Our Collection

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.

Knox, Henry (1750-1806) [Copy of Knox's draft on the formation of the Society of the Cincinnati]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.02089 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry (1750-1806) Place Written: West Point, New York Type: Manuscript document Date: 15 April 1783 circa Pagination: 11 p. ; 25.2 x 20.2 cm. Order a Copy

Later copy of GLC02437.02090, which is the original. This copy is easier to read than the original. Says the Society was created to perpetuate "the remembrance of this great event [victory in the Revolution], as the mutual friendships which have been formed under the pressure of common danger, and in numerous instances cemented by the blood of the parties." One of its goals is to "preserve inviolate those exalted rights and liberties of human nature, for which they have fought and bled, and without which the high rank of rational being is a curse, instead of a blessing." Says they will promote the Union between the states. Says the General Society will be divided into state groups and then county groups. The general society will meet every three years, the state society every year, and the county societies every three months. Goes on to describe the administrative make-up of the various societies.

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