[John Jay and Jonathan Trumbull]. Continental Congress Broadside: "To the Inhabitants of the United States of America", May 26, 1779. One printed page, 13.75" x 19.5", [Hartford, Connecticut]; June 9, 1779. Broadside, printed in three columns. [Hartford, Connecticut: Hudson and Goodwin, 1779]. Revolutionary War broadside issued by the Continental Congress concerning the devaluation of currency and requesting an additional loan "and thereby close that source of depreciation." The Connecticut publication of a Congressional address of May 26, 1779. Titled, "To the Inhabitants of the United States of America. Friends and Countrymen." The lengthy address discusses the raising of troops, taxation, and the expediency of emitting paper currency. It begins, "The present situation of public affairs demands your most serious attention, and particularly the great and encreasing depreciation of your currency requires the immediate, strenuous, and united efforts of all true friends to their country, for preventing an extension of the mischiefs that have already flowed from that source..." They argue that the devaluation of currency is owing to the artifices of men who have hastened to enrich themselves by monopolizing the necessaries of life, and to the misconduct of inferior officers employed in the public service." The proclamation is couched in ardent patriotic language, but the reasoning becomes clear in the second column when the perpetually cash-strapped Congress calls for forty-five million dollars, in addition to the fifteen million that was requested the previous January. The war was having far-reaching economic consequences, and the Continental treasury was feeling the effects. The address concludes, "Done in Congress by unanimous consent, this twenty-sixth day of May, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine." Signed in type by John Jay as president of the Continental Congress, Charles Thomason as secretary and Jonathan Trumbull as governor of Connecticut. John Jay (1745-1829) served as the sixth president of the Continental Congress from December 1778 to September 1779 after succeeding Henry Laurens. He later became the first chief justice of the United States. He also served as one of George Washington's secretaries of state, a minister to Spain, a secretary of Foreign Affairs, and the governor of New York. He was a prominent member of the Federalist party during the 1780s and 1790s. Jonathan Trumbull Sr. (1710-1785) was the first Connecticut governor to serve in a true executive capacity, an office he held from 1769 to 1784. A close friend and advisor to George Washington, Trumbull gave his all to the American cause, going so far as to personally supply food, clothing, shoes, and munitions for the Continental Army. Once the headquarters for his mercantile business, Trumbull's store in Lebanon became a meeting place for the Connecticut Council of Safety that assisted him (1775-1783) and was referred to as "the War Office." During the Revolution, Governor Trumbull and the Council of Safety held more than eleven hundred meetings there. Reference: Evans 16639 Condition: Extensive professional restoration throughout. Washed. Backed with rice paper which repairs several closed tears, chipping with some loss along outlines. Repaired paper loss along the entire upper margin, the largest portion of which extends down 2", affecting "I" and "N" of the title; repaired paper loss along edges, the largest of which measures .5" x .5" along the left edge, affecting some text. Edges trimmed close. Scattered soiling and foxing with stray mark in yellow. HID03101062020 © 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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