On November 9th, 1787 the first president of the United States, George Washington, wrote a letter to his nephew, Bushrod Washington. In the letter Washington laid out a series of arguments in support of adoption of the newly framed Constitution of the United States of America. Two hundred twenty-two years later, the letter was auctioned at Christie's New York on December 4th, 2009. The sale set a record at $3,200,000 for Washington pieces. This was also one of the highest prices for an American autograph. George Washington served as commander-in-chief of the American Revolutionary forces from 1775 to the end of the war in 1783. During the war, he struggled constantly to keep his army fed, clothed and armed and was able to succeed. The Articles of Confederation required Congress to regulate military and monetary affairs, but they were not able to force the states into complying with requests for troops or revenue. Because of this, Washington's army nearly starved to dea...