THE CONTROVERSY OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES WITH THE HOME GOVERNMENT (1763-1775)
THE BACKGROUND OF THE CONTEST
Nature of the causes.--While British statesmen were working out a system
of government for the newly acquired domains, in the empire forces of
disintegration were at work which brought on the American Revolution.
The causes of that convulsion cannot be traced to a group of events or
laws. Through a long period social, political, and economic forces were
at work which gradually brought thirteen of the mainland colonies into
open rebellion. Because this opposition is more evident after the French
and Indian War, and because the economic is the most obvious phase of
the struggle, historians have sometimes concluded that the laws passed
by parliament between 1763 and 1776 were the cause of the Revolution.
The policy pursued by the British government no doubt hastened it, but
alone does not account for it.
A mixed population.--For more than a century the colonies had been
receiving new elements which were producing a society in many respects
different from that of England. America had been the recipient of many
of the radicals, the down-trodden, and the discontented from the mother
country. The acquisition of New Netherlands had brought under British
control a considerable number of Dutch, Swedes, and Finns. The Huguenot
migration which followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes had added
another element. The German and Scotch-Irish influxes had brought in
thousands. Welsh, Scotch, Irish, and Jews were also to be found in the
colonies. America, then as now, was a melting pot of the nations.
Lack of American nationality.--Influenced largely by climatic and
physiographic conditions, distinct industrial systems had developed. In
the northern colonies the small farm prevailed, in the South the
plantation system. The North produced the seamen, fishermen, and
merchants, while few of the southerners were seafarers. The frontier
with its foreign elements, its scattered settlements, and freedom from
restraint had produced a society which differed from the tide-water
region. The fur-trader, the cattleman, the lumberman, and the small
farmer were distinctly different in speech, dress, habits, and point of
view from the Boston merchant, the Philadelphia Quaker, or the Virginia
planter. Separatist tendencies were stronger than those of coalescence.
A Virginian was a Virginian and not an American. There was little in
common between the New Englander and the southern planter, or between
the people of the Hudson Valley and the Quakers.
Class distinctions.--In individual colonies society was continually
growing in complexity. Though the great mass of the population continued
to be rural, town life was becoming an important factor. Members of an
aristocracy, of which the governor was usually the central social
figure, were inclined to rear their heads above their fellows. The
merchants and lawyers, ever increasing in numbers, found themselves
outside the social pale of the official aristocracy, a source of silent
mortification which was a real force in producing radicals.
Evolution of English society.--English as well as American society had
also undergone a rapid evolution. Puritan England had passed away; the
Stuarts, the Hanoverians, and foreign conquests had transformed the
viewpoint of the Englishman. Little was there in common between John
Milton and Horace Walpole, or between a Cromwell and a Newcastle. The
sudden greatness that had come through the Seven Years' War well-nigh
turned the heads of Englishmen. To acquire wealth, to wield power, and
to live gaily seemed to be the ideals of the upper class Englishman of
the reign of George III. The colonial who still considered the mother
country as the traditional England of Magna Carta, the Puritan
Revolution, and the Bill of Rights, had as little understanding of a
Townshend as had a Townshend a comprehension of the colonial.
The assemblies control the purse.--The governmental institutions of the
colonies had gradually evolved toward a common type, whose constituent
parts were the governor, council, and assembly, the governor and
council, except in Connecticut and Rhode Island, representing imperial
or proprietary authority, and the assembly the will of the colonial
inhabitants. The power of the assemblies to control the purse had been
steadily growing, until the colonies considered the principle
established both by precedent and by inherent rights guaranteed by the
English constitution. By controlling the budgets and the salaries of the
governors, the assemblies held the whip hand over the executives.
English and colonial ideas of representation.--The meaning of the term
representation differed in England and the colonies. To the Englishman
parliament represented the British Empire and legislated for the whole
of it, allowing the colonies to handle local matters within their
chartered rights. Parliament was regarded as representing the three
estates or classes of society, rather than individuals. The idea that
every Englishman was represented by a man in whose selection he had had
a voice had not become a part of the English political system. Members
of parliament were frequently chosen in rotten boroughs. A few thousand
men at most chose the entire parliamentary body. The king's ministers,
selected from the party which could command a majority in the House of
Commons, directed public policy and enforced their will upon a
subservient commons. In America the suffrage was usually restricted by a
property or church qualification, but every member of an assembly
actually represented a colonial community and a known constituency. When
the colonial orator declared for no taxation without representation, he
was talking in the terms of a system that had grown up in America, but
which England did not begin to adopt until the Reform Bill of 1832.
The causes of the development of nationalism.--French political
philosophers and observant travelers had predicted that the removal of
French power from America would cause the colonies to seek independence.
Franklin ridiculed the idea, for he believed that colonial jealousies
were too strong to allow united action, a view which was also held by
Pitt. After the French and Indian War the English government, by
enforcing and extending the colonial system, quickened public opinion,
overthrew separatist tendencies, and brought many of the colonists to
think and act together in opposition to English policy. When this was
attained, a national consciousness had come into existence which
gradually developed into open rebellion.
Illicit traffic during the French and Indian War.--Since the reign of
Anne England had not enforced the trade laws strictly. The Molasses Act
of 1733 had been practically a dead letter from the date of its passage
and the other navigation acts had been frequently violated. Smuggling
was winked at by governors and customs officials, who in many cases
profited from the traffic. During the French and Indian War the colonies
traded extensively with the French West Indies. This was especially
galling to England, whose chief weapon against France was control of the
seas. Though the colonies in 1756 were forbidden to trade with the
French, the colonial skippers evaded the command by shipping goods to
the Dutch ports of Curacoa and St. Eustatius, or to the French West
Indies. In 1757 parliament forbade the exportation of food stuffs from
the colonies to foreign ports, but the colonials continued to make
shipments to the French or Dutch colonies and to bring back cargoes of
molasses, sugar, and rum. To stop Dutch trade with the French colonies,
Dutch merchant vessels were seized. As the English navy gradually
isolated or captured the French West Indies, the colonials found a new
method of circumventing the regulations by shipping to Monte Cristi, a
Spanish port in Espanola near the French boundary. A commerce of less
importance but of similar nature was also maintained with Florida and
Louisiana. In 1760, when the English navy had gained the upper hand, the
illicit commerce diminished but did not entirely cease. When Spain
entered the war a considerable increase occurred. The naval and military
authorities did all in their power to end the traffic with the enemy,
for they considered that its continuance meant a prolongation of the
war.
Writs of assistance.--To prevent smuggling English officials resorted to
the issuance of writs of assistance. These were general search warrants
which enabled the holder to search any house, ship, or other property
where smuggled goods might be stored. The writs naturally aroused great
opposition among the merchants, who claimed that they were illegal. In
1761 when the Boston customs officers applied for the writs, the
merchants objected to them. When the merchants' cause was presented
before the Massachusetts Supreme Court, James Otis argued that the
writs, being general, were illegal and struck at the liberty of the
individual. "No acts of parliament can establish such a writ.... An act
against the constitution is void." The courts upheld the legality of the
writs but Otis's speech did much to arouse and formulate public opinion.
The Parson's Cause.--In Virginia Patrick Henry performed a similar
function in formulating public opinion. The speech which made him the
leader of the Virginia radicals was delivered in connection with a suit
brought by one of the Virginia clergy. Tobacco was the medium of
exchange in the Old Dominion and ministers were paid annually 17,000
pounds of tobacco. In 1755 and 1758, the burgesses passed acts which
allowed debts to be redeemed at two pence for each pound of tobacco.
This worked a hardship upon the ministers, who naturally desired the
benefit of the high price of tobacco to compensate them for the hard
years when prices were low. The acts were disallowed by the crown in
1759, and the ministers attempted to recover their losses. In a suit
brought in 1763 by Reverend James Maury, Patrick Henry appeared for the
vestry. Realizing the weakness of his legal position, Henry resolved to
carry the jury by an emotional attack upon the king's prerogative. He
argued that the act of 1758 was a law of general utility consistent with
the original compact between ruler and ruled, upon which government was
based, and that the king, by disallowing this salutary act, became a
tyrant and forfeited his right to the obedience of his subjects.
REFORMS OF THE GRENVILLE MINISTRY
Economy and reform.--At the end of the French and Indian War, England
was burdened with a staggering debt. To build up the resources of the
empire, increase the revenues, and protect the dominions were the
objects of the ministers of George III. In this program the colonies
were expected to play their part. The Bute Ministry planned to enforce
the navigation acts, to tax the colonies directly, and to use the
colonial revenue to support an army in America. The powers of the
admiralty courts were immediately enlarged and commanders of war
vessels were authorized to act as customs officials. Soon after
Grenville came into office (April, 1763), he ordered customs collectors
who were lingering in England to proceed at once to their colonial
stations and he instructed the governors to enforce the trade laws
rigidly.
Trade encouragement during 1764-1765.--To encourage commerce several
important provisions were made during 1764 and 1765. To stimulate the
fur business the old duties were abolished and an import duty of only
one pence a skin and an export duty of seven pence were levied. To
stimulate hemp and flax production bounties were paid on those products
shipped from the colonies to England. The bounty on indigo was somewhat
reduced but was still sufficient to protect the planters. The duties on
whale fins were repealed to the great benefit of Massachusetts. The rice
business was stimulated by allowing Georgia and the Carolinas to ship
without restrictions to the southward.
The Sugar Act.--Grenville's beneficial measures were more than offset by
the Sugar, Colonial Currency, Stamp, and Quartering Acts. The Sugar Act
"was a comprehensive measure, whose openly expressed aim was, in the
first place to raise a colonial revenue, and in the second to reform the
old colonial system both in its administrative and in its economic
features." The act confirmed and modified the Molasses Act of 1733. The
duty on sugar shipped to the British colonies was raised but that on
molasses was lowered. To injure the French island trade, the importation
of foreign rum or spirits and commerce with Miquelon and St. Pierre were
forbidden. Oriental and French textiles, Portuguese and Spanish wines,
and coffee, if brought directly to the British colonies, were taxed
heavily, but if shipped from England the duty was low. To protect South
Carolina a duty was imposed upon foreign indigo shipped to the colonies.
With a few exceptions no drawbacks were henceforth to be allowed, and
revenues derived from the Sugar Act were to be paid into the royal
exchequer. They were to be kept separate from other moneys and were to
be used only for the protection of the British colonies in America.
Stringent regulations were provided for the enforcement of the Sugar
Act and other navigation laws. At the option of the informer or
prosecutor, penalties for breach of the trade laws might be recovered in
any court of record in the district where the offence was committed or
in any admiralty court in America. The accused was required to give
security for costs if he lost his suit, but if he won his case, he was
not entitled to costs if the judge certified that the grounds of action
seemed probable. Furthermore in the Molasses Act which was now
confirmed, the burden of proof was placed upon the owner or claimant.
Every shipmaster was required to give a bond to land only enumerated
goods at European ports north of Cape Finisterre and to possess a
certificate from the customs collector at the point of loading. West
Indian goods not properly certified were to be treated as foreign goods.
Vessels cleared from British ports must contain only goods loaded in
Great Britain. This, however, did not apply to salt and Irish linen.
Breaches of these regulations subjected the law breaker to severe
penalties.
Regulation of Colonial Currency.--Another important measure was the
Colonial Currency Act. Lack of specie had compelled the issuance of
colonial paper money, and though Massachusetts had retired such issues
in 1749, most of the colonies were still suffering from depreciated and
unstable currency. To protect the English merchant, parliament passed
the Colonial Currency Act which prevented colonists from paying their
debts to the home country in depreciated currency and stopped the issues
of unsound money. The act caused a shortage of the medium of exchange at
the time that the colonists were deprived of the West Indian commerce
which had supplied them with specie to settle balances in London. The
act produced embittered feeling which paved the way for greater
opposition.
Colonial protests.--When it became known in the colonies that the
Ministry intended to enforce a more rigid policy which included the
levying of internal taxes by parliamentary enactment, vigorous protests
were made. Memorials, resolutions, and addresses poured in upon the
king, lords, commons, and Board of Trade, and numerous pamphlets
appeared which presented the economic and constitutional viewpoint of
the colonists.
The Massachusetts protest.--The Boston town meeting urged the assembly
to use its influence to protect the rights of the colonies and in its
instructions to the Boston representatives the principles were stated
that there should be no taxation without representation and that
colonials were entitled to full rights of Englishmen. It was also
suggested that other injured colonies should be asked to cooeperate in
seeking redress. A committee of the assembly presented a memorial
drafted by Otis which contained the additional principle that parliament
had no right to alter the constitution. The memorial was sent to the
Massachusetts agent in England with instructions to urge the repeal of
the Sugar Act and to protest against the proposed Stamp Act. A committee
of correspondence headed by Otis was authorized to inform the other
colonies of the action of Massachusetts and to seek their cooeperation.
As the action had been taken by the assembly without the consent of the
council, the governor was soon petitioned to call the general court. He
complied and a petition was drawn which temperately protested.
The Rhode Island protest.--Before the Sugar Act was passed a
remonstrance was prepared in Rhode Island, which was to be presented to
the Board of Trade if three other colonial agents would cooeperate.
Committees of correspondence were also formed in various towns. After
the passage of the act the committee of correspondence of which Governor
Hopkins was a member sent out a circular letter protesting against the
Sugar Act and the proposed Stamp Act, In November, 1764, the assembly
sent a petition to the king in which the principle was stated that an
essential privilege of Englishmen was that they should be governed by
laws made by their own consent.
Connecticut protest.--In Connecticut Governor Fitch, at the suggestion
of the assembly, prepared an address to parliament which protested
against the proposed Stamp Act or any other bill for internal taxes.
This and the governor's book of _Reasons Why the British Colonies in
America should not be Charged with Internal Taxes by Authority of
Parliament_ were sent.
New York protest--In March, 1764, the New York merchants presented to
the council a memorial against the renewal of the Molasses Act. In
October the assembly appointed a committee of correspondence and sent
statements of grievances to the king and the lords, and a petition to
the commons. In the petition the significant statement was made that
the loss of colonial rights was likely to shake the power of Great
Britain.
