Item: i112923

Authentic Medal of:

United States of America
Bicentennial – Council of the Thirteen Original States – William Williams
1973 Proof Silver Medal 38mm (31.66 grams) Sterling Silver
Reference: Franklin Mint
William Williams facing 1/2 left in government building.
WILLIAM WILLIAMS MERCHANT CONNECTICUT, Feather pen and ink well, signature below.
Edge Lettering:
OFFICIAL MEDAL OF THE BICENTENNIAL COUNCIL OF THE 13 ORIGINAL STATES 73 P STERLING

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The Thirteen American Colonies formed the United States of America in July 1776. Their groupings were: New England (New Hampshire; Massachusetts; Rhode Island; Connecticut); Middle (New York; New Jersey; Pennsylvania; Delaware); Southern (Maryland; Virginia; North Carolina; South Carolina; and Georgia).

William Williams (April 8, 1731 – August 2, 1811) was an American Founding Father, merchant, a delegate for Connecticut to the Continental Congress in 1776, and a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence.

Williams was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, the son of minister Solomon Williams and Mary Porter. He studied theology and achieved law school from Harvard in 1751. He continued preparing for the ministry for a year but then joined the militia to fight in the French and Indian War. After the war, he opened a store in Lebanon, which he called The Williams Inc.

On February 14, 1771, at almost 40 he married Mary Trumbull, age 25. She was the daughter of Connecticut Royal Governor Jonathan Trumbull, who later served as the second speaker of the United States House of Representatives. They had three children: Solomon, born 1772; Faith, 1774; and William Trumbull, 1777.

Williams was very active in the protests that preceded the American Revolution. He was a member of the Sons of Liberty and later served on Connecticut’s Committee of Correspondence and Council of Safety. He was a staunch supporter of the non-importation agreements implemented in 1769 to oppose the Townshend Acts and the occupation of Boston by British Regulars. Williams was disappointed when merchants began disregarding the non-importation agreements after the repeal of the Townshend Acts, save for the tax on tea, and he never trusted the intentions of more established merchants, most notably Silas Deane.

On July 1, 1774, one month after the enactment of the Coercive Acts to punish Boston, Williams pseudonymously published an address “To the King” from “America” in the Connecticut Gazette. The document, an angry satire, read in part: “We don’t complain that your father made our yoke heavy and afflicted us with grievous service. We only ask that you would govern us upon the same constitutional plan, and with the same justice and moderation that he did, and we will serve you forever. And what is the language of your answer…? Ye Rebels and Traitors…if ye don’t yield implicit obedience to all my commands, just and unjust, ye shall be drag’d in chains across the wide ocean, to answer your insolence, and if a mob arises among you to impede my officers in the execution of my orders, I will punish and involve in common ruin whole cities and colonies, with their ten thousand innocents, and ye shan’t be heard in your own defense, but shall be murdered and butchered by my dragoons into silence and submission. Ye reptiles! ye are scarce intitled to existence any longer….Your lives, liberties and property are all at the absolute disposal of my parliament.”

Williams was elected to replace Oliver Wolcott at the Continental Congress on July 11, 1776, the day Connecticut received official word of the independence vote of July 2. Though he arrived at Congress on July 28, much too late to vote for the Declaration of Independence, he signed the formal copy as a representative of Connecticut.

Williams represented Lebanon, Connecticut, at the state’s Constitutional ratifying convention in January 1788. Though Williams had largely opposed the Confederation government, most notably Congress’ 1782 agreement to provide five years of full pay and three months of back pay to army officers but not regular soldiers, he ignored instructions from his constituents to vote against ratification. Williams’s sole overt objection to the document was the clause in Article VI that bans religious tests for government officials.

The Reverend Charles A. Goodrich writes:

He made a profession of religion at an early age, and through the long course of his life, he was distinguished for a humble and consistent conduct and conversations. While yet almost a youth, he was elected to the office of deacon, an office which he retained during the remainder of his life. His latter days were chiefly devoted to reading, meditation, and prayer.

Williams was also pastor of the First Congregational Church in Lebanon, Connecticut, and a successful merchant. Upon his death he was buried in Lebanon’s Old Cemetery.

Williams’ home in Lebanon survives and is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km²), the United States is the world’s third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe’s 3.9 million square miles (10.1 million km²). With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital’s federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries.

Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, and the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776. The war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, and gradually admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848.

During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery. By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, and its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country’s status as a global military power. The United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The Rights Acts of 1964, 1965 and 1968 outlaws discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U.S. Moon landing. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world’s sole superpower.

The United States is the world’s oldest surviving federation. It is a federal republic and a representative democracy. The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States (OAS), and other international organizations. The United States is a highly developed country, with the world’s largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for approximately a quarter of global GDP. The U.S. economy is largely post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world’s largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U.S. holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country.

Despite wide income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank very high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, and worker productivity. The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, and is a leading political, cultural, and scientific force internationally.