Historical Research Library
Discover the people, events, and key documents that shaped the Founding Era.
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Alexander Hamilton Woos Elizabeth Schuyler in a Letter to Her Sister Peggy, 1780
A letter highlighting courtship of Elizabeth during his time as Washington’s aide-de-camp in Morristown
Supporting Document
Alexander Hamilton’s Love Letter to Elizabeth Schuyler, 1780
A letter that intertwines love and statesmanship
Supporting Document
George Washington to Lord Cornwallis on Terms of Surrender, 1781
A letter from the commander in chief expressing willingness to consider terms to end the Battle of Yorktown
Supporting Document
Articles of Confederation Ratified, 1781
The first attempt at establishing the relationship—a “firm league of friendship”—between the thirteen colonies
Key Document
Knox Announces the Surrender at Yorktown, 1781
A letter anticipating “a glorious moment”—General Cornwallis’s surrender
Supporting Document
Nathanael Greene on the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, 1781
Reflection on the mixed results of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse
Supporting Document
Alexander Hamilton on Happy Marriages, 1781
Hamilton’s advice to Peggy on marriage—emphasizing happiness and caution in partner selection
Supporting Document
Cuffee Wells’s Certification of Freedom, 1781
A legal statement witnessing the emancipation of a formerly enslaved soldier
Supporting Document
Henry Knox on Washington’s Reluctance to Execute a British Soldier, 1782
A letter exploring the politics of retaliation between patriots, loyalists, and the British
Supporting Document
![The Harbour of Charlestown [Charleston] in South Carolina by Joseph DesBarres (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)](/sites/default/files/styles/research_thumbnail/public/2023-10/GLC03103_0.jpg.webp?itok=EmyiCfWc)
John Laurens to Hamilton on His Plan for a Black Regiment, 1782
A letter endorsing Hamilton’s plan for a regiment of freed Black men
Supporting Document
Belinda, Petition of an African Slave, 1782
A petition to Massachusetts demanding compensation for years of enslaved labor
Supporting Document
Hamilton to Washington “with Reference to a Peace,” 1783
Hamilton seeks counsel on national security and maintaining peace with Britain
Supporting Document