Details
[VIRGINIA IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION]. Manuscript "Statement of the Claims of the Commonwealth of Virginia against the United States for Advances and Services on Account of the late War," with separate "Explanatory remarks," n.p., n.d. [ca.1785]. 1 page, large folio (the statement) and 1 page small folio (the explanation), both on paper with royal crown and "T.French" watermarks, the statement endorsed "Claims of Virgia. Agst. U.S.," clean separation along central horizontal fold (repairable), otherwise in good condition.
VIRGINIA'S ACCOUNTS FOR THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
The "Statement of the Claims...on Account of the Late War" is boldly written in a clerical hand in neat columns ruled in red. It sets out 10 different line items including: "Payments made at the Treasury from April 17th 1775" up to 11 November 1780; the cost of "Specifics suuply'd under Resquisitions," Warrants granted by the "Auditors of Accounts...which have been sunk by Taxes or otherwise discharged - the paper payments reduced by State scale," "Bounties paid...under recruiting Laws of Spring 1779, 1780, & 1782 and Fall of 1780," "Certificates issued to Officers & Soldiers for Pay Depreciation" (to ameliorate the effects of the devaluation of the Continental currency), "Certificates issued for Militia Services...," "Lead supplyd from the Mines," "Waggons & Teams, and drivers furn[ishe]d by Counties and Clothing..." and lastly, "Paper money on Account of Old Emission Requisitions of Congress - Paid in 1785." No reckoning is given for "Acres of Land as...Account of Bounties" or "Interest on the several sums above enumerated." Interestingly, the total debt, noted at the bottom, is expressed in pounds sterling (,004,730. 12s); this is converted to a dollar amount of $13,349,102. The explanatory note sets out, in eleven numbered statements the method by which each line total was calculated. The accounting may have been produced for official use, possibly in 1789 when Congress and the Treasury were considering the complex issue of the states' debts being taken over by Congress. See the chapter "The Financial Dilemna," in F. MacDonald, Alexander Hamilton (New York, 1979).
VIRGINIA'S ACCOUNTS FOR THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
The "Statement of the Claims...on Account of the Late War" is boldly written in a clerical hand in neat columns ruled in red. It sets out 10 different line items including: "Payments made at the Treasury from April 17th 1775" up to 11 November 1780; the cost of "Specifics suuply'd under Resquisitions," Warrants granted by the "Auditors of Accounts...which have been sunk by Taxes or otherwise discharged - the paper payments reduced by State scale," "Bounties paid...under recruiting Laws of Spring 1779, 1780, & 1782 and Fall of 1780," "Certificates issued to Officers & Soldiers for Pay Depreciation" (to ameliorate the effects of the devaluation of the Continental currency), "Certificates issued for Militia Services...," "Lead supplyd from the Mines," "Waggons & Teams, and drivers furn[ishe]d by Counties and Clothing..." and lastly, "Paper money on Account of Old Emission Requisitions of Congress - Paid in 1785." No reckoning is given for "Acres of Land as...Account of Bounties" or "Interest on the several sums above enumerated." Interestingly, the total debt, noted at the bottom, is expressed in pounds sterling (,004,730. 12s); this is converted to a dollar amount of $13,349,102. The explanatory note sets out, in eleven numbered statements the method by which each line total was calculated. The accounting may have been produced for official use, possibly in 1789 when Congress and the Treasury were considering the complex issue of the states' debts being taken over by Congress. See the chapter "The Financial Dilemna," in F. MacDonald, Alexander Hamilton (New York, 1979).