Description:

John Adams
Boston, MA, April 16, 1789
John Adams, Notified of Election as Vice President, Departs Massachusetts for Capital
Newspaper

[JOHN ADAMS.] Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser, April 16, 1789. Boston: Thomas Adams and John Nourse. 4 pp., 11.75" x 19.5". Disbound; general toning; some edge tears.

This issue of a Boston newspaper gives details of the counting of the electoral votes for the first President and Vice President of the United States, the notification of John Adams of his election as Vice President, and the festivities surrounding his departure from Massachusetts to take office in New York.

Excerpts
"On Thursday last, Mr. Sylvanus Bourne, arrived at the seat of his Excellency JOHN ADAMS, Esq. at Braintree, in 50 hours from New-York, with dispatches from the federal Congress.... they proceeded agreeably to the Constitution, and made choice of the Hon. John Langdon, Esq. or New-Hampshire, for their President, pro tem. who, in a convocation of both Houses, sorted and counted the votes for Presidents—which are as follows: His Excellency George Washington, 69, being the whole number. His Excellency John Adams, 34. Hon. John Jay, 9. Hon. R. H. Harrison 6. Hon. John Rutledge 6. His Excellency John Hancock, 4. His Excellency George Clinton 3. His Excellency Samuel Huntington 2. Hon. John Milton 2. Hon. James Armstrong 1. His Honour Benjamin Lincoln 1. Hon. Edward Telfair 1.
"The Senate then made choice of Charles Thomson, Esq. to bear the dispatches to the President General, and of Mr. Sylvanus Bourne to bear the dispatches to the Vice-President." (p2/c1)

"Mr. ADAMS's DEPARTURE.
"On Monday last, at 10 o'clock, the Vice-President of the United States, JOHN ADAMS, Esq. sat out from his seat in Braintree, on his departure from this Commonwealth for the seat of Federal Government. On this happy occasion, his Excellency our worthy Governour and Commander in Chief exhibited every possible mark of attention and respect for the Vice-President of our great American Republick, by ordering a military escort of Horse to attend him through the counties of Suffolk, Middlesex and Worcester, by giving an elegant collation at his house to a numerous collection of gentlemen who assembled there to take leave of the Vice President, and by various honourary notices, both civil and military, which the Governour most opportunely displayed, and which our patriotick countryman richly merited." (p2/c1)
"Merit must be conspicuously great when it can thus call forth the voluntary honours of a free and enlightened people." (p2/c1)

"Our worthy friend, Thomas Jefferson, Esq. Ambassador of the United States of America, at the Coast of France hath obtained from government to recall the prohibition on American Whale and Spermaceti Oil, imported into France in American ships. Thus all sorts of foreign Oils, (the American only excepted) are prohibited, which surely is a very great favour granted by our government, to the American Fishery." (p3/c2)

"WANTED, A white or black WOMAN to serve a small family in the country; she must be acquainted with Cookery. Inquire of the Printers hereof." (p3/c4)

Historical Background
The first election of a President under the new United States Constitution was held from December 15, 1788, to January 10, 1789. Federalist electors won more than 90 percent of the nearly 44,000 votes cast in the six states that allowed popular votes. In the other four states, the legislature selected presidential electors. Neither North Carolina nor Rhode Island participated because those states had not yet ratified the Constitution, and New York's legislature deadlocked on selecting electors and did not participate. The 69 electors from the other ten states voted in early February and unanimously selected George Washington as President. They spread their votes for Vice President among ten candidates, with John Adams receiving a plurality of 34. A joint session of Congress counted the electoral votes on April 6, 1789, and declared George Washington and John Adams elected. Washington received notice of his election on April 14 and proceeded from Mount Vernon to New York to take office, receiving triumphal welcomes in many cities in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey as he passed through.

Adams received notice of his election on April 9 and arrived on April 20 in New York, where he took the oath of office as Vice President the next day. Washington arrived in New York City on April 23 and was inaugurated at Federal Hall on April 30. Chancellor Robert Livingston of New York administered the presidential oath of office.

Additional Content
This issue also includes a letter to the editor about public credit (p1/c1-2); proceedings of Congress, including James Madison's proposal for an import tariff to raise money (p2/c2); a report on the formation of manufacturers' associations forming in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and the announcement of an upcoming meeting of the tradesmen and manufacturers of Boston (p2/c3); a tally of votes for Massachusetts governor and lieutenant governor by city, showing John Hancock winning reelection by a large margin, and Samuel Adams reelected as lieutenant governor (p3/c3); and a variety of notices and advertisements, including several offering farms or houses, each with a woodcut illustration (p1/c4, p2/c3, p4/c3), and two offering rewards for stolen horses (p4/c1, 2).

The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser (1776-1840) was a weekly, then semi-weekly, newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts. Published under various titles in Salem and Cambridge, the newspaper settled in Boston in 1776 as The Independent Chronicle. Later in 1776, it became The Independent Chronicle, and the Universal Advertiser, a title that it carried until 1801. Publishers included Edward E. Powars and Nathaniel Willis (1755-1831). Willis left the Independent Chronicle in 1784 and settled in Virginia and then Ohio, where he published the Scioto Gazette, the first newspaper in the Northwest Territory. Thomas Adams (c. 1757-1799) and John Nourse (ca. 1762-1790) purchased the newspaper in 1784 and published it until Nourse's death. Adams continued publication until 1799, at times with partner Isaac Larkin (d. 1797). Abijah Adams and Ebenezer Rhoades published the newspaper from 1799 to 1817, when others purchased and continued the newspaper.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 11.75" x 19.5"
  • Artist Name: John Adams
  • Medium: Newspaper

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