JOURNAL OF THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BEING THE FIRST SESSION, OF THE FOURTH CONGRESS, BEGUN AND HELD AT THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, DECEMBER 7TH, 1795; AND IN THE TWENTIETH YEAR OF THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SAID UNITED STATES.
Philadelphia: Printed by John Fenno, 1795 [i.e., 1796]. 346, vi, xxi, [3 blanks] pp. Rubberstamp on title page and page [3]. Otherwise a clean and Very Good copy. With the ownership signature of Congressman Hezekiah Hosmer.
Evans 3155.
[bound with] JOURNAL OF THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BEING THE SECOND SESSION OF THE FOURTH CONGRESS, BEGUN AND HELD AT THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, DECEMBER 5TH, 1796, AND IN THE TWENTY-FIRST YEAR OF THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SAID UNITED STATES. Philadelphia: Printed by John Fenno. 1796 [i.e., 1797.] 175, [1 blank], iv, 18pp. Mild occasional spotting, Very Good. The two volumes bound together in legal buckram from the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Evans 32971.
These Journals are an excellent source for President Washington's closing administration. His Address of December 8, 1795 announces the end of the War with the Indians northwest of the Ohio River and urges measures to prevent violence against them: "Unless the murdering of Indians can be restrained by bringing the murderers to condign punishment, all the exertions by the government to prevent destructive retaliations by the Indians, will prove fruitless." He urges Congress to devise "competent means of rendering justice" to the Indians. The speech is signed, in type, 'G. Washington.'
The permanent Capitol in the District of Columbia, the Whiskey Rebellion, ratification of the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution, settlers' seizure of Cherokee lands, trading with the Indians, are all treated in the First Session. A charge that Kentucky Senator Humphrey Marshall had committed perjury-- arising from a suit brought by James Wilkinson in a Kentucky chancery court-- is examined in detail, as are the admission to the Union of Tennessee, and aspects of the Yazoo Claims.
The Journal of the Second Session prints President Washington's Message, "for the last time," to Congress in December 1796, summarizing "measures calculated to ensure a continuance of the friendship of the Indians, and to preserve peace along the extent of our interior Frontier," as well as to "guard our advanced settlements from the predatory incursions of those unruly individuals, who cannot be restrained by their Tribes." He reports on the implementation of the Treaty with England, and on the boundary between the U.S. and the Floridas, owned by Spain; urges "the gradual creation of a navy," development of American industry, establishment of a National University and a Military Academy.
Material is also considered on the southern and western boundaries of Georgia; ratification of the first ten amendments to the Constitution; inquiries on the proposed Eleventh Amendment, immunizing States from suit without their consent; Vice-President Adams's farewell to the Senate, before his installation as President; results of the 1796 election, with electoral votes cast by each of the 16 States [Tennessee, Kentucky, and Vermont having joined the Original Thirteen], and announcement of the election of Adams and Thomas Jefferson as President and Vice President, respectively. A comprehensive Index is included. Item #42223
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