Description:

U.S. Constitution
Boston, MA, December 17, 1789
Powerful Graphic! North Carolina Ratifies Constitution; Adds Twelfth Pillar to the "Grand Federal Temple"
Newspaper

[U.S. CONSTITUTION.] Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser, December 17, 1789. Boston: Thomas Adams and John Nourse. 4 pp., 12" x 19.5". Disbound; general toning; scattered staining; 4" tear in pp. 3-4; some edge tears.

This issue of a Boston newspaper includes a revised graphic of "THE GRAND FEDERAL TEMPLE" with twelve upright columns, representing the twelve states that had ratified the Constitution. A smaller black column at an angle and labeled "R.I." represented Rhode Island, the only state that had not yet ratified, with a weight reading "40 for 1," a reference to the ratio that the Continental Congress set for Continental currency in March 1788.

Excerpts
"The OBSERVER, No. VII. The fluctuating value of Paper in circulation, oppressive to the poor.
"Every public measure, which subjects needy citizens to the imposition of the rich, is repugnant to justice." (p1/c1)
"The Observer" was a series of eighteen pieces on public credit and taxes, sometimes mistakenly attributed to Alexander Hamilton, that originally appeared in the American Mercury (Hartford, Connecticut).

"IMPORTANT INTELLIGENCE FROM NORTH-CAROLINA.
"By the arrival of the Petersburgh Packet, Josiah Bacon, master, in five days from North-Carolina, we have received the agreeable intelligence, that the Convention of that State ADOPTED THE NEW CONSTITUTION on the 20th of November.
"The Ratification of the Constitution by that State, is an event of the highest political consequence to the Union, as it leaves but the shadow of a schism in the bond that unites the great Federal Republic: This is an addition ray to the fame and glory of our Country, and there is no doubt but Rhode-Island, will be illuminated by it, to see wherein her real interest lies." (p3/c3-4)

Historical Background
On December 26, 1787, Benjamin Russell of The Massachusetts Centinel used the metaphor of pillars in "a great federal superstructure" to describe the ratification of the Constitution by three states. On January 16, 1788, he began to illustrate this metaphor with erect pillars representing the ratifying states. He published The Federal Pillars series of prints over several months between January and August 1788. The first print showed upright columns labeled Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut, and a hand extending from a cloud raising the column for Massachusetts, which was then considering the Constitution. By August, the graphic included eleven pillars, with a rising column for North Carolina and a broken column for Rhode Island, with the caption, "The foundation good—it may yet be saved."

North Carolina did not ratify the Constitution until November 21, 1789, months after the new federal government had begun operations. The final vote in the North Carolina Ratification Convention was 194 in favor and 77 opposed. The Massachusetts Centinel published the graphic that appears in this issue of the Independent Chronicle on December 16, the day before it appeared in this newspaper. Rhode Island did not ratify the Constitution until May 1790.

Additional Content
This issue also includes letters to the editor on the public credit (p2/c1-2); a letter to the editor requesting that the newspaper publish a detailed description of Benjamin Franklin's 1745 "invention for warming rooms," the Franklin stove" (p2/c3); a notice of the appointment of commissioners to resolve disputes between New York and Vermont (p3/c2); a poem on the "Effects of Youthful Folly" (p4/c1); and a variety of notices and advertisements.

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: 12" x 19.5"
  • Artist Name: U.S. Constitution
  • Medium: Newspaper

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