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.

Johnson, Andrew (1808-1875) Affix seal to ratification of Treaty with China.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03578 Author/Creator: Johnson, Andrew (1808-1875) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Document signed Date: 19 October 1868 Pagination: 1 p. + docket Order a Copy

This treaty, the Burlingham Treaty of 1868, amended the Reed Treaty of 1858 by allowing free immigration. That flow of people allowed the rapid expansion of western railroads through cheap labor. (Eventually, it also provoked a racial backlash on the west coast.)

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