LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Apr Books, Manuscripts & Autographs #658  / 

25040

[American Flag] 1817 Congressional Report

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Paper Start Price:200.00 USD Estimated At:800.00 - 1,000.00 USD
[American Flag] 1817 Congressional Report
<B> American Flag 1817 Congressional Report</B></I> regarding revising the American Flag. Three pages printed, 5" x 8", Washington, D.C. , January 2, 1817. An important document concerning the United States flag ~ Issued shortly after Francis Scott Key's famous poem describing the bombardment of Ft. McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore which became known as "The Star Spangled Banner," later adopted as the American national anthem. "REPORT Of the Select Committee appointed on the 12th ult. to inquire into the expedience of altering the Flag of the United States." The report fixes the ultimate design and evolution of the American flag as we know it today. The report deals with the second revision made to the United States flag after its official adoption by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. The first revision, the report notes, was made on January 13, 1794 following the admission of Kentucky and Vermont in which Congress "...passed an act that the stripes and stars should, on the day fixed, be increased to fifteen each, to comport with the then number of independent states..." Looking into the future, the committee could easily discern the ultimate difficulties of this scheme. They remark, "The accession of new States since that alteration, and the certain prospect that at no distant period the number of States will be considerably multiplied, render it, in the opinion of the committee, highly inexpedient to increase the number of stripes, as every flag must, in some measure, be limited in its size, from the circumstance of convenience to the place on which it is to be displayed, while such an increase would necessarily decrease their magnitude, and render them proportionably less distinct to distant observation..." A few minor marginal chips and light soiling, else very good.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Books & Catalogs (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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