Second Congress of the United States: At the First Session, begun and held at the City of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, on Monday the twenty-fourth of October one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one. An Act to extend the Time limited for settling the Accounts of the United States with the Individual States.

[JEFFERSON, Thomas].

$82,000.00

Item Number: 125388

Philadelphia: Childs & Swaine, 1792.

Scarce printing of an early United States law providing for the funding of the national debt, signed by Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State. Folio, one page. The document, which also carries the printed signatures of President George Washington, Vice President John Adams, and House Speaker Jonathan Trumbull, was approved January 23, 1792. Individual acts and bills of the first Congresses were routinely printed for public consumption. A provision was made, however, to print a few copies of each act for dissemination to the states, and to have each copy signed by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. One of the main priorities of the federal government in the early national period was to pay down the debt of the United States. The national debt was incurred during the Revolution and augmented in 1790 when the Congress passed the Assumption Act, in accordance with a plan devised by Alexander Hamilton. Because contacting the numerous and geographically dispersed holders of the debt proved more difficult than expected, it became necessary to extend the time allowed by law for making the relevant financial arrangements. The present act accomplished this, and made a special extension of five months for Vermont, which gave the new state time to calculate the amount of debt. Despite Jefferson’s vehement opposition to Hamilton’s plan when it was formulated, his position as Secretary of State necessitated his signature on the presentation copies of the acts that effected it. In fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco folding case. Scarce, with only one other example signed by Jefferson located.

American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and later served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Prior to his presidency, he was elected the second Vice President of the United States, serving under John Adams from 1797 to 1801. A proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights motivating American colonists to break from Great Britain and form a new nation, he produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national level. Jefferson was an avid bibliophile and, by the end of his life, had amassed a large library and wine collection.