1834)
Papers of Franklin
Leonard W. Labaree et al., eds., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin (New Haven, 1959–)
Franklin: Writings
J. A. Leo Lemay, ed., Benjamin Franklin: Writings (New York, 1987)
Papers of Hamilton
Harold C. Syrett et al., eds., The Papers of Alexander Hamilton , 27 vols. (New York, 1962–1987)
Hamilton: Writings
Joanne B. Freeman, ed., Alexander Hamilton: Writings (New York, 2001
Papers of Jefferson
Julian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (Princeton, 1950–)
Papers of Jefferson: Retirement Ser .
J. Jefferson Looney et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series (Princeton, 2004
Ford, ed., Writings of Jefferson
Paul L. Ford, ed., The Writings of Thomas Jefferson , 10 vols. (New York, 1892–1899)
L and B, eds., Writings of Jefferson
A. A. Lipscomb and Albert Ellery Bergh, eds., The Writings of Thomas Jefferson , 20 vols. (Washington, DC, 1903)
Jefferson: Writings
Merrill D. Peterson, ed., Thomas Jefferson: Writings (New York, 1984)
Papers of Madison
William T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison , vols. 1–10 (Chicago, 1962–1977); Robert A. Rutland et al., eds., vols. 11–(Charlottesville, 1977–)
Papers of Madison: Presidential Ser.
Robert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series (Charlottesville, 1984–
Papers of Madison: Presidential Ser.
Robert A. Rutland et al., The Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series (Charlottesville, 1984–)
Madison: Writings
Jack N. Rakove, ed., James Madison: Writings (New York, 1999)
Papers of Marshall
Herbert A. Johnson et al., eds., The Papers of John Marshall (Chapel Hill, 1974–)
Letters of Rush
Lyman H. Butterfield, ed., Letters of Benjamin Rush , 2 vols. (Princeton, 1951)
Republic of Letters
James Morton Smith, ed., The Republic of Letters: The Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, 1776–1826, 3 vols. (New York, 1995)
Spur of Fame
John A. Schutz and Douglass Adair, eds., The Spur of Fame: Dialogues of John Adams and Benjamin Rush, 1805–1813 (San Marino, CA, 1966)
Papers of Washington: Presidential Ser.
W. W. Abbot et al., eds., The Papers of George Washington: Presidential Series (Charlottesville, 1987–)
Papers of Washington: Retirement Ser
W. W. Abbot et al., eds., The Papers of George Washington: Retirement Series (Charlottesville, 1998–1999)
Fitzpatrick, ed., Writings of Washington
John C. Fitzpatrick, The Writings of George Washington , 39 vols. (Washington, DC, 1931–1944)
Washington: Writings
John H. Rhodehamel, ed., George Washington: Writings (New York, 1997)
AHR
American Historical Review
JAH
Journal of American History
JER
Journal of the Early Republic
WMQ
William and Mary Quarterly , 3d Ser.
JA
John Adams
BF
Benjamin Franklin
AH
Alexander Hamilton
TJ
Thomas Jefferson
JM
James Madison
BR
Benjamin Rush
GW
George Washington
Empire of Liberty
Introduction: Rip Van Winkle’s America
During the second decade of the nineteenth century, writer Washington Irving developed an acute sense that his native land was no longer the same place it had been just a generation earlier. Irving had conservative and nostalgic sensibilities, and he sought to express some of his amazement at the transformation that had taken place in America by writing his story “Rip Van Winkle.” Irving had his character Rip awaken from a sleep that had begun before the Revolution and had lasted twenty years. When Rip entered his old village, he immediately felt lost. The buildings, the faces, the names were all strange and incomprehensible. “The very village was altered—it was larger and more populous,” and idleness, except among the aged, was no longer tolerated. “The very character of the people seemed changed. There was a busy, bustling disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed phlegm and drowsy tranquility”—a terrifying situation for Rip, who had had “an insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley