In the following excerpts, translated from the Spanish, King Philip III of Spain and his ambassador to London, Don Pedro de Zúñiga, exchange communiqués, many of them originally encoded, about the English colony at Jamestown. Zúñiga keeps the king informed of a frustrated English baron who may be interested in spying for Spain, of the activity surrounding the Second Charter, and of a huge English resupply mission—led by Sir Thomas Gates aboard the flagship Sea Venture—that appears to have been lost at sea. Zúñiga even provides the king regular updates on the situation of Sir Walter Raleigh.
Type: Unpublished
Bayley Wyat’s Speech (December 1866)
In a December 1866 speech Bayley Wyat, a freedman, protests the closing the contraband camps in Yorktown. The camps were established during the American Civil War (1861–1865) as places of refuge for men and women who escaped from slavery to Union territory. Wyat argues that African Americans have a rightful claim to the land based on their service to the Union Army and their contribution as enslaved laborers to building the American economy.
Letter from Thomas Worthington to Thomas Jefferson (January 7, 1826)
In this letter to Thomas Jefferson, dated January 7, 1826, the former Ohio governor Thomas Worthington promises to fulfill a request for cucumber seeds.
“In wishing him well, he killed him”; excerpt from Relation of Juan Rogel (ca. 1611)
This excerpt, translated from the Spanish, is from the “Relation of Juan Rogel,” the original manuscript of which was lost but can be found paraphrased by Father Juan Sánchez Vaquero (b. 1548) in his unpublished history, Fundación de la Compañía de Jesús en Nueva España, 1571–1580. Father Juan Rogel, a Jesuit priest born in Pamplona, Spain, in 1519, here tells the story of the Virginia Indian Don Luís de Velasco (Paquiquineo), who accompanied the Spanish in 1561 to Spain, Mexico, and Cuba before returning with a mission to the Chesapeake Bay in an area the priests understood to be called Ajacán.
Letter from William Wirt to Elizabeth Gamble Wirt (July 13, 1806)
In this letter to his wife, Elizabeth Gamble Wirt, dated July 13, 1806, the attorney William Wirt attempts to justify his decision to defend George Wythe Sweeney (also Swinney), the man accused of murdering Wirt’s friend George Wythe.
Letter from James Winthrop to Jeremy Belknap (March 4, 1795)
In a letter to the clergyman and historian Jeremy Belknap, of the Massachusetts Historical Society, James Winthrop responds to questions about the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts. The questions were posed by St. George Tucker, who was working on a plan for the end of slavery in Virginia. In 1796, Tucker published A Dissertation on Slavery: With a Proposal for the Gradual Abolition of It, In the State of Virginia.
Letter from Joseph Whipple to George Washington (December 22, 1796)
In this letter to President George Washington, dated December 22, 1796, Joseph Whipple, the customs collector of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, discusses his search for the fugitive slave Oney Judge.
Daniel Webster Recommends Paul Jennings (June 23, 1851)
In a note dated June 23, 1851, U.S. secretary of state Daniel Webster recommends Paul Jennings for employment. Jennings was a former slave who served James Madison and his wife, Dolley Madison.
Will and Codicil of John Wayles (1760, 1772–1773)
In documents dated April 15, 1760, and altered March 5, 1772, and in a codicil dated February 12, 1773, John Wayles provides his last will and testament. Thomas Jefferson is an executor and his wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson, is a beneficiary.
Letter from Robert Michie to David Watson (December 21, 1797)
In this letter to David Watson, dated December 21, 1797, Robert Michie refers to a man enslaved by the College of William and Mary named Lemon.