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Lot 63
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Rare Jefferson Signed Transmission of Acts of Congress: 1st Penny, Copper Coinage Act, Frontier Protection, Whiskey Rebellion
Rare Jefferson Signed Transmission of Acts of Congress: 1st Penny, Copper Coinage Act, Frontier Protection, Whiskey Rebellion
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Description:

Thomas Jefferson
Philadelphia, PA, May 21, 1792
Rare Jefferson Signed Transmission of Acts of Congress: 1st Penny, Copper Coinage Act, Frontier Protection, Whiskey Rebellion
LS
A signed letter by Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State, transmitting Acts of Congress to Samuel Huntington. 2pp of a bifolium, measuring 7.5" x 9.75", Philadelphia, dated May 21, 1792. Signed "Th: Jefferson", the letter transmits several recently passed Acts, including the Militia Act, the Copper Coinage Act, the second Whiskey Act, and the Act to Indemnify the Estate of Major General Nathaniel Greene. The integral leaf is docketed in Huntington's hand. The letter has flattened mail folds with professional repairs made to the spine and folds where separations had occurred. Light toning and foxing. Else in very fine condition with a bold signature.

In full:

"Sir, I have the honor to send you herewith enclosed two copies duly authenticated of "an act authorizing the grant and conveyance of certain lands" &c; also of "an act to indemnify the estate of the late Major General Nathaniel Green"[sic] &c; also of "an act for raising a farther sum of money for the protection of the frontiers" &c; also of "an act to provide for calling forth the militia," &c; also of "an act for the relief of persons imprisoned for debt"; also of "an act authorizing the grant and conveyance of certain lands to John Cleves Symmes and his associates"; also of "an act to alter the time for the next annual meeting of Congress"; Also of "an act concerning the duties on spirits distilled", &c; also of "an act more effectually to provide for the national defence", &c; also of "an act relative to the compensations to certain officers", &c; also of "an act to continue in force the act intituled, "an act to provide for mitigating" &c; also of "an act for regulating processes" &c; Also of "an act making alterations in the Treasury and War departments"; also of "an act supplementary to the act making provision" &c also of "an act to provide for a copper coinage"; also of "an act for making compensations to the commissioners of loans", &c; also of "an act making certain appropriations therein specified"; also of "an act respecting the Government of the territories of the United States", &c; also of "an act to compensate the services of the late Col. George Gibson"; also of "an act concerning the claim of John Brown Cutting", &c; also of a resolution relative to the methods for obtaining fresh from salt water; and of being with sentiments of the most perfect respect, Your Excellency's Most obedient and Most humble Servant, Th: Jefferson

P.S. I also send your Excellency herewith enclosed, two volumes bound in boards, of the Acts passed at the 1st Session of the 2nd Congress."

Docketing on verso in Samuel Huntington's hand reads:
"Secretary of State/ May 21st: 1792/ receivd May 31st –92/answered June 1st –92"

The First Congress, in its First Session, passed an Act instructing the Secretary of State to send two duly-authenticated copies of every Act of Congress to the Executives of each state. Two weeks after the close of its First Session, Jefferson transmitted the certified copies of twenty-one acts passed by the Second Congress of the United States, which met from October 24, 1791 to May 8, 1792. As there were 14 states at the time of this letter, it is likely that just 28 copies of each act listed, and 14 cover letters, were signed by Jefferson. On the market, acts and transmittal letters such as these are even rarer; we have seen only one other, which we acquired in 1998 for the Gilder Lehrman Collection at the New York Historical Society.

Among the important legislation they approved, perhaps none had a greater impact on the future of the United States government than "An Act Concerning the Duties on Spirits distilled within the United States." Passed on the final day of the session, the law was intended to adjust parts of the hated "Whiskey Tax," an excise tax on domestically-produced spirits advocated by Alexander Hamilton and passed the previous year. Small producers and farmers in the backcountry of western Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky, a region colloquially known as "Pennsyltucky," were particularly resistant to the tax. The 1792 modifications did little to mollify the farmers; instead, it confirmed their suspicions that the law favored large producers (who could pass the tax down to consumers) and northern commercial interests. Jefferson's signature on this measure, and documents like this, are particularly interesting, because he was sometimes duty-bound to sign acts that he personally despised.

