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Vol. 26:2 ISSN 0160-8460 June 1998
Emerging Nation Educational Kit Available
At the close of the Revolutionary War, the United States faced great challenges. Although a peace treaty was negotiated with Great Britain, many problems remained. Both the British and the Americans violated provisions of the peace treaty. The American government negotiated with and, when that failed, fought with Native Americans west of the Allegheny Mountains over land rights, and American ships and seamen were held for ransom by Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean. How did the new democracy cope with such problems, and how did these experiences affect the development of the nation's foreign policy?
These and other questions are answered in the education kit "The Emerging Nation: America 1783 - 1790," published for the Commission by Jackdaw Publications. National Archives and Records Administration volunteer Burt Knauft compiled the material for the kit and wrote the broadsheets. Commission staff member Mary A. Giunta served as editor.
Through historical document facsimiles, broadsheet essays, maps, illustrations, and a timeline, teachers and students are able to study early United States foreign policy. The essays provide contextual background, and the document facsimiles provide primary sources for study and discussion. The essays are entitled: 1. The Making of the Treaty of Paris of 1783; 2. The Impact of the Treaty of 1783 on Slaves in the United States; 3. Whose Land? Treaties with the Indians; 4. Barbary Pirates: Threat to U.S. Commerce on the Seas. Historical documents include a copy of the Treaty of Paris of 1783; Mitchell's map of the emerging nation in 1783; copies of letters by General Washington, Sir Guy Carleton, John Adams, John Jay, and Thomas Jefferson; a copy of an inspection roll of Negroes; a map of Indian nations north of the Ohio River; a copy of the Treaty of Fort McIntosh; a map of the Mediterranean Sea and the Barbary States; and a letter by captured American Richard O'Bryen.
The Burning of the Captured U.S.S. Philadelphia in Tripoli Harbor, 1804. Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Slavery is the subject of a potent exchange between the American and British commanders. When General Washington learned from General Sir Guy Carleton that in addition to American loyalists, a number of slaves owned by U.S. citizens had departed from the United States, he responded that sending off slaves who were the property of U.S. citizens was a clear violation of the treaty. The resulting correspondence and notes on the meeting between the two enables teachers and students to learn about the inherent contradiction in fighting for a country's freedom while sanctioning the status of slavery in the United States.
Another subject is protection of U.S. commerce and seamen abroad. Prior to independence, ships from the American colonies were under the protection of the powerful British navy. The situation changed drastically after 1783, when there was nothing to prevent Barbary pirates from seizing American ships and crews. In one such effort, Algerine corsairs captured the American vessel Dauphin. Members of the crew were put in leg irons for the trip to North Africa. When they arrived in Algiers, they faced hard labor as slaves and life in windowless, overcrowded, rat-infested prisons. U.S. diplomat Thomas Jefferson learned of their plight from a letter of Richard O'Bryen, a captured crew member. Teachers and students learn more about the American reaction to pirates and have the opportunity to read O'Bryen's letter seeking help.
The British Leaving New York, 1783. Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress.
The kit is available from Jackdaw Publications, P.O. Box 503, Amawalk, NY 10501 (telephone 1-800-789-0022) for $37. When ordering, request Jackdaw C-200.
