/PRNewswire/ -- In a ceremony today, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) transferred an original 18th century Alexander Hamilton document to the National Archives. The document will become part of the permanent holdings of the National Archives and will be preserved in a locked, temperature and humidity-controlled stack area in its College Park, Md., facility.
The document, dated Dec. 18, 1790, and signed by the nation's first Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, is a circular letter distributed to the customs agents of the United States. Secretary Hamilton's letter describes the method for measuring the proof of distilled spirits for taxation.
"The National Archives is pleased to accept this important gift record. Treasury Secretary Hamilton's letter is one of the foundation documents of ATF. It is also an important piece of American history because the policies laid out in the circular contributed to one of the earliest challenges to the new government," said Acting Archivist of the United States Adrienne Thomas in accepting the document.
"The men and women of ATF have a long and distinguished history of serving the citizens of this country and pursuing the nation's most violent criminals," said ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson. "But it all started back in 1790, with Alexander Hamilton and this circular letter. While this priceless document was certainly in good hands for the last 35 years in the protection of ATF, it is time we return this rare item to its rightful owners, the National Archives and the American people."
The early history of this circular remains a mystery, but it was discovered in the mid 1970s by ATF Public Information Officer Howard Criswell Jr. Criswell collected autographs as a hobby and came across the letter in a catalogue from an autograph dealer in New York City. He purchased it for about $100, intending to use the letter for an ATF bicentennial exhibit. It remained in a safe until Sept. 27, 1979, when another ATF employee discovered it and suggested it be placed on display. Because of concerns that prolonged exposure to light would fade the document, the circular was placed back in safekeeping, where it remained until it was rediscovered by ATF employees during a relocation of the its headquarters building in 2005.
At the end of the American Revolution, the national government owed $37 million dollars in debt, a figure dwarfed by the $114 million owed by the states. At Hamilton's urging, the federal government assumed responsibility for the debt of the states. One of the first attempts by Congress to reduce the national debt was the Tariff of 1789, which among other items, placed duties on the import of distilled spirits. Quickly realizing that these duties were not generating enough revenue, a higher tariff was passed by Congress in 1790. The letter ATF transferred to the National Archives describes how duties from the Tariff of 1790 would be determined.
Inventive Americans reacted to the duties on imported spirits by increasing the production of domestic alcoholic beverages. Hamilton successfully petitioned Congress for passage of another act in 1791, providing for a tax on spirits produced in the United States. The 1791 act prompted widespread hostility and noncompliance, and became known as "The Whiskey Rebellion." Enraged citizens demonstrated in several cities, and a number of federal agents were harassed and threatened. The rebellion ended in 1794, when a large federal force convinced the protesters to return to their homes. This revolt was the first test of power of the new federal government, establishing its authority in disputes with individual states.
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Showing posts with label letter. Show all posts
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Thursday, September 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
National Archives Announces Homecoming of Long-Lost Lincoln Letter
In a press conference on May 28, 2009, , the National Archives announced the homecoming of an original Abraham Lincoln hand-written letter to Secretary of Treasury Salmon P. Chase. Lawrence M. Cutler, a private collector from Scottsdale, Arizona, donated the letter to the National Archives.
Written on Executive Mansion letterhead, the November 14, 1863, letter states:
Hon. Sec. of Treasury
My dear Sir
Mr. Stevens, late Superintendent of the Mint at San Francisco, asks to have a copy, or be permitted to examine, and take extracts, of the evidence upon which he was removed. Please oblige him in one way or the other.
Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
In presenting the Lincoln letter to Acting Archivist Adrienne Thomas, Mr. Cutler said, “It is both a great honor and a pleasure for me to give this very important Abraham Lincoln letter back to the citizens of the United States of America, especially during this bicentennial year of Lincoln's birth. It may always remain a mystery as to how this letter left the public domain and has remained in private hands for as much as a century. However, what is more significant is that today I am returning this letter to its long lost home.”
“The National Archives is pleased to accept this important gift, the return of President Lincoln’s November 14, 1863, letter to Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase” said Acting Archivist Thomas. “This brief note, written five days before President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, provides us with a window to look at a difficult personal crisis faced by Lincoln in the midst of the Civil War,” she continued.
The National Archives became aware of the existence of this Lincoln hand-written letter in 2006. Because the letter was written from the President to the Secretary of Treasury concerning a federal government matter, the National Archives launched an internal review to determine whether the document belonged in the National Archives.
The investigation revealed that at one time the letter was part of the General Records of the Department of Treasury, series 82 “Letters Received from Executive Officers, 1831-1869”. These included 141 volumes in which original letters were bound. According to the index to Volume 91, the letter should have been on page five. Upon examination of page five, it was discovered that only half of the page remained pasted into the volume---it included a one sentence summary of the letter, the date, and the author of the letter. The body of the letter was missing.
In part, the newly-found Lincoln letter is significant because the information in it was not known to Lincoln scholars or historians. The multi-volume Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln by Roy P. Basler, published in the 1950’s, does not include a copy of this letter. Although it is unclear exactly when the letter fragment was torn from the Department of Treasury volume, it appears that it predates Basler’s publication and may have happened when the volume was still at the Department of Treasury, sometime between the 1880’s when the letters were bound and the 1940’s when the records were transferred to the Archives.
Recently, the National Archives Document Conservation Laboratory examined the two parts of the letter with normal and transmitted light, ultraviolet lamp and stereo-binocular microscope. The letter and half folio were found to be identical in visual appearance. Both are on soft tan, medium-weight, smooth machine-made wove paper of even and identical formation. Both letter and half folio were measured with a micrometer and have the identical thickness of .012 millimeters. The one physical difference noted was the unevenly trimmed bottom edge of the letter. It appears approximately ⅛” to ¼” of the sheet is missing; otherwise the overall dimensions (5” x 8”) are identical.
