Seth Kaller, Inc.

Excerpts
“An ACT to regulate the Time and Manner of administering certain OATHS.”

“Be it enacted by the Senate and Representatives of the United States of America, in CONGRESS assembled, That the Oath or Affirmation required by the sixth article of the Constitution of the United States, shall be administered in the form following, to wit, ‘I, A. B. do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States.’ The said oath or affirmation shall be administered within three days after the passing of this act, by any one member of the Senate, to the President of the Senate, and by him to all the members, and to the Secretary; and by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to all the members who have not taken a similar oath, by virtue of a particular resolution of the said House, and to the Clerk: And in case of the absence of any members from the service of either House, at the time prescribed for taking the said oath or affirmation, the same shall be administered to such member, when he shall appear to take his seat.” (p1/c2)

“And be it further enacted, That all officers appointed, or hereafter to be appointed under the authority of the United States, shall, before they act in their respective offices take the same oath or affirmation, which shall be administered by the person or persons who shall be authorized by law to administer to such officers their respective oaths of office; and such officers shall incur the same penalties in case of failure, as shall be imposed by law in case of failure in taking their respective oaths of office.” (p1/c3)

[CONGRESS]. The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser, July 9, 1789. Newspaper. Boston, Massachusetts: Thomas Adams and John Nourse. Front-page printing of First Act of Congress, June 1, 1789, signed in type by President George Washington, and by John Adams as President of the Senate. 4 pp., 12½ x 21 in.

Inventory #24517       Price: $950

Historical Background
The third clause of Article VI of the United States Constitution mandates, “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

Fulfilling this clause of the Constitution became one of the first responsibilities of the new Federal Congress, assembled in New York City in the spring of 1789. Congress also used this bill as a model for refining their procedures for considering, amending, passing, and presenting bills to the President.

On April 1, 1789, the House of Representatives reached its first quorum, and five days later, it appointed a committee to draft a bill on how the oath for members of Congress required under Article VI of the Constitution should be administered. The committee consisted of Alexander White of Virginia, James Madison of Virginia, Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut, Nicholas Gilman of New Hampshire, and Lambert Cadwalader of New Jersey. The House also resolved that same day to instruct the committee to include the following wording for the oath:

“I, A. B. a Representative of the United States in the Congress thereof, do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) in the presence of Almighty GOD, that I will support the Constitution of the United States. So help me GOD.”

n April 8, Richard Morris, the Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court, attended the meeting of the House of Representatives and administered the oath to the Speaker of the House and to the thirty-three other Representatives present.

On April 14, Representative White of the committee reported its bill, and two days later, it was forwarded to a Committee of the Whole House. After amendments, the House approved the bill on April 27. It is unclear whether the smaller committee or the Committee of the Whole House removed the phrases “in the presence of Almighty God” and “So help me God” from the oath suggested by the House in April.

The Senate referred the House bill to a committee consisting of Caleb Strong of Massachusetts, William Paterson of New Jersey, George Read of Delaware, William Samuel Johnson of Connecticut, and John Henry of Maryland. The Senate committee added a section requiring state officials and legislators to take the same oath as members of Congress. The Senate approved the bill with the amendment on May 5. The following day, the House amended the Senate’s amendments, and the Senate agreed to the House’s change on May 7. Congress appointed Senator Richard Henry Lee of Virginia and Congressmen George Partridge of Massachusetts and William Floyd of New York as a committee to present the bill to President Washington for his “approbation.” After Speaker of the House Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg signed the bill on May 21 and Vice President John Adams signed it as President of the Senate on May 22, the committee presented it to President Washington. He signed it into law on June 1, 1789.

Additional Content
This issue also includes a June 25resolution of the Massachusetts General Court regarding the publication of this first act of Congress within the Commonwealth, signed in type by Governor John Hancock (p1/c2); two acts of the Massachusetts General Court regarding public revenue, and a third to “encourage the Manufacture and Consumption of Strong-Beer, Ale and other Malt Liquors,” all also signed in type by Governor Hancock (p1/c3-p2/c2); three reports made to the Humane Society in London  on reviving a young man and two women who had hanged themselves (p2/c2-3); proceedings of Congress (p2/c3-4); three resolutions of the General Court, all signed in type by Governor Hancock, one directing the Treasurer to seek terms for a loan to the state government, and the other two defining the term “settler” (p3/c1, p4/c1-2); a lengthy report of a suicide in Dummerston, Vermont (p3/c2); and a report on the celebration of the anniversary of Independence (July 4) in Boston (p3/c2-3).

The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser (1776-1840) was a weekly, then semi-weekly, newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts. Published under various titles in Salem and Cambridge, the newspaper settled in Boston in 1776 as The Independent Chronicle. Later in 1776, it became The Independent Chronicle, and the Universal Advertiser, a title that it carried until 1801. Publishers included Edward E. Powars and Nathaniel Willis (1755-1831). Willis left the Independent Chronicle in 1784 and settled in Virginia and then Ohio, where he published the Scioto Gazette, the first newspaper in the Northwest Territory. Thomas Adams (c. 1757-1799) and John Nourse (ca. 1762-1790) purchased the newspaper in 1784 and published it until Nourse’s death. Adams continued publication until 1799, at times with partner Isaac Larkin (d. 1797). Abijah Adams and Ebenezer Rhoades published the newspaper from 1800 to 1817, when others purchased and continued the newspaper.

Condition: Very Good