Revolutionary War Prize Cases, 1780–1787

Item

Country: US
Name of institution (official language of the state): The National Archives in Washington, DC
Language of name of institution: eng
Contact information: postal address: 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001
Contact information: phone number: 001 866 272 6272
Contact information: web address: https://www.archives.gov/dc
Contact information: email: archives1reference@nara.gov
Title (official language of the state): Revolutionary War Prize Cases, 1780–1787
Language of title: eng
Creator / accumulator: Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture
Date(s): 1780/1787
Date note: Some of the required documents submitted by claimants date back to 1776.
Language(s): eng
Extent: 1.5 linear metres
Type of material: Textual Material
Scope and content: This series of the Records of the Supreme Court of the United States fonds is composed of files documenting the appeals hearings from Colonial courts in cases of ships captured and labelled as prizes. It includes a case involving the schooner Hope of Aaron Lopez, which was captured in 1778 (case no. 28). A digital copy of this record is available online:; Case No. 28 - The Schooner Hope and Cargo, Lopez, Claimant, v. Brooks and Griffith - Connecticut , 1778
Archival history: After the extinction of the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture, its records were placed in the custody of the Supreme Court of the United States by an act of May 8, 1792 (1 Stat. 279).
Administrative / Biographical history: The origin of the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture lay in the need arising soon after the beginnings of the American Revolution to determine the legality of seizures of enemy vessels and cargoes as prizes by continental warships and other U.S. vessels and to provide for their disposal. On November 25, 1775, Congress authorised the capture of prizes and provided that prize cases should be commenced in state admiralty courts with a right of appeal to Congress. At first, this appellate jurisdiction was exercised through ad hoc committees, the first of which was named on September 9, 1776. On January 30, 1777, the Standing Committee on Appeals was established. Congress replaced that committee with a three-judge "court of appeals" on January 15, 1780, and formalised it as the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture by a resolution of May 24, 1780. To the Court were transferred pending appeals and related records. The Court, composed of members of Congress, met irregularly according to the amount of business to address. By the end of 1784, the Court had acted on all cases before it, and in 1785 Congress suspended salary payments to the judges. The Court was reconvened in 1786, and its last session was held May 16, 1787, in Philadelphia.; (source: The National Archives Catalog)
Access points: locations: Hartford, Connecticut (USA)
Access points: persons, families: Lopez, Aaron (Duarte Lopes)
Access points: subject terms: Sephardim in North America; American Revolution; Legal matters; Shipping; 18th century
Access points: document types: Legal records
Access, restrictions: Digital copies are available online for a fee and free of charge in all National Archives Research Rooms:; The National Archives Catalog
Links to finding aids: The National Archives Catalog
Existence and location of copies: Aaron Lopez Papers
Author of the description: Carla Vieira, 2023

Item sets: WSD Roadmap; WSD Roadmap finais; WSD Roadmap USA

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Items with "Existence and location of originals: Revolutionary War Prize Cases, 1780–1787"
Title	Class
Aaron Lopez Papers

Items with "Collections (official language of the state): Revolutionary War Prize Cases, 1780–1787"
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The National Archives