WITHOUT PREJUDICE
OK, the site has been updated been through a change. And its TOO QUIET! So lets talk about passports and sea letters boys and girls. =D Without prejudice of course!
* The above is a sea letter. The language is awfully similar to that of a "US Passport." A similar sea letter of the time read: "SUFFER the Ship Vermont, Parker Muren master or commander, of the burthen of three hundred and twelve tons or thereabouts, mounted with no guns, navigated with thirteen men TO PASS with her Company, Passengers, Goods and Merchandize, without any hinderance...". Are Citizens of the United States really vessels?? Might they even be...jars of clay?
* "Sea Letters in the 18th and early 19th century were customarily signed in blank by the President and Secretary of State and sent to the various Ports of Call and filled out as needed. Because Communication between Washington and the Ports was slow at best, Sea Letters were sometimes issued and dated after the death of the President. There is a famous example bearing William Henry Harrison*s authentic signature but issued and dated after his death. Blank Sea Letters are among the rarest of all presidential documents"
* Passport - n.
1. An official government document that certifies one's identity and citizenship and permits a citizen to travel abroad.
2. An official permit issued by a foreign country allowing one to transport goods or to travel through that country.
3. An official document issued by an allied foreign government to a ship, especially a neutral merchant ship in time of war, authorizing it to enter and travel through certain waters freely.
4. Something that gives one the right or privilege of passage, entry, or acceptance: Hard work was her passport to success.
* - The Mediterranean Passport, commonly called a ship's passport, was created after the United States concluded a treaty with Algiers in 1795. During the early years of independence, America was one of several nations paying tribute to the Barbary states in exchange for the ability to sail and conduct business in the Mediterranean area without interference."... See:
http://www.mysticseaport.org/library...5&ChapterID=31
* "There is a biblical reference to something like a passport being granted to Nehemiah by King Artaxerxes:
Nehemiah 2:7,9
... I said to the king "If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah... Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters." [Courtesty: everything2.com]
{ Can you say "letters patent"?}
* Passports are now considered an essential part of international arrangements, functioning as travel documents, proofs of citizenship and rudimentary universal identity cards.
* The idea of a document of safe passage granted by a sovereign is ancient. There are some suggestions that in ancient Egypt, citizens carried the name of the Pharaoh with them abroad, possibly as a warning to foreigners that they were members of the regional power. [everything2.com]
* The inside of a UK passport reads (boxed): "Her Brittanic Majesty's Seceretary of State Requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary." US Passport reads: ""The Secretary of State of the United States of America hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen/natoinal of the United States named herein to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection."
*PASSPORT, SEA BRIEF, or SEA LETTER, maritime law. A paper containing a permission from the neutral state to the captain or master of a ship or permission from the neutral state to the captain or master of a ship or vessel to proceed on the voyage proposed; it usually contains his name and vessel to proceed on the voyage proposed; it usually contains his name and residence; the name, property, description, tonnage and destination of the residence; the name, property, description, tonnage and destination of the ship; the nature and quantity of the cargo; the place from whence it comes, ship; the nature and quantity of the cargo; the place from whence it comes, and its destination; with such other matters as the practice of the place and its destination; with such other matters as the practice of the place requires. requires. 2. This document is indispensably necessary in time of war for the 2. This document is indispensably necessary in time of war for the safety of every neutral vessel. Marsh. Ins. B. 1, c. 9, s. 6, p. 406, b. safety of every neutral vessel. Marsh. Ins. B. 1, c. 9, s. 6, p. 406, b. 3. In most countries of continental Europe passports are given to 3. In most countries of continental Europe passports are given to travellers; these are intended to protect them on their journey from all travellers; these are intended to protect them on their journey from all molestation, while they are obedient to the laws. Passports are also granted molestation, while they are obedient to the laws. Passports are also granted by the secretary of state to persons travelling abroad, certifying that they by the secretary of state to persons travelling abroad, certifying that they are citizens of the United States. 9 Pet. 692. Vide 1 Kent, Com. 162, 182; are citizens of the United States. 9 Pet. 692. Vide 1 Kent, Com. 162, 182; Merl. Repert. h.t. Merl. Repert. h.t. [Courtesy:
www.lawdictionary.org]
* A most interesting definition for a passport is found in Webster's 1913: "A license granted in time of war for the removal of persons and effects from a hostile country; a safe-conduct."
* Most passports were printed on folded paper until 1920, when the League of Nations held an "International Conference on Passports" in 1920. They established general guidelines for standardising passports, which recommended that they be in booklet-form, with a photo and some form of security. This enabled visa stamps and other details to be put directly on the passport. The photograph and personal information (such as date of birth, nationality, place of birth, passport number.
* The International Civil Aviation Organization (
www.icao.int) apparently has something to do with machine readable passport standards [
http://www.icao.int/mrtd/Home/Index.cfm]
* "The first passports as we know them today were, unsurprisingly, French (the word passport is derived from Fr. passe port, a port pass). King Louis XIV, in has determination to be an absolute ruler, made it illegal in 1672 for people to leave or enter France without his personal agreement. Other countries in Europe reacted reciprocally, so that within a century almost every country in Europe had a passport of some kind. This grew up hand-in-hand with a system of a host country requiring visas for travellers coming in." [
www.everything2.com; http://www.ppt.gc.ca/passport_office/history_e.asp; http://www.howstuffworks.com/passport.htm; http://www.ocma.gov.lv/?_p=337&menu__id=13 ]
* "In 1415, King Henry V granted Safe Conducts in an Act of Parliament to English travellers, asking for protection for bearers, and threatening anyone who messes with them. These were granted to foreigners as well as Englishmen. Similar arrangements were made by other countries of the time."
* Micros0ft apparently has its own notion of electronic passports that guarantee one-person one-access to all kinds of services.