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The Volumes: |
THE PAPERS OF GEORGE WASHINGTON The Papers of George Washington |
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| The massive Presidential Series (1788-1797) will cover the eight precedent-setting years of Washington's presidency and his years from retirement to Mount Vernon in 1797 until his death in 1799. These volumes will deal with the public papers either written by Washington or presented to him during both of his administrations, including messages to Congress, addresses from public and private bodies, applications for public office, and documents dealing with diplomatic and Indian affairs as well as Washington's private papers including family letters, farm reports, political letters from friends and acquaintances, and documents dealing with the administration of the Mount Vernon plantation. |
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Volume 1: September 1788 - March 1789 |
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| Edited by W.W. Abbot Volume 1 of the Presidential Series covers the months immediately before Washinton's election. Opening in September 1788, at the point when it was certain that the Constitution would be ratified, the documents trace the mounting public pressure upon Washington to agree to accept the presidency. His letters reveal poignantly his own misgivings about leaving Mount Vernon to return to public life. Well before he was offered the presidency he was deluged with applications for public offices. These letters are singularly revealing of economic and social disruption in the aftermath of the Revolution and of the political and social assumptions of Americans at the beginning of the new nation. Letters written to Washington during these months from all over the country report the gradual acceptance of the new government and the progress of the first federal elections in the states. His correspondence with foreign admirers is also extensive. 511 pages • 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 cloth • 1987 |
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Volume 2:April-June 1789 |
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| Edited by W.W. Abbot Volume 2 is concerned largely with Washington's inaugural jouney to New York and his initial activites as president upon his arrival. The documents, with annotations, chronicle the public adulation and the elaborate receptions and public addresses that the new president encountered along his route to the capital. His correspondence with friends and acquaintances at home and abroad concerns a wide range of subjects from politics to agricultural methods. His personal letters confirm his continuing need for money, his continued involvement in the affairs of family members, and his concern with his land interest in Virginia and on the frontier. As the volume closes Washington begins to gather information for his new administration in correspondence with major officers of government on matters affecting their departments. 533 pages • 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 cloth • 1987 |
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Volume 3:June-September 1789 |
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| Edited by W.W. Abbot Volume 3 covers most of the summer of 1789 and focuses primarily on the problems facing the new administration. Because of the president's serious illness during this period, a larger proportion of the documents than usual are letters and papers sent to Washington, including massive reports from the Board of Treasury describing the financial status of the new nation, detailed descriptions of Indian and military affairs from Henry Knox, and a plethora of applications for public office. The letters to Washington come from a cross section of Americans and present a rich resource on such divers topics as foreign affairs, overseas trade, and public attitudes toward the new government. Washington in these months was establishing the great departments of the federal government, and he devoted a considerable amount of his time to appointments and to the staffing of the new civil service. 651 pages • 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 cloth • 1989 |
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Volume 4: September 1789-January 1790 |
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| Edited by W.W. Abbot Volume 4 covers the fall and early winter of 1789-90 and focuses on the problems facing the new administration. Many documents in this volume deal with the difficulties Washington encountered in his attempt to staff the federal judiciary and his fears that failure to attract viable candidates for the Supreme Court and the federal courts would damage the reputation of the new government. There is extensive correspondence dealing with the administration's unsuccessful attempt to negotiate a treaty with the Creek chief Alexander McGillivray and with the growing threat from Indian tribes in the Northwest. Applications for office continue to pour in, often illustrating the private difficulties and public aspirations of the Revolutionary generation. Letters to Washington come from a cross section of Americans and foreign dignitaries and present a rich resource on such diverse topics as foreign affairs, overseas trade, and public attitudes toward the new government. In October 1789 Washington undertook a trip through the New England states to attract support for his administration. His triumphal journey is richly documented by the numerous letters of private and public support. Private letters deal with topics ranging from his attempts to furnish his new greehouse at Mount Vernon with exotic plants and his acquisition of mares to stock the plantation's paddocks to the settlement of the financial affairs of his stepson's estate and his gift of a bit of chintz to the young daughters of a Connecticut innkeeper. 636 pages • 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 cloth • 1993 |
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Volume 5: January-June 1790 |
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| Edited by Dorothy Twohig Volume 5 covers the first half of 1790 and focuses on Washington's continued concentration on the problems facing the new government. North Carolina had ratified the Constitution in late 1789, and Rhode Island held its ratifying convention in early 1790. Many documents in this volume reflect the president's concern with the establishment of ties to the federal government in both states, especially in the matter of appointments to the federal civil service. Also treated in detail in the volume are Washington's near-fatal illness in May 1790 and his difficult recovery. The heavy incoming correspondence concerns matters as diverse as the administratin's attempts to deal with escalation of Indian hostilities on the northern frontier, negotiations concerning military medals issued for achievement during the Revolutionary War, establishment of a coinage system for the young nation, petitions from Quakers concerning abolition, events surrounding the arrival of American vessels on the coast of Oregon, Gouverneur Morris's diplomatic mission to London, and the formation of the Scioto Company. 620 pages • 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 cloth • 1996 |
