Q. David Bowers
Snowden's Commentary (1860)
The Cabinet Collection of the Mint of the United States, by James Ross Snowden, 1860, p. 108, told of the coinage of 1798 dollars:
"In 1798 ... the number of stars was reduced to thirteen, being emblematic of the original thirteen states. The reverses of the dollar and dime, which were the only silver pieces coined in this year, underwent an entire change, as follows:
An eagle with raised wings, bearing the United States shield upon its breast. From its beak floats, (scroll, inscribed 'E PLURIBUS UNUM: In the right talon it grasps a bundle of thirteen arrows;' and in the' left, . an olive branch. Above are clouds and thirteen stars. Legend. 'UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.''
The Year 1798 in, History
American resentment against France remained intense. (Harry E. Salyards, M.D. has furnished to the author a pamphlet titled An Oration Spoken at Hartford .. July 4th, 1798, by Theodore Dwight. The atrocities being committed in France were outlined by Dwight, who also questioned Jefferson's patriotism.) Over the objections of Vice President Jefferson, the first of four pieces of legislation known collectively as the Alien and Sedition Act, amending the Naturalization Act of 1795,was adopted, mandating 14 years of residence and a declaration of American allegiance five years before becoming a citizen. The second part of the act enabled the president to deport for a two-year period any alien considered to be dangerous to the-nation. The third made it possible to arrest, and deport any male aliens who were citizens or subjects of any country hostile to America. The fourth and most blatantly offensive to human rights provided for the arrest and imprisonment of anyone who attempted to disrupt the proper processes of the government, to foment civil unrest, or to write, publish, or speak any false statement about 'the government, Congress, or the president. These acts were mainly the result of antiFrench sentiment and a fear held by the Federalist Party that the strength of the opposing Democratic-Republican Party was increasing. Ultimately, ,the Alien and Sedition Act led to the dissolution of the Federalist Party.
Georgia forbade the further importation of slaves. At the time, the slave trade flourished, with many ships corning from Africa and the West Indies. In 1798, Eli Whitney, under a government contract, used interchangeable parts to make firearms, becoming one of the first large-scale manufacturers to adopt a system of uniformity. By contrast, up to this time many machines and devices were made on an individual basis by fitting parts especially to them.
At the Park Theatre in New York, the play Female Patriotism, or the Death of Joan de Arc was staged. Joseph Hopkinson' s play, Hail; Columbia was published, Among popular plays was speed the Plough, by English playwright Thomas Morton; the thief character was Mrs. Grundy.
England had a poor wheat crop, and prices climbed to £12 per ton; few could afford the price, and there was widespread hunger. The "Essay on the Principles of Population," by Englishman Thomas Robert Malthus, posited that population increases geometrically while food production increases only arithmetically, a situation bound to cause starvation as the world population increases. Aloys Senefelder, a Bavarian printer, invented lithography.