Johns Hopkins University Press Documentary History of the First Federal Congress of the United States of America March 4 1789 – March 3 1791 V14: Debates in the House of ... Session: December 1790-March 1791: Volume 14

Volume XIV of this widely acclaimed series takes us to the third session of Congress in December 1790, when for the first time under the new Constitution Congress took up quarters at Philadelphia. House and Senate met in cramped Congress Hall, which, in tacit comment on the fragility of the new federal government, the nearby Pennsylvania State House overshadowed. During this session Congress debated the federal courts, state militias and the U.S. military, the postal system, navigation bills, and other issues fundamental to the new order―which had already begun to raise suspicions. The Virginia delegation denounced federal assumption of state debts. Congress heatedly discussed Alexander Hamilton's proposed national bank―including whether the Constitution implied federal authority to establish one. Congress followed the secretary of the treasury in placing an excise tax on distilled spirits, a measure that soon led to open rebellion in western Pennsylvania. Review "This Documentary History is of immense historical significance and is the kind of record that helps all branches of government keep their constitutional bearings." (Warren Burger, former Chielf Justice of the United States) "It is impossible to overemphasize the importance to our times of [this] publication." (Carl Albert, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives) Review "A treasure-trove of incomparable knowledge about the beginnings of Congress." ( Presidential Studies Quarterly) "A window into [the] time.... Rich in anecdotes and illuminating detail." ( Washington Post) About the Author William C. DiGiacomantonio is assistant editor of the Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, 1789-1791. Kenneth R. Bowling serves as co-editor of the DHFFC and is the author of The Creation of Washington, D.C.: The Idea and Location of the American Capital. Charlene Bangs Bickford, director and co-editor of DHFFC, is the coauthor with Kenneth Bowling of Birth of a Nation: The First Federal Congress, 1789-1791 Helen E. Veit, associate editor of the DHFFC co-edited volumes four through six, Legislative Histories, and volume nine, The Diary of William Maclay and Other Notes on Senate Debates.