Pennsylvania's protest.--The Pennsylvania assembly considered that
parliament had no right to tax the colony. Jackson, the colonial agent,
was instructed to remonstrate against the proposed Stamp Act and to
endeavor to secure the repeal or modification of the Sugar Act. Franklin
was sent over to assist Jackson.
Maryland and Virginia.--In Maryland the governor prevented the meeting
of the assembly, but the Virginia council and burgesses prepared an
address to the king, a memorial to the lords, and a remonstrance to the
commons. The Virginians claimed the rights and privileges that their
ancestors had had in England and laid down the fundamental principle of
no taxation without representation.
The Carolinas.--North Carolina protested strongly and in South Carolina
the assembly appointed a committee which instructed the colonial agent
to complain of the laws of trade. The instructions also declared that a
Stamp Act would violate the inherent right of every British subject to
be taxed only by his own consent or by his representatives. The governor
prorogued the assembly before a vote could be taken upon the committee's
action, but the instructions, nevertheless, were sent.
The Stamp Act.--In spite of colonial protests Grenville pursued his
policy, the appeals of the colonies being rejected under the rule that
petitions against money bills should not be received, and in March,
1765, parliament passed the Stamp Act. By its provisions stamps were to
be placed on commercial and legal documents, pamphlets, newspapers,
almanacs, playing cards, and dice. The enforcement of the act was placed
under the management of English commissioners who were empowered to
appoint persons to attend in every court or public office in the
colonies to see that the law was enforced. For infringements of the law
there were heavy penalties which might be collected through the
admiralty courts if the informer or prosecutor so elected. Certain cases
of forging and counterfeiting were punishable by death. The revenue
derived from the Stamp Act was to be paid into the exchequer to be used
for colonial defence.
Quartering Act.--The ministry intended to establish an army of 10,000
men in the colonies and the annual Mutiny Act of 1765 authorized the
sending of such troops as might be deemed necessary. This was followed
by the Quartering Act As "_the publick houses and barracks, in his
Majesty's dominions in America, may not be sufficient to supply quarters
for such forces: and whereas it is expedient and necessary that
carriages and other conveniences, upon the march of troops ... should be
supplied for that purpose_," it was enacted that, if colonial barracks
were insufficient, officers and troops were to be quartered in public
hostelries. If more room were needed, vacant buildings were to be
rented. Troops were to be supplied with fire, candles, vinegar, salt,
bedding, cooking utensils, and small quantities of beer, cider, or rum.
Persons giving houses for troops and furnishing supplies were to be
reimbursed by the province. The colonies were to furnish conveyances at
rates fixed by the act, but if the expense exceeded the rate, the
province had to make up the deficit.
Colonial opposition.--To the colonies the Stamp Act, the Quartering Act,
and the extension of admiralty jurisdiction were unconstitutional.
Trials in the admiralty courts had always been looked upon with
disfavor, as they violated the right of trial by jury. The new
regulation allowing alleged violators of the trade laws to be taken to
Halifax for trial was looked upon as a dangerous innovation. The
Quartering Act was viewed as a violation of the constitutional principle
that troops were not to be quartered upon the people. The provisions of
the law were especially aggravating to New York which, because of the
strategic position of the colony, would have to bear an undue part in
the support and transportation of troops. But the Stamp Act aroused the
greatest furor. All of the elements of discontent united against an act
which encroached upon the right of the assemblies to control taxation.
Indirect taxation was not looked upon as taxation. To the colonial
economists the navigation acts were merely trade regulations and the
right of parliament to regulate commerce was fully recognized. But a
direct tax imposed by parliament to support an obnoxious soldiery set in
motion the forces of discontent and produced a unity of opposition which
surprised the ministers of George III.
The Virginia Resolutions.--Virginia took the lead in opposition. On May
29, 1765, the burgesses resolved themselves into a committee of the
whole to consider the steps necessary to be taken in consequence of the
Stamp Act. Patrick Henry, the "rustic and clownish youth of the terrible
tongue," introduced a series of resolutions which boldly challenged the
British government. The preamble stated that, as the House of Commons
had raised the question of how far the general assembly had power to
enact laws for laying taxes and imposing duties payable by the people of
Virginia, the House of Burgesses, to settle and ascertain the same to
all future time, resolved: (1) that the first adventurers and settlers
of Virginia brought with them and transmitted to their posterity and to
other English subjects who had come to five in the colony all the rights
of the people of Great Britain; (2) that these were granted to them by
two charters of James I; (3) that taxation of the people by themselves
or by their representatives was a distinguishing characteristic of
British freedom without which the ancient constitution could not exist;
(4) that the people of Virginia had uninterruptedly enjoyed the right of
being governed by their own assembly in matters of taxes and internal
police, a right which had never been forfeited and had been constantly
recognized by the kings and people of Great Britain. (5) Therefore it
was resolved that the general assembly had the sole right and power to
lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of Virginia, and that
every attempt to vest such power in any other person or persons had a
tendency to destroy British as well as American freedom; (6) that the
inhabitants of Virginia were not bound by any law or ordinance designed
to impose any tax upon them other than those imposed by the general
assembly; (7) and that any person who maintained that Virginians were
bound to obey such laws not imposed by the assembly should be deemed an
enemy of the colony.
The resolutions precipitated an acrimonious debate in which the
democratic members of the western counties supported Henry against the
aristocratic leaders. The committee of the whole appears to have adopted
the resolutions, but on the following day the burgesses rejected the
preamble and the last two resolutions, the other five being passed by a
slender majority. Henry then left the assembly and the following
morning the conservatives expunged from the record the fifth resolution.
The manuscript of the entire series, except the third resolution which
was omitted by error, was already on its way to the other colonies and
was widely published. "Beyond question the Virginia resolves mark an
important crisis in the impending revolution."
Resistance and violence.--In June the Massachusetts general court, at
the suggestion of Otis, sent a circular letter to the other colonial
assemblies asking them to send delegates to meet at New York in the
following October to consider the danger from the Stamp Act. Before the
delegates met fierce opposition appeared in nearly every colony.
Remonstrances came from towns, counties, and assemblies. Newspapers and
pamphlets inveighed against the act, and non-importation agreements were
made in many localities. Associations called "Sons of Liberty" sprang
up. At first they worked secretly, but they soon announced their
committees of correspondence which worked to unify the opposition.
In Boston occurred riots of greater violence than in any other place. On
August 14 the stamp distributor's effigy was hung on the "Liberty Tree,"
and after other demonstrations, that night a mob demolished a building
which it was believed the collector was erecting for an office. On
August 26 the houses of two of the customs officials were sacked and the
house of Chief Justice Hutchinson was pillaged and destroyed. At Newport
the stamp distributor and a sympathizer found it necessary to seek
safety on a British man-of-war. Scenes of violence occurred in the other
colonies and the stamp distributors resigned with more haste than
dignity.
REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT
The Stamp Act Congress.--The Stamp Act Congress met at New York on
October 7, 1765. Nine colonies were represented, Virginia, North
Carolina, Georgia, and New Hampshire failing to send delegates.
Prominent among those in attendance were John Dickinson of Pennsylvania,
John Rutledge and Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina, and James Otis
of Massachusetts. On October 19 a declaration of rights and grievances,
originally drafted by Dickinson, was adopted. In the declaration the
argument was presented that the colonies were entitled to the inherent
rights and liberties of native-born Englishmen, one of which was that no
taxes were to be imposed upon them except by their own consent or by
their representatives. The colonists were not and from their local
circumstances could not be represented in the House of Commons, their
only representatives being those in the colonies who alone had the
constitutional right to impose taxes upon them. All supplies to the
crown being free gifts of the people, it was unreasonable and
inconsistent with the principles and spirit of the British constitution
for the people of Great Britain to grant to the king the property of the
colonists. Trial by jury was an inherent right of every British subject
in the colonies, but the Stamp Act and other laws, by extending the
jurisdiction of the admiralty courts, had a tendency to subvert the
rights and liberties of the colonists. The duties imposed by recent acts
of parliament would be burdensome and grievous, and from the scarcity of
specie the payment of them would be impracticable. The recent
restrictions would make it impossible to purchase the manufactures of
Great Britain. The right to petition the king or either house of
parliament was also asserted. By an address to the king and by
applications to both houses of parliament, they endeavored to procure
the repeal of the Stamp Act, of clauses in recent acts which increased
admiralty jurisdiction, and of recent acts placing restrictions on
American commerce.
Repeal of the Stamp Act.--In July, 1765, Grenville fell from power, but
not because of opposition to the Stamp Act. The Marquis of Rockingham, a
man of moderate ability, was selected to form the new cabinet. The
question of the repeal of the Stamp Act came up in parliament early in
1766. During the debate in the commons on February 13, Franklin, then
agent for Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, was questioned regarding the
colonial attitude, and he made it clear that the Stamp Act could not be
enforced. The American cause was strengthened by the powerful support of
Pitt and by the protests of English merchants and manufacturers who were
losing trade through colonial boycotts. After a momentous debate, the
act was repealed.
The Declaratory Act.--Although parliament had given ground it did not
surrender, for in the Declaratory Act of March 18, 1766, it asserted its
right to tax the colonies. The act declared that the colonies were
subordinate unto and dependent upon the crown and parliament, and that
the king by and with the consent of parliament had full power and
authority to make laws to bind the colonies in all cases. All
resolutions, votes, orders, and proceedings in the colonies denying the
power and authority of parliament to make laws imposing taxes and
regulations were declared null and void.
Other legislation.--The Quartering Act was then renewed, but with
certain changes to make it more effective. The imposts on textiles which
had previously been collected in America were henceforth to be collected
at the point of exportation. The duty on molasses was changed from three
pence a gallon on the foreign product to one penny a gallon on all
molasses brought to the continental colonies.
Colonial rejoicing.--The Declaratory and other acts attracted little
attention in America, where there was great rejoicing over the repeal of
the Stamp Act. The constitutional principles for which the colonists had
contended had in no wise been conceded, but to the colonist his point
seemed won. He was soon to be rudely awakened.
THE TOWNSHEND ACTS
Townshend.--In July, 1766, Rockingham fell from power and the
Pitt-Grafton Ministry was formed. Unfortunately for the colonies, Pitt
was in ill-health and took little part in shaping policies. The strong
man of the cabinet was Charles Townshend. He was fully in sympathy with
Grenville's ideas, and was responsible for a new series of irritating
acts.
Suspension of the New York assembly.--Trouble had arisen in New York
over the enforcement of the Quartering Act. In June, 1766, in reply to
Governor Moore's request that provision be made for the expected troops,
the assembly excused itself from compliance but intimated that about
L4000 then in the treasury might be used. Later the assembly passed an
act making provision for one year for a thousand men and one company of
artillery. When a request was made for full compliance with the
Quartering Act, the assembly refused. On December 19 it was prorogued,
and on June 15, 1767, was suspended by act of parliament.
Colonial customs commissioners.--Another act provided for a board of
commissioners of customs to be established in America. The preamble
stated that, as the colonial customs officials had found it inconvenient
to apply to the commissioners in England for directions when
difficulties arose, and as colonial shippers were greatly delayed in
carrying on business, commissioners were to be stationed in America.
Five commissioners were appointed with headquarters at Boston.
Revenue acts.--A new revenue act was passed "for making a more certain
and adequate provision for defraying the charge of the administration of
justice and the support of civil government, in such provinces where it
shall be found necessary, and toward further defraying the expenses of
defending, protecting, and securing" the dominions in America. Duties
were imposed upon glass, red and white lead, painter's colors, tea, and
paper. Drawbacks were allowed on coffee and cocoanuts, but chinaware was
no longer subject to drawback. Writs of assistance were declared legal.
By another act a drawback for five years was granted on tea reexported
from England to Ireland or the colonies.
Dickinson's "Farmer's Letters."--The Townshend Acts were received with
alarm throughout the colonies. "Awed by the suddenness and magnitude of
the peril, the colonial leaders acted with circumspection and rare
self-control." The most powerful statement of the colonial viewpoint
came from John Dickinson whose "Farmer's Letters" were read throughout
the colonies, were published in London, translated into French, "and
were read by everybody in the two capitals of civilization who read
anything more serious than a playbill." Dickinson recognized the
vagueness of the constitutional relations of the colonies to the mother
country. He urged that a spirit of compromise should prevail and that no
abstract theory of sovereignty should be pushed to its logical
conclusions. He admitted that parliament possessed legal authority to
regulate the trade of the empire, but the recent attempts to raise a
revenue he considered a most dangerous innovation. "Great Britain claims
and exercises the right to prohibit manufactures in America. Once admit
that she may lay duties upon her exportations to us, for the purpose of
levying money on us only, she then will have nothing to do but to lay
those duties on the articles which she prohibits us to manufacture, and
the tragedy of American liberty is finished."
"I would persuade the people of these Colonies ... to exert themselves
in the most firm, but the most peaceable manner, for obtaining relief.
If an inveterate resolution is formed to annihilate the liberties of the
governed, English history affords examples of resistance by force."
"Let us consider ourselves as ... freemen, ... _firmly bound together_
by the _same rights_, _interests_, and _dangers_ ... What have these
colonies to _ask_, while they continue free; Or what have they to
_dread_, but insidious attempts to subvert their freedom?... They form
one political body, of which each _colony_ is a _member_."
The Massachusetts protest--In Massachusetts the Townshend Acts were
received by a public which was already irritated by the untactful course
of Governor Bernard. Soon after the repeal of the Stamp Act he had
negatived the election of Otis as speaker of the assembly, and when that
body retaliated by refusing to reelect certain members of the council,
the governor had refused to accept six members elected by the popular
party. Difficulties had also arisen when the governor demanded
compensation for those who had suffered by the Stamp Act riots and when
he demanded compliance with the Quartering Act.
The first protest of Massachusetts against the Townshend Acts was on
October 28, 1767, when the Boston town-meeting renewed the
non-importation agreement The General Court convened on December 30 and
shortly afterward the acts were read in the assembly and referred to a
committee for consideration. The committee drafted a letter to the
colonial agent which reviewed the arguments against taxation and
protested against the Townshend Acts. A petition to the king and letters
to members of the ministry were also prepared. A circular letter to the
assemblies in the other colonies, drawn by Samuel Adams, was adopted on
February 11, 1768.
