Produced by Mark Hamann, Yvonne Dailey, Tom Allen and PG Distributed
Proofreaders
1769-1776
This book is dedicated, with his permissionto FRANCIS PARKMAN
To whom Americans who feel a pride in the pioneer historyof their country are so greatly indebted
"O strange New World that yit wast never young,
Whose youth from thee by gripin' need was wrung,
Brown foundlin' o' the woods, whose baby-bed
Was prowled roun' by the Injun's cracklin' tread,
And who grew'st strong thru shifts an' wants an' pains,
Nursed by stern men with empires in their brains,
Who saw in vision their young Ishmel strain
With each hard hand a vassal ocean's mane;
Thou skilled by Freedom and by gret events
To pitch new states ez Old World men pitch tents.
Thou taught by fate to know Jehovah's plan,
Thet man's devices can't unmake a man.
* * * * *
Oh, my friends, thank your God, if you have one, that he
'Twixt the Old World and you set the gulf of a sea,
Be strong-backed, brown-handed, upright as your pines,
By the scale of a hemisphere shape your designs."
—LOWELL.
Much of the material on which this work is based is to be found in thearchives of the American Government, which date back to 1774, when thefirst Continental Congress assembled. The earliest sets have beenpublished complete up to 1777, under the title of "American Archives,"and will be hereafter designated by this name. These early volumescontain an immense amount of material, because in them are to be foundmemoranda of private individuals and many of the public papers of thevarious colonial and State governments, as well as those of theConfederation. The documents from 1789 on—no longer containing anypapers of the separate States—have also been gathered and printedunder the heading of "American State Papers"; by which term they willbe hereafter referred to.
The mass of public papers coming in between these two series, andcovering the period extending from 1776 to 1789, have never beenpublished, and in great part have either never been examined or elsehave been examined in the most cursory manner. The original documentsare all in the Department of State at Washington, and for conveniencewill be referred to as "State Department MSS." They are bound in twoor three hundred large volumes; exactly how many I cannot say,because, though they are numbered, yet several of the numbersthemselves contain from two or three to ten or fifteen volumes apiece.The volumes to which reference will most often be made are thefollowing:
* * * * *
No. 15. Letters of Huntington.
No. 16. Letters of the Presidents of Congress.
No. 18. Letter-Book B.
No. 20. Vol. 1. Reports of Committees on State Papers.
No. 27. Reports of Committees on the War Office. 1776 to 1778.
No. 30. Reports of Committees.
No. 32. Reports of Committees of the States and of the Week.
No. 41. Vol. 3. Memorials E. F. G. 1776-1788.
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