When the folio was torn along its fold, small portions of the upper most layers of the paper support were torn, leaving behind matching indentations known as “beveled” or “shelved” areas. The small portions of the support that remain attached along the folio fold exactly match the shelved areas on the remaining folio half adhered in the volume.
Background
At the end of March 1861, President Lincoln had approved the appointment of Robert Stevens as head of the U.S. Mint in San Francisco. The President had appointed Stevens to the patronage job as a favor to Lincoln’s old friend, Oregon Senator Edward Baker. Stevens was Baker’s son-in-law. Baker, a fellow Republican, died in battle in 1861.
In 1863 Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase announced changes in the Customhouse and Mint, based on a report by special agent Thomas Brown who was sent to investigate Federal services in California. The report listed six charges against Stevens:
The hiring of bad men
Encouragement of insubordination and contempt for authority on the part of workers
Partiality as to the wages of clerks and laborers while others' were fixed much lower
“Sponges and barnacles” - many were absent without working but were still highly-paid
Purchase of inferior supplies at exorbitant rates
Being arrogant and discourteous to his managers
Based on these charges, Stevens was fired by Secretary Chase in April, 1863. For months following his removal, Stevens protested the firing, finally resorting to writing to President Lincoln.
The newly returned letter indicates that while Lincoln was not willing to override Chase’s decision, he did feel that Stevens deserved to see the charges against him. It emphasizes the President’s sense of fair-play and moral authority which served as a guide throughout his Presidency.
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Written on Executive Mansion letterhead, the November 14, 1863, letter states:
Hon. Sec. of Treasury
My dear Sir
Mr. Stevens, late Superintendent of the Mint at San Francisco, asks to have a copy, or be permitted to examine, and take extracts, of the evidence upon which he was removed. Please oblige him in one way or the other.
Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
In presenting the Lincoln letter to Acting Archivist Adrienne Thomas, Mr. Cutler said, “It is both a great honor and a pleasure for me to give this very important Abraham Lincoln letter back to the citizens of the United States of America, especially during this bicentennial year of Lincoln's birth. It may always remain a mystery as to how this letter left the public domain and has remained in private hands for as much as a century. However, what is more significant is that today I am returning this letter to its long lost home.”
“The National Archives is pleased to accept this important gift, the return of President Lincoln’s November 14, 1863, letter to Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase” said Acting Archivist Thomas. “This brief note, written five days before President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, provides us with a window to look at a difficult personal crisis faced by Lincoln in the midst of the Civil War,” she continued.
The National Archives became aware of the existence of this Lincoln hand-written letter in 2006. Because the letter was written from the President to the Secretary of Treasury concerning a federal government matter, the National Archives launched an internal review to determine whether the document belonged in the National Archives.
The investigation revealed that at one time the letter was part of the General Records of the Department of Treasury, series 82 “Letters Received from Executive Officers, 1831-1869”. These included 141 volumes in which original letters were bound. According to the index to Volume 91, the letter should have been on page five. Upon examination of page five, it was discovered that only half of the page remained pasted into the volume---it included a one sentence summary of the letter, the date, and the author of the letter. The body of the letter was missing.
In part, the newly-found Lincoln letter is significant because the information in it was not known to Lincoln scholars or historians. The multi-volume Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln by Roy P. Basler, published in the 1950’s, does not include a copy of this letter. Although it is unclear exactly when the letter fragment was torn from the Department of Treasury volume, it appears that it predates Basler’s publication and may have happened when the volume was still at the Department of Treasury, sometime between the 1880’s when the letters were bound and the 1940’s when the records were transferred to the Archives.
Recently, the National Archives Document Conservation Laboratory examined the two parts of the letter with normal and transmitted light, ultraviolet lamp and stereo-binocular microscope. The letter and half folio were found to be identical in visual appearance. Both are on soft tan, medium-weight, smooth machine-made wove paper of even and identical formation. Both letter and half folio were measured with a micrometer and have the identical thickness of .012 millimeters. The one physical difference noted was the unevenly trimmed bottom edge of the letter. It appears approximately ⅛” to ¼” of the sheet is missing; otherwise the overall dimensions (5” x 8”) are identical.
When the folio was torn along its fold, small portions of the upper most layers of the paper support were torn, leaving behind matching indentations known as “beveled” or “shelved” areas. The small portions of the support that remain attached along the folio fold exactly match the shelved areas on the remaining folio half adhered in the volume.
Background
At the end of March 1861, President Lincoln had approved the appointment of Robert Stevens as head of the U.S. Mint in San Francisco. The President had appointed Stevens to the patronage job as a favor to Lincoln’s old friend, Oregon Senator Edward Baker. Stevens was Baker’s son-in-law. Baker, a fellow Republican, died in battle in 1861.
In 1863 Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase announced changes in the Customhouse and Mint, based on a report by special agent Thomas Brown who was sent to investigate Federal services in California. The report listed six charges against Stevens:
The hiring of bad men
Encouragement of insubordination and contempt for authority on the part of workers
Partiality as to the wages of clerks and laborers while others' were fixed much lower
“Sponges and barnacles” - many were absent without working but were still highly-paid
Purchase of inferior supplies at exorbitant rates
Being arrogant and discourteous to his managers
Based on these charges, Stevens was fired by Secretary Chase in April, 1863. For months following his removal, Stevens protested the firing, finally resorting to writing to President Lincoln.
The newly returned letter indicates that while Lincoln was not willing to override Chase’s decision, he did feel that Stevens deserved to see the charges against him. It emphasizes the President’s sense of fair-play and moral authority which served as a guide throughout his Presidency.
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
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www.georgiafrontpage.com
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