Historical Research Library
Discover the people, events, and key documents that shaped the Founding Era.
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Alexander Hamilton on Happy Marriages, 1781
Hamilton’s advice to Peggy on marriage—emphasizing happiness and caution in partner selection
Supporting Document
Battle of Yorktown, 1781
A decisive victory of American and French forces that led to British surrender and American independence
Event
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
Hamilton’s Plan for the Government, 1783
Hamilton's never-submitted resolution to amend the Articles of Confederation
Supporting Document
Martha Washington on Postwar Life, 1784
Letter anticipating a return to normalcy after the American Revolution
Supporting Document
Certification of Romeo Smith’s Status as a Free Man, 1784
A legal document attesting the free status of a Black soldier
Supporting Document
Rules and Principles of the New-York Manumission Society, February 4, 1785
The guiding principles of the organization founded to promote the manumission of enslaved people and allow them to share “civil and religious Liberty”
Supporting Document
James Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments, 1785
An argument against state-sponsored religion, defending religious freedom and the separation of church and state
Key Document