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Lot 1:1817 John Quincy Adams Signed Letter

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:6,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 14,000.00 USD
Lot    1:1817 John Quincy Adams Signed Letter
<b>Autographs</b><hr><b>John Quincy Adams Negotiates Return of Impressed Sailors
With A Magnificent Presentation and Historic Content

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<b>JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, 6th American President.</b>
Autograph Letter Signed, once in full as “John Quincy Adams” and again at the end of a postscript “J.Q.A.” on fine, watermarked paper, March 11, 1817, Ealing, (?), 9.5” x 7.75,” Choice Extremely Fine. Crisp, bold penmanship, nearly as fresh and as bold as the day it was written. Superbly matted and framed along with explanatory plaques and a copy image of Adams himself. The letter is in a separate, hinged frame that allows the viewer to see both sides. Written to Thomas Aspinwall (U.S. Consul at London), most of this letter concerns itself with commercial matters. However, the postscript refers to American seamen impressed by the British: “I should have noticed your Letter of 20. Feby enclosing Sibert’s (sic) Examination. The numbers of Seamen who have applied to you for relief are so great that I should be glad to have a statement, of the whole number, marking the respective numbers of white men, and men of colour; and a summary of the principal causes, which have brought them in such multitudes, to your Office as Applicants for relief.”

The following information is excerpted from an engraved plaque included with this presentation: Adams wrote this letter thirteen days after he was appointed Secretary of State by President James Monroe. Adams was in Great Britain at the time, concluding his service as Minister to that country and attempting to resolve problems arising from the impressment of U.S. sailors, a problem that led to the War of 1812 and should have been resolved by it. After the War of 1812 and the Napoleonic Wars, American seamen were discharged but could not find employment in Great Britain to earn the money needed to cross the Atlantic back to America. In a sense, they were men without a country. As Americans, they were offered no assistance by Great Britain, even though they had been impressed (basically enslaved) by them. America could help, but only in small doses because of British restrictions that prevented U.S. ships from transporting more than five or six seamen at a time. During 1817, Congressman Adam Seybert compiled statistical data for expenditures of the various department of the U.S government, including the Navy. This is the “Sibert’s Examination” referred to in Adams’ letter.

Without a doubt, one of the most desirable and historically important John Quincy Adams documents we’ve ever offered.