The circular letter stated that it seemed necessary that the
representatives of the several assemblies should act in harmony "upon so
delicate a point" as the recent imposition of duties and taxes. The
argument regarding taxation without representation was restated, and
objection was made to the payment of the salaries of governors and
judges by the crown, to the large powers of appointment given to the
commissioners of the customs, and to the Quartering Act. Denial was made
that independence was in the minds of the Massachusetts representatives
and the letter closed with an expression of confidence in the king.
Several of the colonies sent sympathetic replies and Virginia issued a
circular letter to the other colonies calling upon them to unite with
Massachusetts in her petition for redress.
Hillsborough's reply.--When the Massachusetts protests reached England,
they came before a ministry which was prejudiced by letters from royal
officials in America. Lord Hillsborough, who had recently been appointed
to the newly created position of colonial secretary, laid the
Massachusetts protests before the cabinet. On April 21 he sent letters
to all the colonial governors, with the exception of Bernard, ordering
them to ignore the Massachusetts circular letter. If the assemblies took
notice of it, they were to prorogue or dissolve them. Bernard was
commanded to require the Massachusetts assembly to rescind its action
and to declare its disapprobation of its recent action. The
Massachusetts assembly refused and the other assemblies commended its
course.
The customs officials defied.--Acts of violence soon occurred. The
warship _Romney_ was anchored in Boston harbor and the captain angered
the people by impressing seamen, one of whom was rescued. On the same
day the sloop _Liberty_, owned by John Hancock, arrived with a cargo of
Madeira wine. The customs collector was locked up by the crew while the
cargo was landed and a false entry made. The _Liberty_ was seized and
moored under the guns of the _Romney_. A riot then occurred; the houses
of two of the customs officials were damaged and a boat belonging to the
controller was burned. The officials fled to the _Romney_ and later took
refuge in Castle William. The Boston town-meeting requested the removal
of the war vessel, but the governor refused on the ground that such
action would be beyond his jurisdiction. At Newport a revenue cutter
was burned and at Providence a coat of tar and feathers was
administered to a customs official.
Action of the Boston town-meeting and the Massachusetts
convention.--Before the occurrence of these riotous acts, the ministry
had determined to send troops to Boston. When this became known, the
town-meeting assembled in Faneuil Hall and resolved that the inhabitants
defend their rights, and they were called upon to provide themselves
with arms. When the governor refused to summon the assembly, the
selectmen called a convention of delegates from the Massachusetts towns.
Ninety-six towns responded. The governor refused to recognize the
convention, but it remained in session for six days and did not adjourn
until a statement of grievances had been formulated. On September 28,
1768, the day of adjournment, two regiments arrived at Boston.
Prisoners accused of treason to be tried in England.--The rebellious
acts of Massachusetts were condemned by parliament which also advised
the enforcement of the statute of Henry VIII which allowed the
government to bring to England for trial persons accused of treason
committed outside of the kingdom. This aroused a storm of protest. In
Virginia the burgesses adopted resolutions which asserted that the right
of taxation was vested in the House of Burgesses, that petitioning the
sovereign was an undoubted privilege of the colony, and that it was
lawful and expedient to procure the concurrence of other colonies "in
dutiful addresses, praying the royal interposition in favour of the
violated rights of America;" that trials for treason or for any felony
or crime committed in the colony should be held in the courts of that
colony, and that the sending of suspected persons beyond the sea for
trial was derogatory of the right of trial by a jury of the vicinage and
deprived the accused of summoning witnesses. The resolutions were sent
to the other assemblies. When the governor dissolved the burgesses, the
members met in a private house and drew up a non-importation agreement.
Other assemblies approved the Virginia resolutions and non-importation
agreements were signed throughout the colonies.
Departure of Bernard.--Massachusetts continued to be the center of
unrest. The unpopularity of Governor Bernard increased when it became
known that he was collecting evidence against Samuel Adams. The public
ire grew more intense when some of the governor's letters to the
Ministry were published. The council drew up charges against him and the
assembly petitioned for his recall. In July, 1770, he voluntarily
departed, leaving Hutchinson in charge.
The Boston "Massacre."--The troops remained in Boston where they were
heartily detested. Difficulties between soldiers and townspeople became
more and more frequent and in March, 1770, there was a serious
collision. On the fifth a sentinel at the custom house was pelted with
snow balls, and when he called for aid the guard came to his assistance.
A soldier was knocked down, shots were fired by the guard, and several
citizens were killed or wounded. Preston, the commanding officer of the
guard, surrendered to the civil authorities, and the privates were
placed under arrest. The selectmen demanded the withdrawal of the troops
to Castle William and Hutchinson hesitatingly complied. When the
soldiers were brought to trial, they were defended by John Adams and
Josiah Quincy, who obtained acquittal for all but two who were lightly
sentenced.
BEGINNING OF ORGANIZED RESISTANCE
Partial repeal of the Townshend Acts.--The Townshend Acts had proved a
complete failure. Exports from England to America had dropped from
L2,378,000 in 1768 to L1,634,000 in 1769. The customs were yielding
little revenue while the colonial military establishment had become
extremely expensive. In addition the colonies had been brought close to
rebellion. Lord North, who became Prime Minister on January 31, 1770,
hoped to end the commotions in America which had been so injurious to
English merchants and manufacturers. He accordingly obtained a repeal of
the duties on paints, glass, and paper, but at the suggestion of the
king, the tea tax was retained in order to maintain the principle that
parliament had the right to tax the colonies. The economic result of the
repeal was immediately evident, for in 1770 the English exports to
America reached nearly two million pounds sterling and during the next
year more than doubled.
Arbitrary attitude of the governors.--The public, however, was kept in a
state of agitation by the arbitrary acts of the governors who reflected
the royal will. In Georgia the governor vetoed the assembly's choice for
speaker, provoking a controversy which ended in the dissolution of the
assembly. In South Carolina the governor was in frequent quarrels with
the assembly, first over the salaries of the judges, then regarding the
veto of an appropriation but, and finally over convening the assembly at
Beaufort instead of at Charleston. Virginia was irritated by the royal
instructions which forbade the governor to assent to any law which would
prohibit or obstruct the importation of slaves. In Maryland the governor
by proclamation revived a law regulating fees which had expired by
limitation, an action which was looked upon as an assertion of the right
to levy taxes.
In Massachusetts the General Court, which was to have met at Boston in
January, 1770, was called to meet at Cambridge on March 15. The assembly
objected to the change of time and place and demanded a copy of
Hutchinson's instructions, but he refused to comply. The assembly would
do no business while thus constrained to hold its sessions away from
Boston, and declared that the people and their representatives had a
right to withstand the abusive exercise of the crown's prerogative.
Under protest the assembly finally proceeded to business, but another
difficulty immediately arose when the colonial troops were removed from
Castle William which was then garrisoned by the regulars. In July, 1771,
Hutchinson, who had recently been appointed governor, vetoed a bull
which provided for the salaries of the crown officials, an action which
called forth a protest from the assembly which held that royal
instructions were thus given the force of law. The following year the
assembly was informed that henceforth the salaries of the governor and
judges would be paid by the crown.
The Gaspee affair.--In Rhode Island an event occurred in 1772 which had
far-reaching influence. The numerous inlets and islands of Narragansett
Bay made smuggling easy, and revenue vessels, though constantly on the
alert, experienced great difficulty in detecting the illicit traders.
The revenue boats _St. Johns_ and _Liberty_ were destroyed by men from
Newport and the customs officials were annoyed by suits to recover
vessels and cargoes which they had seized; Admiral Montagu accordingly
ordered that seized vessels be sent to Boston. To Rhode Islanders
Dudington, the commander of the _Gaspee_, was especially obnoxious.
According to Trevelyan, "He stopped and searched vessels without
adequate pretext, seized goods illegally, and fired at the market boats
as they entered Newport harbour. He treated the farmers on the islands
much as the Saracens in the Middle Ages treated the coast population of
Italy, cutting down their trees for fuel, and taking their sheep when
his crew ran short of meat." The injured parties made their voices
heard, and the case was laid before the Admiral, who approved the
conduct of his subordinate officer, and announced that, "as sure as any
people from Newport attempted to rescue a vessel, he would hang them as
pirates." On June 9 the _Gaspee_ ran aground seven miles below
Providence and during the night the vessel was boarded, Dudington was
wounded, he and his crew were put on shore, and the vessel was burned.
The act of violence aroused the British government and orders were sent
to the governor of Rhode Island, the admiralty judge at Boston, and the
chief justices of Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York to act as a
commission of inquiry. The commission held sessions in January and May,
1773, but failed to obtain any evidence.
Local committees of correspondence.--The arbitrary acts of the crown
officials, the extension of the royal prerogative, and the _Gaspee_
affair made possible the organization of the radical elements in the
colonies. In Massachusetts opposition centered in Samuel Adams, "the man
of the town meeting," who put forth pamphlet after pamphlet which struck
at the encroachments upon colonial rights. "While he restated the old
argument against the right of parliament to tax, he closely examined the
foundations of the claim of the ministers to govern by royal
instructions. He had grasped the idea that the king, lords, and commons,
as well as the colonies, were subject to the authority and bound by the
limitations of constitutional law." In the assembly, in the town
meeting, through the press, on the street, among the sailors, fishermen,
and ropemakers, he advocated the necessity of union. During the contest
over the salaries of the crown officials, Adams seized the opportunity
to put his ideas into tangible form. On November 2, 1772, in the Boston
town meeting he moved that a committee of twenty-one be appointed to
state the rights of the colonists, particularly of Massachusetts, and to
communicate and publish the same to the Massachusetts towns and to the
world as the sense of Boston "with the infringements and violations
thereof that have been or ... may be, made; also requesting of each town
a free communication of their sentiments on this subject." By January,
1773, more than eighty towns in Massachusetts had committees.
"The Boston committee of correspondence has been likened to a political
party manager. It provided for regular meetings, consulted with similar
bodies in the vicinity, stimulated the spread of committees in
surrounding towns, kept up a correspondence with them, prepared
political matter for the press, circulated it in newspapers and
broadsides, matured political measures, created and guided public
sentiment--in short, heated the popular temper to the boiling point of
revolution and then drew from it the authority to act."
Standing committees of correspondence.--Aroused by the _Gaspee_ inquiry,
the Virginia burgesses on March 12, 1773, adopted resolutions which
provided for a standing committee of correspondence and inquiry whose
business was "to obtain the most early and authentic intelligence of all
such acts and resolutions of the British Parliament, or proceedings of
Administration, as may relate to or affect the British colonies in
America, and to keep up and maintain a correspondence and communication
with our sister colonies, respecting these important considerations; and
the result of such their proceedings, from time to time, to lay before
this House." The committee was also instructed to obtain information
regarding "the principles and authority on which was constituted a court
of inquiry, said to have been lately held in Rhode Island, with powers
to transmit persons accused of offences committed in America to places
beyond the seas to be tried." The speaker was instructed to transmit to
the speakers of the different assemblies of the British colonies on the
continent copies of the resolutions, that they might lay them before
their assemblies and request them to appoint a person or persons to
communicate from time to time with the committee of the burgesses.
The Virginia suggestion was first acted upon by the Rhode Island
assembly, which on May 15 informed Virginia of the appointment of a
committee of correspondence. Before the close of the month the
assemblies of Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts had
appointed similar committees. The South Carolina assembly acted in July,
Georgia in September, Maryland and Delaware in October, and North
Carolina in December. The New York assembly appointed its committee on
January 20, 1774, and New Jersey on February 8. The Pennsylvania
assembly dissolved without taking action.
The committees did not prove to be active agents, because (1) "there was
little or nothing for them to do;" (2) they "were chosen from members of
the assembly, all of whom were desirous of going home when the assembly
adjourned"; (3) "the assembly committees were extremely cautious about
acting on their own authority." "However, the choice of such committees
was not entirely without result. The popular assembly in each colony
received preliminary testing. Constitutional questions were raised and
discussed, and arguments disseminated.... More important still had been
the demonstration that a body could be created which might continue to
act in successful opposition to the crown when the royal governors
dissolved or prorogued the assemblies."
THE TEA CONTROVERSY
Attempted relief of the East India Company.--During this period George
III and his ministers took the fatal step of attempting to force tea
upon the colonies. The colonists had refrained from using tea which paid
a duty and had supplied themselves with smuggled tea from France,
Sweden, and Holland. At this time the East India Company was on the
verge of bankruptcy, a condition due in part to the loss of American
customers. In the company's warehouses a vast amount of tea had
accumulated. As a measure of relief the directors of the company advised
the repeal of the tea duty, but "a course which went direct to the point
was not of a nature to find favor with George the Third and his
Ministers." Instead they allowed the company a drawback of the entire
tea duty in England, but the tea was to be subject to the three penny
tax payable in the colonies.
The tea arrives.--George III was soon to learn that he could not force
tea down colonial throats. Late in 1773 several tea-laden ships arrived
at American ports. In Charleston the agents of the company resigned, and
when the duty was not paid, the collector seized the tea and stored it
in a damp cellar. In Philadelphia a public meeting resolved that the
duty on tea was illegal and persons who assisted in its being landed
were declared public enemies. Under pressure of public opinion the
consignees resigned and the captain of the tea vessel wisely decided not
to unload his cargo. "When New York learned that the tea-ships allotted
to it had been driven by a gale off the coast, men scanned the horizon,
like the garrison of Londonderry watching for the English fleet in Lough
Foyle, in their fear lest fate should rob them of their opportunity of
proving themselves not inferior in mettle to the Bostonians."
The Boston Tea Party.--The Massachusetts people had recently been
greatly irritated by certain private letters of Hutchinson, Oliver, and
Paxton. The letters had been obtained in England by Franklin and had
been sent under the seal of secrecy to some of the Massachusetts leaders
who, however, published them. Before the excitement subsided three
tea-laden vessels arrived at Boston. Hutchinson refused to allow the
ships to leave until regularly cleared and this could not be done until
the entire cargo had been unloaded. A mass meeting held in the Old South
Church resolved that the tea should not be landed, and when the governor
ordered the dispersal of the meeting, the bearer of the proclamation met
with insult. Neighboring towns agreed to assist Boston, with force if
necessary, and a guard watched the vessels to see that none of the tea
was landed. On December 17 the cargo would be seized by the collector
for non-payment of duty. On the evening of December 16, fifty or sixty
men disguised as Indians boarded the tea ships, rifled the chests, and
threw the contents into the bay.
