Author:   George Washington Date:1796 Annotation: By 1796 Washington was in a position to retire gracefully. He had avoided war with Britain, pushed the British out of western forts, suppressed Native Americans in the Old Northwest, and opened the Ohio country to white settlement. In a farewell address, published in a Philadelphia newspaper in September…

Date:1795 Annotation: A treaty between Native Americans and the United States to end war between each other. Document: A treaty of peace between the United States of America, and the tribes of Indians called the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanees, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pattawatimas, Miamis, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws, and Kaskaskias. To put an end to a destructive war,…

Date:1794 Annotation: The Jay Treaty of 1794 solved many issues between the United States and Great Britain that were left over from the American Revolution.   Document: His Britannick Majesty and the United States of America, being desirous by a Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation to terminate their Differences in such a manner, as without reference…

Author:   Thomas Jefferson Date:1793 Annotation: Jefferson’s opinion on renouncing treaties with France. Document: I proceed, in compliance with the requisition of the President, to give an opinion in writing on the general Question, Whether the US. have a right to renounce their treaties with France, or to hold them suspended till the government of that country…

Date:1793 Annotation: Washington’s Proclamation of Neutrality in the war between Britain and France. Document: A Proclamation Whereas it appears that a state of war exists between Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and the United Netherlands, of the one part, and France on the other; and the duty and interest of the United States require, that they should…

Date:1793 Annotation: The Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 opposed almost every idea set forth by the Constitution. The Congress of 1793 set an example that would not be overturned until the Civil War. Document: ART. 4. For the better security of the peace and friendship now entered into by the contracting parties, against all infractions of the…

Date:1790 Annotation: Washington’s letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport. Document: George Washington August, 1790 Gentlemen: While I received with much satisfaction your address replete with expressions of esteem, I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you that I shall always retain grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced on my visit to Newport from all…

Author:   James Madison Date:1789 Annotation: Memorandum on a Colony in Africa for Manumitted Slaves Document: Without enquiring into the practicability or the most proper means of establishing a Settlement of freed blacks on the Coast of Africa, it may be remarked as one motive to the benevolent experiment that if such an asylum was provided, it…

Date:1789 Annotation: An Act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States. Document: SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the supreme court of the United States shall consist of a chief justice and five associate justices, any four of whom…

Date:1789 Annotation: Address of the Senate to Presdient George Washington. Document: SIR: We, the Senate of the United States, return you our sincere thanks for your excellent speech delivered to both Houses of Congress; congratulate you on the complete organization of the Federal Government; and felicitate ourselves and our fellow-citizens on your elevation to the office of…