Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, 1789-1791

FAIN: RQ-50121-05

George Washington University (Washington, DC 20052-0001)
Charlene N. Bickford (Project Director: October 2004 to January 2009)

Completion of editorial work on Volumes 18-20 (Correspondence Series: Second Session) of the Documentary History of the First Federal Congress; continued editorial work on Volume 21 (Correspondence Series: Third Session). (24 months)

The First Federal Congress (FFC) was the most important and productive Congress is U.S. history. The last series of the Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, 1789-1791 (DHFFC), which documents the correspondence relating to the FFC will be the culmination of this well respected and reviewed series. The letters shed considerable light on how the founding generation faced and dealt with Constitutional sectional conflicts. They also tell us much about the evolution of the member-constituent relationship, as well as providing valuable evidence about how the American people viewed their new government. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Second Session letters that relate to the assumption of the states' Revolutionary War debts and to locating the capital city for the U.S. to be published during the requested grant period. Three volumes of this series, Correspondence: First Session (15-17), were delayed for over a year at the press, but were finally published in June 2004. The editorial work on the Second Session correspondence volumes has progressed enough for the editors to determine that the correspondence will be a three volume set, rather than two as originally predicted. This additional volume, together with the other factors relating to the FFCP's funding, has extended the timetable for the publication of these volumes (18-20) and the Third Session correspondence (21).