and prepared to obtain our submission by force, the object which engrossed our attention, however important, was nevertheless plain and simple. “What shall we do?” was the question—the people answered, let us... ...essential of human means, and...
17General Defense of the Constitution, [6 June] 1788 (Madison Papers)
...assertions, will condescend to prove and demonstrate, by a fair and regular discussion. It gives me pain to hear gentlemen continually distorting the natural construction of language; for, it is sufficient if any human production can stand a fair discussion. Before I proceed to make some additions to the reasons which have been adduced by my honorable friend over the way, I must take the...
18New York Ratifying Convention. Remarks (Francis Childs’s Version), [20 June 1788] (Hamilton Papers)
...operations of government have been distracted by their taking different courses: Those, which were to be benefited have complied with the requisitions; others have totally disregarded them. Have not all of us been witnesses to the unhappy embarrassments which resulted from these proceedings? Even during the late war, while the pressure of common danger connected strongly the bond of our...
19Eulogy on Nathanael Greene, [4 July 1789] (Hamilton Papers)
I am now called upon to perform. All the motives capable of interesting an ingenuous and feeling mind conspire to prompt me to its execution. To commemorate the talents virtues and exploits of great and good men is at all times a pleasing task to those, who know how to esteem them. But when such men to the title of superior merit join that of having been the defenders and guardians of our...
20Alexander Hamilton’s Fourth Draft of the Report on the Subject of Manufactures, 1791 (Hamilton Papers)
object of human industry. This position “This policy is not only recommended to the United States, by considerations which affect all nations—it is, in a manner, dictated to them
21Alexander Hamilton’s Final Version of the Report on the Subject of Manufactures, [5 December 1791] (Hamilton Papers)
object of human industry. This position, generally, if not universally true, applies with peculiar emphasis to the United States, on account of their immense tracts of fertile territory, uninhabited and unimproved. Nothing can afford so advantageous an employment for......United States, by considerations which affect all nations, it is, in a manner, dictated to them by the imperious force of a...
22To Thomas Jefferson from Lewis Littlepage, 26 December 1791 (Jefferson Papers)
...July last, and thank you for the trouble you were kind enough to take to inform yourself of, and let me know, the fate of my letter to the President:—I should not have written to him at all, had I known at the time that you had accepted the American Ministry....perhaps Poles, into Livonia, and White Russia, and above all of some subsequent perfidy in the King of Sweden; she still held a...
23From Alexander Hamilton to George Washington, [5 August] 1794 (Hamilton Papers)
...should be considered as inimical to the interests of the Country; and recommending to the Citizens of Washington County to treat every person who had accepted or might thereafter accept any such office with contempt, and absolutely to refuse all kind of communication or intercourse with the Officers and to withold from them all aid support or comfort...beyond the Alleghany...
24To John Adams from John Quincy Adams, 1 April 1795 (Adams Papers)
...sufferers by the Stadholders victory in 1787, have continued and still continue amid the great political changes now taking place in their Country. One article of creed at the present day is, that all the dissensions in the Republic heretofore, have merely been Struggles for power and Office, between two Cabals; a wicked faction with Orange, and a wicked faction without. That both have been...
25Political Observations, 20 April 1795 (Madison Papers)
...or can even justify itself as a productive source of Revenue? Whether again the bank was not established without authority from the constitution? Whether it did not throw unnecessary and unreasonable advantages into the hands of men; previously enriched beyond reason or necessity?...at first apprehended. From that moment all ideas of conciliation and concession vanished. She...
26To John Adams from John Quincy Adams, 27 June 1795 (Adams Papers)
I received two or three days since your favours of March 26. April 21. and 26. all together, and I know not how to express the pleasure they gave me. The first and dearest of all my wishes is personally to give satisfaction and obtain the approbation of my parents, and in a public capacity to justify the confidence placed in me by the appointment I now hold. This wish is in both parts so...
27The Defence of the Funding System, [July 1795] (Hamilton Papers)
It was proper for him to endeavour to unite two ingredients in his plan, intrinsic goodness [and] a reasonable probability of success....to have been this. That as the benefits to be derived from it would be individually equal to the citizens of every state so the burthens ought also to be individually equal among the citizens of all the states according to individual property and ability....
28Draft of George Washington’s Seventh Annual Address to Congress, [28 November–7 December 1795] (Hamilton Papers)
present, the situa⟨tion⟩ of our public affairs has afforded just cause for mutual congratulation and for inviting you to join with me in profound gratitude to the Author of all Good for the numerous and signal...House of Representatives, You are all apprised, that a Treaty of Amity Commerce and Navigation has been negotiated with Great Britain, and that the Senate by the voice of two thirds...
29John Quincy Adams to Charles Adams, 30 December 1795 (Adams Papers)
...have requested you to wait for a favorable state of exchange, to draw according to my last authority; but I did not mean to lay you under any particular restraint. I leave all these circumstances to your own discretion, trusting that you will take no step without due reflection; with the particular consideration, that I wish to have the money as much as possible at command, in case my own...all
30To Alexander Hamilton from James Wilkinson, 6 September 1799 (Hamilton Papers)
The attempt to dispossess a respectable Enemy, once in possession of our Western or Northern Frontier, will be found expensive, (beyond Calculation) difficult in the extreme, and at best of doubtful issue. For while He may derive powerful Aids, from the unconquerable animosities of the Savages, and the versatility of our own Erratics, we shall be exposed to... ...probabilities at......protect...
