A GUIDE TO Pre-federal IN THE Compiled by Howard H. Wehmann NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION CD 3045 1989 Published for the National Archives and Records Administration Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wehmann, Howard H. A guide to pre-federal records in the National Archives. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. United States. National Archives—Catalogs. 2. United States— Cover: The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor, 1773. Copy of PREFACE The National Archives and Records Administration offers this book, A Guide to Pre-Federal Records in the National Archives, at a time when the United States is commemorating the bicentennial of its institutions of government. Described in it are the holdings of the National Archives that relate directly to, or were created during, the period before the Constitution went into effect on March 4, 1789. It is the primary responsibility of the National Archives to see that records created by or gathered in the process of our government's activities are both preserved and made available for use. Guides such as this one have been prepared at the National Archives since 1940 when the first general Guide to the Material in the National Archives was published. Over time, new editions of this general guide have been published and supplementary guides have been prepared focusing on specific subsets of Archives holdings. In this latter category are the Guide to Federal Records Relating to the Civil War (1962), Civil War Maps in the National Archives (1964), Guide to the Archives of the Government of the Confederate States of America (1968), Guide to Cartographic Records in the National Archives (1971), Guide to Materials on Latin America in the National Archives of the United States (1974), Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians (1981), and most recently, Black History: A Guide to Civilian Records in the National Archives (1984). All of these publications are intended to make the valuable records that document government functions better known and more accessible. The reader will discover that the records discussed here document subjects ranging far beyond the government under the Articles of Confederation. They reflect a wide variety of human concerns, desires, prospects, plans, and problems. It is our hope that those who seek to understand the nation's past will recognize these pre-federal records as a unique and valuable resource. DON W. WILSON Archivist of the United States |