ARTS OF PEACE RESUMED.--DOCTRINE OF STATE RIGHTS.
Great were the rejoicings over the surrender of Cornwallis--public
balls, firing of cannon and display of fire-works--for close upon that
surrender came the longed for peace. As a more enduring expression
of gratitude to the man who had led in this great work, the Assembly
decreed that "in order to obliterate, as may be, every trace and idea
of that government which threatened our destruction ... the same
county, (King's), shall forever hereafter be known and distinguished by
the name and style of Washington."
And soon the war-worn troops who had so gallantly borne their part in
the burthen and heat of the day, came home rejoicing in their victory,
but trembling for their future. Then came pressing the urgent questions
of the hour, and first of all the question of finance. The Bank of
North America had been established to strengthen the hands of the
superintendent of finance, though not enough to make him listen to the
appeal of Rhode Island to be allowed to pay part of her quota in army
supplies. To ascertain on what ground the State stood for taxation a
new census was ordered, which gave fifty-one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-nine for the whole number of inhabitants, Newport returning
five thousand five hundred and thirty-one, and Providence four thousand
three hundred and ten. A new estimate of taxable property also was
made, which was found to amount to nearly three millions of pounds in
lawful money. Taxation had borne heavily upon this capital, but with
peace war expenditures ceased, and productive industry began to return
to its natural channels.
And very soon a Federal question arose. Congress resolved to levy an
import duty of five per cent., but could not do it without the consent
of the states. Here dawns upon us the question of state rights, soon
to assume a more menacing aspect and delay for years Rhode Island's
entrance into the Union. Nearly all the states but Rhode Island had
given their consent to it, but she foresaw in it future danger to her
liberties and persisted in her refusal. Two of her delegates, Howell
and Ellery, held out vigorously against it. "Howell undertook to prove
that the State, by adopting the impost, would lose four-fifths of its
revenue collected upon it. Mr. Ellery went upon the common danger of
altering the constitution, and frightened the people with the loss of
liberty."
Varnum and Marchant used many arguments "to remove these prejudices,
but to little purpose. The general spoke two hours and a half; his
arguments were learned, sensible and conclusive; but they were
unavailing." Such were the reasonings in the Rhode Island Assembly.
"The truth of the matter is," wrote General Greene, "a large majority
of the members are incompetent judges of so complicated a question....
What is to become of us and our national honor God only knows. No
people ever had brighter prospects shaded so unexpectedly."
In the midst of these exciting discussions it is pleasant to see what
early attention was given to education. The college returned to the use
for which it was built, and in September, 1782, seven students received
their degrees.
In that same year and month died Nicholas Cooke, who had filled the
Governor's chair so worthily at the beginning of the war. More than
once before peace was declared an armed enemy was seen in Narragansett
Bay. Two vessels were cut out of Newport harbor in the night by Tory
privateers, and at another time an armed party took possession of Hope
Island and held it for several days. One of the most menacing signs
of these troubled times, was the armed resistance to the collection
of taxes which had threatened Massachusetts with civil war, but was
sternly put down. Yet even when the strong arm of the law was raised to
enforce, they who wielded it most firmly could not but feel that there
was much ground for complaint.
I shall not attempt to follow step by step the progress of Rhode Island
in her return to the life and arts of peace. New laws were called for
and made. New fields of enterprise were opened and entered upon. The
errors of the past were to be bitterly atoned for. But her resources
were great, her will strong, and her courage unabated. From the mass of
detail I select a few characteristic points.
The financial embarrassment made itself felt everywhere, endangering
contracts, paralyzing industry and checking enterprise, and undermining
both public and private credit. Eight millions were required for the
Federal quotas of 1782. Less than half a million had been collected.
Four states had paid nothing, nine next to nothing. The impost act
failed, and Howell, who by his opposition to it had made himself
numerous enemies in Congress, had greatly added to his influence at
home. Rhode Island was looked up to as the champion of state rights.
With time she will grow wiser.
We have seen that slavery became the subject of legislation at an
early period of our annals. It reappeared at the return of peace, when
gradual emancipation was minutely provided for, and the introduction of
"slaves for sale under any pretext whatever, forbidden."
Among the purely local acts was the incorporation of Newport, and the
regulation of the Pawcatuck fishery, and an attempt to annex Potowomut
to East Greenwich. Among those which belong to the history of thought
was that by which Sabbatarians were "allowed to pursue their usual
avocations on Sunday." Among those that bore directly upon business was
the revival of the statute of limitations, and an act for encouraging
the manufacture of certain articles of general demand. Patents and
copyright laws followed soon after the adoption of the Constitution,
though not with a full recognition of an author's right to the product
of his brain. For the support of government a tariff act was passed.
But the most historically interesting act of the February session of
1783 was the enabling act, by which the original harmony between the
digests and the charter was restored. Into these digests, but when or
how nobody could tell, the phrases: "Roman Catholics excepted," and
"professing Christianity," had been interpolated in direct violation
of the royal charter. Neither under Charles nor under James could
this have been done. But in 1696 a plot against William had been
discovered, which led to the formation of "associations of loyalty"
in all the colonies but Rhode Island. Practically, the exception had
no effect, and Catholics and Jews were admitted to the full rights of
citizenship as they had always been. But as an historical question it
is pleasant to know that the principle of universal toleration was
never practically violated in the home of Roger Williams.