in july of 17 87, henry knox is shaping a policy of the federation congress and really emphasizes to the earlier point of view in 1783 that wars were too expensive and difficult to execute and peace was the essential path forward. following the inauguration, henry knox was asked to stay on as secretary of war and takes the lead informing the policy. he reports to congress in june and july of that first year, 1789, he spelled out the expediency and peace and negotiation should be the best path forward and that ultimately the land would come set out by white settlers all the same. this is a good opportunity to commission something that lindsay robinson will explore more fully and that is the american understanding of the indians legal right to this land. knox advocated for a position that was widely held. thomas jefferson would say the same thing. knox said, the indians possess the right to all their territory which they have not fairly conveyed. they should not be divested thereof but in consequence of open treaties made under the authority of the united states. this was typically und

i believe hamilton is also in uniform in tow with perhaps james mchenry or henry knox. i really wasn't sure how i could incorporate it all so i left it out. you can read about it in both newton and chernow and others. but it shows -- it is part of the whole theme that the federal government is going the use the military to back up the strength that they are trying to exert with its citizens. okay? it is a federalization model, something that someone like jefferson would have abhorred as a political opponent. other questions? there must be more. it is alexander hamilton. >> was lawrence hamilton realitied to alexander hamilton? and was he -- related to alexander hamilton and was he a commander in the great lakes in the war of 1812? >> i never looked into that. i know there are several desc d descendants of hamilton who took on great roles in the military. it is incredible when you read on this. but for that particular war of 1812 weld have to look it up or ask a descendant. >> i may be deputies here but what did washington die of? >> he had gone out on his horse that day

and give them a chance and then he picked them without first meeting them, nathanael greene and henry knox. despite the fact they were new englanders and he disliked new englanders ardently. he thought they were the best he had and they were the best he had. and those were the only general officers who stay the entire length of the war and did not leave and would not quit. >> when reading my book about harry truman. and with the comments being made by the republican candidate and to me were not only appalling but unimaginably out of place. what could i do to provide a counterpoint of you to this? and then thinking about the speeches that i gave on national locations such as the h anniversary and the anniversary of the white house , kennedy's memorial service which i was asked to be the speaker. and commencement speeches that i had given at particular occasions of other organizations and universities. and that i was voicing what really matters to me and why history is so fascinating and how essential i think it is to be alive. why should we limit our lives to this little bit of time when we

i am henry knox, i was already a general in the revolution. i have to serve under hamilton?again, a testament to how high hamilton had climbed,, and deservedly so, in the eyes of former president george washington. here is hamilton's letter around that. same time we are talking late 1798. hamilton says to walcott, while you are preparing for war, take out a large loan. finally, establish an academy for naval and military instruction. wow, that's a lot. ok. walcott has his hands full. speaking of people who were jockeying for position, aaron burr. aaron burr wanted to be a brigadier general. he is playing footsy with the federalists. maybe i don't like those jeffersonian republicans anymore. he had already been so critical of george washington that that effort did peter out. there is a portrait of major general hamilton that is not well known. we don't know who the artist was, we don't know when it was painted, even what decade. he does have a federal era uniform on with the high collar. it's us army. we don't know what the medal is on his lapel. it was donated around 1960 by

henry knox had been the major general of the artillery during the war, he then served as the commander of west point in the secretary of war underneath the confederation congress. he had indispensable military experience and indispensable experience negotiating with american nations which was under the purview of the secretary of war at the time. hamilton had a brilliant financial mind and while washington certainly understood the plans that hamilton came up with he did not necessarily have the same creativity and the ability to come up with complex solutions. so he needed somebody that could come up with those ideas. thomas jefferson had extensive diplomatic experience and fluent in french which was the language of the diplomacy while washington had been to barbados when he was a teenager, that was the only time he left the country, he needed someone who is in the art of diplomacy and what it was like to be in france and great britain. in edmund randolph who frequently goes over well was equal mind, he had been the attorney general for the state of virginia, he had been washington's p

