1600-1800
A Jamestown Settler Describes Life in Virginia, 1622
In one of the earliest surviving letters from Jamestown, Virginia, settler Sebastian Brandt writes of sickness, death, and commerce in the colony.
John Winthrop Describes Life in Boston, 1634
Writing in the midst of the Puritan exodus of 20,000 Englishmen to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop, the colony’s first governor, describes the extreme climate, fertile soils, and a dwindling Native American population in this 1634 letter to adventurer Nathaniel Rich.
The Surrender of New Netherlands, 1664
Old World rivalries were played out in the New World when England’s Duke of York sent four warships to seize New Netherlands from the Dutch in 1664.
Late-Seventeenth-Century Map of the Northeast, 1682
Dutch cartographer Nicholas Visscher’s 1682 map of New Netherland and New England depicts the former Dutch holdings of New Amsterdam, as well as New Jersey and New England.
Cotton Mather’s Account of the Witch Trials, 1693
In this rare edition of The Wonders of the Invisible World: Being an Account of the Tryals of Several Witches, Cotton Mather provides a detailed description of the Salem witch trials.
A Secret Agreement between Pirate Hunters, 1696
This 1696 agreement between Captain Kidd and Robert Livingston demonstrates the lucrative and seamy nature of the pirate-hunting business in late-seventeenth-century New York.
Carte de la Louisiane et du cours du Mississipi, 1718
French geographer Guillaume De l’Isle issued this map of “la Louisiane” in 1718. It is the first detailed map of the Gulf coast region and the Mississippi River, as well as the first printed map to show Texas (identified as “Mission de los Teijas etablie en 1716”).
Indenture Agreement, 1742
John Reid Jr. apprenticed himself to Robert Livingston Jr. “to be taught the Art and Mystery of a Marchent.” In return, he promised not to “haunt Ale-Houses, Taverns or Play-Houses,” and to serve Livingston faithfully for a five-year term.
A British Perspective on the French and Indian War, 1755
An anonymous editorialist, in an article reprinted from London’s Gentleman’s Magazine in the Maryland Gazette, argues that “Canada must be subdued” in this 1755 piece explaining why England’s American colonies were worth protecting from French encroachment.
Henry Knox's Orders for the March to Trenton, 1776
This copy of the plan for Washington’s Delaware crossing on Christmas night 1776 belonged to Henry Knox, Chief Artillery Officer in the Continental Army. Knox played an instrumental role in the operation, which helped raise American morale and turn the tide of the war.
A Patriotic Child's Doodles, 1777
Carefully written in a child’s notebook amid math problems, the text of this document seems to be a transcript of a popular Revolutionary-era camp song.
An Officer’s Wife’s Letter from the Home Front, 1777
Lucy Knox describes unrest in Boston, where several Tory sympathizers were arrested, and reports on the high costs of basic necessities in her letter to husband Henry Knox.
George Washington on Perseverance in the Face of Adversity, 1777
George Washington is at his most eloquent in this 1777 circular letter to the states, spelling out the adversity his troops faced in Valley Forge.
A Patriot's Letter to His Loyalist Father, 1778
Timothy Pickering Jr., an adjutant general in the Continental Army, writes a moving farewell letter to his father, a staunch Tory, having received word that Timothy Sr. was dying.
An African American Soldier’s Paycheck, circa 1780
African Americans served in integrated Continental Army units during the Revolution, earning pay equal to that of white soldiers. Sharp Liberty signed this pay warrant, which was issued some time between 1780 and 1789, with his mark.
Alexander Hamilton in Despair, 1780
Alexander Hamilton shares his dismay about the American war effort in this 1780 letter to a French diplomat, written shortly after the discovery of Benedict Arnold’s treachery.
George Washington on the Abolition of Slavery, 1786
In this 1786 letter, George Washington, whose war experience led him to believe that slavery was inconsistent with Revolutionary ideals, writes that he “never mean[s]…to possess another slave by purchase” and hopes slavery will be abolished “by slow, sure & imperceptible degrees.”
Two Drafts of the Preamble to the Constitution, 1787
These two versions of the preamble to the Constitution, one the working copy submitted for debate at the Constitutional Convention in August 1787, the other Benjamin Franklin’s signed copy of the final version, show the conceptual changes (listing the thirteen colonies separately versus calling them the United States) that resulted from the debates in Philadelphia.
Alexander Hamilton on the Manufacturing Sector, 1791
Hamilton's December 1791 report to the House of Representatives, written in his capacity as Secretary of the Treasury, is perhaps his most important piece of work. In it, he offers a remarkably modern economic vision based on investment, industry, and expanded commerce, with no place for slavery.
Census Data Showing the Number of Slaves in New York, 1800
This broadside detailing data from the 1800 census in New York provides a sense of the pervasiveness of slavery, even in a northern state that had instituted gradual emancipation.
