Dear Colleagues:

I am writing a book on the reasons for the collapse of the Confederation
government, 1783-88.  As part of my research, I am now in Virginia and will
be here until the end of March to look for as much in the way of additional
information about changes in Virginia public opinion about the
Confederation government and conditions of life in Virginia during that
period as I can find.  I am especially interested in finding unpublished
correspondence of politically interested and/or active Virginians about the
affairs of the state and Confederation government and postwar social and
economic conditions in Virginia.   These individuals do not need to follow
any particular occupation or vocation, have any particular means of
livelihood, belong to any particular social class or gender, or live in any
particular part of Virginia (though I confess I would be particularly
interested in identifying correspondence of relevant individuals who lived
in what was then western Virginia).  The wider the variety of opinion I'm
able to explore, the more accurately I expect to be able to characterize
Virginia opinion.

 If you know of any individuals--or families--whose 1783-88 correspondence
you think might be of interest in connection with my research, I would very
much appreciate it if you would send me an OFF-LIST email to my email
address, [log in to unmask], providing that information and/or any
related research suggestions you might have.  I suggest an off-list
response in order not to trouble listserv members with information they may
not want to receive, but if for some reason you think your response would
be of general interest, I don't mean to suggest that you should not also
send it to the list.  I thank you for your assistance, and look forward to
hearing from you.

Best wishes,


George W. Van Cleve
​Research Professor in Law and History
Seattle University School of Law
Seattle, Washington​

P.S.  By way of  background, some of you may know me as the author of *A
Slaveholders' **Union:  Slavery, Politics and the Constitution in the Early
American Republic *(Univ. Chicago Press, 2010)*.*

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