George Washington letter on God and the Constitution surfaces

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George Washington letter on God and the Constitution surfaces

A very rare letter written by George Washington in which he praises God for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution is up for auction.

A letter on God and the Constitution written by George Washington is up for sale after spending decades in a private collection.

The letter to Richard Peters, speaker of the Pennsylvania House, is signed Sept. 7, 1788, and praises God for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Written a week after Washington told Alexander Hamilton that he would likely accept calls to assume the presidency, the letter came at a time when the Constitution was under attack. Some states wanted to hold a second Convention that may have undermined the Constitution.

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“It would seem from the public Gazettes that the Minority in your State are preparing for another attack of the – now – adopted Government; how formidable it may be; I know not,” Washington wrote. “But that Providence which has hitherto smiled on the honest endeavors of the well meaning part of the People of this Country will not, I trust, withdraw its support from them at this crisis.”

The letter praises God for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution (The Raab Collection)

The letter, which is priced at $140,000, is up for sale at Ardmore, Pa.-based historical document dealer The Raab Collection.

“Washington, who was the General in Chief of the Continental Army during the war and President of the Constitutional Convention makes a remarkable statement in this powerful letter: his victory in battle and his stewardship over the Convention that led to our Constitution came with the guiding influence of a higher power,” said Nathan Raab, President of the Raab Collection, in a statement.

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The letter was written to Richard Peters, speaker of the Pennsylvania Constitution. (The Raab Collection)

Washington artifacts have attracted plenty of attention in recent memory. A lock of the founding father’s hair, for example, was recently sold at auction for $35,000.

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Dubbed “the first Oval Office,” Washington’s Revolutionary War tent is a key exhibit at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. Used as a mobile field headquarters, the canvas tent was used during many of the Revolutionary War’s key moments, such as the Siege of Yorktown, the war’s last major battle.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers