The primary source was written in September of 1767 by George Washington to William Crawford about land. It sounded very much like Washington wanted Crawford to "reserve" an amazing piece of land in Pennsylvania for him, but to keep the situation a secret. At this point in time, the French and Indian War was recent history (the British won) and the Proclamation of 1763 was in effect.(picture to left shows Line of Proclamation)
Washington seemed not concerned with the Proclamation's rules and states, "I can never look upon that Proclamation in any other light (but this I say between ourselves) than as a temporary expedient to quiet the Minds of the Indians and must fall of course in a few years" He believed the Proclamation wouldn't last very long.
Washington wanted to snatch the land while he could, he knew it wouldn't be sitting empty and without an owner forever, he writes to Crawford, "such a piece of Land as this be found you woud do me a singular favour in falling upon some method to secure it immediatel⟨y⟩ from the attempts of any other". Crawford was the way Washington was going to receive this amazing piece of land.
He also seemed to be very serious when instructing Crawford not to tell anyone, he writes "I might be censurd for the opinion I have given in respect to the Kings Proclamation & then if the Scheme I am now proposing to you was known it might give the alarm to others & by putting them upon a Plan of the same nature". Washington did not want his name tainted, or other people to get the same idea as him- he especially didn't want anyone to know how he felt about the King's Proclamation.Basically, Washington wanted to get prime land while he could, and wanted Crawford's help to do so. He knew the Proclamation of 1763 wouldn't last forever and seemed to believe it wasn't a smart idea.
link: http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-08-02-0020
I finally read the source :) ! You do a great job in analyzing this and understanding the content. It's a fairly long letter and in the future - you may want to choose an excerpt that fits your needs.
ReplyDeleteYou describe the context well, but in terms of authorship, you may want to establish that he is a planter and surveyor living in Virginia, but also a veteran of the French and Indian War- and had fought to gain control of the land now off limits to him under the Proclamation.
Are there any weaknesses to the document? Is it easy to understand?Strengths? Questions?
All in all- great first attempt and thanks for adding the visuals!!