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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) TO BENJAMIN LINCOLN. - The Writings of George Washington, vol. XI (1785-1790)
TO BENJAMIN LINCOLN. - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. XI (1785-1790) [1891]Edition used:The Writings of George Washington, collected and edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1890). Vol. XI (1785-1790).
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- The Writings of George Washington.
- 1785.
- To James Warren.
- To Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia,
- To George William Fairfax.
- To Lund Washington.
- To James Madison.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To the Trustees of the Alexandria Academy.
- 1786.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To Samuel Purviance, Esq.
- To Cols. Fitzgerald and Gilpin.
- To Robert Morris.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To John Jay.
- To Henry L. Charton.
- To James Tilghman.
- To Henry Lee, In Congress.
- To William Grayson, In Congress.
- To Wakelin Welch, Esq.
- To the Chevalier De La Luzerne.
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To John Jay.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To David Humphreys. 1
- To John Francis Mercer.
- To William Triplet.
- To Bushrod Washington.
- To George Augustine Washington.
- To Henry Lee, In Congress.
- To James Madison.
- To Bushrod Washington.
- To James Madison.
- To Fielding Lewis.
- To P. Marsteller.
- To James Madison.
- To Edmund Randolph, Governor of Virginia. 1
- To David Humphreys.
- To Henry Knox.
- 1787.
- To Bushrod Washington.
- To Henry Knox.
- To Charles Washington.
- To Mrs. Mary Washington.
- To Thomas Stone. 1
- To Colonel David Humphreys.
- To John Jay.
- To Major-general Benjamin Lincoln.
- To Edmund Randolph, Governor of Virginia.
- To James Madison, In Congress. 1
- To Henry Knox.
- To Henry Knox.
- To Lund Washington.
- Diary During the Constitutional Convention, May—september, 1787. 1
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To David Stuart.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To Richard Henry Lee.
- To Patrick Henry.
- To Colonel David Humphreys.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Henry Knox.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Mathew Carey.
- To Archibald Johnston.
- To Arthur Young.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Bushrod Washington.
- To Thomas Johnson.
- To David Stuart.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Colonel Thomas Lewis.
- 1788.
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To Edmund Randolph, Governor of Virginia.
- To Colonel Frederick Weissenfels.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Charles Carter.
- To Jonathan Trumbull.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To the Chevalier De La Luzerne.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Alexander Spotswood.
- To Samuel Griffin.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Samuel Hanson, Esq.
- To the Count De Moustier.
- To Henry Knox.
- To Charles Lee.
- To James Wilson.
- To Thomas Johnson.
- To the Marquis De Chastellux.
- To John Armstrong.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the Count De Rochambeau.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To George Steptoe Washington. 1
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To James Madison.
- To John Jay.
- To William Smith, and Others, of Baltimore.
- To Henry Knox.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Richard Henderson. 1
- To Charles Carter.
- To Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To John Jay.
- To Noah Webster.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To George Steptoe Washington.
- To Charles Pettit.
- To John Beale Bordley.
- To the Count De Moustier.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To Henry Lee, In Congress.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To Mathew Carey.
- To Arthur Young.
- To William Gordon.
- 1789.
- To William Pierce.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To Samuel Powel.
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To Harry Innes.
- To Captain Richard Conway.
- To Benjamin Harrison.
- To George Steptoe Washington.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Thomas Green. 2
- To Henry Knox.
- To John Langdon.
- Inaugural Speech to Both Houses of Congress, April 30th, 1789.
- Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives,
- Reply to the Answer of the Senate.
- Reply to the Answer of the House of Representatives.
- To Edward Rutledge.
- To James Madison.
- To Mary Wooster. 1
- To Count De Moustier. [confidential.]
- To Mathew Carey.
- To the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. 1
- To James Mchenry.
- To John Jay. [private.]
- To Charles Thomson.
- To David Stuart.
- To James Madison.
- Sentiments Expressed By the President to the Committee From the Senate, Appointed to Confer With Him On the Mode of Communication Between the President and the Senate Respecting Treaties and Nominations.
- To James Madison. [confidential.]
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To James Craik.
- To Mrs. Betty Lewis.
- To Benjamin Franklin.
- To Edmund Randolph.
- To Gouverneur Morris.
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To Gouverneur Morris.
- To Gouverneur Morris.
- To John Hancock.
- To Beverley Randolph, Governor of Virginia.
- To James Mchenry. [confidential.]
- To Edmund Randolph.
- To Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury.
- To Jabez Bowen.
- 1790.
- Speech to Both Houses of Congress, January 8th, 1790.
- Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:
- Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:
- Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives:
- To Catharine Macaulay Graham.