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Volume 6: July-November 1790 |
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| Edited by Dorothy Twohig During the period covered by volume 6, Washington's attention was devoted to several matters of great national significance. He signed the Residence and Funding Acts, authorizing a permanent new Federal City on the Potomac, establishing the seat of the federal government at Philadelphia until 1800, and creating a national debt by assuming the Revolutinary War debts of the states. Washington's official correspondence also shows his concern with Indian affairs, particularly his frustration with Brigadier General Josiah Harmar's punitive expedition in the Northwest Territory. Secretary of War Henry Knox's negotiations at New York with the southern Creeks loom large in the documents and annotation of early August 1790, which provide evidence of contemporary attitudes toward the Native American negotiators. Light is also shed on the intrigues of foreign agents on America's frontiers and in its capital as Spain and Great Britain appeared to drift toward war. The president's triumphal visit to Rhode Island in celebration of its ratification of the Federal Constitution is well documented. Washington's private correspondence with his secretary about remodeling the new presidential mansion and renovating his coach provides a detailed picture of high Federal culture and a glimpse of those whose livelihoods depended on serving the elite. Several requests for charity and numerous letters of application for federal office, particularly for posts in the newly created Revenue Cutter Service, describe the lives of various other ordinary American citizens. 758 pages • 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 cloth • 1996 |
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Volume 7: December 1790-March 1791 |
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| Edited by Jack D. Warren Volume 7 of the series presents documents written during the final sessions of the First Congress, a period of intense activity for Washington and his administration. Between December 1790 and March 1791, Congress passed legislation that established a national bank and a dederal excise, incresed the size of the army, and provided for the admission of Vermont. Filling the offices created by these and other acts occupied much of Washington's attention; the excise service alone was one of the largest bureaucracies created during the Early Republic. The Indian war on the northwest frontier continued to be a major concern. Washington also devoted a large part of his time to the new Federal City on the Potomac. All of these activites were set against a background of increasing partisan division within the government, brought into high relief in February 1791 by the controversy over the bill to incorporate the Bank of the United states. George Wshington also devoted a part of his time during these months to planning his upcoming tour of the southern states. The volume closes on 21 March 1791, the day Washington left Philadelphia on the first leg of his triumphal Southern Tour. 649 pages • 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 cloth • 1998 |
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| Mark Mastromarino, Editor In the period covered by volume 8 of the Presidential Series, the spring and summer of 1791, Washington completed a tour of the southern states, traveling almost 2,000 miles through Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. During his journey the heads of executive departments regularly reported to him from Philadelphia on preparations for a major military expedition against hostile Indian nations along the northwestern frontier, a boundary dispute with the British on Lake Champlain, the negotiation of American loans in Amsterdam, and other affairs of state. Washington was also informed of the controversy occasioned by Thomas Jefferson's sponsorship of the first American edition of Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man. After the president's return to the capital in early July, his official correspondence was concerned chiefly with planning the new federal district, a dispute between Pennsylvania and Virginia over an extradition case, and filling a seat on the Supreme Court and other vacancies, including postmaster general and U.S. auditor and comptroller. News of the slave uprising in Saint Domingue also reached Washington in September 1791. Friends and other foreign correspondents continued to send news from Europe, especially concerning affairs in revolutionary France. 632 pages, 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 cloth |
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| Mark A. Mastromarino, Editor In the period covered by volume 9, the fall and winter of 1791-92, Washington was busy dealing with a host of issues. Over forty letters to and from Washington between November 1791 and February 1792 concern the problems arising from Pierre L'Enfant's high-handedness as designer of the Federal City, particularly his destruction of the house of Daniel Carroll of Duddington, and L'Enfant's insistence that he not take orders from the Commissioners for the District of Columbia but receive his authority from Washington directly. Washington's nomination in late December 1791 of Thomas Pinckney, Gouverneur Morris, and William Short as ministers at London, Paris, and the Hague, respectively, set off a firestorm of congressional controversy about the meaning of the "advice and consent" provision of the Constitution. Washington believed that the Senate was required either to accept or reject his nominees, while many congressional leaders, who disliked the idea of a fixed diplomatic establishment, argued that only Congress could decide where or if the United States was to appoint resident ministers abroad. Although Washington eventually secured the appointment of Pinckney, Morris, and Short, the disagreement between the Senate and the administration over their relative authority, as well as the practical meaning of the constitutional provision, remained to be settled. In the wake of General Arthur St. Clair's defeat on 4 November, Washington and his secretary of war, Henry Knox, attempted to induce Congress to increase the size of the army, and they sought to rally popular support for yet another punitive expedition against the warring Indian tribes on the northwest frontier of the United States. To do so, in January 1792 Washington instructed Knox to prepare a statement, based on official government documents, revealing the causes of the Indian war and the administration's efforts to pacify the frontier region. Its publication, the preface to which took the form of a letter from Washington to Knox instructing the secretary of war to make the government's case to the American people, represents and early presidential effort to guide the public opinion an win popular support for a controversial policy. 672 pages • 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 cloth |
