THE AMERICAN SENATOR. OR A COPIOUS AND IMPARTIAL REPORT OF THE DEBATES IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES: INCLUDING ALL TREATIES, ADDRESSES, PROCLAMATIONS, &C. WHICH OCCUR DURING THE PRESENT SESSION, BEING THE SECOND OF THE FOURTH CONGRESS. VOL. I.

Philadelphia: Printed by John Page, 1796. 352, [4] pp, 1 folded table. Later cloth [some wear], original red gilt-lettered red morocco spine label laid down. Good+.

The Second Session of the Fourth Congress convened on December 5, 1796 and closed on March 3, 1797. Volume I reports in detail on the conclusion of George Washington's presidency. Evans records the total of three volumes as separate imprints, with different printers noted, as issued. The text is far more detailed than the official Journals of the period, revealing starkly the division of the country into political parties, one opposed to the President's policies, the other supportive.
The bulk of the volume treats President Washington's final speech to Congress in December, with debate in House and Senate about a resolution of appreciation for the President's service, and the measures he advocated. Washington's presidency had so alienated followers of Thomas Jefferson that a number of Congressmen, including Andrew Jackson, refused to join in a resolution of thanks. Yeas and Nays on a variety of votes are recorded; debates on the President's recommendation to establish a National University, his advice on the militias; and also about the "Canadian and Nova Scotia refugees," "kidnapping of negroes and mulattoes" from vessels, either to "sell them as slaves, or the taking slaves to make them free;" and other matters Much discussion of the Creeks and Cherokees, upon whose treatment the President remarked, is printed.
Evans 30165. Cohen 6858. I Harv. Law Cat. 338. Sabin 11006.