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An Oration On The Abolition Of The Slave Trade; Delivered In The African Church In The City Of New-York, January 1, 1808, Peter Williams Jr., Paul Royster (Editor)

Electronic Texts in American Studies

The United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 9, prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until the year 1808. A bill to do this was first introduced in Congress by Senator Stephen Roe Bradley of Vermont in December 1805, and its passage was recommended by President Jefferson in his annual message to Congress in December 1806. In March 1807, Congress passed the legislation, and President Thomas Jefferson signed it into law on March 3, 1807. Subsequently, on March 25, 1807, the British Parliament also passed an act banning the slave trade aboard British ships.

The effective date of the …

Letter From John Sibley To Henry Dearborn, January 10, 1807, John Sibley

John Sibley Papers

Transcription of Letter from John Sibley to Henry Dearborn, January 10, 1807. Sibley discusses the Native Americans in the area around him, and Mexico.

The Vindictive Monk Or The Fatal Ring [Transcript], Isaac Crookenden

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

Calini discovers he is a foundling, abandoned as an infant with a ring left among his. The story continues with Calini as an adult, returning from the home of his beloved, Alexa. Calini is suddenly taken hostage and locked in a dungeon by Sceloni, a monk. It is later discovered that Calni’s kidnapping is a plot by Signor Holbruzi to steal Alexa. The plot was to kill Calini, but Sceloni chooses to secretly imprison Calini instead. Holbruzi pursues Alexa. He is unsuccessful, as Alexa remains devoted to Calini. Frustrated in his attempts, Holbruzi demands that Sceloni kidnap Alexa and bring …

Narrative Of The Loss Of The Earl Of Abergavenny, East Indiaman, Captain John Wordsworth, Which Drove On The Shambles, Off The Bill Of Portland, And Sunk In Twelve Fathoms Water, February 5, 1805, Archibald Duncan

Texts relating to the Earl of Abergavenny (ship)

The Earl of Abergevnny was an East Indiaman which was wrecked in 1805 off the Isle of Portland, England in Weymouth Bay. The sinking was a sensational event due to the high number of lives lost, the amount of high-value of cargo that sank and the controversial testimony of survivors. Captain John Wordsworth, brother of the Romantic poet William Wordsworth, perished in the wreck.

This excerpt is from the Mariner's Chronicle, Being a Collection of the Most Interesting Narratives of Shipwrecks, Fires, Famines, and Other Calamaties Incident to a Life of Maritime Enterprise by Archibald Duncan, 124-132. London: James Cundee,1805

Almagro & Claude, Or The Monastic Murder [Transcript], Unknown

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

Almagro and Claude is a direct extraction from Matthew Lewis’ The Monk, retelling the banditti inset tale and incorporating the bleeding nun narrative.

The Marquis d’Axala changes his name to Don Almagro to conceal his rank, and begins his travels. On his way to Stasbourg, he is stranded in the woods at night, and ends up staying along with the Baroness Wildenheim in a woodcutter’s hut. Tipped off by the housemistress, Antonia, Don Almagro concludes that he and the Baroness have fallen into the hands of some banditti in disguise. Using the element of surprise, he attacks in conjunction …

The Monkish Mysteries; Or, The Miraculous Escape: Containing The History And Villainies Of The Monk Bertrand, The Detection Of His Impious Frauds, And Subsequent Repentance And Retribution., Elizabeth Meeke

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

Monkish Mysteries recounts the life of Edward Stanley, The son of a disgraced knight, who is taken in by Pascal and entangled in the hatred between Pascal and the son of a priest and his seduced parishioner, Bertrand, who assumes the name Mystere. One day, Pascal is taken away by four men on horseback under orders by Mystere. Edward pleads for Pascal’s release but to no avail and departs back to Switzerland, followed by Mystere. He returns to find Albina, his love, has left for Germany after being told of Edward’s death.

