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.

United States. Congress (26th, 1st session : 1840) Spanish schooner L'Amistad (to be annexed to Doc. 185).

High-resolution images are available to schools and libraries via subscription to American History, 1493-1943. Check to see if your school or library already has a subscription. Or click here for more information. You may also order a pdf of the image from us here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05795.02 Author/Creator: United States. Congress (26th, 1st session : 1840) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Pamphlet Date: 2 July 1840 Pagination: 1 v. : 6 p. ; 22.7 x 14.1 cm. Order a Copy

To be annexed to GLC05795.01. Contains correspondence between Pedro Alcantara de Argaiz, Spanish minister at Washington, D.C., and John Forsyth, Secretary of State. Contains Spanish and English versions. In a letter to Forsyth, Argaiz writes "Under the circumstances herein set forth, the undersigned, minister of her Catholic Majesty, finds himself under the disagreeable necessity of protesting fully and with all necessary energy, against the order issued for the imprisonment of Don Jose Ruiz and Don Pedro Montes, and he asks the Executive Power of the Union to use all the means which it derives from the laws, most especially from the law of habeas corpus, and thus direct the said Spaniards to be liberated..."

Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862
Forsyth, John, 1780-1841

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources