Subject: Cherokee Indians

First edition of the Acts of the Fifth Congress (1797), published by William Ross in Philadelphia. This volume includes the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, legislation that granted the federal government broad powers to deal with aliens and dissenters. It also contains acts establishing the U.S. Post Office, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and important treaties with the Cherokee Nation and Tripoli. The Treaty of Tripoli, notably, explicitly states that the U.S. government is not founded on the Christian religion and affirms religious neutrality in foreign relations. This book offers a complete record of the Acts and the Journals of the House for all three sessions of the Fifth Congress.

Hand-colored lithograph depicting David Vann, a Cherokee chief. Published by D. Rice & A. N. Hart and lithographed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen. Published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1850.