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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) to George Washington [incomplete]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.10355 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry (1750-1806) Place Written: s.l. Type: Manuscript document Date: 16 May 1793 Pagination: 4 p. ; 39.3 x 24.5 cm. Order a Copy

Letterpress copy. Opinions of governmental heads related to Genet's use of privateers manned and equipped by American citizens to capture British prizes and bring them into U.S. ports. Discussing whether British prizes taken by French privateers manned by Americans should be delivered to the British Minister: "The Secretary of State and the Attorney General were against the restoration and the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of War were for it." Notes that the privateers were commissioned in Charleston, South Carolina by French Minister Edmond Charles Genet (referred to here as "Genest"). Further discusses Genet's jurisdiction and the United State's neutrality. Letterpress copy, missing final page. The creator, recipient and date are derived from a sent copy in the George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress.

Edmund Randolph was Secretary of State 1794-1795; William Bradford was Attorney General 1794-1795; Alexander Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury 1788-1795; Henry Knox was Secretary of War 1789-1794.

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Washington, George, 1732-1799
Genêt, Edmond Charles Édouard, 1763-1834

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