It is true that these claims were pressed with less constancy and determination at the beginning of the century than at a later day. But there are two sufficient reasons for the change. First, the evidence on which they are founded was less generally known at the beginning than afterward. It was only in 1826, under the administration of John Quincy Adams, by the communication to Congress of the ample materials accumulated in the Archives of State, that the true strength of the case was fully revealed. Here, in one full volume, was the documentary history of the whole double transaction,[112] showing at once the original obligation of France, and the substituted obligation of the United States, reinforced by the associations of our own Revolutionary history. A more sufficient reason for this change is found in the fact, that for some time in the early part of the century our country was still laboring under pressure of the Revolutionary debt. As this pressure was gradually removed, and the national resources became more apparent, these claims were naturally urged with more confidence, until, on the final extinction of that debt, they occupied the attention of the best minds in both Houses of Congress. No single question in our history has been the subject of such a succession of able reports. Whether counted or weighed, these reports are equally exceptional. They are no less than forty-one in number, twenty-two in the Senate and nineteen in the House. Among the eminent characters whose names they bear are Edward Livingston, John Holmes, Edward Everett, Daniel Webster, Caleb Gushing, Charles J. Ingersoll, John M. Clayton, and Rufus Choate. Out of the whole number only three have been adverse,--one in the Senate and two in the House. But the three adverse reports were evasive only, besides being prior to the communication of the decisive evidence on the subject. The thirty-six reports since that communication were all in favor of the claims.[113] Resolutions in favor of these claims by thirteen States, being the original number which declared independence, have been presented to Congress between the years 1832 and 1858. Some States, not content with one series, have repeated their resolutions, and accompanied them with elaborate arguments. They all tend to the conclusion that it is the duty of Congress, without further delay, to provide for these claims; and Senators and Representatives are earnestly requested to use their best exertions for an Act of Congress to carry this obligation into effect.