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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.

Madison, James (1751-1836) Privateer's commission for the sloop Union during the War of 1812

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00053 Author/Creator: Madison, James (1751-1836) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Printed document signed Date: 26 September 1812 Pagination: 1 p. ; 29.5 x 39 cm. Order a Copy

Signed by Madison as president and countersigned by James Monroe as secretary of state. Partly printed document commissioning the privateer, under the command of Captain Oliver Hicks and Lieutenant William Rust, to "seize and take any armed or unarmed British vessel, public or private, which shall be found in the jurisdictional limits of the United States or elsewhere on the high seas." Notes that the sloop weighed nine tons, was mounted with one gun, and was manned by a crew of seven. Document accompanied by a paper seal.

Signer of the U.S. Constitution.

Madison, James, 1751-1836
Monroe, James, 1758-1831

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