United States Statutes at Large plus House and Senate Journals (National Institute)

Statutes at Large
The United States Statutes at Large, commonly referred to as the Statutes at Large, is the official source for the laws and resolutions passed by Congress. The published volumes of the Statutes began in 1845 under authority granted by Congress. In 1874, Congress transferred the authority to publish the Statutes at Large to the Government Printing Office, which has been responsible for producing the set since that time.

Every law, public and private, ever enacted by the Congress is published in the Statutes at Large in order of the date of its passage. Until 1948, all treaties and international agreements approved by the Senate were also published in the set. In addition, the Statutes at Large includes the text of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, amendments to the Constitution, treaties with Indians and foreign nations, and presidential proclamations.

Judiciary Act of 1789
In keeping with Article III of the Constitution, one of the first acts of the Continental Congress was to enact the Judiciary Act of 1789. This Judiciary Act created thirteen districts and places eleven of the districts (coinciding with the original thirteen states) in three circuits: the Eastern, Middle, and Southern. The district courts of Maine and Kentucky (parts of the Commonwealths of Massachusetts and Virginia respectively) exercised both district and circuit court jurisdiction.

House and Senate Journals
From its inaugural session in 1789, the United States House of Representatives has kept a journal of its proceedings in accordance with Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution, which provides that:

The printed version for 1789-1875, published by order of the House of Representatives, is presented in electronic form on the Library of Congress website. The legislation information for the current Congress can be found on the Library of Congress website.

Likewise, under Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution, the U.S. Senate has kept a journal of its proceedings. Those proceedings are available for 1789-1875 on the Library of Congress website.

Finding Aid
George P. Perros, James C. Brown, and Jacqueline A. Wood, comps.,Papers of the United States Senate relating to Presidential Nominations, 1789-1901, SL 20 (1964).

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