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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.

Unknown to John G. Walker

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03804.37 Author/Creator: Unknown Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Letter signed Date: 23 January 1904 Pagination: 2 p. ; 25.8 x 20.5 cm. Order a Copy

Letter written in a clerical hand with an illegible signature. Sent to retired Rear Admiral Walker as President of the Isthmian Canal Commission. References Walker's letter of 11 January. Has read his remarks on the canal treaty and says his report is "reassuring." Says "The Convention" -- probably the Constituent Assembly of Panama -- began its proceedings on 15 January. Also sends along a message from "the Junta of the Provisional Government" that was sent to the Convention. Says he sent along Walker's kind wishes to their friends in Panama. Stamp in purple ink on first page says "Received, J.G.W. Feb 3 1904."

On November 3, 1903, Panama declared its independence from Colombia. The President of the Municipal Council, Demetrio H. Brid, highest authority at the time, became its de facto President, appointing on November 4 a Provisional Government to run the affairs of the new republic. The United States, as the first country to recognize the new Republic of Panama, sent troops to protect its economic interests. The 1904 Constituent Assembly elected Dr. Manuel Amador Guerrero, a prominent member of the Conservative political party, as the first constitutional President of the Republic of Panama.

Walker, John

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