The course of Massachusetts.--The British government was being sorely
tried by Massachusetts. On January 29, 1774, a petition of the general
court for the removal of Hutchinson and Oliver came before the Privy
Council Committee for Foreign Plantations. The petition was pronounced a
seditious document. Franklin was summoned before the committee, was
charged with intercepting letters, and was dismissed from the deputy
postmaster-generalship. Soon after the Boston Tea Party, the assembly
voted to impeach Justice Oliver for accepting a salary from the crown.
In retaliation Hutchinson dissolved the assembly and soon left the
colony.
LORD NORTH'S COERCIVE POLICY
The intolerable acts.--The revolutionary acts which were taking place in
America, especially those in Massachusetts, caused deep concern in
England. Pitt and Burke favored conciliation as the only means of
preserving the empire, but the king insisted upon repression. The
ministry speedily adopted a legislative program to punish Massachusetts,
and parliament legalized the ministerial policy by passing the so-called
intolerable acts.
Boston Port Act.--The first of these acts closed the port of Boston from
June 1, 1774, until such time as "it shall be made to appear to his
Majesty, in his privy council, that peace and obedience to the laws
shall be so far restored in the said town of Boston, that the trade of
_Great Britain_ may safely be carried on there, and his Majesty's
customs duly collected." The king was not to open the port until the
inhabitants of Boston had given full satisfaction to the East India
Company and to the revenue officers and others who had suffered by the
recent outbreaks.
Massachusetts Government Act.--By the "regulating act" the people of
Massachusetts were deprived of most of their chartered rights. After
July 1, 1774, the council was to be appointed by the king instead of by
the assembly. The governor was to appoint and remove, without the
consent of the council, all judges of the inferior courts, the attorney
general, provosts, marshals, and other officers belonging to the council
or courts of justice. Sheriffs were also appointed by the governor but
could not be removed without the consent of the council. The chief
justice and judges of the superior court were to be appointed by the
governor, but were to hold their commissions during the king's pleasure,
and they could not be removed unless by order of the crown. Grand and
petit juries were to be summoned by the sheriffs instead of being chosen
in town meetings. Except for elections, town meetings were to be called
only by consent of the governor and discussion was to be limited to
subjects stated in the leave. The people were still allowed to elect the
assembly.
Administration of Justice Act--The third act provided, "That if any
inquisition or indictment shall be found, or if any appeal shall be sued
or preferred against any person, for murther, or other capital offence,
in the province of the _Massachusetts Bay_, and it shall appear, by
information given upon oath to the governor.., that the fact was
committed by the person against whom such inquisition or indictment
shall be found, or against whom such appeal shall be sued or
preferred..., either in the execution of his duty as a magistrate, for
the suppression of riots, or in the support of the laws of revenue, or
in acting in his duty as an officer of revenue, or in acting under the
direction and order of any magistrate, for the suppression of riots, or
for the carrying into effect the laws of revenue, or in aiding and
assisting in any of the cases aforesaid; and if it shall also appear, to
the satisfaction of the said governor ... that an indifferent trial
cannot be had within the said province, in that case, it shall and may
be lawful for the governor ... to direct, with the advice and consent of
the council, that the inquisition, indictment, or appeal, shall be tried
in some other of his Majesty's colonies, or in _Great Britain_." The act
also made it possible to transport witnesses to the scene of the trial.
Quartering Act, June 2, 1774.--The fourth law was entitled "An act for
the better providing suitable quarters for officers and soldiers in his
Majesty's service in North America." It provided that, if any officers
or soldiers should be without quarters for twenty-four hours after a
proper demand had been made, the governor might order that uninhabited
houses, outhouses, barns, or other buildings be made fit for quarters.
The law was to remain in force until March 24, 1776. Though the act was
general in its terms, in reality it was intended "to facilitate the
establishment of a temporary military government in Massachusetts." Of
ominous import was the appointment of General Gage as governor of
Massachusetts.
The Quebec Act.--The Quebec Act which extended the province of Quebec to
the Ohio River also aroused the anger of Massachusetts, New York,
Connecticut, and Virginia, as it deprived those colonies of large tracts
of western lands which they claimed under their ancient charters. It was
not intended as a coercive act, but was so considered in the colonies.
THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
Call for a congress.--On May 10 a copy of the Port Act was received in
Boston. On the twelfth the committee of correspondence met with eight
neighboring committees and recommended non-intercourse with Great
Britain. The other colonies were asked to follow the same course. While
this was taking place the four additional regiments which Gage had
called for began to arrive and on June 1, 1774, the port was blocked by
men-of-war. Boston began to receive money and supplies from other towns
and colonies, and a new impetus was given to the formation of committees
of correspondence. Committees in New York and Philadelphia recommended
the appointment of delegates to a general congress. The Virginia
burgesses resolved to set aside June 1 as a day of fasting and prayer.
The governor dissolved the house, but the burgesses assembled on May 27
at the Raleigh Tavern and adopted a resolution calling for a congress.
Copies of the resolution were sent to the other assemblies.
On June 17 the Massachusetts assembly resolved, "That a meeting of
committees from several colonies ... is highly expedient and necessary,
to consult upon the present state of the colonies, and the miseries to
which they are and must be reduced by the operation of certain acts of
Parliament respecting America, and to deliberate and determine upon wise
and proper measures, to be by them recommended to all the colonies, for
the recovery and establishment of their just rights and liberties, civil
and religious, and the restoration of union and harmony between Great
Britain and the colonies, most ardently desired by all good men:
Therefore, resolved, that the Hon. James Bowdoin, Esq., the Hon. Thomas
Cushing, Esq., Mr. Samuel Adams and Robert Treat Paine, Esqrs., be
appointed a committee ... to meet with such committees or delegates from
the other colonies as have been or may be appointed, either by their
respective houses of burgesses or representatives, or by convention, or
by the committees of correspondence appointed by the respective houses
of assembly, in the city of Philadelphia, or any other place that shall
be judged most suitable by the committee, on the 1st day of September
next; and that the speaker of the house be directed, in a letter to the
speakers of the house of burgesses or representatives in the several
colonies, to inform them of the substance of these resolves."
Meeting of the First Continental Congress.--Every colony but Georgia
responded to the call. In September over fifty delegates assembled in
Carpenters' Hall at Philadelphia. Among them were John and Samuel Adams
of Massachusetts, John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, Richard Henry Lee,
Patrick Henry and George Washington of Virginia, Roger Sherman of
Connecticut, John Jay of New York, and Edward and John Rutledge of South
Carolina. "The congress of 1774 was not thought of by the people as a
congress in the modern legislative sense. It was rather a convention of
ambassadors of subordinate, but distinct communities which had found it
needful to take counsel of one another regarding a crisis in their
common relations to the parent state, in order, if possible, to adopt
some common plan of action. It was essentially an advisory or
consultative body. In another aspect it may be regarded as the
completion of the revolutionary party organization of which the basis
was laid in the committees of correspondence."
The Suffolk Resolves approved.--The delegates were soon divided into
well-defined groups; the radicals led by Samuel Adams wanted resistance,
the conservatives headed by Joseph Galloway favored compromise. The
radicals succeeded in getting Congress to approve the resolves recently
drawn up in the Suffolk County convention in Massachusetts. The resolves
declared that no obedience to the recent acts of parliament was due from
Massachusetts, advised that no money be turned into the treasury by the
tax-collectors until the restoration of the constitution, denounced as
enemies the king's councillors who had not resigned, and threatened
armed resistance. Congress published these resolves with its resolutions
commending the course of Boston.
A plan of union.--The conservatives favored a plan of union proposed by
Galloway, which provided for a crown appointed president-general and a
council of deputies chosen every three years by the legislatures. The
acts of the council were to be subject to parliamentary veto and acts of
parliament relating to the colonies might be vetoed by the council. The
plan was defeated by a narrow margin.
The Declaration and Resolves.--On September 7 a committee of two from
each colony had been appointed to draw up a statement of the rights of
the colonies, instances of their violation, and means of restoring them.
Agreement on the committee's report was reached on October 14. The
declaration of grievances thus adopted complained that parliament had
imposed taxes upon them and under various pretences, but in fact for the
purpose of raising revenue, had established a board of commissioners
with unconstitutional powers, and had extended the jurisdiction of the
admiralty courts, not only for collecting duties, but for trial of
causes arising merely within the body of a county. Complaint was also
made that judges had been made dependent on the crown for salaries, that
standing armies had been kept in times of peace, and that the removal to
distant places for trial of prisoners charged with treason and certain
other crimes had been legalized. The intolerable acts were described as
"impolitic, unjust, and cruel, as well as unconstitutional." Other
complaints were the dissolution of assemblies when they attempted to
deliberate on grievances, and treating with contempt petitions for
redress.
Congress accordingly resolved that the inhabitants of the English
colonies in North America were "entitled to life, liberty and property:
and they had never ceded to any foreign power whatever, a right to
dispose of either without their consent;" that they were entitled to the
same rights as their ancestors; "that the foundation of English liberty,
and of all free government, is a right in the people to participate in
their legislative council: and as the English colonies are not
represented ... in the British parliament, they are entitled to a free
and exclusive power of legislation in their several provincial
legislatures, where their right of representation can alone be
preserved, in all cases of taxation and internal policy, subject only to
the negative of their sovereign." For the mutual interests of both
countries they consented to parliamentary regulation of external
commerce. The right of trial by their peers of the vicinage, rights
confirmed by royal charters and secured by provincial codes, and the
right of assembly and petition were asserted. Keeping of a standing army
in time of peace without the consent of the legislature of the colony
where the army was kept was declared illegal. The exercise of
legislative power by a crown appointed council was declared
"unconstitutional, dangerous and destructive to the freedom of American
legislation."
"All and each of which the ... deputies, in behalf of themselves, and
their constituents, do claim, demand, and insist on, as their
indubitable rights and liberties; which cannot be legally taken from
them, altered or abridged by any power whatever, without their own
consent, by their representatives in their several provincial
legislatures."
The acts passed by parliament since 1763 to which they were opposed were
then enumerated. "To these grievous acts and measures, Americans cannot
submit, but in hopes their fellow subjects in Great-Britain will, on a
region of them, restore us to that state, in which both countries found
happiness and prosperity, we have for the present, only resolved to
pursue the following peaceable measures: 1. To enter into a
non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation agreement or
association. 2. To prepare an address to the people of Great-Britain,
and a memorial to the inhabitants of British America: and 3. To prepare
a loyal address to his majesty, agreeable to resolutions already entered
into."
Non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation.--By commercial
restrictions the delegates hoped to force the British government to
change its policy. On September 22 Congress voted to request colonial
merchants and others not to place orders for British goods and to delay
or suspend orders already sent until Congress could make known its
policy. Five days later it resolved that from December 1 there should be
no importation of goods from Great Britain or Ireland, or of British or
Irish make, and that such goods be neither used nor purchased. On
September 30 it was resolved that exportation to Great Britain. Ireland,
and the British West Indies ought to cease after September 10, 1775,
unless grievances were redressed, and a committee was appointed to
formulate a plan for the enforcement of non-importation,
non-consumption, and non-exportation.
The Association.--On October 20 the delegates adopted the "Association"
which provided that after December 1 British or Irish goods, East India
tea, molasses, syrups, paneles, coffee, and pimento from the British
plantations or from Dominica, wines from Madeira or the Western Islands,
and foreign indigo should not be imported into British America. It was
agreed that slaves should not be imported or purchased after December 1,
and slave traders were not to be allowed to rent vessels or purchase
goods. Non-exportation was not to be put into force until September 10,
1775, but if redress had not been obtained by that time, American goods
would be cut off from Great Britain, Ireland, or the West Indies. Rice,
however, might be exported to Europe. Congress agreed to encourage
frugality, economy, and industry, to promote agriculture, the arts, and
manufactures, especially of wool, and to discourage extravagance and
dissipation. Merchants and manufacturers were not to raise prices. A
committee in each county, city, and town was to observe the conduct of
persons, and if violations of the Association were discovered, the truth
was to be published in the newspapers. If any colony did not accede to
the Association, intercourse with that colony was to be cut off.
Attempts to obtain cooeperation of other Colonies.--Congress also made an
effort to obtain the cooperation of neighboring colonies by an address
to the people of Quebec and by letters to the inhabitants of St. Johns,
Nova Scotia, Georgia, and East and West Florida. A memorial to the
people of British America, an address to the people of Great Britain,
and a petition to the king were also prepared. May 10, 1775, was set as
the date for the assembly of another congress, and on October 26 the
First Continental Congress dissolved.
North's conciliatory resolution.--In January, 1775, parliament began
consideration of the petition to the king and other papers relating to
America. Chatham moved the withdrawal of the troops from Boston but the
motion was defeated. On February 1 he presented a plan of conciliation
based upon mutual concessions, but this was also rejected. On February
20 Lord North undertook the unexpected role of conciliator by a
resolution which was considered in committee of the whole and passed by
the commons a week later. The resolution provided "that when the
Governour, Council, and Assembly, or General Court, of any ... colonies
in _America_, shall propose to make provision ... for contributing their
proportion to the common defence, (such proportion to be raised under
the authority of the General Court, or General Assembly, of such
Province or Colony, and disposable by Parliament,) and shall engage to
make provision also for the support of the Civil Government, and the
Administration of Justice, in such Province or Colony, it will be
proper, if such proposal shall be approved by his Majesty and ...
Parliament ... to forbear, in respect of such Province or Colony, to
levy any Duty, Tax, or Assessment, or to impose any farther Duty, Tax,
or Assessment, except only such Duties as it may be expedient to
continue to levy or to impose for the regulation of commerce; the nett
produce of the Duties last mentioned to be carried to the account of
such Province or Colony respectively."
The Restraining Act.--The effect of North's resolution was nullified by
the Restraining Act, which, in spite of Burke's powerful speech on
conciliation, became law on March 13. This act confined the commerce of
the New England colonies to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British West
Indies, and prohibited the New Englanders from fishing in the northern
fisheries, until "the trade and commerce of his Majesty's subjects may
be carried on without interruption." In April the act was extended to
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and South
Carolina. The British government thus closed the door of conciliation
and made the American Revolution inevitable.
