[Americana] [Marblehead, Massachusetts] Archive of the American Merchant Vessel "Hiram"Archive of the Marblehead, Massachusetts-Based Merchant Vessel Hiram and its Trade Missions to EuropeMarblehead, Massachusetts; Bordeaux, France; Bilbao, Spain; etc., ca. 1803-1805.prising 30 printed and manuscript documents relating to the Schooner Hiram, a Marblehead, Massachusetts-based merchant vessel, detailing various trade missions to France, Spain, and the Caribbean; signed by various American, French, and Spanish government officials and/or traders, including many signed --or in the hand of--the Hiram's Master, Captain John G. Hooper, as well as the Hiram's owners, Henry Gallison and Joshua Prentiss, Jr.; some documents signed by Joseph Wilson, Collector of the Port of Marblehead. Size and condition vary, generally well preserved, with attendant creasing and wear.The archive dates to the Napoleonic Wars when high seas trade for American merchant vessels was bing increasingly dangerous due to Britain's campaign of search and seizure and impressing American sailors into its Navy. It is led by a scarce partially-printed 's contract for the Hiram and its seven crew members, with the Congressional Act, "An Act for the Government and Regulation of Seaman in the Merchant's Service" printed in full on recto, and signed in type by President George Washington; Vice-President John Adams; Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson; Speaker of the House of Representatives Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg; the contract's terms printed on verso, with printed roster signed andpleted by the crew, listing their occupation onboard the Hiram, their wages, time of entry and discharge, and length of service. "An Act for the Government and Regulation of Seaman in the Merchant's Service" was the first Federal labor law in the United States, and was passed during the 2nd Session of the First Congress, on July 2, 1790. The Act helped protect merchant seamen from exploitation by their Captains during their service, and delineated the seamen's contractual rights and the safety regulations to be upheld aboard each . Following the Act's passage, these documents were distributed blank to Customs Collectors at American ports, and were subsequently filled in by each 's crew. Every American-owned merchant vessel was required to keep this document among their papers during their entire voyage, and in the case of a wage or other dispute, it was to be presented to a Justice of the Peace or local magistrate for inspection.Other items in this archive include seven manuscript documents, being orders and instructions to Captain John G. Hooper for trade missions by the Hiram to Spain, France, and England, many signed by the 's owners, Henry Gallison and Joshua Prentiss, Jr., dated July 1804-September 1805; one partially-printed District of Marblehead Collector's Office document certifying the Hiram and her crew as American citizens, signed by Collector of the Port of