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Newspapers from 1790s Discuss Whiskey Rebellion, Election of 1796, and End of Quasi-War with France
Newspapers from 1790s Discuss Whiskey Rebellion, Election of 1796, and End of Quasi-War with France
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Colonial New England
Boston, MA; Hartford, CT, ca. 1794-1802
Newspapers from 1790s Discuss Whiskey Rebellion, Election of 1796, and End of Quasi-War with France
Newspaper

These six issues from three newspapers in Boston and Hartford offer details of the pro-French democratic societies that some Federalists credited with provoking the Whiskey Rebellion and the counting of electoral votes in 1797 that resulted in the election of John Adams as President and his opponent Thomas Jefferson as Vice President. Another issue provides the text of the Convention of 1800 that ended the Quasi-War with France, while a final issue conveys the news of its ratification.

[NEWSPAPERS.] Archive of six issues of three newspapers, 1794-1802.
- The Independent Chronicle: And the University Advertiser, December 8, 22, 25, 1794. Boston: Adams and Larkin. 4 pp. each, for a total of 12 pp., 12" x 20". Disbound; browning; water stains; 9" tear to one leaf.
- The Connecticut Courant, February 20, 1797. Hartford: Hudson & Goodwin. 4 pp., 11.5" x 19". Browning, staining.
- The Constitutional Telegraphe, December 20, 1800, January 6, 1802. Boston: John S. Lillie. 4 pp. each, for a total of 8 pp., 12.25" x 19.5".

Excerpts
[The Independent Chronicle, December 8, 1794:]
"Accounts from the South Western Territory have been received.... They also contain a list of Americans (men women and children) who have been murdered, &c. by the Creeks and Cherokees since the 26th of February last, amounting to 71 killed, 12 wounded, and 17 captives." (p1/c5)
Reactions to President George Washington's condemnation of "self-created societies" (p1/c4-5, p2/c1)
The founding of more than 40 Democratic-Republican societies throughout the nation between 1793 and 1796 triggered fears of disorder among Federalists. President Washington was a vocal critic and blamed the Whiskey Rebellion on the agitation of "self-created societies" in his annual message to Congress in November 1794. James Madison considered Washington's attack on the Democratic-Republican societies as "perhaps the greatest error of his political life."
Erection of a Monument to Joseph Warren and others killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill (p2/c2)
Whiskey Rebellion: "Mr. [Thomas] Scott began by observing that he had lived for twenty five years in the very midst of the place (Washington county) where the insurrection broke out. he knew that there were self created Societies in that part of the country, and he likewise knew that they had inflamed the insurrection; for some of the leaders of those societies had likewise been the leaders of the riots. The speech of the President, and the letter from the Secretary, of the Treasury, were in every particular strictly true.
"Mr. Scott himself, who was in the midst of the whole scene, could not have given a more candid and accurate account of it than that of the President and Mr. Hamilton. Whether other democratical societies, besides those in the four western counties, had assisted in kindling the disturbances, Mr. Scott could not say." (p2/c5)
"TAKEN from a Negro Man, on the road near Aaron Jones', Innholder in Acton, a large valuable HORSE, no Saddle, supposed to be Stolen: The Owner may have the same by proving Property and paying charges, by applying to HENRY DURANT, and JOSEPH COLE, at said Jones's." (p4/c4)

[December 22, 1794:]
Use of balloons by French for observation in warfare (p2/c4-p3/c1)
Live African Lion on display at Mr. Baals's Tavern (p4/c3) (with woodcut)

[December 25, 1794:]
Letter by "A REPUBLICAN."
"When the venerable Franklin signed the instrument which became the Constitution of the United States, he said, ‘I consent to it with all its faults, relying on a strict attention to have it well administered.' In this expression he evidently meant that the people should give a strict attention to the administration of it—he could not possibly mean that the administrators themselves would always give this strict attention, or that they should be the sole judges of their own conduct. The people have a right to give opinions on all public measures, and if they think their public agents do wrong, they have a right to tell them so." (p2/c1)
Albany, New York: "Mr. Hamilton, having notified his intention of resigning the office of Secretary of the Treasury, we should be pleased to hear he was a candidate for the government of this state: No doubt our fellow-citizens would universally unite their suffrages for so able a statesman as Mr. H—— Judge Jay (our correspondent observes) is not expected to return to this country, in season to be a candidate." (p3/c2)
Death of Major General Baron von Steuben (p3/c3)

