Volumes 12 and 13 of this highly acclaimed documentary edition cover the first Congress's second session, from January to August 1790. Among other important issues in this critical period, Congress debated Hamilton's report on the public credit, federal assumption of state Revolutionary War debts, and antislavery petitions from Pennsylvania Quakers. The editors once more have assembled the most complete and reliable text of the debates by examining a variety of sources: stenographer Thomas Lloyd's shorthand notes, his Congressional Register, and contemporary newspaper accounts.

Two volumes complete the twenty-two volume documentary history, a monumental publishing project that began in 1972. With the publication of volumes 21 and 22, Johns Hopkins University Press completes the Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, 1789–1791, a comprehensive edition that presents the official records (volumes 1–8) and the unofficially reported debates (volumes 9–14) of this essential congress, as well as eight volumes of correspondence. These letters and other documents bring the official record to life, illustrating the often informal political negotiations of a young nation’s earliest leaders and revealing the world they lived in. Volume 21 begins with a section describing the move to Philadelphia’s Congress Hall. Third Session correspondence, arranged chronologically from November 1790 to March 1791, when Congress officially concluded its business, follows. Several key and potentially divisive issues—including a national bank, a tax on domestically produced spirits, and the final location of the permanent seat of the federal government—occupied the time and attention of Congress during this short session. In addition, reports of a successful attack on US troops by Native Americans in the Northwest Territory were the impetus for moves to increase the size of the military while continuing to negotiate with the Indian nations. Volume 22 is unique among the correspondence volumes in that it is topical. It begins with a section of firsthand accounts about Congress that were written after it adjourned, some as late as the 1840s. This is followed by sections of documents relating to the 1790 Treaty of New York with the Creek Nation and its aftermath, as well as the experience of FFC incumbents during the second federal election. The final section includes letters and other documents dated 1789 to 1791 that the editors discovered after the publication of the volume in which they would have otherwise appeared. The documents gathered here include selections from a book of poems by Representatives Thomas Tudor Tucker and John Page, and Page’s wife, Margaret Lowther, as well as listings from the New York Society Library’s ledger that recorded book loans to members in 1789 and 1790, when Congress met in New York City’s Federal Hall. The final volume concludes with an extensive editorial apparatus, including the biographical gazetteer and index for the two-volume set. This extensive index continues the editors’ policy of indexing all concepts to provide intellectual access.

Volumes 12 and 13 of this highly acclaimed documentary edition cover the first Congress's second session, from January to August 1790. Among other important issues in this critical period, Congress debated Hamilton's report on the public credit, federal assumption of state Revolutionary War debts, and antislavery petitions from Pennsylvania Quakers. The editors once more have assembled the most complete and reliable text of the debates by examining a variety of sources: stenographer Thomas Lloyd's shorthand notes, his 'Congressional Register', and contemporary newspaper accounts. Praise for previous volumes: A treasure-trove of incomparable knowledge about the beginnings of Congress.--'Presidential Studies Quarterly.' A window into [the] time...Rich in anecdotes and illuminating detail.--'Washington Post.'

Volume XIV of this widely acclaimed series takes us to the third session of Congress in December 1790, when for the first time under the new Constitution Congress took up quarters at Philadelphia. House and Senate met in cramped Congress Hall, which, in tacit comment on the fragility of the new federal government, the nearby Pennsylvania State House overshadowed. During this session Congress debated the federal courts, state militias and the U.S. military, the postal system, navigation bills, and other issues fundamental to the new order—which had already begun to raise suspicions. The Virginia delegation denounced federal assumption of state debts. Congress heatedly discussed Alexander Hamilton's proposed national bank—including whether the Constitution implied federal authority to establish one. Congress followed the secretary of the treasury in placing an excise tax on distilled spirits, a measure that soon led to open rebellion in western Pennsylvania.

Mount Vernon introduces replica of Acts of Congress, exquisite copy of history-making volume unveiled for library opening. It was a book that made history, owned and treasured by the man whose ideas and values shaped the founding of a nation. Purchased for $9.8 million by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, George Washington’s personal copy of the Acts of Congress captured headlines around the globe in 2012 when it set a new auction record, returning to the hands of the organization that safeguards his life and legacy. This fascinating volume is now back home at Washington’s Virginia estate, and the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association has designed a stunning reproduction—a must-have for history lovers who were captivated by the story of the book’s remarkable rescue and return. In his own personal copy of the Constitution, included in the Acts, George Washington carefully took note of the roles and responsibilities he would undertake as the first democratically elected leader of a republican government. It was not an office he sought, but one that he accepted, bending to his country’s voice “with veneration and love.” He received the vote of all sixty-nine electors making him the only unanimously elected president. The precedents that Washington established as the leader of a new nation have endured for more than 225 years, and so, too, has his personal copy of the document that served as his guide. First published in September 1789, the original volume is in remarkable condition. On the cover, still shiny gilt letters spell out the title of the book’s owner, “President of the United States,” while a decorative gold pattern adorns its spine. The inside cover bears Washington’s bookplate, a personal touch that he reserved for his most cherished volumes, and the title page bears his signature. He brought the book back to his Mount Vernon estate upon retiring from the presidency in 1797, and it remained there until his death. Since its purchase by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, tens of thousands of Washington admirers have viewed the Acts in temporary exhibitions at Mount Vernon and at all thirteen presidential libraries. Marveling at the book’s significance to the founding of the United States and at the insights it offers into the mind of its first leader, they have expressed a desire to thumb through its fragile pages to read more of Washington’s notes. This new reproduction book will enable them to do so, and to discuss and reflect upon the significance of the words with friends, family, students, and colleagues. To replicate the original volume in an authentic manner, each component of the 106-page-book is painstakingly designed to match the original. The pages are yellowed slightly to show the effects of passing centuries. Ink smudges and flourishes mimic the imperfect printing processes of the 18th century. The leather cover is aged to appear slightly worn, and the variations in its gold accents mirror the ones found on Washington’s volume. The replica also copies, line for line, Washington’s margin notes—the penciled words and neat bracket drawings that point to the duties that he considered most important. The book’s release coincides with the opening of The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon in fall 2013

Volumes 12 and 13 of this highly acclaimed documentary edition cover the first Congress's second session, from January to August 1790. Among other important issues in this critical period, Congress debated Hamilton's report on the public credit, federal assumption of state Revolutionary War debts, and antislavery petitions from Pennsylvania Quakers. The editors once more have assembled the most complete and reliable text of the debates by examining a variety of sources: stenographer Thomas Lloyd's shorthand notes, his Congressional Register, and contemporary newspaper accounts.

Volumes 12 and 13 of this highly acclaimed documentary edition cover the first Congress's second session, from January to August 1790. Among other important issues in this critical period, Congress debated Hamilton's report on the public credit, federal assumption of state Revolutionary War debts, and antislavery petitions from Pennsylvania Quakers. The editors once more have assembled the most complete and reliable text of the debates by examining a variety of sources: stenographer Thomas Lloyd's shorthand notes, his Congressional Register, and contemporary newspaper accounts.

Volumes 12 and 13 of this highly acclaimed documentary edition cover the first Congress's second session, from January to August 1790. Among other important issues in this critical period, Congress debated Hamilton's report on the public credit, federal assumption of state Revolutionary War debts, and antislavery petitions from Pennsylvania Quakers. The editors once more have assembled the most complete and reliable text of the debates by examining a variety of sources: stenographer Thomas Lloyd's shorthand notes, his Congressional Register, and contemporary newspaper accounts.