in colonial times, and were embraced by the first U.S. Congress as a way to enforce the laws when the new federal government had virtually no law enforcement officers. The case of Richard Marven and Samuel Shaw led the Continental Congress to pass the first whistleblower law in the new United States in 1778. The Continental Congress was moved to act after an incident in 1777, when the two blew the whistle and suffered severe retaliation by Esek Hopkins, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy. The Continental Congress enacted the whistleblower protection law on July 30, 1778 by a unanimous vote. The Continental Congress declared it the duty of "all persons in the service of the United States, as well as all other the inhabitants thereof" to inform the Continental Congress or proper authorities of "misconduct, frauds or misdemeanors committed by any officers in the service of these states, which may come to their knowledge." Congress declared that the United States would defend the two whistleblowers against a libel suit filed against them by Hopkins, resolving that "the reasonable expences of defending the said suit be defrayed by the United States" and terminated the employment of Hopkins, who had misconducted himself. False Claims Act The American Civil War (1861–1865) was marked by fraud on all levels, especially with regard to Union War Department contracts. Some say the False Claims Act came about because of bad mules. During the Civil War, unscrupulous contractors sold the Union Army, among other things, decrepit horses and mules in ill health, faulty rifles and ammunition, and rancid rations and provisions. The False Claims Act (, also called the "Lincoln Law") is an American federal law that was passed on March 2, 1863 during the American Civil War, that allows people who are not affiliated with the government to file actions against federal contractors claiming fraud against the government. The law represented an effort by the government to respond to entrenched fraud in cases where the official Justice Department was reluctant to prosecute fraud cases. Importantly, a reward was offered in what is called the "qui tam" provision, which permits citizens to sue on behalf of the government and be paid a percentage of the recovery. The law was substantially weakened in 1943 during World War II while the government rushed to sign large military procurement contracts. It was strengthened again in 1986 after a period