Resources in Early American History
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1Author:  Pennsylvania. General AssemblyRequires cookie*
 Title:  Pennsylvania. General Assembly. Laws, 1682-1719     
 Dates:  1682-1719 
 Abstract:  This volume contains a series of documents relating to the founding of the colony and its early political development. Included are the acts of Pennsylvania Assembly, 1685-1719, a copy of Charles II grant to William Penn, the Frame of Government for 1701, and an act of the Privy Council in 1705.

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 Call #:  Mss.345.12.P38 
 Extent:  2 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Colonial Politics | Law | Pennsylvania History 
 Genre:  Official Government Documents and Records 
2Author:  Pennsylvania. General AssemblyRequires cookie*
 Title:  Records concerning the early settlements on the Delaware River, 1630-1682, 1774     
 Dates:  1630-1774 
 Abstract:  The volume contains records relating to the history of Dutch settlers in the territories that the English acquired. These are copies of documents that are held at the State Archives. Many were originally in Dutch but were translated to English in this volume. The documents contain records from as early as 1638 and continue through Edmund Andros' term as governor of New England and ends in 1700. The documents include many official government proclamations and legal documents relating to Dutch property and their rights within English colonies.

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 Call #:  Mss.974.8.P37 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Land and Speculation | Law | Pennsylvania History | Philadelphia History 
 Genre:  Official Government Documents and Records 
3Author:  New York (State). Supreme CourtRequires cookie*
 Title:  Account pertaining to his appeal of a jury verdict, to the Privy council, ca. 1766     
 Dates:  Circa 1766 
 Abstract:  This bound volume contains two printed documents. One reproduces court records for a trial in 1764; the other contains resolutions of the New York Assembly.

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 Call #:  Mss.347.9.F77 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Colony and State Specific History | Law 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records | Printed Material 
 Subjects:  Trials (Assault and battery) -- New York (State) 
4Author:  Marshall, John, 1755-1835Requires cookie*
 Title:  Opinions delivered in the circuit court of the United States     
 Dates:  1803-1831 
 Abstract:  This collection contains a series of federal circuit court decisions rendered by John Marshall. The cases heard span a wide range of areas and include such topics as international law, property, banking, bankruptcy, estates, laws of evidence, and trade. Among the cases he heard was Livingston v Jefferson, which involved property rights related to the United States' purchase of the Louisiana Territory. There are also a series of cases in 1819-1820 involving merchant ships that seem to be related to fallout from property disputes from the War of 1812. One case relates to the Bank of the United States.

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 Call #:  Mss.345.41.M35 
 Extent:  0.5 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  Government Affairs | Law | War of 1812 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Bank of the United States (1816-1836) | Judicial opinions | United States. Circuit Court (4th Circuit) 
5Author:  unknownRequires cookie*
 Title:  Pennsylvania. General Assembly. The Great Law, 1682     
 Dates:  1682 
 Abstract:  This collection contains a copy of the Great Law signed between William Penn and colonists when he arrived in the colony in 1682. The original is in the State Archives of Pennsylvania. Influenced by Quaker principles, the Great Law listed the crimes and punishments that the new colony would enforce and aimed to regulate morality and behavior.

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 Call #:  Mss.345.12.P38L 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Colonial Politics | Government Affairs | Law | Pennsylvania History 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records 
6Author:  State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of PennsylvaniaRequires cookie*
 Title:  State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Records     
 Dates:  1819-1955 
 Abstract:  These two volumes record the admissions to Eastern State Penitentiary for the years 1839-1850 (excluding, apparently, 1844). The records contain a wealth of information about each prisoner admitted. The entries often contain a physical description of the inmate, a description of the crime(s) committed, and, occasionally, statements the prisoner made. Most entries contain a detailed biographical history of the prisoner that includes information on the background of the criminal, such as their family life, how they were raised, previous incarcerations, and the social habits of the prisoner, such as drinking in taverns or their religiosity.

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 Call #:  Mss.365.P381p 
 Extent:  0.5 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  Government Affairs | Law | Philadelphia History | Social Life and Custom 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Prisoners -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia | Prisons -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia | Women prisoners -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia 
7Author:  unknownRequires cookie*
 Title:  United States. Constitution.     
 Dates:  1787 
 Abstract:  This collection contains Benjamin Franklin's copy of the United States Constitution. It has Franklin's annotations in the margins.

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 Call #:  Mss.342.73.Un3c.d 
 Extent:  1 item(s) 
 Topics:  Early National Politics | Government Affairs | Law 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Miscellaneous | Official Government Documents and Records 
8Author:  Zehnder, J. A.,recorder.Requires cookie*
 Title:  Bankruptcy notices, 1842-1845     
 Dates:  1842-1845 
 Abstract:  This volume contains a list of bankruptcy filings in Philadelphia with their creditors listed. There is very little additional information aside from names, docket numbers, and court dates.