In the meantime Mystere ingratiates himself with the …

Oakcliffe Hall Or The Fatal Effects Of Feudal Quarrels. A Tale Of The Fifteenth Century [Transcript], Sarah Scudgell Wilkinson

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

Oakcliffe Hall is the home of the Lord and Lady Bellonmore and their children, Walter and Ellinor. The family is happy and generous to all until the Lord and Lady spend six weeks at court to present their son Walter, now twenty years old, and acknowledge the new queen. Upon returning home, they find that Ellinor has not fared well in their absence. Her caregivers, chaplain Lemuel Percy and governess Allicia are unable to explain the cause of her paleness and sadness, but report it began two weeks after her parents had left for court. Eventually, Lady Bellonmore notices that …

Father Innocent, Abbot Of The Capuchins; Or, The Crimes Of Cloisters, Unknown

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

Father Innocent draws large crowds to his sermons due to his famous purity. Among them are Drusilla and her fifteen-year-old niece Ambrosia and two cavaliers, Olmas and Antonio. The four meet in the congregation and form friendships as Antonio seeks to woo Ambrosia. Among Innocent’s followers inside the monastery is his favorite novice, Philario, who turns out to be a woman named Sabrina in disguise; she is a seductress in league with Lucifer, and has come to bring about Innocent’s downfall. She successfully seduces Innocent and traps him with the need for secrecy. Meanwhile, Antonio’s sister, Bertha, is a nun …

The Distressed Nun [Transcript], Isaac Crookenden

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

Luvido di Brindoli, Florentine nobleman, had two children—a son, Vincentio and a daughter, Herselia. Vincentio bitterly envied Herselia believing that his father loved her more. One night Brindoli received two guests—Count Fovolli and his handsome young son, Henri Velasquez. Herselia instantly fell in love with Henry and confided the matter in his brother who contrived a plot to ruin her happiness forever. Accordingly, he encouraged Herselia to elope with Henry the next day, and, secretly informed Brindoli about it.

The next morning, Brindoli apprehended Herselia outside the palace, and condemned her to a life in a remote convent. After weeks …

Memorandum Book #1 (January Through December 1800), John Sibley

John Sibley Papers

John Sibley Memorandum Book #1 (January through December 1800).

Tagebuch Über Rom, Friederike Brun

Prose Nonfiction

Complete English translation of this work by Richard P. Stebbins available in the supplemental files.

Missing pages can be found at https://archive.org/details/tagebuchuberrom01brun

Washington's Farewell Address: The President’S Address To The People Of The United States, Announcing His Intention Of Retiring From Public Life At The Expiration Of The Present Constitutional Term Of Presidency, George Washington

Electronic Texts in American Studies

This is a digital “facsimile” edition of a contemporary pamphlet version of President George Washington’s “Farewell Address,” first issued in the Philadelphia Daily Advertiser newspaper on September 19, 1796. Co-authored with James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, it expresses Washington’s decision to decline a third term of the presidency and offers his parting advice to his “friends and fellow-citizens.”

Washington’s “farewell address” emphasizes the importance of Union, the danger of partisanship, the threat of parties allied to foreign countries or interests, the accomplishment of a national government, the precedence of national over sectional interests, the maintenance of the public credit, the …

'Farewell' Address To The People Of The United States, Announcing His Intention Of Retiring From Public Life At The Expiration Of The Present Constitutional Term Of Presidency, George Washington

Zea E-Books in American Studies

President George Washington’s farewell address “To the People of the United States” was delivered to the public through the medium of the Philadelphia Daily Advertiser newspaper and was immediately reprinted in other newspapers and in pamphlet form throughout the country, and in England, Ireland, and Scotland as well. All contemporary editions derived directly or indirectly from the Daily Advertiser newspaper source.

The composition of the address was a collaborative effort, with James Madison co-authoring with Washington an early draft that was reviewed and revised at least twice to incorporate suggestions by Alexander Hamilton. The final draft, in Washington’s handwriting, was …

Phantastes Chapter 18: Hesperus, Jean Paul

German Romantic and Other Influences

Jean Paul—Johann Paul Friedrich Richter (1763-1825)—was a German writer in the Romantic tradition, also known for his humorous writing. Hesperus (1795) includes two major ideas that MacDonald explores throughout Phantastes: the notion of dreams, and the importance of mirrors.

The Case, Trevett Against Weeden

Library Archive

Wherein the Rights of the People to Trial by Jury, &c. are dated and maintained, and the Legislative, Judiciary and Executive Powers of Government examined and denned.

An Address To The Negroes In The State Of New-York (1787), Jupiter Hammon, Paul Royster (Editor)

Electronic Texts in American Studies

Hammon’s Address, published in New York and Philadelphia in 1787, is a simple but eloquent set of Christian advice and reflections. To his fellow Negroes who are enslaved, Hammon advises obedience to masters, honesty and faithfulness, and the avoidance of profaneness. Among his strongest recommendations is that Negroes make every effort to learn to read and to use that knowledge to study the Bible. Hammon’s focus is on eternity, judgment, redemption, and God’s governance of the world.