and henry knox had part of one hand blown off in a hunting accident and people were missing teeth or a cast in their i or a way to hold their head on the shoulder because something happened life is dangerous and difficult and people were resilient and strong to a degree and it's something we should seldom forget. we and our time were softies by contrast. it is hard for us to imagine what it would be like with the dysentery or typhus so were typhoid or smallpox sweep through our city and take the lives of hundreds of people and when the war came and that tragedy and the sorrow it can't be measured with any statistics abigail adams says future generations will have a little idea and imagine what we have suffered on their behalf and she was right. the war was the longest in history except and eight and a half years it was also very proportionate to the population. 25000 americans were killed those that live with the brutal statistics of the 21st century and to suffer worldwide 25000 doesn't sound like a great deal and that is 1 percent of the population of 2,500,000. and if we were to f

henry knox, i thought of one hand blown off in a hunting accident as a young man. and on and on. people were missing teeth, and a calfskin there i or they had a way of holding their head on their shoulder because of something that had happened to them. ice life was dangerous and difficult and people were resilient. they were tough and strong to a degree that is something we too seldom forget. we in our times, we are softies. by contrast. it is hard for us to imagine what it would be like to have sleeping epidemic dysentery or smallpox typhus and typhoid, sleep through our town or community in our city and take the lives of hundreds of people all around us. and of course when the war came on, suffering and the tragedy and the sorrow. it cannot be measured with any statistics. abigail adams said future generations who will reap the blessings, will have little idea, little imagine what we have suffered in their behalf. and she was right. the war was the longest in our history except for the vietnam war. eight and a half years. it was also very blood a proportionate to the population

when the american war of independence drew to a close, american major general henry knox permits a society the revolution to remain in contact and serve family and public memory. the society was founded in may and was named for lucious who left his farm to become counsel and wartime dictator. he returned lawful power to the senate and went home to plow his fields. george washington became the vote's first president. initially, when they had a chapter in each former colony but they made a gesture of gratitude. and they invited high ranking officers to join the society as well. they were among 14 french founding members of the society. a french branch was found in december 1783 and here we have a document located here in the society in our archives that shows the first list that was compiled in january of the french society. friendship had not been necessarily there, but there was still an alliance between french and the kmiets today. i would like to conclude about why it matters to read french memoirs. first, this perspective allows us to view the authors in a new light, we see them as they

henry knox encouraged the adoption of this practice of the circulation of peace medals. some of which are on display at mt. vernon right now. the first one were struck in 1789. slightly closer image of this where you see george washington in uniform, you see a peace pipe. you see a buried tomahawk and emblems of civilization. the plowing of a field house, the farmhouse of in the distance. these medals were to be distributed and actually this is something that was a near constant among american presidents. every president between washington and benjamin harris would have this with the exception of the one monther, william harry anderson. these were worn proudly. here we see seneca red jacket wearing his and presented in philadelphia in the early 179 0s. but having peaceful relations that would ultimately if gradual my move towards the removal of native people's westward, i don't want to miss the fact that war was a constant during washington's presidency. a series of struggles in the old northwest in places that became ohio and indiana, between native americans and the un

so washington is with lafayette hamilton, henry knox, and others. and they are conferring for three days with the french general and it is the same stretch of time. it is around 21st, 22nd, 23rd, the same 22nd is when alexander hamilton -- benedict arnold, really, is meeting with john anderson and they're meeting just south of west point. so it is uncanny timing. after that, washington is returning with lafayette and others to meet with hamilton, i mean arnold to go over the fortify ca fortifications of west point. it is very clear that he will escape on the aly named and he decided immediately the quick thinking officer that he is that he needs to prepare the counter attack. first he attempts to capture arnold himself. he is down the east bank and they do not capture arnold. after that, he writes and tells him he is planning on writing momentarily and he does that. they were encamped 30 miles south of west point, and they return to the infantry, and they respond to george washington and the rest of headquarters. here is the letter to green. there h