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| Edited by Robert F. Haggard & Mark A. Mastromarino
Volume 10 of the Presidential Series continues the fourth chronological series of The Papers of George Washington. The Presidential Series, when complete, will cover the eight precedent-setting years of Washington's presidency. These volumes present the public papers written by or sent to Washington during his two administrations. Among the documents are Washington's messages to Congress, addresses from public and private bodies, applications for office and letters of recommendation, and documents concerning diplomatic and Indian affairs. Also included are Washington's private papers, consisting of family correspondence, letters to and from friends and acquaintances, and documents relating to the administration of his Mount Vernon plantation and the management of the presidential household. In the period covered by volume 10, the spring and summer of 1792, Washington was busy dealing with a host of foreign and domestic issues. In response to General Arthur St. Clair's disastrous defeat on 4 November 1791, Washington ordered both the preparation of a renewed offensive against the hostile Indian tribes in the Northwest Territory and an attempt to secure peace without further recourse to arms. The first initiative necessitated the selection of a new commanding general and the appointment or promotion of a large number of junior officers. The second induced Washington to invite delegations from several nonhostile Indian nations to Philadelphia in the hopes that they either would support the American military effort or would convince their brethren to make peace with the United States. In addition, both the promulgation of a new French constitution and the recent arrival of the British plenipotentiary George Hammond—who had instructions to settle the outstanding difficulties arising from the Treaty of Paris of 1783 and lay the groundwork for improved Anglo-American commercial relations—required careful handling. Domestically, Washington's veto of the congressional Apportionment Act in April 1792 on the grounds that it was unconstitutional marked the first use of the presidential veto in American history. In the wake of Pierre L'Enfant's dismissal as superintendent of the Federal City, Washington attempted to keep on schedule the construction of the new capital on the Potomac River. Throughout this period Washington wistfully longed to retire to Mount Vernon at the close of his term in office. Although informed by all of his closest advisers that his retirement would have calamitous consequences, Washington instructed James Madison to draft a farewell address for his use if he decided not to stand for reelection. 736 pages • 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 cloth |
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| Edited by Christine Sternberg Patrick
Volume 11, which covers the closing months of Washington's first presidential term, opens with Washington at Mount Vernon, tending to both public and private affairs. The implementation of a federal excise tax on domestically produced whiskey provoked opposition that became violent in western Pennsylvania, eliciting Washington's proclamation of 15 September 1792 that called for U.S. citizens to comply peacefully with the law. Returning to Philadelphia in October 1792 for the second session of the Second Congress, Washington encountered a continuing variety of challenges during the fall and early winter. Preparations for war with several of the Indian nations in the Northwest Territory intensified under the leadership of General Anthony Wayne. At the same time, the federal government sponsored a number of peace initiatives to the hostile Indians and attempted to enlist the Iroquois and other Indians as intermediaries in the peace process. Washington also faced problems with Indians in the Southwest Territory and on the frontiers of the southern states who were deeply angered by American incursions on their lands, a hostility that Washington and other American officials believed was encouraged by Spanish agents among the Indians. Washington deplored the growing political factionalism within the United States. He attempted to assuage the increasingly bitter political differences between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, and he also urged Jefferson to delay his resignation as secretary of state. Although Washington continued to long for retirement and a permanent return to Mount Vernon, he reluctantly agreed to serve a second term as president after assuring himself that the public mood of the country favored his staying in office and that his leadership was essential to the success of the new government. The continuing revolution in France and the abolition of the French monarchy provoked a reevaluation of U.S.-French relations by Washington and his cabinet. The current war in Europe, moreover, mandated careful monitoring as Washington sought to maintain the neutral position of the United States. Finally, Washington continued to direct the development of the Federal City and to oversee the management of his estate at Mount Vernon. 736 pages • 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 cloth |
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Volume 12: January–May 1793 |
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Edited by Christine Sternberg Patrick and John C. Pinheiro In the period covered by volume 12, mid-January through May 1793, Washington
completed his first term as president and began his second term with a
modest inauguration ceremony. Washington continued his efforts to keep
the United States out of the expanding European war between France and
a coalition that now included Great Britain. The behavior of Edmond Genet,
the new French minister to the United States, and the presence of French
privateers in American waters intensified disagreement among Americans
over U.S. foreign policy, especially American obligations under its treaties
with France. After extensive consultation with the cabinet, Washington
issued a neutrality proclamation in April, but this did little to quell
the debate. While the administration made arrangements for a forthcoming
peace treaty at Lower Sandusky with the Indians of the Northwest Territory,
the U.S. Army under General Anthony Wayne prepared for an Indian war.
