ITEM DETAILS
Title: Tonnage Duty on Spanish Vessels. Message from the President of the United States, upon the subject of tonnage duties on Spanish vessels in the ports of the United States
Author: Martin Van Buren / United States President
Publisher: Blair & Rives, Washington
Publication Date: March 12, 1840
Edition: 26th Congress, 1st Session, House Executive Document No. 130
Condition: Good
ITEM DESCRIPTION
Today we are pleased to offer this original 1840 House of Representatives Executive Document concerning tonnage duty on Spanish vessels in United States ports. Issued during the 26th Congress, 1st Session, this is House Doc. No. 130, transmitted by President Martin Van Buren and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The document deals with a narrow but important maritime trade question involving reciprocity, customs law, Spanish shipping, and the treatment of vessels arriving from Spanish ports, Spanish colonial possessions, and intermediate foreign ports.
Van Buren’s message transmits copies and translations of correspondence between Secretary of State John Forsyth and the Spanish legation over Spain’s request for a reduction of tonnage duties charged on Spanish vessels entering American ports. The dispute grew out of earlier reciprocal arrangements, including the Spanish royal order reducing duties on American vessels in Spanish ports and the United States act of July 13, 1832, under which corresponding treatment could be extended to Spanish vessels. The question here was whether the reduced rate should apply only to vessels coming directly from Spain itself, or whether it should also extend to Spanish vessels coming from Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, and other intermediate ports.
The correspondence includes Spanish and English text, with letters involving Don Angel Calderon de la Barca, the Chevalier de Argaiz, John Forsyth, Levi Woodbury, J. Hoyt, J. N. Barker, George Wolf, and customs officials at New York and New Orleans. Several named vessels are discussed, including the Spanish brig Mercury, the Diligencia, the Vizcaino, and the Ramoncita. The cases touch on voyages involving New York, New Orleans, La Guayra in Venezuela, Matamoros in Mexico, Havana, Puerto Rico, and the Spanish port of Palma. For collectors of early federal documents, maritime law, American customs history, Caribbean trade, U.S.-Spain diplomacy, or Van Buren administration material, the content is unusually specific and heavily documented.
This copy is the House Executive Document No. 130 issue, dated March 12, 1840, printed at Washington by Blair & Rives, and paginated continuously through page 27. It survives as a separate stitched congressional document rather than as a later bound Serial Set volume. The format, bilingual correspondence, executive transmission, and customs-related Treasury material place it squarely within the documentary record of antebellum federal trade administration, when tonnage duties, light money, and reciprocal port treatment were active subjects of legislation and diplomatic negotiation.
Physical condition is good overall for an original 1840 congressional document, but it does show expected age and handling wear. The binding is a bit loose overall, with visible side stitching, thread remnants, binding holes, small tears and abrasion along the left margin, and some fraying around the stitched edge. The first page has toning, scattered foxing, light soiling, handling marks, and an old handwritten number near the upper right. Edges and corners show small bends, minor chips, light creases, and uneven wear, especially around the outer and lower margins. The rear blank side shows toning, soil, show-through from the printed text, small edge flaws, and visible thread remnants along the side.
The interior pages show general age toning, scattered foxing, light spotting, mild dust soiling, occasional small stains, and normal ink show-through from the period printing. Several leaves have minor corner creases, small edge nicks, and light waviness from age and handling. There are small punctures and stress marks near the binding holes, with some pages sitting a little unevenly because of the looseness of the stitching. Text remains readable throughout, and the Spanish and English sections are both present through the final printed page.
Make sure to see the photos above for complete details.
27 pages.
Measures approximately 8 3/4 inches tall by 5 1/2 inches wide.
KEYWORDS
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