[The Connecticut Courant, February 20, 1797:]
Documents accompanying Washington's final Annual Message to Congress (p1/c1-p2/c2, p4/c1-2)
Counting of Electoral Votes in Congress from the 1796 Presidential Election
"The President of the Senate then thus addressed the two Houses:
"‘Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives,
"‘By the report which has been made to me by the Tellers appointed by the two houses to examine the votes, there are 71 votes for John Adams, 68 for Thomas Jefferson, 59 for Thomas Pinckney, 30 for Aaron Burr, 15 for Samuel Adams, 11 for Oliver Elsworth, 7 for George Clinton, 5 for John Jay, 3 for James Iredell, 2 for George Washington, 2 for John Henry, 2 for Samuel Johnson, and 1 for C. C Pinckney. The whole number of votes are 138; 70 votes, therefore, make a majority; so that the Person who has 71 votes, which is the highest number, is elected President, and the person who has 68 votes, which is the next highest number, is elected Vice President.'
"The President of the Senate then sat down for a moment, and raising again, thus addressed the two houses:
"‘In obedience to the constitution and laws of the United States, and to the command of both houses of congress, expressed in their resolutions passed in the present session, I declare that John Adams is elected President of the United States, for four years, to commence on the 4th day of March next, and that Thomas Jefferson is elected Vice-President of the United States, for four years, to commence on the 4th day of March next....'" (p3/c2)

[The Constitutional Telegraphe, December 20, 1800:]
"Convention Between the French Republic and the United States of America," September 30, 1800 (p2/c2-p3/c3)
The Convention of 1800 terminated the 1778 treaties of Alliance and Commerce between France and the United States, ended the Quasi-War of 1798-1800, and established the principle of free trade between the two countries. By easing tensions, it facilitated the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

[January 6, 1802:]
"The FRENCH TREATY RATIFIED.
"The Senate of the United States, on Saturday the 26 ult. Ratified the French Treaty. without alteration or amendment.
"And whereas the said Convention was on the other part ratified and confirmed by the first Consul of France in the form of which the following is a translation from the French language, to wit:
"Buonaparte, First Consul in the name of the French people—The consuls of the republic, having seen and examined the Convention concluded, agreed to, and signed at Paris.... Approve the above convention in all and each of the articles which are therein contained; declares that it is accepted ratified and confirmed, and promises that it shall be inviolably observed....
"In faith whereof these presents are given. Signed, countersigned and sealed with the great seal of the Republic at Paris the twelvth Thermidor ninth year of the republic—(31st July 1801.)
"(Signed) BUONAPARTE." (p1/c2)
Proceedings of Congress
"The house then took up the following resolution, reported by the committee of the whole house on the state of the union.
"Resolved, That the apportionment of Representatives among the several states, according to the second enumeration of the people, ought to be in a ratio of one representative for every thirty-three thousand persons in each state." (p1/c3)

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.

Connecticut Courant (1764-1914) was established as a weekly paper in Hartford by Thomas Green. He later sold the newspaper to Ebenezer Watson, who ran it until he died of smallpox in 1777. His widow Hannah Watson took over and became one of the first women publishers in America. It was an influential proponent of the patriot cause in the Revolutionary War. By the 1790s, it was Federalist in politics and later supported the Whig and then the Republican Party. From 1887 to 1914, it was published semiweekly, and the weekly edition was the Hartford Courant, which succeeded it as a daily newspaper.

The Constitutional Telegraphe (1799-1802) was published semi-weekly in Boston, Massachusetts, in support of the Democratic-Republican Party and Thomas Jefferson. The first publisher and editor was Dr. Samuel S. Parker (1776-1811). In July 1800, Jonathan S. Copp took over as editor, while Parker retained ownership. In September 1800, John S. Lillie became owner and editor of the newspaper. In February 1802, a jury found Lillie guilty of libel against Judge Francis Dana, and he was fined $100 and sentenced to three months of imprisonment. In April 1802, J. M. Dunham was the printer and editor, but he soon changed the title to Republican Gazetteer.

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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