Passport Act of 1782

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Ministers plenipotentiary passport for the United States to deliberate amity and peace with Great Britain while signing the Treaty of Paris Passport John Adams Benjamin Franklin John Jay Ministers Plenipotentiary 1783.jpg
Ministers plenipotentiary passport for the United States to deliberate amity and peace with Great Britain while signing the Treaty of Paris

Passport Act of 1782 was enacted by the Congress of the Confederation on February 11, 1782. The Act was recorded in the twenty-second volume of the Journals of the Continental Congress. The passport article was a letter from Thomas Smith of Virginia to George Clymer, Samuel Osgood, and James Madison regarding the nautical trade between tobacco colonies. The Act of Congress states safe passage for the Commonwealth of Virginia traders capitulants seeking to transport tobacco from Yorktown, Virginia to New York.

Contents

Passport Act, 1782

Resolved, That the secretary of Congress be, and hereby is empowered to grant letters of passport and safe conduct for the exportation of such tobacco to New York, on the conditions and under the limitations which shall, to the said Secretary and to the Superintendant of the finances of the United States, appear most proper and beneficial to the said states, being consistent with the said capitulation: provided always, that permission be not given for the exporting of tobacco, beyond the amount of the produce of the sales of the said goods belonging to the capitulants abovementioned.

- Congress of the Confederation ~ Journals of the Continental Congress, Volume 22 (Monday, February 11, 1782) [1]

Tobacco Cargo Passport, 1783

The committee, consisting of Mr. Thomas Fitzsimmons, Mr. Oliver Ellsworth, Mr. John Lewis Gervais, Mr. Nathaniel Gorham and Mr. Alexander Hamilton, to whom were referred resolutions of the general assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, dated 28 December, 1782, respecting the shipment of a quantity of tobacco, under passports granted by the secretary of Congress;

- Congress of the Confederation ~ Journals of the Continental Congress, Volume 24 (Monday, February 10, 1783) [2]

United States laws governing passports

United States federal statutes establishing authorities, powers, and rulings with regards to passports and sea letters awarded within the United States.

U.S. statutes related to passports
Date of EnactmentPublic Law No.U.S. Statute CitationU.S. Bill No.U.S. Presidential Administration
December 31, 1792P.L. 2-11  Stat.   287 Chapter 1George Washington
June 1, 1796P.L. 4-451  Stat.   489 Chapter 45George Washington
April 14, 1802P.L. 7-262  Stat.   153 Chapter 26Thomas Jefferson
February 28, 1803P.L. 7-92  Stat.   203 Chapter 9Thomas Jefferson
March 2, 1803P.L. 7-162  Stat.   208 Chapter 16Thomas Jefferson
March 2, 1803P.L. 7-182  Stat.   209 Chapter 18Thomas Jefferson
March 26, 1810P.L. 11-192  Stat.   568a Chapter 19James Madison
February 12, 1831P.L. 21-204  Stat.   441 Chapter 20Andrew Jackson
August 18, 1856P.L. 34-12711  Stat.   52 Chapter 127Franklin Pierce
March 3, 1863P.L. 37-7912  Stat.   744 Chapter 79Abraham Lincoln
May 30, 1866P.L. 39-10214  Stat.   54 Chapter 102Andrew Johnson
February 8, 1870Pub.Res. 41-816  Stat.   368 Resolution 8Ulysses Grant
April 30, 1878P.L. 45-7420  Stat.   40 Chapter 74Rutherford Hayes
June 14, 1902P.L. 57-15832  Stat.   386 Chapter 1088William McKinley
March 2, 1907P.L. 59-19334  Stat.   1228 H.R. 24122Theodore Roosevelt
March 4, 1909Pub.Res. 60-6035  Stat.   1170 H.J.Res. 235Theodore Roosevelt
June 15, 1917P.L. 65-2440  Stat.   217 H.R. 291Woodrow Wilson
May 22, 1918P.L. 65–15440  Stat.   559 H.R. 10264Woodrow Wilson
November 10, 1919P.L. 66-7941  Stat.   353 H.R. 9782Woodrow Wilson
June 4, 1920P.L. 66-23841  Stat.   739 H.R. 11960Woodrow Wilson
July 3, 1926P.L. 69-49344  Stat.   887 H.R. 12495Calvin Coolidge
June 20, 1941P.L. 77-11355  Stat.   252 S. 913Franklin Roosevelt
July 26, 1968P.L. 90-42882  Stat.   446 S. 1418Lyndon Johnson
September 17, 1974P.L. 93-41788  Stat.   1151 H.R. 15172 Gerald Ford
January 10, 2006P.L. 109-167119  Stat.   3578 H.R. 4501 George W. Bush

1776-1799 treaties of trade with Old World

In June 1775, John Adams and George Wythe orchestrated the eminent attributes for international accord known as a Model Treaty.