READINGS
Adams, J., _Works_, II, 337-517; Adams, S., _Writing_, II-III; Becker,
C.L., _Beginnings of the American People_, 202-253; Beer, G.L., _British
Colonial Policy, 1754-1765_, 72-315; Bigelow, J., _The Life of Benjamin
Franklin_, II, 7-337; Channing, E., _A History of the United States_,
III, 29-154; Dickinson, J., _Writings_, in Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, _Memoirs_, XIV, 307-406; Doyle, J.A., "The Quarrel with
Great Britain, 1761-1776," in _Cambridge Modern History_, VII, 148-208;
Fisher, S.G., _The Struggle for American Independence_, I, 1-300;
Frothingham, Richard, _The Rise of the Republic_, 158-455; Henry, W.W.,
_Patrick Henry_, I, 24-357; Howard, G.E., _Preliminaries of the
Revolution_; Hutchinson, P.O., _The Diary and Letters of his Excellency
Thomas Hutchinson_, I; Johnson, E.R., _History of Domestic and Foreign
Commerce of the United States_, I, 84-121; _Journals of the Continental
Congress_, I (Worthington C. Ford, ed.); Lecky, W.E.H., _History of
England in the Eighteenth Century_, III, 290-460; Lincoln, C.H., _The
Revolutionary Movement in Pennsylvania, 1760-1776_; MacDonald, William,
_Select Charters_, 272-396; Trevelyan, G.O., _The American Revolution_,
Part I, 1-253; Tyler, M.C., _Literary History of the American
Revolution_, I; _Patrick Henry_, 32-134; Van Tyne, C.H., _The American
Revolution_, 3-24; Becker, C.L., _The Eve of the Revolution_; Eckenrode,
H.J., _The Revolution in Virginia_; Schlesinger, A.M., _The Colonial
Merchants and the American Revolution, 1763-1776_.
CHAPTER XXIV
FROM LEXINGTON TO INDEPENDENCE (1775-1776)
THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES
Enforcement of the Association.--The Association adopted by the
Continental Congress was approved throughout the colonies. In county and
town meetings, in assemblies, provincial congresses, or special
conventions, the patriot party expressed its approval. Though the New
York assembly refused to sanction the proceedings of Congress, the
committee of correspondence and many counties chose inspection
committees. In Georgia the patriots had a difficult time, but when the
provincial congress assembled at Savannah in March, 1775, forty-five of
the deputies ratified the Association and local inspection committees
were formed.
Military preparations.--Throughout the colonies military preparations
were in progress. In October, 1774, Charles Lee wrote from Philadelphia
to an English nobleman, "Virginia, Rhode Island and Carolina are forming
corps. Massachusetts Bay has long had a sufficient number instructed to
become instructive of the rest. Even this Quakering province is
following the example." In December the provincial convention of
Maryland recommended that all males between the ages of sixteen and
fifty should form themselves into military companies. Delaware made
provision for the arming and drilling of militia. Connecticut ordered
the towns to double their military supplies, and Rhode Islanders seized
forty-four cannon from the Newport batteries.
Whigs, neutrals, and Tories.--In spite of the military ardor thus
displayed, public opinion was by no means a unit. In general the people
were divided into three groups, patriots, neutrals, and Loyalists. Among
the patriots, or Whigs as they were called, was a small group of
ultra-radicals who favored independence. A great majority of the Whigs
stood for strenuous opposition to British policy but not for
independence. The neutrals in the main presented three shades of
opinion: those with patriot sympathies but who were still wavering,
those who were indifferent or were religiously opposed to violence, and
those who had Loyalist leanings but had not made a definite decision.
The third great group was composed of Loyalists or Tories. These were
not all of like mind, one portion being openly in favor of the king but
not ready to take up arms, the rest being openly belligerent. As the
Revolution progressed shadings within groups gradually disappeared,
wavering neutrals linked themselves with patriots or Loyalists, and
sections became distinctly Whig or Tory.
Even before the adoption of the Association, ill feeling showed itself.
As Howard says, "Tarring and featherings was becoming the order of the
day.... Loyalists were bitterly stigmatized as Tories and traitors, and
the cause of liberty was sullied by acts of intolerance and
persecution." Channing says, "The story of tarring and featherings,
riotings and burnings becomes monotonous, almost as much so as the
reading of the papers that poured forth from counties, towns,
conventions, meetings, congresses, and private individuals."
Revolution in Massachusetts.--The people of Massachusetts refused to
submit to the Regulating Act. The "mandamus" councillors were threatened
with violence and either declined the appointment or resigned, and the
courts were unable to sit. On September 1, 1774, Gage sent soldiers to
seize some powder stored near Boston and a rumor spread that the war
ships had fired on Boston. The militia began to gather from neighboring
counties, and Israel Putnam summoned the Connecticut militia to march to
the assistance of Boston.
Gage refused to allow the meeting of the assembly called for October 5,
but most of the representatives met at Salem where they declared
themselves a provincial congress. A few days later the congress moved to
Concord and then to Cambridge. It appointed a committee of safety which
was empowered to call out the militia, and other committees attended to
the collecting of stores and general defence. After the gathering of the
second provincial congress on February 1, 1775, the committee of safety
under the leadership of John Hancock and Joseph Warren was authorized to
distribute arms.
Lexington.--On April 18 the watchful patriots discovered that British
troops were preparing for an expedition, and William Dawes and Paul
Revere were sent to spread the alarm. Soon after dawn of April 19 the
British troops approached Lexington where they found sixty or seventy
minutemen under arms. When they did not obey the order to lay down their
arms and disperse, a shot was fired, followed by a volley which killed
eight and wounded ten of the colonials. The regulars went on to Concord
where another encounter occurred at the old North Bridge where the
British had stationed a guard. After destroying some stores, the troops
started back toward Boston. By this time the militia had gathered, and
the incensed farmers and villagers from behind trees, rocks, and fences
poured in a deadly fire which did not slacken until the soldiers were
relieved at Lexington by troops under Lord Percy. When the march was
resumed the battle began again, nor did it cease until the weary
soldiers reached Charlestown.
[Illustration: Boston with Environs During the Revolution (Based on map
in G.O. Trevelyan, _The American Revolution_, Part I, at end).]
Boston besieged.--The news of Lexington started thousands of New England
volunteers toward Boston. John Stark led the New Hampshire men; Israel
Putnam left his plow in the furrow to lead the Connecticut volunteers;
and Nathanael Greene headed the Rhode Islanders. The volunteer forces in
a few weeks were reinforced by large bodies of colonial troops. The
Massachusetts congress voted to raise thirteen thousand six hundred men,
and it called upon the other New England colonies to bring the army up
to thirty thousand. The Rhode Island assembly voted to raise fifteen
hundred men, and Connecticut six thousand, two-thirds of whom were to be
sent to the aid of Boston. Gage, who had been reinforced with troops
under Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, found his army of six or seven
thousand veterans shut up in Boston by an undisciplined and poorly
organized force, which, however, outnumbered him three or four to one.
Bunker Hill.--The city was open to attack from Dorchester Heights and
the Charlestown hills. To forestall the British, the colonials decided
to occupy Bunker Hill. On the night of June 16 Colonel William Prescott
was sent to fortify the position. For reasons which are not entirely
clear, he led his men to Breed's Hill where a redoubt was constructed.
When dawn disclosed the fortification, the warships and batteries opened
fire. Prescott asked for reinforcements and small detachments came to
his assistance. A British council of war was called. Clinton suggested
the seizure of the causeway on Charlestown neck, a movement which would
have cut off the colonial force from the mainland. But Gage and Howe,
underestimating the fighting ability of their opponents, foolishly
insisted upon a frontal attack. Twice the British were repulsed with
staggering losses, but during the third charge the colonials exhausted
their ammunition and were forced to retreat, first to Bunker Hill and
then back to their own lines. Though the colonials technically had
suffered a defeat, great was the rejoicing over the battle, for colonial
troops had proven their prowess against the British regulars and had
taken a toll of two for one.
Ticonderoga and Crown Point--While the troops were gathering about
Boston, it occurred to Benedict Arnold that Ticonderoga would be an easy
prize. He submitted his ideas to Warren and the committee of safety, who
authorized him to proceed with not over four hundred men to reduce the
fort. On the way to Boston Arnold had divulged his thoughts to certain
Connecticut friends who immediately organized an expedition with the
same object. Ethan Allen and others from the Hampshire grants had also
conceived the idea of capturing the fortress and were on the march when
joined by Arnold, who had gone forward ahead of his troops. Immediately
the question of rank arose and after considerable discussion Allen and
Arnold agreed to command jointly for the time being.
On May 10 Ticonderoga surrendered without a struggle and this was
followed by an easy conquest of Crown Point and Ft. George. By this time
Allen completely ignored his colleague, but the arrival of about a
hundred of Arnold's men gave him his opportunity. Having captured a
British schooner Arnold decided to make a raid on St. Johns. The town
was easily captured and a British sloop fell into the hands of the
audacious colonial. The operations supplied the Whig army with much
needed artillery and stores, and it opened the way for operations in
Canada.
Rebellion in Virginia.--Virginia at the same time was in a state of
rebellion. The second revolutionary convention assembled at Richmond in
March, 1775, and Patrick Henry boldly sounded the call to arms. The
governor, Lord Dunmore, in alarm ordered the removal of the gunpowder
from the magazine at Williamsburg and soon several thousand armed men
made ready to march on the capital. When some of the leaders hesitated,
Henry placed himself at the head of an armed band and marched toward
Williamsburg. The governor discreetly agreed to pay for the powder, but
two days later (May 6, 1775) issued a proclamation charging the people
"not to aid, abet, or give countenance to the said Patrick Henry, or any
other persons concerned in such unwarrantable combinations." In May a
legal assembly was called but the members appeared in arms, and an
attempted conciliation failed when it became known that a trap was
prepared to kill any one who tampered with the magazine. Fearful of the
mob, the governor fled to a war vessel.
The Mecklenburg Resolves.--The news of Lexington aroused every colony.
South Carolina immediately raised two regiments. In North Carolina some
of the frontiersmen held a meeting at Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and
passed resolutions that crown commissions in the colonies were null and
void, and that colonial constitutions were suspended. They also made
governmental regulations until Congress could provide laws for them. The
original resolutions were destroyed and afterward were reproduced from
memory in the form of the so-called "Mecklenburg Declaration of
Independence" of May 20. Reliable historians now reject the authenticity
of this document, but the original resolves were undoubtedly genuine.
THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
The delegates.--The Second Continental Congress assembled at
Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, all but Georgia and Rhode Island being
represented. On May 13 Lyman Hall, representing St. John's parish,
Georgia, arrived, but not until July 20 was notice received that Georgia
had acceded to the Association and appointed delegates. Stephen Hopkins,
the first Rhode Island delegate to appear, arrived May 18. Peyton
Randolph of Virginia was elected president, but he found it necessary to
leave Congress on May 24, and John Hancock was chosen president. Most of
the delegates had been in the first Congress; among the new members was
Benjamin Franklin, who had recently returned from England; Thomas
Jefferson was elected to represent Virginia in the place of Peyton
Randolph.
Nature of the work of Congress.--The conservative Whigs were still in
the majority. They favored another petition to the king, but the state
of war was recognized by all and Congress shouldered the responsibility
of directing the Revolution as a defensive war. The early activities of
Congress were devoted mainly to the raising, organizing, and equipping
of the armies, to building and equipping a fleet, to perfecting the
organization of the Revolution, to protecting the frontiers and
obtaining alliances with the Indians, to enforcing the Association, to
justifying the Revolution and seeking aid outside of the thirteen
colonies, and to seeking redress from the British crown.
Military preparations.--Congress worked strenuously to raise troops and
to obtain munitions and other stores. Efforts were made to stimulate
recruiting, to perfect the organization of the militia, and to hasten
the assembling of forces. The manufacture of cannon, guns, and gunpowder
was encouraged and attempts were made to increase the supplies of lead,
nitre, and salt. Congress recommended to the various assemblies and
conventions that they provide sufficient stores of ammunition for their
colonies and that they devise means for furnishing with arms such
effective men as were too poor to buy them.
Organization of the army.--The armies already in the field were
recognized by Congress. On June 14 a committee was appointed to draft
rules for the army and on the following day Washington was appointed to
command the continental forces. Arrangements were soon made for the
appointment of four major-generals, eight brigadier-generals, and minor
officers. The first major-generals were Artemus Ward, Charles Lee,
Philip Schuyler, and Israel Putnam, Schuyler being placed in command of
the New York department. Rules and regulations for the army were also
adopted and provision was made for the establishment of a hospital.
Organization of the navy.--For the protection of the coasts Congress at
first depended upon the efforts of individual colonies, recommending
that they make provision, by armed vessels or otherwise, for the
protection of their harbors and navigation on their coasts. Colonial
vessels were utilized to capture British transports, but it soon became
evident that a navy under congressional control would be more effective.
During October, 1775, Congress decided to fit out four vessels and on
November 28 adopted rules for the regulation of the navy. On December 13
provision was made for the building of thirteen war craft and on the
twenty-second officers were appointed. Ezek Hopkins was made
commander-in-chief of the fleet; the captains were Dudley Saltonstall,
Abraham Whipple, Nicholas Biddle, and John B. Hopkins. Among the
first-lieutenants was John Paul Jones.
Prizes and privateers.--On November 25 Congress adopted regulations
regarding prizes, and advised the legislative bodies to erect admiralty
courts or to give to the local courts admiralty jurisdiction. It also
provided "That in all cases an appeal shall be allowed to Congress, or
such person or persons as they shall appoint for the trials of appeals."
In March, 1776, Congress resolved "That the inhabitants of these
colonies be permitted to fit out armed vessels to cruize on the enemies
of these United Colonies." In April Congress adopted a form of
commission and instructions to commanders of privateers, and decided to
issue letters of marque and reprisal.
First steps in financing the Revolution.--The financing of the
Revolution was one of the most difficult tasks confronting Congress. The
first step in raising money was taken on June 3, 1775, when a committee
was appointed to borrow L6,000 to purchase gunpowder. A committee was
also appointed to bring in an estimate of money necessary to be raised.