Alexander Hamilton on Burr vs. Jefferson, 1800
Hamilton sent several letters to fellow Federalists during the deadlock that followed the election of 1800. They were among the most consequential he ever wrote.
1801-1825
Aaron Burr on the Run, 1804
Writing nine days after killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel and facing charges from a New Jersey grand jury, Aaron Burr demonstrates some concern about having his mail intercepted: the entire third page of this July 20, 1804 letter is written in cipher.
The Horrors of Slavery, 1805
Originally circulated in 1805 to expose the horrors of slavery, “Injured Humanity,” a broadside published by a New York abolitionist, depicts slaves being sold, tortured, and working in the fields.
A Map of the Louisiana Territory, 1814
This 1814 map of the Louisiana territory was published in Lewis and Clark’s history of their expedition.
Jefferson on British Aggression, 1815
Thomas Jefferson takes issue with several members of the House of Lords who blamed the War of 1812 on U.S. aggression in this 1815 letter to James Maury, his friend and the American consul in Liverpool.
A Description of a Massacre of Native American Allies, 1818
A subordinate writes to General Andrew Jackson about the Chehaw Affair, an 1818 massacre of ten men, women and children who were part of the Creek Nation, which was an ally of the United States during the First Seminole War. Jackson was infuriated by the attack.
A Founding Father on the Missouri Compromise, 1819
Rufus King, a signer of the Constitution, Presidential candidate, and ambassador to Great Britain known for his oratorical skills, opposes the admission of Missouri as a slave state in this 1819 speech, arguing that Congress should have the power to make statehood conditional.
A Northerner's View of Southern Slavery, 1821
An 1821 letter written by a Connecticut transplant to Georgia reveals the casual racism of the time.
1826-1850
American Colonization Society Membership Certificate, 1833
Founded by a New Jersey abolitionist in 1816, the American Colonization Society had succeeded in transporting more than 2,500 free blacks to Liberia by the early 1830s. This 1833 membership certificate, signed by the society’s president (and former U.S. president) James Madison, depicts Liberia as a land of opportunity, with the words “light in darkness” written in Latin over the scene of a ship sailing east to Africa.
1851-1875
Harriet Beecher Stowe Sends a Copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin to Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, 1852
In this letter to Prince Albert and Queen Victoria that accompanied an advance copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe writes that she hopes her book will “enlist the sympathies both of England & America in the sufferings of an oppressed race, to whom in less enlightened days both England and America were unjust.”
Frederick Douglass to His Former Master, 1857
In an extraordinary letter to his former master, escaped slave Frederick Douglass writes, “I love you, but I hate slavery… I could have lived with you during life in freedom though I ran away from you so unceremoniously.”
John Brown’s Final Speech, 1859
Given a chance to speak after being sentenced to death for his role in the 1859 Harpers Ferry raid, John Brown delivered a rousing five-minute speech denying that he intended to commit murder or destroy property, claiming that he only meant to free slaves.
The First Thirteenth Amendment, 1861
After Lincoln was elected but before he took office, President James Buchanan asked Congress to draw up a constitutional amendment explicitly protecting the rights of slaveholders to maintain their human property.
Union Soldier Turns Medic at Gettysburg, 1863
Private Elbert Corbin of the First New York Light Artillery, ordered to remain behind at Gettysburg and care for his wounded compatriots, provides extraordinary detail on his crash course in battlefield medicine in this letter to his family.
African American Soldiers at the Battle of Fort Wagner, 1863
The Gilder Lehrman Collection has one of the few remaining copies of Currier & Ives’s “Gallant Charge of the 54th Massachusetts,” an 1863 lithograph depicting the heroics of a Union regiment of free African American men.
An Early Submarine Attack, 1863
Several technological innovations made their way to Civil War battlefields, including the machine gun, repeater rifles, trench warfare, and the use of trains to quickly move troops. However, one of the more celebrated tactical innovations of the war was the use of submarines by the Confederate navy, detailed in the 1863 eyewitness letter describing a submarine attack.
The Gettysburg Address. 1863
Less than 275 words in length, Abraham Lincoln's three-minute-long Gettysburg address defined the meaning of the Civil War. Drawing upon the biblical concepts of suffering, consecration, and resurrection, he described the war as a momentous chapter in the global struggle for self-government, liberty, and equality.
Diary of a Black Soldier, 1863-1864
William P. Woodlin, a musician in Company G of the 8th Regiment of the United States Colored Troops, compiled a 123-page diary describing life on the front lines from November 1863 to December 1864.
Robert E. Lee Rallies His Troops, 1864
Seemingly borrowing heavily from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, General Robert E. Lee’s May 1864 draft of a speech to be given to the Army of Northern Virginia likens deserting the Confederate cause to deserting one’s family.
