Revolutionary War Prize Cases, 1780–1787
Item
Country
US
Name of institution (official language of the state)
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
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:
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.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
Access, restrictions
Digital copies are available online for a fee and free of charge in all National Archives Research Rooms:
Links to finding aids
Existence and location of copies
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2023
Linked resources
Filter by property
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Aaron Lopez Papers | Existence and location of originals |
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| The National Archives | Collections (official language of the state) |