On June 22 Congress resolved to emit $2,000,000 in bills of credit and
pledged the "confederated colonies" for their redemption. Once embarked
upon the perilous course of paper finance, issue followed issue in rapid
succession. At first the promissory notes passed readily, but they soon
began to depreciate and eventually became worthless. Nevertheless they
carried the Revolution through its most trying years.
Establishment of a post office.--The need of "speedy and secure
conveyance of intelligence from one end of the Continent to the other"
was recognized and a committee was appointed to consider the
establishment of posts. On July 26 the post office was established,
Benjamin Franklin being elected Postmaster General. He was authorized to
establish "a line of posts ... from Falmouth in New England to Savannah
in Georgia, with as many cross posts as he shall think fit."
An Indian policy adopted.--Control of the Indians was vital for the
safety of the frontier. It was felt that if the British ministry should
induce the tribes to commit hostile acts, the colonies would be
justified in entering into alliances with Indian nations. It was hoped
that the Iroquois might be kept neutral. "Talks" were prepared, goods
to be used as presents were purchased, and money was provided. The
frontier was laid off into three departments which were placed under
commissioners. The Six Nations and tribes to the north of them were in
the northern department; tribes between the Iroquois and the Cherokee
were in the middle department; and the Cherokee and Indians south of
them were in the southern department.
Enforcement of the Association.--Congress continued the policy of trade
restriction. On May 17 it resolved that exports to Quebec, Nova Scotia,
the Island of St. Johns, Newfoundland, Georgia except St. John's parish,
and to East and West Florida, must cease, and that supplies must not be
furnished to the British fisheries. After Georgia appointed delegates,
the colony was admitted to the Association. On June 2 Congress resolved
that no bill of exchange, draught, or order of any British officer
should be honored, and that no money, provisions, or other necessaries
be furnished the British army or navy.
On June 26 Congress resolved that, as attempts were being made to divide
the people of North Carolina and defeat the Association, it was
recommended to that colony to associate for the defence of American
liberty and to organize the militia, Congress offering to provide pay
for a thousand men in the colony. On July 4 a resolution was adopted
that the restraining acts were "unconstitutional, oppressive, and
cruel," and that commercial opposition should be made to them.
As doubts had arisen with respect to the true spirit and construction of
the Association, on August 1 Congress defined it as follows: "Under the
prohibition ... to export to, or import from, the Islands of Great
Britain and Ireland, this Congress intends to comprise all exportation
to, and importation from, the islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Sark,
Alderney, and Mann, and every European island and settlement within the
British dominions: and that under the denomination of the West Indies,
this Congress means to comprehend all the West India islands, British
and foreign, to whatever state, power, or prince belonging, or by
whomsoever governed, and also the Summer islands, Bahama Islands,
Berbicia and Surinam on the Main, and every island and settlement within
the latitude of the southern line of Georgia and the Equator."
The necessity of obtaining supplies forced Congress to make special
provisions for the importation of munitions of war. On July 15, 1775, a
resolution was adopted that "every vessel importing Gun powder, Salt
petre, Sulphur, provided they bring with the sulphur four times as much
salt petre, brass field pieces, or good muskets fitted with Bayonets,
within nine Months from the date of this resolution, shall be permitted
to load and export the produce of these colonies, to the value of such
powder and stores aforesd, the non-exportation agreement
notwithstanding." On November 2 Congress adopted a resolution to close
the ports until March 1, but from time to time special provisions were
made for the exportation and importation of goods. The delegates
frequently discussed the question of opening the ports, as shown by John
Adams's _Autobiography_ which says: "This measure ... labored
exceedingly, because it was considered as a bold step to independence.
Indeed, I urged it expressly with that view, and as connected with the
institution of government in all the States, and a declaration of
national independence." On April 6, 1776, the ports were opened to world
commerce except trade with Great Britain and her possessions.
Letter to the people of Canada.--The congressional leaders hoped to
strengthen their resistance by obtaining the cooeperation of the
Canadians. A letter "to the oppressed inhabitants of Canada" was
approved on May 29. Congress condoled with them "on the arrival of that
day, in the course of which, the sun could not shine on a single freeman
in all your extensive dominion.... By the introduction of your present
form of government, or rather present form of tyranny, you and your
wives and your children are made slaves.... We are informed you have
already been called upon to waste your lives in a contest with us.
Should you, by complying in this instance, assent to your new
establishment [the Quebec Act], and a war break out with France, your
wealth and your sons may be sent to perish in expeditions against their
islands in the West Indies. We yet entertain hopes of your uniting with
us in the defence of our common liberty."
Attempts to influence public opinion in the British Empire.--Congress
hoped by appeals to the inhabitants of the British Isles to arouse
public opinion, thereby bringing pressure to bear upon a Ministry and
subservient parliament which had shown themselves to be irresponsible
and tyrannous. Addresses to the people of Great Britain and Ireland were
accordingly prepared. A letter to the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and liveries
of London was drawn up expressing thanks "for the virtuous and
unsolicited resentment you have shown to the violated rights of a free
people." A letter of friendship was sent to the assembly of Jamaica and
a communication regarding commerce was sent to Bermuda.
Statement to the army.--On July 6 Congress approved a declaration
setting forth the causes and necessity of taking up arms, which was to
be published by Washington upon his arrival at Boston. The declaration
presented the usual arguments regarding constitutional rights and gave
an account of the progress of events. That independence was desired was
denied in the following words: "We have not raised armies with ambitious
designs of separating from Great Britain, and establishing independent
states. We fight not for glory or for conquest.... In our own native
land, in defence of the freedom that is our birth right,... and for the
protection of our property ... we have taken up arms."
Petition to the king.--The radicals believed that a war of independence
could not be avoided, but the conservatives restrained them, hoping that
the force of public opinion, a bold show of resistance, and commercial
restrictions would change the ministerial policy. Another direct appeal
to the king was decided upon and on May 29 resolutions were adopted,
"that with a sincere design of contributing by all the means in our
power, not incompatible with just regard for the undoubted rights and
true interests of these colonies, to the promotion of this most
desirable reconciliation, an humble and dutiful petition be presented to
his Majesty." The petition, signed on July 8, was couched in respectful
terms as the following quotation shows: "We ... beseech your Majesty,
that your royal authority and influence may be graciously interposed to
procure us relief from our afflicting fears and jealousies, occasioned
by the system before mentioned, and to settle peace through every part
of your dominions, with all humility submitting to your Majesty's wise
consideration whether it may not be expedient for facilitating those
important purposes, that your Majesty be pleased to direct some mode, by
which the united applications of your faithful colonists to the throne,
in pursuance of their common councils, may be improved into a happy and
permanent reconciliation; and that, in the mean time, measures may be
taken for preventing the further destruction of the lives of your
Majesty's subjects; and that such statutes as more immediately distress
any of your Majesty's colonies may be repealed."
Reply to Lord North.--As several of the colonies were desirous of
knowing the congressional attitude toward Lord North's conciliatory
resolution, on July 31 Congress adopted a formal report which closed
with the following statement: "When the world reflects how inadequate to
justice are these vaunted terms; when it attends to the rapid and bold
succession of injuries, which have been aimed at these colonies, when it
reviews the pacific and respectful expostulations, which ... were the
sole arms we opposed to them; when it observes that our complaints were
either not heard at all, or were answered with new and accumulated
injury,... when it considers the great armaments with which they have
invaded us, and the circumstances of cruelty with which they have
commenced and prosecuted hostilities; when these things we say, are laid
together and attentively considered, can the world be deceived into an
opinion that we are unreasonable, or can it hesitate to believe with us,
that nothing but our own exertions may defeat the ministerial sentence
of death or abject submission."
Stubborn attitude of the government.--George III and his ministers had
gained no wisdom from the rebellious attitude in America. The petition,
which had been entrusted to Richard Penn, reached London on August 14,
but not until a week later did Lord Dartmouth, the secretary for the
colonies, consent to look at a copy of the document and not until
September was it presented to the king. On August 23 George III
published a proclamation which declared the Americans rebels, and after
his examination of the petition, the king saw no reason for revising it.
At the next session of parliament acts were passed which prohibited
trade with the thirteen colonies, ordered the seizure and confiscation
of ships engaged in trade with them, and permitted British commanders
to impress sailors from seized vessels.
The German mercenaries.--A reorganization of the cabinet had forced the
amiable Dartmouth out of the colonial office, his successor being Lord
George Germaine. Lord Rochford was made secretary of state for the
southern department, and Lord Suffolk was retained in the northern
department to which office fell the business with Germany. The British
army was sadly in need of recruits. In Scotland the men of Argyllshire
and Inverness-shire readily entered the army for colonial service, but
in Ireland and England the people showed little enthusiasm for a war
which was intended to subdue their freedom-loving brethren over the
seas. To raise the necessary troops the king turned to the continent. An
attempt to obtain the use of the Scotch troops which had long been in
Dutch service failed and Catherine II refused to furnish Russian
infantry, but in Germany British overtures met with better success. The
Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, the Duke of Brunswick, and some other needy
princes were willing to sell the services of their subjects for British
gold. During the war over thirty thousand mercenaries were hired in
Germany for service in America. In the words of Lecky, "The conduct of
England in hiring German mercenaries to subdue the essentially English
population beyond the Atlantic, made reconciliation hopeless, and the
Declaration of Independence inevitable."
PROGRESS OF THE WAR
Burning of Falmouth.--Events were also taking place in America which
were convincing the public that the war for independence must be fought
to the bitter end. In October, 1775, four British war vessels sailed
into the harbor of Falmouth, now known as Portland, and set fire to the
town. Three-fourths of the dwellings were destroyed and a thousand
unoffending people were made homeless.
The Canadian campaign.--The efforts of Congress to enlist the Canadians
in the colonial cause did not meet with success and the invasion of
Canada was determined upon. Two forces were sent northward. One under
Richard Montgomery was to proceed by the Lake Champlain route, seize
Montreal, and then march to Quebec. The other under Benedict Arnold was
to go up the Kennebec and down the Chaudiere, and join the other force.
Montgomery captured Montreal and then made a juncture with Arnold. On
December 31 an attack was made on Quebec, but Montgomery was killed,
Arnold was wounded, and the forces were repulsed. But in spite of
terrible sufferings in his army, Arnold kept Quebec in a state of
blockade the rest of the winter.
Siege of Boston.--When Washington arrived at Cambridge, he found a
disorganized army which was short of food, ammunition, and uniforms, and
without hospital service. Fortunately the British did not take advantage
of the situation, and gradually the commander brought order out of
chaos. By March, 1776, Washington was prepared to make an offensive
move. Taking advantage of the fact that the British had not fortified
Dorchester Heights, on the night of March 4 colonial troops seized the
position which commanded Boston. On the seventeenth the British army,
accompanied by about a thousand Loyalists, sailed for Halifax.
Fighting in Virginia and North Carolina.--While Washington was besieging
Boston, Lord Dunmore was making reprisals along the Virginia rivers.
After the defeat of some of his Loyalist supporters at Great Bridge, the
governor caused the burning of Norfolk on January 1, 1776. North
Carolina was also torn by civil war. Governor Martin had been driven
from the colony, and from the refuge of a war vessel commissioned Donald
McDonald to collect an army of Loyalists in the central and western
counties. He also appealed to Sir Henry Clinton for aid. With a force of
sixteen hundred men McDonald marched toward the coast, but on February
27, 1776, he was met by patriot forces at Moore's Creek and his Loyalist
army was practically annihilated. When Clinton's fleet appeared off the
coast, ten thousand North Carolina militia were ready to meet him.
Clinton lingered for a time off Cape Fear and then sailed to Charleston
where he hoped to arouse the Loyalists of the coasts and the German
settlers of the interior.
Defence of Charleston.--Edward Rutledge with six thousand militia
prepared to defend the city. Colonel Moultrie, with his forces back of
rude fortifications on Sullivan's Island, made ready to defend the
harbor. On June 28 the fleet attacked. Most of the British shot buried
themselves in the palmetto logs and banks of sand from behind which
Moultrie's men poured a fire which wrought havoc on the crowded decks.
An attempt to make a landing proved a failure and Charleston was saved.
THE LOYALISTS
The people not united.--Up to 1774 the majority of Americans were not
united in opposition to British policy, but acts of violence and
retaliation, the meeting of Congress, and the organization of
revolutionary committees, brought about a rapid crystallization of
public opinion. Loyalty to Great Britain was the normal state. The Whigs
were the nullifiers and eventually the secessionists. That they were
able to perfect an organization and carry on a successful rebellion has
obscured the fact that they were in reality but an active minority. The
masses were indifferent or were loyal supporters of Great Britain. It is
impossible to estimate accurately the number of Loyalists; they varied
with localities and fluctuated with the fortunes of war. Some historians
estimate them as a third of the population, others as one-half.
The Tory element in the colonies.--The great Loyalist stronghold was New
York. There the moderate Tories had controlled the situation for several
years. They had favored the assembling of the First Continental
Congress, but when that body adopted the Association, they opposed it.
After the battle of Lexington the Whigs grew in power and succeeded in
setting up a provincial congress. But several counties remained
Loyalist, and until the occupation of New York City by British troops a
state of civil war existed in the province. After that event the British
lines furnished a refuge for Tories from all the colonies.
Next to New York Pennsylvania contained the largest Tory element. There
the Quakers, the proprietary interests, and a large German population
combined to oppose the Whig movement. In New Jersey, Maryland, and
Delaware, the Tory element was so numerous that only with the greatest
difficulty did the Whigs obtain the support of those colonies for
independence. In New England the Loyalists were not powerful. In
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island they formed an
insignificant part of the population, but in the region which afterward
became the state of Vermont and in Connecticut they were numerous enough
to be a menace.
In the South, Virginia was dominated by the Whigs. The impolitic acts of
Lord Dunmore had alienated all but a small element of the population.
The Scotch merchants of Norfolk and many planters had supported the
governor, but his reprisals on the coast, his proclamation offering
freedom to negroes and indented servants who would enlist, and the
burning of Norfolk destroyed the Tory power in the province. North
Carolina, which had recently been torn by the War of the Regulators was
probably about equally divided, and in South Carolina and Georgia the
farmers and cattlemen of the interior were usually Loyalists; but the
British naval demonstrations and the defeat of Tory bands did much to
win converts to the Whig cause in the three southern colonies.