Colonial America consented to terms with European dominions for respective commerce, maritime trade, and navigation regulations upon the conclusion of the American Revolution. During the cessation of the 18th century, mediterranean basin treaties were settled upon by the North African Barbary Coast and the Iberian Peninsula foreign states.

The multinational protocol documents or treaties endorse the use of passports and sea-letters for state sovereignty identification of merchant ships navigating the seven seas. The safe-conduct permits were allocated in the event of a declaration of war between nations while sequestering manners of dissension and quarrels. The travel dockets governed the full-rigged ship name, bulk and cargo aboard sailing ship, and the identity of commanders or shipmasters including their place of habitation.

1776 Model Treaty
Date of RatificationArtisanTreaty with Colonial AmericaSovereign StateSourceJournal Pages
July 18, 1776Confederation Congress Plan of Treaties (original draft) Foreign NationsContinental Congress Journals, 1774-1789576-589
September 17, 1776Confederation Congress Plan of Treaties Foreign NationsContinental Congress Journals, 1774-1789768-779
1778 Treaty of Alliance
Date of RatificationArtisanTreaty with Colonial AmericaSovereign StateSourceJournal Pages
February 6, 1778Confederation Congress Treaty of Alliance Foreign Nations (France)Continental Congress Journals, 1774-17896-11
1778-1794 European commerce and trade Treaties
Date of RatificationArtisanTreaty with Colonial AmericaSovereign StateSourceJournal Pages
February 6, 1778Confederation Congress Amity and Commerce France Continental Congress Journals, 1774-178912-30
October 8, 1782Confederation Congress Amity and Commerce United Netherlands Continental Congress Journals, 1774-178932-50
April 3, 1783Confederation Congress Amity and Commerce Sweden Continental Congress Journals, 1774-178960-79
1785Confederation Congress Amity and Commerce Prussia Continental Congress Journals, 1774-178984-99
November 19, 1794Confederation Congress Amity, Commerce, and Navigation Great Britain Continental Congress Journals, 1774-1789116-132
1791-1799 Mediterranean amity and peace treaties
Date of RatificationArtisanTreaty with Colonial AmericaSovereign StateSourceJournal Pages
March 3, 1791Confederation Congress Peace and Friendship Morocco Continental Congress Journals, 1774-1789100-105
September 5, 1795Confederation Congress Peace and Amity Algeria Continental Congress Journals, 1774-1789133-137
October 27, 1795Confederation Congress Friendship, Limits, and Navigation Spain Continental Congress Journals, 1774-1789138-153
November 4, 1796Confederation Congress Peace and Friendship Libya Continental Congress Journals, 1774-1789154-156
1797-1799Confederation Congress Peace and Friendship Tunisia Continental Congress Journals, 1774-1789157-161

See also

Arnold Cipher Impressment
British America Jay Treaty
Carriage of Passengers Act of 1855 Passenger Act of 1882
Cocket Passport Act of 1926
Crimes Act of 1790 Stamp seal
Foreign Ship Registry Act Steerage Act of 1819
HM Customs Wartime Measure Act of 1918

Articles of Foreign Transit

Bill of lading Ship's articles
Letter of marque United Nations laissez-passer
Mediterranean pass United States passport

Maritime Navigation and trade

Age of Sail Nautical almanac
Bowditch's American Practical Navigator Shipbuilding in the American colonies
British timber trade Smuggling
Celestial navigation Transatlantic crossing
Jack Tar Winds in the Age of Sail

Origins of Passport

Biblical Old Testament CanonEngland in Late Middle AgesSafe Passage in Medieval England
Artaxerxes I of Persia Henry V of England British passport
Nehemiah 2 St Crispin's Day Speech Safe Conducts Act 1414

References

  1. Confederation Congress (February 11, 1782). "Continental Congress Passport Act, 1782". Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 22 (Monday, February 11, 1782). United States Library of Congress: 70–71.
  2. Confederation Congress (February 10, 1783). "Tobacco Cargo Passport, 1783". Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 24 (Monday, February 10, 1783). United States Library of Congress: 121–122.

Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789

Articles of 18th Century

Bibliography