31Enclosure: France and America, [2 October 1800] (Hamilton Papers)
...promise of compensation could at present have been expected from France, with the best intentions on our part. The state of her finances does not permit more. The enjoyment of the boon must have been in future. In all probability, by patience and perseverance a more convenient opportunity will occur for a favorable settlement of the matter, and early enough to meet the resources of France...
32XIII. Fair Copy, First Annual Message, [by 27 November 1801] (Jefferson Papers)
comforts. the assurances indeed of friendly disposition recieved from all the powers, with whom we have principal relations, had inspired a confidence that our peace with them would not have been disturbed. but a cessation of the irregularities which had afflicted the commerce of neutral nations, & of......to remain in peace; but with orders to protect our commerce against the threatened attack...
33II. First Annual Message to Congress, 8 December 1801 (Jefferson Papers)
those arts which tend to increase our comforts. the assurances indeed of friendly disposition recieved from all the powers, with whom we have principal relations, had inspired a confidence that our peace with them would not have been disturbed. but a cessation of the...orders to protect our commerce against the threatened attack. the measure was seasonable and salutary. the Bey had already...
34The Examination Number I, [17 December 1801] (Hamilton Papers)
Whether this has proceeded from pride or from humility, from a temperate love of reform, or from a wild spirit of innovation, is submitted to the conjectures of the curious. A single observation shall be indulged—since all agree, that he is unlike his predecessors in essential points, it is a mark of consistency to differ from them in matters of form....patriots must, at all events, please the...
35An Examination of the British Doctrine, Which Subjects to Capture a Neutral Trade, Not Open in Time of Peace, [ante–8 … (Madison Papers)
...pamphlet received mixed reactions. Although John Quincy Adams said that he was “upon the whole, much pleased” with it, and Benjamin Rush informed JM that the work was “spoken of in all the Circles in our city with the highest praise and admiration,” Senator William Plumer stated that he had “never read a book that fatigued me more than this pamphlet has done,” and John Randolph declared on...
36From James Madison to James Monroe, 20 May 1807 (Madison Papers)
...and cogent considerations which forbid the practice of its cruizers in visiting and impressing the crews of our vessels, covered
by an independant flag, and guarded by the laws of the high seas, which ought to be sacred with all nations...., their liberty, their lives, every thing in a word that is dearest to the human heart, to the capricious or interested sentences which may be...
37From John Adams to Boston Patriot, 4 November 1809 (Adams Papers)
...the crown of Great Britain were made, the people, who now compose the United States of America, were a part of the English nation; as such, allies of the republic, and parties to those treaties; entitled to all their benefits, and submitting cheerfully to all their obligations....of Englishmen, and reducing them to the worst of all forms of government, starving the people by...
38To John Adams from William Cunningham, 18 April 1811 (Adams Papers)
So much time has elapsed since the date of my letter in February, that I have dismissed all expectations of an answer....in the presence of his court to abash the overgrown courtiers who looked disdainfully on the inferiority of his stature? You must have swelled beyond the thought of yourself and of your sons, when you aim’d the stroke at the stature of Hamilton. I think that neither of...
39Detatched Memoranda, ca. 31 January 1820 (Madison Papers)
...the States were seeking by their respective regulations, to enlarge as much as possible their share of the general commerce, the Dr. alluding to their jealousies and competitions remarked that it would be best for all of them to let the trade be free, in which case it would level itself, and leave to each its proper share. These contests he said, put him in mind of what had once......human...
40Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on Early Career (the so-called “Autobiography”), [6 January–29 July 1821], with editorial note … (Jefferson Papers)
; little being then known beyond that and indeed, during the regal government, nothing liberal could expect success. our minds were circumscribed within narrow limits by an habitual belief that it was our duty to be subordinate to the mother country in all matters of government, to direct all our labors in subservience to her interests, ...a bigotted intolerance for all religions but hers. the...
41Enclosure: Extracts by “X.Y.Z Cosmopolite” (Christian Schultz) from his Defense of Theism, [ca. 30 December 1821] (Jefferson Papers)
the religion of heaven—all others the offspring of earth. In which, all the miracles related by that historian, are . all of which may be by the meanest capacity, without the aid of kings, priests, altars or temples. Every child may inscribe this essence of all religion, on the nail of his little finger. ...in all the rigid maxims of piety and religion: and at fourteen years of age... ...all...
42Editorial Note: The Holy Cause of Freedom (Jefferson Papers)
out of place to add here that they were at all times very devoted in their attachment to him. They believed him to be one of the greatest, and they knew him to be one of the best men and the kindest of masters. They spoke to him freely... and applied confidingly to him in all their difficulties and distresses, and he watched over them in sickness and in health, interested himself in all their...