During the first fourteen Congresses printing was done without guidelines or provision by law as to what would be printed, so there was a very pronounced lack of information.  The destruction of the Capitol in 1814 contributed greatly to this lack of Congressional documents and resulted in the following bill, passed on March 2, 1831.

Be it enacted, etc., That the clerk of the House of Representatives hereby is authorized and directed to subscribe for 750 copies of the compilation of the Congressional documents proposed to be made by Gales & Seaton: Provided, that the documents shall be selected under the direction of the secretary of the Senate and the clerk of the House: And Provided also, That the price paid for the printing of copies shall be at the rate not exceeding that of the price paid to the printer of Congress for printing the documents of the two Houses.

The American State Papers are the result of the above act (Stat.L.v.4,p.470), the joint resolution (Stat.L.v.4,p.669) of March 2, 1833 and the act of June 12, 1858 (Stat.L.v.11,p.328).  The first twenty-one volumes were prepared under the first act and the next seventeen were prepared under the last act.

The "Papers" are comprised of important executive and legislative documents selected by the secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives from manuscript and printed papers in both the Senate and House, and several Executive Departments.  These papers cover from 1789 to 1838.  Each volume Contains its own index covering the contents of that volume.

The American State Papers cover such historical events as Lewis and Clark's Expedition as communicated to Congress of Feb. 16, 1806, Burr's Conspiracy and Arrest and the Treaty of the Creek Indians made by Andrew Jackson on Aug. 9, 1814.  They also include speeches and messages of Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison, April 30, 1789-Sept. 20, 1814.

The American State Papers are not a complete record of the activities of that time period because of the fire of 1814 and the lack of record keeping. Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909, 1911, compiled under the direction of the Superintendent of Documents.

Davidson College Library's collection contains the complete set of American State Papers covering the years between 1789-1838.

The collection is on permanent reserve at the Circulation Dept.

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Maintained by: Sara Lee Enders
E.H. Little Library
URL: http://www.davidson.edu/administrative/library/govdoc/government_information.asp
Last Modified: 10/01/2009