- 161
United States Congress
Estimate
60,000 - 90,000 USD
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Description
- paper and ink
Congress of the United States ... An Act to provide more effectually for the Settlement.of the Accounts between the United States and the Individual States [caption title]. [New York: Francis Childs and John Swaine, 1790]
Folio (15 1/4 x 9 3/4 in.; 385 x 245 mm). Folds strengthened, repair to one fold split, blank leaf of bifolium detached. Brown cloth chemise, full calf folding-case lettered gilt on upper cover.
Folio (15 1/4 x 9 3/4 in.; 385 x 245 mm). Folds strengthened, repair to one fold split, blank leaf of bifolium detached. Brown cloth chemise, full calf folding-case lettered gilt on upper cover.
Provenance
Acquisition: William Reese
Literature
Evans 22969; Paul Trescott, "Federal State Financial Relations 1790–1860," The Journal of Economic History 15:3 (Sept. 1955), pp. 227–245
Condition
Folio (15 1/4 x 9 3/4 in.; 385 x 245 mm). Folds strengthened, repair to one fold split, blank leaf of bifolium detached. Brown cloth chemise, full calf folding case lettered gilt on upper cover.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
The official printing, one of just a few signed by Thomas Jefferson, of the "Assumption Act," one of the most essential laws ever passed by the United States, and a cornerstone of Alexander Hamilton's economic program. The "Assumption Act" authorized the federal government to receive the outstanding debts of the individual states and to issue federal securities in exhchange. Combined with Hamilton's ideas for solidifying public credit (see lot 77) and establishing a National Bank, the Assumption Act would cause creditors holding these securities to seek the national government for their payment, and thus increase their support of the new government at the expense of the states.
By this act, Congress assumed a total of $21.5 million of state debt with a quota apportioning the sums assumed to each State. However, not all the quotas were filled so the total assumed was only $18.3 million. Support for the Assumption Act was divided. The northern states carried a greater proportion of the total debt and supported the plan. The southern states were generally opposed, failing to see the logic of paying taxes to settle northern debts.
The proposed act was debated in the House of Representatives in the winter and early spring of 1790, with James Madison of Virginia leading the opposition. After a narrow defeat in a House vote on 12 April, Hamilton's supporters tabled the act. It sat idle through the spring and early summer of 1790, during which time it became entangled with a seemingly unrelated controversy arising from the choice of the location for the new national capital. With the adroit assistance of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton procured an agreement by which Southern votes in Congress were secured for the assumption of state debts in return for Northern votes to locate the national capital on the banks of the Potomac River. Since it would take time to build the new capital it was agreed that the Government, then located at New York, should be transferred to Philadelphia for ten to fifteen years, and then to the present site of the national capital city at Washington. The votes for moving the capital and passing the Assumption Act came in July 1790, and both were approved by the House and Senate by identical margins on 4 August 1790.
The Assumption Act established a board of three commissioners to settle the accounts between the United States and the individual states. All claims from the states for debts "accrued for the general or particular defence during the war" would be filed with the commissioners before 1 July 1791. The commissioners would take into account any advances which had been made to the states from the federal government, and also the amount a state had already paid toward its debt burden. Although at the time the Act was criticized for widening the influence of the federal government it is now generally believed that as a result of the erosion of debts, the states were in a better position to focus on economic growth and development.
The present copy of the Assumption bears the printed signatures of President George Washington, Vice President John Adams, and House Speaker Frederick Muhlenberg, as well as the holograph signature of the Secretary of State. Individual acts and bills of Congress were routinely printed for public distribution but there was a provision to print a few large-paper copies of each act for official dissemination to the states which bore the Secretary of State's signature. The present copy is one of the large-paper issues; the only other large-paper copy signed by Jefferson is held by the Library of Congress. Only one more copy of the Act has been located, at the American Antiquarian Society: it is unsigned and its dimensions are smaller.
By this act, Congress assumed a total of $21.5 million of state debt with a quota apportioning the sums assumed to each State. However, not all the quotas were filled so the total assumed was only $18.3 million. Support for the Assumption Act was divided. The northern states carried a greater proportion of the total debt and supported the plan. The southern states were generally opposed, failing to see the logic of paying taxes to settle northern debts.
The proposed act was debated in the House of Representatives in the winter and early spring of 1790, with James Madison of Virginia leading the opposition. After a narrow defeat in a House vote on 12 April, Hamilton's supporters tabled the act. It sat idle through the spring and early summer of 1790, during which time it became entangled with a seemingly unrelated controversy arising from the choice of the location for the new national capital. With the adroit assistance of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton procured an agreement by which Southern votes in Congress were secured for the assumption of state debts in return for Northern votes to locate the national capital on the banks of the Potomac River. Since it would take time to build the new capital it was agreed that the Government, then located at New York, should be transferred to Philadelphia for ten to fifteen years, and then to the present site of the national capital city at Washington. The votes for moving the capital and passing the Assumption Act came in July 1790, and both were approved by the House and Senate by identical margins on 4 August 1790.
The Assumption Act established a board of three commissioners to settle the accounts between the United States and the individual states. All claims from the states for debts "accrued for the general or particular defence during the war" would be filed with the commissioners before 1 July 1791. The commissioners would take into account any advances which had been made to the states from the federal government, and also the amount a state had already paid toward its debt burden. Although at the time the Act was criticized for widening the influence of the federal government it is now generally believed that as a result of the erosion of debts, the states were in a better position to focus on economic growth and development.
The present copy of the Assumption bears the printed signatures of President George Washington, Vice President John Adams, and House Speaker Frederick Muhlenberg, as well as the holograph signature of the Secretary of State. Individual acts and bills of Congress were routinely printed for public distribution but there was a provision to print a few large-paper copies of each act for official dissemination to the states which bore the Secretary of State's signature. The present copy is one of the large-paper issues; the only other large-paper copy signed by Jefferson is held by the Library of Congress. Only one more copy of the Act has been located, at the American Antiquarian Society: it is unsigned and its dimensions are smaller.