- To Charles Pinckney, Governor of South Carolina. [private.]
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To Edmund Randolph, Attorney-general.
- To David Stuart.
- To the Marquis De La Luzerne. 1
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To David Stuart.
- To Clement Biddle.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Henry Knox, Secretary of War.
- To Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury.
- To Tobias Lear.
- To Henry Knox, Secretary of War. [private.]
- To George Steptoe Washington.
TO BENJAMIN LINCOLN.
New York, 11 August, 1789. Dear Sir,
On the 15th of September next there is to be a treaty held in the State of Georgia, between the Indians on the Southern frontiers and Commissioners on the part of Georgia. At this treaty there will be a numerous and respectable concourse of Indians: two, and some say three thousand. Their famous Counsellor, the noted McGillivray, is to be present at it; and it is now in agitation, and a bill is before the House of Representatives for that purpose, to appoint Commissioners on the part of the United States to attend at this treaty, to establish a permanent and lasting peace between the United States and the Indians on the Southern & Western frontiers.—It is necessary, in a matter of such importance to this country, that these Commissioners should be persons who have been known in public life, and who are very respectable characters,—and if to these two circumstances could be added, their being held in high estimation in the Southern States, without being inhabitants of any of them, it would be a very desirable thing.—Under these circumstances, it is my wish that you should be one of these Commissioners;—and I have therefore given you this early intimation of the matter that you might (if it should be determined to appoint Commissioners, and is agreeable to you, and can be made to comport with your present office) be making such arrangements as will enable you to be at New York and ready to embark for Georgia, on or before the first day of September; and with an expectation of being absent 3 or 4 months.
You will make up your mind on this matter, and give me an answer by the first post after you receive this, as you see no time is to be lost, for it is absolutely necessary that the Commissioners should be on the spot the 15th of September to prevent the enormous expense which would be incurred by detaining such a numerous body of Indians for any time.—In the meantime you will keep this intimation to yourself, for in the first place it is not certain that Commissioners will be appointed—And if they should other circumstances might render a concealment of this intimation proper. I am, my dear Sir, &c.
Alexander McGillivray, who controlled the Creek Indians, was the son of a tory inhabitant of Georgia, and a principal woman of the Creek nation. He had received an English education, and his ability and ambition were great and sharpened by a resentment against Georgia, which had confiscated his estates in the late war. On the signing of peace at Paris, he had proposed a treaty of alliance and commerce to the Spanish Governor of Pensacola (Arthur O’Neal or O’Neil), thus virtually seeking the protection of Spain, and even hinting at a separation of the Western territory, now rapidly being colonized from the Atlantic States, from the Confederation.—Gayarre, Louisiana under the Spanish Domination, 158, 159. A treaty was made, and the profits of the resulting commerce, carried on as a monopoly under Spanish protection, centred in Great Britain, one of the Bahamas being the place of deposit. The validity of certain treaties of cession made between Georgia and the Creeks resulted in hostilities, and the Continental Congress (15 July, 1788) notified the Indians that “should they persist in refusing to enter into a treaty upon reasonable terms, the arms of the United States shall be called forth for the protection of that frontier.” A condition of war and the unfulfilled threat of Congress were forced upon the attention of Washington.
In August, 1789, the President took counsel of Congress in the matter, and Benjamin Lincoln, Cyrus Griffin, and David Humphreys were named Commissioners to treat with the southern Indians, the “first great object of their mission” being to effect peace between Georgia and the Creeks. “On your success materially depends the internal peace of Georgia, and probably its attachment to the General Government of the United States.” Every effort was to be made to detach McGillivray from his Spanish alliance and make him a warm friend of the United States. (The full instructions may be found in American State Papers, Indian Affairs, i., 65.) The mission ended in a total failure so far as the Creeks were concerned, and the commissioners laid the entire blame on McGillivray, a pensioner of Spain, who seemed to be influenced by his private interests. For in August, 1790, when he, with some of the kings and head men of the Creeks came to New York and entered into negotiations for a treaty, the trade problems were the most difficult to solve. This trade of the Creeks, amounting to £12,000 a year, was entirely in the hands of British merchants who enjoyed special privileges in Spanish ports. “As the trade of the Indians is a main mean of their political management, it is therefore obvious, that the United States cannot possess any security for the performance treaties with the Creeks, while their trade is liable to be interrupted or withheld, at the caprice of two foreign powers. Hence it becomes an object of real importance to form new channels for the commerce of the Creeks through the United States.”—Washington’s Message to the Senate, 4 August, 1790. Three days later a treaty was sent to the Senate which was intended to close all controversies with that nation, and would have done so, had it not been for the efforts of the Spanish authorities to defeat its execution.
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