Yet Hammon’s appeal is no apology for the slave system, but rather a modulated and astute assessment of the social and power relations …

The Printer's Grammar, John Smith

Zea E-Books in American Studies

Containing a Concise History of the Origin of Printing; Also an examination of the Superficies, Gradation, and Properties of the Different Sizes of Types cast by Letter Founders; Various Tables of Calculation; Models of Letter Cases; Schemes for Casting off Copy and Imposing; and many other Requisites for attaining a perfect Knowledge both in the Theory and Practice of the Art of Printing. With Directions to Authors, Compilers, &c. How to Prepare Copy, and to Correct their own Proofs. Chiefly collected from [John] Smith's Edition. To which are added Directions for Pressmen, &c. The whole calculated for the Service of …

An Address To The Negroes In The State Of New-York, Jupiter Hammon

Zea E-Books in American Studies

Hammon’s Address, published in New York and Philadelphia in 1787, is a simple but eloquent set of Christian advice and reflections. To his fellow Negroes who are enslaved, Hammon advises obedience to masters, honesty and faithfulness, and the avoidance of profaneness. Among his strongest recommendations is that Negroes make every effort learn to read and use that knowledge to study the Bible. Hammon’s focus is on eternity, judgment, redemption, and God’s governance of the world.

Yet Hammon’s appeal is no apology for the slave system, but rather a modulated and astute assessment of the social and power relations between blacks …

The Discovery, Settlement And Present State Of Kentucke, John Filson

Zea E-Books in American Studies

This is an open-access electronic text edition of Filson’s seminal work on the early history of Kentucky, including the first published account of the life and adventures of Daniel Boone. Filson’s work was an unabashedly optimistic account of the western territory, where Filson had acquired large land claims, whose value he sought to enhance by the publication of this advertisement and incitement for further settlement. Scarcely two years after the violent and tragic British and Indian invasion of 1782, Filson portrayed Kentucky as a natural paradise, where peace, plenty, and security reigned. Of some significance is Filson’s recognition that the …

The United States Elevated To Glory And Honor (1783), Ezra Stiles D.D., Reiner Smolinski , Editor

Electronic Texts in American Studies

Stiles' best-known work is this 1783 election sermon, which was delivered at Hartford, Connecticut, at the annual election of the governor, state representatives, and senators. True to the spirit of his Puritan ancestors, Stiles sounds a number of time-honored American themes newly adapted to the rising prospects of the young United States of America. What was once a tribal Errand into the Wilderness of New England Stiles now translates into God’s federal covenant with all citizens of the United States—no matter what their parochial creed or particular denomination: “The political welfare of God’s American Israel” is “allusively prophetic of the …

The Plain Path To Christian Perfection, Shewing That We Are To Seek For Reconciliation And Union With God, Solely By Renouncing Ourselves, Denying The World, And Following Our Blessed Savior, In The Regeneration, Anthony Benezet

Historical Quaker Books

Translated by Anthony Benezet.
"The treatise of which the following is an extract, was written in the German language about two hundred and fifty years ago, and since translated into the French." -Preface

The Life And Spiritual Sufferings Of That Faithful Servant Of Christ Jane Hoskens, A Public Preacher Among The People Called Quakers, Jane Fenn Hoskens

Zea E-Books in American Studies

In 1712, nineteen-year-old Jane Fenn left her home, family, and friends in London to obey an inner voice that said ——“Go to Pennsylvania! ” Arrived in Philadelphia, she was soon cast into debtors’ prison for refusing to sign an indenture dictated by the man who had arranged her passage. Redeemed by a group of Quakers from Plymouth County who wished to employ her as a schoolteacher, she spent three years in their community and began to absorb their teachings and their ways.

Her narrative chronicles her inward struggles with her own sense of unworthiness, the temptations of Satan, her distaste …

The Life And Spiritual Sufferings Of That Faithful Servant Of Christ Jane Hoskens, A Public Preacher Among The People Called Quakers, Jane Fenn Hoskens, Paul Royster Editor

Historical Quaker Books

In 1712, nineteen-year-old Jane Fenn left her home, family, and friends in London to obey an inner voice that said ——“Go to Pennsylvania! ” Arrived in Philadelphia, she was soon cast into debtors’ prison for refusing to sign an indenture dictated by the man who had arranged her passage. Redeemed by a group of Quakers from Plymouth County who wished to employ her as a schoolteacher, she spent three years in their community and began to absorb their teachings and their ways.

