Peter Force

Peter Force (November 26, 1790 – January 23, 1868) was the twelfth Mayor of Washington D.C., 19th-century American politician, newspaper editor, archivist, and historian.

Born near the Passaic Falls in New Jersey, to William, a soldier in the Revolutionary War and descendant of French Huguenots who arrived on America's shores in the 17th century, and Sarah Force (née Ferguson), Force grew up New Paltz, Ulster County, New York, and afterward moved to New York City, where he was schooled in the printing trade.

During the War of 1812, he served in the Army, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant. Moving to Washington, D.C. three years later, Force returned to the printing business. On August 22, 1822 Force was granted US Patent 3573X for a method of color printing. Force was editor of the National Journal (1823–1841) and would later donate a stone to the Washington Monument. After vigorously supporting John Quincy Adams' election to the United States presidential election of 1824, he served locally as councilman and alderman. He was elected mayor of Washington in 1836 and 1838, but defeated in 1848, all as a member of the Whig Party.

His greatest achievement came as a collector and editor of historical documents. He published Tracts and Other Papers, Relating Principally to the Origin, Settlement, and Progress of the Colonies in North America (4 vol Washington, 1836–1846), which comprised rare pamphlets. His American Archives was a collection of the most important documents of the American Revolution, 1774–1776. Twenty large folio volumes were planned but only the first 9 volumes were published between 1837 and 1853. Force's lifelong desire to contribute to the American national library finally came to fruition in 1867 when Congress purchased his collection of original documents for $100,000, augmenting the expansion of the Library of Congress conducted by Ainsworth Rand Spofford, who directed the Library from 1865 to 1897.

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