Moreover, revenues lost by alterations to the original whiskey tax would be made up by dipping into funds already allocated under "An Act for raising a farther sum of Money for the Protection of the Frontiers…" which had been passed a few days earlier on May 2, 1792. (The Second Congress had already passed an act allowing the President to raise three additional frontier regiments.) The act for "a father sum of Money" appropriated an additional $673,500 for the military to combat incursions by both the British and Indian tribes. Barely transparent, the funds were to be raised by new taxes on a variety of products that not only included imported manufactured goods but also spirits and beverages. The farmers of "Pennsyltucky" already believed that the distant federal government was faling to protect them from border skirmishes. Transferring funds from an act intended to increase their security to make up for lost revenue vis-a-vis a tax they hated only increased their ire. Attempts to collect the whiskey tax eventually led to the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, which was the first real test for the new federal government. George Washington personally led an army of 11,000 troops into Pennsylvania to put down the revolt. It was the first and only time a sitting President led troops in the field, affirmed federal supremacy over the states, and ensured that future change in the United States would come through the ballot box.

The Second Congress also passed legislation critical to national defense in "An Act more effectually to provide for the National Defense by establishing an Uniform Militia throughout the United States." A victory for President Washington, who had tried to institute such a measure, this act called for the enrollment of all free, able-bodied white male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty five. When called out, it required them to report fully armed and equipped for service or exercise. The act exempted the Vice President and various federal officials, postal employees, ferrymen, and stagecoach drivers from service, and required militiamen to bring "a good musket or firelock, a bayonet and belt [and] two spare flints." While it also recommended regular army-style organization, it left much to the states, clearly reflecting the anti-Federalist bent of Congress. Here, Jefferson agreed with what he was required to sign, because although he opposed a standing army, he considered an organized militia the nation's best protection.

Earlier in the session, Congress passed the Coinage, or Mint Act establishing a federal mint. On May 8, 1792, the supplemental "An Act to Provide for a Copper Coinage" became law and stated "That the director of the mint…be authorized to… purchase a quantity of copper… to be coined at the mint into cents, and half cents…" thus creating the first American copper cent, the precursor to the Lincoln penny used today. The act also determined how much copper the director of the U.S. Mint could buy and how the money would be circulated. It also forbade the use of any copper coins other than the official government issue. Copper, compared to gold and silver, should have been easily obtained. But in November, Washington explained to Hamilton that, according to Mint Director David Rittenhouse, "the late rise in the price of Copper, and the difficulty of obtaining it, render it improbable that the quantity authorised to be procured can be had, unless some part of it be imported by the United States." Eventually, Rittenhouse obtained the copper, and in 1793, the first U.S. coins were minted for general circulation: copper cents and half cents.

A final noteworthy act was "an act to indemnify the estate of the late Major General Nathaniel Green" [sic: Nathanael Greene]. Greene was a Quaker who became one of the greatest American Revolutionary commanders. He started in 1774 as a private in the Kentish Guards, a branch of the Rhode Island militia, and by May 1775 he had risen to the rank of Brigadier General at the siege of Boston. At Washington's request, Greene reluctantly took the job of quartermaster general for the Continental Army in March 1778. He resigned and returned to active service in 1780, being chosen by Washington to take charge of the southern army. He performed brilliantly, and forced the British army, including Cornwallis's troops, to retreat to the coast. After Cornwallis surrendered, Greene remained in the South to check British and loyalist forces. During the southern campaign, Greene personally guaranteed loans used to supply his troops, and as a result, he found himself deeply in debt to Charlestown, South Carolina, merchants. After the war, he received large grants of land, some of which he sold to pay his debts. Greene eventually settled on a plantation in Georgia, where he died suddenly while working his land in 1786. His young widow, Catherine, petitioned Congress to indemnify his estate and recover the monies that Greene had paid to the Carolina merchants. The Second Congress approved the measure in early April, which Washington signed on April 27, to Catherine Greene's great relief.

Samuel Huntington (1731-1796). Born to a large Connecticut farming family, Huntington left home at 22, taught himself enough law to pass the bar, and at 34, was appointed King's attorney for the colony of Connecticut. He resigned to join the Revolutionary Cause, and in 1775, represented Connecticut as a delegate to the Continental Congress. Huntington signed of the Declaration of Independence, and in 1779, was elected 6th president of the Continental Congress. Two years into his term, the Congress acknowledged the Articles of Confederation as America's first constitution, and Huntington remained president of the Congress. He served as Governor of Connecticut 1786-1796.

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: 7.5" x 9.75"
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