In addition, Washington monitored the development of the Federal District.
He intervened in a dispute between the commissioners for the District
of Columbia and their chief surveyor, Andrew Ellicott, and approved the
architectural plans for the U.S. Capitol. As always, the president tended
to his private financial affairs and the management of his farms at Mount
Vernon, a task made more difficult by the death of his nephew and estate
manager, George Augustine Washington. |
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Volume 13: June–August 1793 |
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Volume 13 of the Presidential Series documents the period from 1 June through 31 August 1793, a time when Washington focused his efforts as president on keeping the United States neutral during the war between France and Great Britain. The greatest challenge came from the presence in U.S. ports of both British and French privateers and their prizes. Frequent correspondence with the state governors, especially Thomas Mifflin of Pennsylvania and George Clinton of New York, kept the president informed of the latest arrivals. The cabinet, consisting of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph, met frequently at Washington’s behest, both with and without him. These meetings produced a series of cabinet opinions delineating America's neutrality policy. An effort to solicit the Supreme Court for an opinion on regulations designed to enforce America's neutrality policy, however, failed. The administration also was unsuccessful in its attempt to prosecute American citizens who enlisted for service on French privateers. At the same time, Charles Edmond Genet, the French minister plenipotentiary to the United States, failed to cooperate with the administration's directives concerning French privateers and prizes. This fact, combined with his attempt to influence the American political process, led to the cabinet's decision to ask the French government for Genet’s recall. While some Americans opposed the neutrality policies of the administration, others did not, and Washington received numerous letters of support from municipal and civic organizations in the maritime states. Other issues of national concern included Washington's approval of additional foreign loans and the administration's preparations for a peace treaty with hostile Indians in the Northwest Territory. The president also paid considerable attention to the desire of the citizens of South Carolina and Georgia for a military expedition against the Cherokees, Creeks, and other southern Indians. Washington, however, decided against the use of force at this time. In his private life, Washington continued his efforts to manage his Mount Vernon farms while living in Philadelphia. The death of his estate manager in June provided additional anxiety as Washington searched for a replacement. He also continued his role as the patriarch of an extended family. He was particularly engaged in offering advice on estate management to Frances Bassett Washington, the widow of his nephew George Augustine Washington.. |
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| The Papers of George Washington Presidential Series Volumes 1-13 Volume 1: ISBN 0-8139-1103-6 • $85.00 Volume 2: ISBN 0-8139-1105-2 • $85.00 Volume 3: ISBN 0-8139-1210-5 • $85.00 Volume 4: ISBN 0-8139-1407-8 • $85.00 Volume 5: ISBN 0-8139-1619-4 • $85.00 Volume 6: ISBN 0-8139-1637-2 • $85.00 Volume 7: ISBN 0-8139-1749-2 • $85.00 Volume 8: ISBN 0-8139-1810-3 • $85.00 Volume 9: ISBN 0-8139-1922-3 • $85.00 Volume 10: ISBN 0-8139-2101-5 • $85.00 Volume 11: ISBN 0-8139-2123-6 • $85.00 Volume 12: ISBN 0-8139-2314-X • $85.00 Volume 13: ISBN 978-0-8139-2634-6 • $85.00 |
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| http://www.upress.virginia.edu/books/pgw_pres.html | ||
| Revised 8/29/07 |