and henry knox was one of his favorite officers. and they were immediately, from 1775. so, he had these different considerations and asked for people's advice. and whoever fit that image or those different values, he was amenable to appointing. >> wonderful, thank you for all that. well, it's time for very brief closing thoughts in this absolutely wonderful discussion. i'll just tee it up with a question i asked lindsay when she appeared on the podcast. this is the question. in his wonderful novel, "democracy, " henry adams has a great scene where madeleine lee, who's the hero, takes a boat trip to mount vernon. and she has a debate with a british nobleman about whether or not george washington was overrated. and some of the participants say he actually was a paragon of virtue, and others say he was a paper saint. and madeleine lee decides the meaning of america turns depending on whether washington was a saint or not, whether the american idea is real or is a lie. if you had to take sides, what would your answer be and what would you want the audience to leave with abo

but also, as henry knox said, within 50 years there won't be all that many left anyway. so, there's a weird sort of sense of will native peoples acclimate? and again, they used the term civilization all the time. or will they disappear or will they move west? all of those things are sort of overlapping and people have a sense that all of those things are simultaneously possible, and obviously, none of them could have happened simultaneously. it's an interesting world there in that earlier period of what will happen. >> one more question down here. this will be the last one. >> two things, really. one, the titles that were supposedly given to the american indians, did they include mineral rights at that time? and also, would you say that georgia's position against the federal government, was that sort of the beginning of the states' rights kind of idea, do you think, or -- >> yes. do you want to talk about that? >> go ahead. question for a law professor. >> so, yeah. so, the second one, yeah. so, this is -- georgia was one of the earliest loud blasts of states' rights --

henry knox was one of his favorite officers and they were close immediately from 1775. he had these different considerations and asked for people's advice. whoever fit that image or those different values, he was amenable to appointing. >> wonderful. thank you for all that. it's time for very brief closing thoughts in this wonderful discussion. i will just tee it up with a questionlindsay. in his wonderful novel, "democracy" henry adams has a great scene where madeleine lee, who is the hero, takes a trip to mount vernon. she's having a debate with a british nobleman about whether or not george washington was overrated and some of the participants say that he actually was a paragon of virtue and others say he was a paper saint. madeleine lee says it turns on whether he was a saint or not. the stakes are nothing less than whether it's real or alive. ed, if you had to take sides, what would your answer be? what do you want our audience to leave with about the central virtue of george washington? >> the story of washington, of course, when people look back at washington, ri

when the american war of independence drew to a close, american major general henry knox suggested thermation of a society to permit the officers of the revolution to remain in contact to care for the widows of fallen kpat rots and serve family and public memory. the society was founded in may 1783 and was named for lucious who left his farm to become roman counsel and wartime dictator. he returned lawful power to the senate and went home to plow his fields. alongside his family. george washington became the society's first president. initially the membership of the cincinnati which had a chapter in each former colony was limited to officers who had served a minimum of three years. still, society members thought to make a gesture of gratitude and forge an enduring bond of friendship with their french counterpart and invited high ranking officers to join the society as well. they were among 14 french founding members of the society. a french branch was founded in december 1783 and here we have a document located here in the society in our archives that shows the first list that was comp

he was in the tavern in new york saying good-bye to the tillmans, horns, lighthorse harry lee, henry knox, the founder of this soirkts or the first president of this society, and others who had borne the cause of american freedom on their shoulders. and it is those ancestors that we honor most tonight. the process of turning the ideas of the american revolution and the declaration of independence into something real required the most necessary ingredient in any fight. soldiers. and in those years, this fledgling nation got an early glimpse of the importance of the men and women who stand up to be counted. in january of 1776, tom payne, who helped inspire the reading of the declaration of independence across the continental army by publishing, of course, common sense, things as you know were not going very well that winter. british troops had pushed washington out of new york, new jersey and into pennsylvania. that prompted payne who was retreating with the continental army, with what was left of washington's dissolving army, to write the first american crisis essay that december. you know