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 Call #:  Mss.332.75.Z3 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Business and Skilled Trades | Law | Philadelphia History 
 Genre:  Business Records and Accounts | Legal Records | Miscellaneous | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Bankruptcy -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. 
9Author:  Smyth, Frederick, 1732-1815Requires cookie*
 Title:  Frederick Smyth papers, 1756-1816     
 Dates:  1756-1816 
 Abstract:  Frederick Smyth was the Chief Justice of New Jersey before the American Revolution (appointed in 1764). Before that, he lived in England, Barbados, and Martinique. This collection of Smyth papers contains a range of official documents that relate to political and legal matters in New Jersey. The legal documents include petitions, reports to the grand jury, and official pronouncements and commissions. There are also several pieces of private correspondence. Some of the earliest documents contain information on Smyth's career before arriving in New Jersey. There is also a deposition relating to the firing on HMS St. John in Newport, Rhode Island in 1764 and a series of other documents relating to legal and political affairs in Rhode Island during the imperial crisis. Of particular note are two long speeches Smyth delivered before a grand jury in 1775 and 1776 in which he defends the Crown, a response to these speeches from the grand jury defending American rights, and a long letter from Edward Affleck in 1783 describing the British departure from New York City. Smyth stayed in Philadelphia after the war, although he never relinquished his British citizenship, and there are a few documents chronicling his post-war experience.

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 Call #:  Mss.B.Sm95 
 Extent:  0.25 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  American Revolution | Colony and State Specific History | Law 
 Genre:  General Correspondence | Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records | Political Correspondence 
 Subjects:  Judges -- New Jersey. | Legal instruments -- New Jersey. 
10Author:  Hicks, Isaac.Requires cookie*
 Title:  Isaac Hicks account books, 1772-1797, 1810-1824     
 Dates:  1772-1824 
 Abstract:  These two volumes record Isaac Hick's financial transactions in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where Hicks was a magistrate (justice of the peace). The volumes cover the American Revolution and early republic. The types of transactions recorded are generally payments for services, although other transactions are recorded, such as how much he paid for whiskey. The volumes contain a name index in the front.

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 Call #:  Mss.B.H521 
 Extent:  2 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Business and Skilled Trades | Government Affairs | Law | Trade 
 Genre:  Business Records and Accounts | Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Judges -- Pennsylvania. 
11Author:  Parker, Ely Samuel, 1828-1895Requires cookie*
 Title:  Ely Samuel Parker Papers     
 Dates:  1794-1946 
 Abstract:  The Ely Parker Collection is a large and rich amalgamation of documents relating to the New York Seneca and to Ely Parker's own life.

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 Call #:  Mss.497.3.P223 
 Extent:  3.5 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  Education | Government Affairs | Language and Linguistics | Law | Military History | Native America | Religion | Science and technology 
 Genre:  General Correspondence | Language Material | Manuscript Essays | Native American Materials | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Canals -- New York (State) | Engineers -- New York (State) | Freemasons -- New York (State) | Iroquois Indians | Ogden Land Company | Seneca Indians -- Missions | Seneca Indians -- New York (State) | Seneca Indians -- Religion | Seneca language | Society of Friends -- Relations with Indians | Tonawanda Indian Reservation (N.Y.) 
12Author:  Braddock, Edward, 1695-1755Requires cookie*
 Title:  Manuscripts on Indian affairs, 1755-1792, [n.d.]     
 Dates:  1755-1792 
 Abstract:  These volumes contain an assortment of documents relating to colonial Pennsylvania's relations with Indian groups. Most notably, the collection contains journals and treaty minutes from the Seven Years' War, including a journal by Conrad Weiser, a manuscript version of Charles Thomson's "Enquiry into the Alienation," and official government records from the war. There are other documents that do not bear directly on Indian affairs. Most notably, there is a manuscript essay by Lewis Evans on German immigration that details the often brutal experience of immigrants' journey to Pennsylvania and proposes a series of reforms. There is also a printed essay in the back of the volume that opposes capital punishment and was printed in Philadelphia in 1792.

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 Call #:  Mss.970.4.M415 
 Extent:  2 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Diplomatic History | Law | Native America | Pennsylvania History | Seven Years' War | Social Life and Custom | Travel 
 Genre:  Diplomatic Material | Manuscript Essays | Official Government Documents and Records | Printed Material | Travel Narratives and Journals 
 Subjects:  Braddock's Campaign, 1755. | Delaware Indians | Indians of North America -- Pennsylvania | Indians of North America -- Treaties | Pennsylvania -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 | Shawnee Indians