A classification of the Loyalists.--The Loyalists, or Tories as they
were called in derision, have been classified by Professor Van Tyne as
the office holders whose incomes depended upon the existing regime;
those whose friends were among the official class or who depended upon
that class for preferment; the majority of the Anglican clergy; the
conservative people of all classes, especially the wealthy merchants,
the aristocracy of culture, of dignified professions and callings, and
of hereditary wealth, and those who held office by virtue of wise
selection; the king worshipers, who were moved by theory of government
rather than by concrete facts; the legality Tories who believed that
parliament had a constitutional right to tax the colonies; the religious
Tories whose dictum was fear God and honor the king; and the factional
Tories who were influenced by family feuds and political animosities.
The religious division.--The religious factor was one of the most
important causes of division. An Anglican bishopric for the colonies had
long been contemplated and the dissenting churches believed that the
ministry was about to urge its establishment. In New England where the
Congregational church was in the ascendency and in those sections where
the Presbyterians and Baptists were powerful, the establishment of an
episcopate was especially feared. Already the Anglican church numbered
three hundred parishes in America. Throughout the colonies it was the
church of the official class and in the South it was the church of the
aristocracy. The southern Episcopalians were divided on the paramount
political questions, but in New York the religious and political parties
coincided. New York politics for many years had been factional, the De
Lanceys who were Episcopalians being leaders in invariable opposition to
the Livingstons who were Presbyterians. Both in New York and Connecticut
those of the Episcopal faith were almost invariably Loyalists.
The Tory argument.--The Tories believed in no taxation without
representation, but they differed with the Whigs in their interpretation
of the word representation. The Tories accepted the English meaning
which was based upon the idea that a man enjoyed representation not by
the fact that he had voted for a member of parliament but by his
belonging to one of the three great estates of the nation, each estate
being represented in parliament. They admitted that this was an
imperfect type of representation, but it was the ancient constitutional
type. They believed that the relationship of the colonies to the mother
country should be defined more clearly, but they did not believe that
the Whigs had a right to demand a fundamental change in the constitution
of the British Empire.
Moses Coit Tyler has pointed out that the other Tory arguments were
based upon questions of expediency, (1) Was it expedient to reject the
taxing power of parliament? (2) Was separation from the empire
expedient? The Whigs argued that parliamentary taxes might become
confiscatory. The Tories replied that parliament recognized the
principle that all parts of the empire should be taxed equitably and
justly, and that a powerful minority, which counted among its members
Fox and Burke, were bent upon protecting the colonies. The Tories could
see no reason for separation. They pointed out that until the beginning
of 1776 the Whigs had consistently disavowed the idea of independence.
Why then this sudden change? The Tories believed that concessions were
about to be made which would make separation unnecessary and
undesirable.
Persecution of the Loyalists.--After Lexington the Loyalists became
intolerable to the Whigs. They must show their allegiance to the
patriot cause or suffer the consequences. The favorite method of
persecution was tarring and feathering, but riding the Tory on the
liberty pole or ducking occurred frequently. Under the direction of the
revolutionary committees freedom of speech was suppressed and the
liberty of the press was destroyed. Any one who opposed the Association
was considered an enemy; he must agree or be persecuted. When the
Loyalists attempted to form counter associations, they were met with
stern methods of repression. Whig clergymen held conferences in Loyalist
communities to try to convert them, and obdurate places were visited by
armed bands. When the Tories attempted to arm, their leaders were
seized.
Congress attempts to control the Loyalists.--The Loyalists were lacking
in organization, and when the governors were driven from the colonies,
they lost their natural leaders. When calls for aid came from the
deposed officials, many Tories formed bands and attempted to cooeperate
with the British forces. So serious was the situation that Congress, as
early as October, 1775, recommended to the revolutionary governments
that they arrest every person who might endanger the colonies or "the
liberties of America." On December 30 a congressional committee reported
that the Tories of Tryon County, New York, had collected arms and
munitions, and that several Loyalists had enlisted in British service.
Orders were issued to General Schuyler to seize the stores, disarm the
Tories, and apprehend their leaders.
Congress extends the olive branch.--Congress hoped to win over a large
part of the Loyalists and on January 2, 1776, it passed a pacific
resolution which stated that as certain honest, well-meaning, but
uniformed people had been deceived by ministerial agents, it recommended
to the various committees and friends of American liberty to treat such
persons with kindness and attention, to view their errors as proceeding
from want of information, to explain to them the true nature of the
controversy, and to try to convince them of the justice of the American
cause. The colonial governments were instructed to frustrate the
machinations of enemies and restrain wicked practices. It was the
opinion of Congress that the more dangerous ones should be placed in
custody, and to accomplish this the local authorities were given the
right to call to their aid the continental troops.
The Queen's County Tories.--Immediately afterward Congress learned that
the Tories of Queen's County, New York, were especially troublesome.
Congress accordingly decided that they should be put outside of the
protection of the United Colonies, that all trade and intercourse with
them should cease, and that none of them should be allowed to travel or
reside outside of that county without a certificate from the
revolutionary government of New York. Violators of this provision were
to be imprisoned for three months and lawyers were forbidden to try
causes for them. Troops were sent into the county.
Disarming of the Loyalists.--A congressional committee which had under
consideration the defence of New York, on March 14 advised the disarming
of the Loyalists on Staten Island. Congress immediately ordered that
eight thousand men be sent to the defence of New York and recommendation
was made to all the colonies to disarm all persons "notoriously
disaffected to the cause of America," or who refused to associate to
defend, by arms, the United Colonies. The confiscated arms were to be
used in arming troops.
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
The colonies advised to form temporary governments.--Up to the beginning
of 1776 the Whigs disavowed the purpose or desire for independence. But
in spite of the view of the conservatives, Congress had been forced to
assume the direction of the war and had been called upon to advise
several of the colonies regarding the course to be pursued in organizing
their governments. In answer to an inquiry from Massachusetts, Congress
replied that no obedience was due to the parliamentary act altering the
charter, and that the governor and lieutenant-governor were to be
considered absent and the offices vacant. As there was no council, the
provincial convention was advised to write letters to the inhabitants of
the places which were entitled to representation in the assembly,
requesting them to choose representatives; and when the assembly was
chosen, it was to elect councillors, "which assembly and council should
exercise the powers of Government, until a Governor, of his Majesty's
appointment, will consent to govern the colony according to its
charter." New Hampshire was advised to call a full and free
representation of the people who might establish such a form of
temporary government as would "produce the happiness of the people and
most effectually secure peace and good order in the province" during the
dispute with Great Britain. Similar advice was given to South Carolina
and Virginia.
Paine's "Common Sense."--The attitude of the British government, the
events on the Canadian frontier and about Boston, and the burning of
Falmouth and Norfolk, fanned the flames of rebellion to a white heat.
When Tom Paine issued his pamphlet _Common Sense_, "the first open and
unqualified argument in championship of the doctrine of American
Independence," he found a receptive audience. The pamphlet held up to
scorn the idea of kingship, argued that the security and happiness of
the British people were due to their character and not to their
constitution, asserted that the British colonial system was based upon
English self-interest, and that only injuries and disadvantages would
result from continued allegiance to Great Britain. Reconciliation, Paine
argued, would result in the ruin of America, because England, ruled by
self-interest, would still be the governing power, because any
arrangement which might be obtained would be a temporary expedient, and
because nothing but independence would keep the peace of the American
continent. From every point of view, independence, he declared, was
necessary. "The period of debate is closed. Arms, as the last resort,
must decide the contest.... By referring the matter from argument to
arms, a new era for politics is struck; a new method of thinking hath
arisen. All plans, proposals, and so forth, prior to the nineteenth of
April ... are like the almanacs of last year." The pamphlet met with
immediate success. It was read throughout the colonies and convinced
thousands that independence was necessary.
The independence movement in the three southern colonies.--Early in 1776
three southern colonies took definite steps toward independence. In
February a small revolutionary group in Savannah instructed delegates to
agree to any measure for the general good which might be adopted by
Congress. In March South Carolina gave similar instructions, and on
April 12 the provincial congress of North Carolina instructed its
delegates to concur with representatives from other colonies in
declaring independence. In spite of the action of South Carolina, the
colony was probably unconvinced of the necessity of separation from
Great Britain until the Charleston hostilities.
Congress advises the colonies to suppress the authority of Great
Britain.--On May 10 Congress recommended to the various assemblies and
conventions that where no sufficient government had been established,
such governments as would best conduce to the happiness and safety of
the people and of America in general should be established. Five days
later Congress adopted a preamble to this resolution which contained the
significant statement that the exercise of every kind of authority under
the British crown should be suppressed and all the powers of government
exerted under the authority of the people of the colonies.
The German mercenaries.--On May 21 Congress received copies of the
treaties which Great Britain had made with the Duke of Brunswick, the
Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, and the Count of Anhalt-Zerbst, by which they
agreed to furnish about seventeen thousand troops to be used against the
rebellious colonies. These treaties were immediately published and were
a potent force in bringing some of the wavering colonies to instruct
their delegates for independence.
Lee's Resolution.--In Virginia a convention was called to form a new
government, and on May 15 the Virginia delegates in Congress were
instructed to propose independence. Accordingly on June 7 Richard Henry
Lee moved in Congress "That these United Colonies are, and of right
ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from
all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection
between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally
dissolved. That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual
measures for forming foreign alliances. That a plan of confederation be
prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their
consideration and approbation."
The debate on the resolution.--A declaration of independence at that
time was opposed by James Wilson, Robert R. Livingston, John Dickinson,
Edward Rutledge, and others. They declared that they were friends of the
measure but thought that it should be postponed until the people
demanded it. The middle colonies, they thought, "were not yet ripe for
bidding adieu to British connection, but ... were fast ripening." They
argued that a declaration which was not unanimous would cause foreign
powers either to refuse to make alliances with the colonies or to insist
upon hard terms. It was believed that a successful termination of the
New York campaign would make alliances possible on excellent terms.
John Adams, Lee, Wythe, and others argued for an immediate declaration.
They saw no reason for waiting for every colony to express itself. They
argued that a declaration of independence alone could bring about
desired alliances. Without it the colonies would never know whether or
not aid could be obtained from France or Spain. It was pointed out that
the New York campaign might not be successful and that an alliance ought
to be made while affairs bore a hopeful aspect. If an alliance were made
at once with France, she might assist in cutting off British supplies
and might divert enemy forces by an attack on the British West Indies.
It was also pointed out that an immediate alliance would assist the
people, who were in need of clothing and money.
Committees appointed.--It was decided to get the consent of the colonies
before issuing the declaration, but a committee composed of Thomas
Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R.
Livingston was appointed to prepare the document. Congress also decided
to appoint committees to formulate a plan of confederation and to draft
a form of treaties.
New England takes formal action.--The New England colonies had favored
independence for some time. They now took formal action. In May Rhode
Island instructed its delegates to agree to any acts which would hold
the colonies together. In June Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New
Hampshire instructed their delegates to support Lee's resolution.
The independence movement in the middle colonies.--The middle colonies
still stood out and Congress made great efforts to induce them to give
their support. After a hard struggle with Governor William Franklin, on
June 22 the provincial congress of New Jersey authorized its delegates
to agree to independence. Pennsylvania had been held back by the
Quakers, Germans, and proprietary interests. When the conservative
assembly refused to sanction independence, a vast crowd assembled in
Philadelphia and voiced its displeasure. The Loyalists were terrorized
and a patriot convention was formed which agreed to favor independence.
Delaware formed a new government but failed to instruct its delegates
regarding independence. In Maryland the provisional government induced
Governor Eden to leave the colony and a special convention called by the
council of safety gave the delegates the desired instructions. New York
failed to express itself in favor of the great measure.
The Declaration of Independence.--On July 1 Lee's motion was debated in
Congress, John Adams speaking for an immediate declaration of
independence and Dickinson for delay. When the debate closed, nine
states voted in the affirmative. Pennsylvania and South Carolina opposed
immediate action; the Delaware vote was a tie, and the New York
delegates were excused from voting. The final vote was postponed until
the next day. The arrival of Rodney of Delaware gave the vote of that
state for the Declaration. Dickinson and Morris did not appear and the
other delegates from Pennsylvania voted in the affirmative. The South
Carolina delegates, influenced by news that a great British fleet was
off New York, took matters in their own hands and voted for
independence. New York alone stood out.
The congressional committee had entrusted the preparation of the
Declaration to Thomas Jefferson. After it had undergone the fire of
criticism, on the evening of July 4 the document was approved by twelve
states. On the following day copies signed by President Hancock and
Secretary Thomson were sent to the various assemblies. The other
signatures were added later. Although the New York delegates had not
voted for the Declaration, on July 9 the New York provincial congress
approved it, completing the long chain of states which stretched along
the Atlantic seaboard from Nova Scotia to East Florida.
Contents of the Declaration.--This immortal document begins by setting
forth certain "self-evident truths" concerning the rights of mankind and
the nature of government. Then follow in nearly thirty paragraphs a list
of charges against King George III, and a review of the efforts of the
colonies to obtain redress. The last paragraph declares, in the
resounding words of Lee's Resolution, "That these United Colonies are,
and of right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are
absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all
political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and
ought to be totally dissolved." A new nation had been born.
READINGS
MILITARY EVENTS AND THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
Bolton, C.K., _The Private Soldier under Washington_; Channing, Edward,
_History of the United States_, III, 155-206; Fiske, John, _The American
Revolution_, I, 100-197; Greene, F.V., _The Revolutionary War_, 1-27;
_Journals of the Continental Congress_ (Worthington C. Ford, ed.),
II-VI; Lecky, W.E.H., _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_,
III, 461-500; Smith, J.H., _Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony_, I,
107-165; Trevelyan, G.O., _The American Revolution_, I, 254-390; Van
Tyne, C.H., _The American Revolution_, 24-49; Winsor, Justin, _Narrative
and Critical History_, VI, 1-274; Adams, C.F., _Studies Military and
Diplomatic_, 1775-1865, pp. 1-21.
THE LOYALISTS
Flick, A.C., _Loyalism in New York_ (Columbia University, _Studies in
History_, etc., XIV, No. 1.); Tyler, M.C., "The Party of the Loyalists
in the American Revolution," in _The American Historical Review_, I,
24-45; Van Tyne, C.H., _The Loyalists in the American Revolution_;
Wallace, S., _The United Empire Loyalists_.