Her narrative chronicles her inward struggles with her own sense of unworthiness, the temptations of Satan, her distaste …

The Life And Spiritual Sufferings Of That Faithful Servant Of Christ Jane Hoskens, A Public Preacher Among The People Called Quakers (1771), Jane Fenn Hoskens, Paul Royster , Editor

Electronic Texts in American Studies

In 1712, nineteen-year-old Jane Fenn left her home, family, and friends in London to obey an inner voice that said ——“Go to Pennsylvania! ” Arrived in Philadelphia, she was soon cast into debtors’ prison for refusing to sign an indenture dictated by the man who had arranged her passage. Redeemed by a group of Quakers from Plymouth County who wished to employ her as a schoolteacher, she spent three years in their community and began to absorb their teachings and their ways.

Her narrative chronicles her inward struggles with her own sense of unworthiness, the temptations of Satan, her distaste …

Memoir Of The Indian Wars, John Stuart

Primary Sources

No abstract provided.

The Journal Of Major George Washington (1754), George Washington, Paul Royster , Editor

Electronic Texts in American Studies

The Journal of Major George Washington, Sent by the Hon. Robert Dinwiddie, Esq; His Majesty’s Lieutenant-Governor, and Commander In Chief Of Virginia, to the Commandant of the French Forces on Ohio. To Which Are Added, the Governor’s Letter, and a Translation of the French Officer’s Answer.

In October of 1753, George Washington, a 21-year-old major in the Virginia militia, volunteered to carry a letter from the governor of Virginia to the French commander of the forts recently built on the headwaters of the Ohio River in northwestern Pennsylvania. The French had recently expanded their military operations from the Great Lakes …

The Journal Of Major George Washington, George Washington

Zea E-Books in American Studies

In October of 1753, George Washington, a 21-year-old major in the Virginia militia, volunteered to carry a letter from the governor of Virginia to the French commander of the forts recently built on the headwaters of the Ohio River in northwestern Pennsylvania. The French had recently expanded their military operations from the Great Lakes into the Ohio country, and had spent the summer of 1753 building forts and roads along the Allegheny River, with the design of linking their trade routes and sphere of influence down the Ohio to the Mississippi. Virginia governor Robert Dinwiddie believed them to be in …

A Narrative Of The Captivity Of Nehemiah How In 1745-1747, Nehemiah How, Victor Hugo Paltsits

Electronic Texts in American Studies

Nehemiah How was captured by a raiding party of Abenaki Indians October 11, 1745, outside the fort at Great Meadow (now Vermont). He was taken to Quebec and held captive until his death from "fever" on May 27, 1747. He was among several hundred English colonists taken prisoner during the war. His account recalls his treatment and records the comings and fates of dozens of other prisoners held at Quebec during what was known as King George's War, part of the global War of Austrian Succession.

A Brief History Of The Pequot War (1736), John Mason, Paul Royster , Editor

Electronic Texts in American Studies

John Mason’s posthumously published account is the most complete contemporary history of the Pequot War of 1636–1637. Written around 1670, and published in part in 1677 (although misattributed by Increase Mather to John Allyn), the complete text was issued by Thomas Prince in 1736. That text is reproduced here in a corrected and annotated edition that includes Prince’s biographical sketch of Mason and various dedicatory and explanatory documents.

John Mason (c.1600–1672) commanded the Connecticut forces in the expedition that wiped out the Pequot fort and village at Mystic and in two subsequent operations that effectively eliminated the Pequots as a …

The Constitutions Of The Free-Masons, James Anderson, Benjamin Franklin

Zea E-Books in American Studies

This is an online electronic edition of the the first Masonic book printed in America, which was produced in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin in 1734, and was a reprint of a work by James Anderson (who is identified as the author in an appendix) printed in London in 1723. This is the seminal work of American Masonry, edited and published by one of the founding fathers, and of great importance to the development of colonial society and the formation of the Republic. The work contains a 40-page history of Masonry: from Adam to the reign of King George I, including, …