Signed by Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Hamilton... On the death of Ben Franklin...
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GAZETTE OF THE UNITED STATES, New York, Aug. 25, 1790
* Death of Benjamin Franklin
* President George Washington
* John Adams & Thomas Jefferson
Page 2 has an item from the National Assembly of France which begins: "M. Mirabeau rose, & made a funeral panegyric on Dr. Franklin. 'Franklin is dead--the man who emancipated America--the Sage who was the ornament of the two worlds..." with more.
Page 3 contains "An Act Authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to finish the Light House on Portland Head in the District of Maine" which is signed in type by George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, and headed with a nice engraving of a heraldic eagle. This is followed by yet another Act of Congress signed by the same 3 men--the first three Presidents of the United States.
The back page has a document on seeking bids for supplying rations to the mentioned military posts headed: "Treasury Department" which is signed in type: Alexander Hamilton. Also on the back page is discussion on Hamilton's Assumption Plan, a financial strategy to consolidate state debts into a single public debt held by the federal government. The plan would be passed by Congress in 1790.
Background: The August 25, 1790, issue of the Gazette of the United States stands as a monumental historical artifact because it captures the foundational, ideological fracture of the early American republic alongside the global mourning of its greatest diplomat, Benjamin Franklin. Printed in New York while it served as the nation's capital, this specific edition documents the immediate aftermath of the Compromise of 1790, featuring Alexander Hamilton’s highly controversial Assumption Plan to consolidate state war debts into a singular federal public debt. This fiscal strategy, which is detailed on the back page alongside military supply bids signed by Hamilton, directly catalyzed the end of his alliance with James Madison; fearing centralized monarchical power, Madison and Thomas Jefferson formed the opposition Democratic-Republican Party, effectively birthing America's two-party political system. The newspaper visually and politically encapsulates this concentrated era of governance on page 3, where routine congressional acts—such as authorizing the completion of the Portland Head Light House—bear the printed signatures of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, representing the nation's first three presidents functioning simultaneously within the executive and legislative apparatus. Simultaneously, the issue underscores America's profound ideological footprint abroad through French revolutionary leader Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau’s eulogy to the National Assembly of France, which famously canonized the recently deceased Franklin as the "Sage of two worlds." As the primary political mouthpiece subsidized by Hamilton and edited by John Fenno, this pristine four-page chronicle serves not just as a report of these events, but as the primary, unfiltered medium through which the architectural blueprints of American finance, partisan politics, and executive precedent were first presented to the public.
Considered by many as the most significant newspaper of the 18th century, as the Gazette was the mouthpiece of all matters political. Most pronouncements from Congress & the President were printed first in this newspaper.
Item from last month's catalog - #365 - released for April, 2026
Category: The 1600's and 1700's
