U. S. CONGRESS. An Act to provide a Naval Armament . Philadelphia: Third Congress, First Session, 27 March 1794. 2 pages (recto and verso), folio, puncture holes on left margin .
U. S. CONGRESS. An Act to provide a Naval Armament . Philadelphia: Third Congress, First Session, 27 March 1794. 2 pages (recto and verso), folio, puncture holes on left margin . THE EXCEPTIONALLY RARE ACT AUTHORIZING THE CREATION OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY “Whereas the depredations committed by the Algerine corsairs on the commerce of the United States render it necessary that a naval force should be provided for its protection.” So begins this landmark piece of legislation which authorized the President, “by purchase or otherwise,” to “equip and employ four ships to carry forty four guns each, and two ships to carry thirty six guns each.” The Act then sets out the numbers of officers and crews for each category of warship, their pay, even their daily rations! “The crews of each of the said ships of forty four guns shall consist of one hundred and fifty seamen” and the 36-gun ships will have 130-men. Captains were to receive “seventy five dollars per month,” a lieutenant $40 per month, a surgeon $50, a gunner $14. “The ration shall consist of as follows: Sunday, one pound of bread, one pound and a half of beef…” The final provision notes that “if a peace shall take place between the United States and the Regency of Algiers, that no further proceeding be had under this act.” Algerian pirates had been attacking and in some cases enslaving American seamen for years. When ambassadors Thomas Jefferson and John Adams protested to their Algerian counterpart in London, they were told that the Algerians saw it as their religious “right and duty” to make war on such infidels, “that it was founded on then Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners.” Washington, in his 1793 Message to Congress, called for this legislation, saying “If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it.” [ With :] U.S. CONGRESS. An Act for the Government and Regulation of Seamen in the Merchant’s Service . New York: First Congress, Second Session, 20 July 1790. 4 pages, folio . “The very first law on the subject,” this Act “constituted an advance over the practice of other nations at the time and established the main principles of American policy” (Johnson, History of Domestic and Foreign Commerce in the United States ). Evans 27840; Evans 22959. Both Acts are exceptionally rare. No other copies of the Naval Act have appeared at auction in over a century. Only four copies in institutions have been located (AAS, Brown Univ., National Archives of the United Kingdom, and Rhode Island Historical Society). Only four copies as well of the Merchant Service Act have been located (AAS, LOC, NYPL, and Yale). Together 2 items.
U. S. CONGRESS. An Act to provide a Naval Armament . Philadelphia: Third Congress, First Session, 27 March 1794. 2 pages (recto and verso), folio, puncture holes on left margin .
U. S. CONGRESS. An Act to provide a Naval Armament . Philadelphia: Third Congress, First Session, 27 March 1794. 2 pages (recto and verso), folio, puncture holes on left margin . THE EXCEPTIONALLY RARE ACT AUTHORIZING THE CREATION OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY “Whereas the depredations committed by the Algerine corsairs on the commerce of the United States render it necessary that a naval force should be provided for its protection.” So begins this landmark piece of legislation which authorized the President, “by purchase or otherwise,” to “equip and employ four ships to carry forty four guns each, and two ships to carry thirty six guns each.” The Act then sets out the numbers of officers and crews for each category of warship, their pay, even their daily rations! “The crews of each of the said ships of forty four guns shall consist of one hundred and fifty seamen” and the 36-gun ships will have 130-men. Captains were to receive “seventy five dollars per month,” a lieutenant $40 per month, a surgeon $50, a gunner $14. “The ration shall consist of as follows: Sunday, one pound of bread, one pound and a half of beef…” The final provision notes that “if a peace shall take place between the United States and the Regency of Algiers, that no further proceeding be had under this act.” Algerian pirates had been attacking and in some cases enslaving American seamen for years. When ambassadors Thomas Jefferson and John Adams protested to their Algerian counterpart in London, they were told that the Algerians saw it as their religious “right and duty” to make war on such infidels, “that it was founded on then Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners.” Washington, in his 1793 Message to Congress, called for this legislation, saying “If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it.” [ With :] U.S. CONGRESS. An Act for the Government and Regulation of Seamen in the Merchant’s Service . New York: First Congress, Second Session, 20 July 1790. 4 pages, folio . “The very first law on the subject,” this Act “constituted an advance over the practice of other nations at the time and established the main principles of American policy” (Johnson, History of Domestic and Foreign Commerce in the United States ). Evans 27840; Evans 22959. Both Acts are exceptionally rare. No other copies of the Naval Act have appeared at auction in over a century. Only four copies in institutions have been located (AAS, Brown Univ., National Archives of the United Kingdom, and Rhode Island Historical Society). Only four copies as well of the Merchant Service Act have been located (AAS, LOC, NYPL, and Yale). Together 2 items.
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