Letter from a Black Soldier in the 54th Massachusetts, 1864
The author of this letter, Francis H. Fletcher, was a black soldier in the renowned 54th Massachusetts Regiment of Colored Troops. Fletcher offers a rare personal view of the discrimination faced by black soldiers during the Civil War.
Sharecropper Contract, 1867
In exchange for access to land, lodging, and supplies, sharecroppers, most of them former slaves, agreed to raise a cash crop on subdivided plantations. This 1867 contract from Mississippi illustrates the benefits and flaws of this post-Civil War labor system for the African American sharecroppers.
A Ku Klux Klan Threat, 1868
Founded in 1866, the Ku Klux Klan terrorized blacks and Republicans through violence, intimidation, and threats like this 1868 letter to Davie Jeems, a black Republican recently elected county sheriff in Lincoln County, Georgia.
Photographs from The Great West Illustrated, 1869
Andrew J. Russell’s photographs of the transcontinental railroad’s construction include incredible scenes of nature and engineering feats.
Mary Todd Lincoln Writes about Life after Being First Lady, 1870
When she wrote this letter five years after leaving the White House, Mary Todd Lincoln was in dire straits financially and in terms of her health.
1876-1900
Frederick Douglass on Jim Crow, 1887
Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery, became an influential abolitionist, and saw millions of slaves emancipated only to experience new forms of discrimination. He gets to Jim Crow’s essence in this 1887 letter describing discriminatory Southern practices.
1901-1925
A Confederate Soldier’s Thoughts on the Civil War, 1907
Decades after the Civil War ended, Confederate soldier John S. Mosby struggled to make sense of it in a 1907 letter. “A soldier fights for his country – right or wrong,” he writes. "The South was my country."
Suffragists Invoke Lincoln, 1910
Twentieth-century suffragists hoped to capitalize on the popularity of former President Abraham Lincoln in order to promote the female vote, claiming "Lincoln said women should vote."
1926-1950
Amelia Earhart Writes to Her Flight Instructor, 1929
Often overlooked in stories about Amelia Earhart is Neta Snook, the woman who taught Earhart how to fly. In this letter, Earhart remembers their days of flying together.
Herbert Hoover on the Great Depression and New Deal, 1931-1933
Two brief, personal letters written by Herbert Hoover shed light on his views of the Depression. A July 1931 letter urges private organizations and individual states to provide funds to the poor, and an October 1933 letter notes popular dissatisfaction with the New Deal and warns of the rise of an American Hitler or Mussolini.
Japan Declares War, 1941
Japan’s declaration of war against the United States was supposed to have been delivered thirty minutes before the Pearl Harbor attack, but the Japanese embassy in Washington took too long to decode the 5,000 word document. Instead, the declaration was made two hours after the attack and reprinted in Japanese newspapers on December 8, 1941, and on the eighth of every month until the war ended.
A Soldier’s Reasons for Enlisting, 1942
Against his family’s and friends’ wishes, City College chemical engineering student Sidney Diamond enlisted in the army in April 1942. A few days after arriving at Fort Dix, he tried to explain why in this letter to longtime sweetheart Estelle Spero, quoting Thomas Paine, Goethe, and Ovid.
FDR on Racial Discrimination, 1942
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 8802, prohibiting racial discrimination by military contractors, was tested in January 1942 when a merchant ship refused to employ 25 African Americans. In a strongly worded letter about the incident, Roosevelt writes that “questions of race, creed and color have no place in determining who are to man our ships.”
Victory Order of the Day, 1945
General Dwight D. Eisenhower eloquently proclaims the Allied victory in Europe in this May 8, 1945 memorandum to his commanders, praising fallen and living Allied Expeditionary Force soldiers “bound together by a common love of liberty and refusal to submit to enslavement.”
Physicists Predict a Nuclear Arms Race, 1945
Days after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the physicists who worked on the bomb predicted the problems of the nuclear era, detailed in this August 1945 draft statement of their position.
1951-1975
President Truman’s Farewell Address, 1953
President Harry Truman’s final speech, delivered on January 15, 1953, proves prophetic in its assertion that the United States would win the Cold War.
Robert Kennedy on Civil Rights, 1963
Attorney General Robert Kennedy is full of optimism in a 1963 report on civil rights to President John F. Kennedy, noting that school and public transportation desegregation efforts were moving along and that African American employment was on the rise.
Civil Rights Poster, 1968
Striking Memphis sanitation workers, demanding better work conditions and wages after two men were killed by a malfunctioning truck in early 1968, carried posters with the slogan “I AM A MAN” in their demonstrations.
Proclamation Pardoning Richard Nixon, 1974
Citing the possibility of a prolonged and divisive national debate, President Gerald Ford issued this proclamation pardoning former President Richard Nixon less than a month after Nixon’s resignation.
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