• “Thoughts on the present State of Affairs,” June 11, 1776

Curator's note:

• This anonymous manuscript is an unsolved puzzle. Borrowing heavily from The Deceiver Unmasked—a controversial loyalist pamphlet written in response to Paine’s Common Sense—the manuscript also takes the form of a speech. The writer denounces republicanism and warns that independence will “Ravage our once happy Land” with “Ruthless war” and “Torrints of Blood.” Given its date, the manuscript may relate to New Jersey’s Provincial Congress, which convened on June 11, 1776, and would quickly arrest the royal governor, send a pro-independence delegation to Philadelphia, and draft a state constitution.

Date created:

• 1776 June 11

Language:

• English

Publisher:

• Princeton University. Library. Special Collections
• De Coppet, Andre (1892-1953)

Extent:

• 1 box

Container:

• Box 46

View in finding aid:

• https://findingaids.princeton.edu/catalog/C0063_c00363