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Friedenwald, H., _The Declaration of Independence_; Hazelton, J.H., _The
Declaration of Independence_; Trevelyan, G.O., _The American
Revolution_, II, 133-171; Van Tyne, C.H., _The American Revolution_,
50-101; Becker, C.L., _The Eve of the Revolution_, 200-256.
CHAPTER XXV
THE STRUGGLE FOR THE MUDDLE STATES (1776-1777)
THE CONTEST FOR NEW YORK
Preparations to defend New York.--After the evacuation of Boston it was
realized that New York would be a probable point of attack and great
exertions were made to put it in a state of defence. Washington arrived
on April 13, 1776; his troops, delayed by bad roads, came straggling in,
and new levies began to arrive, the army being gradually augmented until
it numbered about twenty thousand men. But the effective fighting force
was several thousand less, for disease was ever present. Furthermore the
raw recruits were poorly trained and equipped, and there were not enough
artillerymen to man the batteries. The only cavalrymen who appeared were
a small force from Connecticut and these, for reasons best known to
himself, Washington did not retain in service. The defences were
strengthened by works at Paulus Hook on the Jersey shore, and others on
Governor's Island and at Red Hook on Long Island. Eleven redoubts were
erected on Manhattan Island along the battery and up to a point opposite
Hell Gate, and the hamlet of Brooklyn was fortified with seven redoubts.
Obstructions were placed in the Hudson and a second line of defence was
established at Forts Washington and Lee. Many historians point out that
New York should have been abandoned, for Washington's army was too small
to cope with the British, the Tories were certain to keep the enemy
informed of the movements, the defences were not powerful enough to
control the water approaches, and an active enemy could run by the
defenses and land troops in the rear of the American army. To make the
situation worse, the line of hills on Long Island, known as Brooklyn
Heights, commanded New York. To occupy them it was necessary to divide
the army, and in case of defeat, the defenders would be separated by a
difficult channel from the main army on Manhattan Island. As Trevelyan
observes, Washington "placed, and kept, his troops in a position where
they were certain to be defeated, and where, when defeated, they would
most probably be surrounded and destroyed."
The British plan.--The British government hoped to annihilate the armies
and cut off New England from the other colonies. By occupying New York
and sending converging armies, one from the north, the other up the
Hudson, the government believed that it could accomplish its purpose.
Large reinforcements were sent to Quebec, and during July and August,
1776, British forces were concentrated on Staten Island and a great
fleet assembled. The first forces to arrive at New York were those under
General Howe which he brought from Halifax. Large reinforcements under
Admiral Lord Howe and forces under Clinton and Cornwallis augmented the
army until it numbered about thirty thousand men.
An attempt at conciliation.--Lord Howe hoped that peace could be made,
and soon after his arrival, he addressed a letter to "George Washington,
Esquire," but the epistle, which failed to recognize the position of the
commander-in-chief, was returned. A personal envoy from Lord Howe also
met with a rebuff. The British admiral had prepared a circular letter to
several of the royal governors setting forth his authority as
commissioner and stating the conciliatory terms sanctioned by the
cabinet. These contained a mere promise of pardon to those who returned
to allegiance and assisted in the restoration of tranquillity. In fact
John Adams was marked out for a halter, but this was not divulged. The
letters fell into the hands of Congress which ordered that they be
published "that the good people of these United States may be informed
of what nature are the commissioners, and what the terms, with the
expectation of which, the insidious court of Britain has endeavoured to
amuse and disarm them...."
Battle of Long Island.--General Howe finally decided to attack the
American position on Long Island. On the twenty-second and twenty-third
of August twenty thousand troops and forty cannon were disembarked at
Gravesend Bay, six or seven miles south of Brooklyn, but not until the
evening of the twenty-sixth did the British advance. Washington had been
misinformed as to the size of the landing force and had stationed only
nine thousand men on Long Island. These were under General Nathanael
Greene, but stricken by illness, he was forced to retire from the
command on August 23, and Sullivan who succeeded him was superseded by
Putnam on the twenty-fifth. Washington spent the twenty-sixth on the
island and superintended the disposition of the forces.
The chief line of defence was the densely wooded Brooklyn Heights which
were crossed by several roads. One ran up from Gravesend near the coast;
four miles to the eastward two wagon roads from Flatbush penetrated the
heights; three miles farther east a highway ran from the village of
Jamaica. About five thousand men were sent to defend the Gravesend and
Flatbush roads but Jamaica Pass was neglected. The British frontal
attacks met with stubborn resistance from the forces of Stirling and
Sullivan, but their valor was useless for a large British force pushed
along the Jamaica road and got in the rear of the American positions. A
portion of the army succeeded in getting back to the Brooklyn
intrenchments, but Sullivan and Stirling with about eleven hundred men
were captured and several hundred were killed.
The withdrawal from Brooklyn.--Howe, who remembered the disastrous
frontal attack at Bunker Hill, decided not to attack the Brooklyn
defences until supported by the fleet, which was held back by an adverse
wind. His caution saved the American army. Washington saw that Brooklyn
was untenable and he secretly planned to evacuate it. A brave show of
force was made by bringing over three regiments and by keeping up a
fusillade while water craft were being collected. Favored by a
subsidence of the storm and by a fog, during the night of the
twenty-ninth the entire army was successfully withdrawn.
Harlem.--After the battle of Long Island the British commissioners made
overtures to Congress and a committee composed of Franklin, Edward
Rutledge, and John Adams went to Staten Island for a conference, but it
failed completely. There was nothing to do but to fight it out. That
Manhattan Island should have been abandoned immediately after the defeat
at Brooklyn Heights has been maintained by strategists, but Congress
hesitated to evacuate New York City and Washington does not appear to
have insisted upon a withdrawal. As Trevelyan observes, "It is equally
difficult to explain satisfactorily why Howe was so long about
landing..., and why Washington was so slow in evacuating the city." On
September 10 Hancock informed Washington that Congress did not desire to
have him hold the city longer than he thought proper. Washington
immediately acted. The removal of stores was hastened and most of the
troops were withdrawn to Harlem Heights about halfway up the island, but
Putnam was left in the city with some infantry and artillery, and five
brigades were posted at points along the eastern shore. Not until
September 13 did the British begin the movement for the occupation of
Manhattan Island. On that day and the next several war vessels moved up
into the East River and at eleven o'clock on the morning of the
fifteenth British forces landed at Kip's Bay. There the American troops
disgraced themselves by slight resistance followed by a confused flight.
Howe neglected to follow up his initial success; had he done so he could
have cut off the garrison of New York, but his procrastination allowed
Putnam's force to rejoin the main army. Not until four in the afternoon
did the British commence "a stately progress northward" and not until
the next morning did they attack the American position. This time
Washington's troops behaved well and the British were checked.
White Plains.--For four weeks the British army remained in front of the
American position at Harlem. Howe finally decided upon his plan of
campaign; leaving a force to protect New York City, on October 12 he
moved his main army to the Westchester Peninsula with the object of
getting on the flank and rear of the American army, and cutting off its
supplies from the east; war ships were sent up the Hudson to cut off a
retreat into New Jersey. After his landing on the peninsula Howe's
movements were very slow and it was not until October 25 that he took up
a position a few miles south of White Plains, The dilatory movement had
given Washington the opportunity of moving his army to the mainland, and
when Howe finally arrived near White Plains, he found the American army
blocking his advance.
The British commander had just been heavily reinforced and his
overwhelming army should have made short work of Washington's forces,
but again Howe failed to win a decisive victory. On October 28 he
ordered a general engagement and the first assault drove in the American
outposts. A mile to the west of the main position was Chatterton's Hill
which was held by fourteen hundred men. Against this hill Howe sent
eight regiments. Five which advanced for a frontal attack were checked
and the defenders only retired when outflanked by the other three. A
general engagement did not develop and on October 31 Washington retired
to a line of heights somewhat back of his former position.
[Illustration: Northern New Jersey, New York and Its Environs during the
Revolution (Based on map in G.O. Trevelyan, _The American Revolution_,
Part II, Vol. I, at end).]
The withdrawal from Quebec.--While Washington's army rested at White
Plains, heartening news came from the north; and especially good news it
was, for during the summer the reports from the Canadian border had been
filled with stories of defeat and distress. Congress had made great
efforts to reinforce the army before Quebec, but on May 1 when General
Thomas arrived to take command, he had found less than two thousand men
assembled and half of them were in the hospitals. Within a week the
first British reinforcements arrived and Carleton took the offensive.
Thomas was forced to fall back to Sorel and the Americans were driven
from their camp near Montreal.
The army falls back to Crown Point.--On June 5 General John Sullivan
arrived at Sorel with three thousand troops. As Thomas had died of the
smallpox Sullivan took command. He determined to attack Three Rivers but
the surprise failed and his troops were routed. On June 14 an English
fleet carrying Carleton's army came up the river. Sullivan immediately
broke up his camp and retired to Crown Point, where for the time being
he was out of reach of the enemy, for Carleton's vessels were of too
deep draft to navigate the Sorel River. But disease proved to be more
dangerous than the British, for smallpox and dysentery carried off the
men by hundreds.
Ticonderoga becomes the base.--General Philip Schuyler was in command of
the northern department with headquarters at Albany and General Horatio
Gates was now in charge at Crown Point. In July Gates withdrew most of
the depleted force to Ticonderoga. Large numbers of troops were sent
north so that by August the garrison numbered thirty-five hundred.
Arnold equipped a fleet of small vessels which he hoped would delay if
it would not check the British advance.
Valcour Island.--During the summer Carleton's shipyard at St. Johns was
busy building the fleet which would give him control of Lake Champlain.
On October 4 Carleton advanced with an army of twelve thousand men.
Arnold started with his fleet manned by only five hundred men to harass
the advance. He ran into the narrow channel between Valcour Island and
the western shore and there on October 11 encountered the light advance
craft of the British fleet. For five hours he held his own. During the
night he withdrew his shattered boats to an island twelve miles to the
south where he attempted to repair the damage. On October 13 when the
fog lifted, it disclosed the British fleet. Arnold immediately sent off
his best vessels and with his crippled ships stayed to fight. One vessel
struck its colors but Arnold ran his flag ship and four gondolas into a
creek and burned them. He then hastened to Ticonderoga where he
displayed tremendous energy in strengthening the fortifications. The
spirited fight on the lake, the strength of the American position, and
the lateness of the season convinced Carleton that it was useless to
continue the operations. On November 3 he evacuated Crown Point and
began the withdrawal to Canada. Washington was thus relieved from the
danger of an enemy from the north.
Tactical movements.--Before he was aware of Carleton's withdrawal, Howe
had determined to force Washington's army into the open. He sent a force
of Hessians to occupy the northern end of Manhattan Island and on
November 5 moved his main army to Dobb's Ferry on the Hudson, from which
vantage point he could strike at Fort Washington, advance toward Albany,
or threaten Philadelphia. Washington's position was endangered and the
situation was made doubly precarious by the fact that his army was being
depleted by desertions and by the termination of enlistments. To
counteract the British movement he sent one corps to Hackensac in New
Jersey, and Heath's division was stationed at Peekskill to protect the
Hudson. Charles Lee was left at White Plains with about seven thousand
men subject to future orders.
Forts Washington and Lee.--The British moved next against Forts
Washington and Lee, which, garrisoned by about five thousand men, were
under the supervision of General Greene. They ought to have been
abandoned, but Washington unfortunately left the decision to his
subordinate who believed that they could be held. On November 16
overwhelming forces advanced against Fort Washington which was obliged
to surrender. Cornwallis secretly sent six thousand troops across the
Hudson and on November 20 advanced against Fort Lee. He all but
surprised it and Greene, with the greatest difficulty, succeeded only in
saving the garrison.
THE NEW JERSEY CAMPAIGN
Retreat to the Raritan.--The fall of the forts had added greatly to the
difficulty of the situation, for Washington's army was in danger of
being enveloped. To avert disaster he determined to retreat into New
Jersey. He accordingly crossed the Passaic and moved to Newark. The
forces under Lee were ordered to join the retreating army, but that vain
and conceited officer, who had visions of becoming commander-in-chief as
soon as Washington was eliminated, refused to obey orders. On November
28 Washington marched out of Newark and as his rear guard left the town
the advanced guard of the British entered it. The American army pushed
on to New Brunswick where it found a temporary haven behind the Raritan.
On December 1 Cornwallis's troops reached the river, but there he was
halted by an order from Howe not to advance until he arrived with
reinforcements.
Expedition against Rhode Island.--A week later Howe came up with a
single brigade. Instead of concentrating his troops to crush the remnant
of Washington's army, the British commander decided to send two
divisions to conquer Rhode Island. They easily occupied the island but
it was a fruitless venture for "several thousand Royal troops were
thenceforward locked up in a sea-girt strip of land no larger than the
estate of many an English Lord-Lieutenant."
Retreat across the Delaware.--Washington's army was constantly reduced
by desertion and sickness, and the New Jersey people failed to rally to
his assistance. It has been estimated that not a hundred men enlisted
during the retreat across the state. The people of New Jersey paid
dearly for their indifference, for during the winter they were
constantly subjected to indignities from the Hessians who were billeted
upon them. Among the atrocious acts was the pillaging of Princeton
College. Taking advantage of British inactivity, Washington prepared to
retire beyond the Delaware, from New Brunswick having ordered the
collection of boats for many miles along the river front. Covering his
retreat with fourteen hundred of his best troops under Stirling, the
army and stores were landed on the Pennsylvania shore. When the British
troops arrived on the eastern bank, they were forced to halt, for not a
boat was available and the short-sighted Howe had failed to provide his
army with pontoons.
To the British commander the campaign was over and he prepared to go
into winter quarters, fancying that the rebellion was practically
crushed and that the spring campaign would be a mere parade. The Whig
use appeared to be lost and gloomy forebodings and grumblings of
discontent took the place of declamation and heroics. On December 10
Congress resolved to defend Philadelphia but two days later it adjourned
and hied away to Baltimore. Washington's lack of authority had
frequently hampered his military operations, but this difficulty was now
removed, for before adjournment Congress resolved, that until otherwise
ordered, Washington was to have full power to direct operations.
Washington's army reinforced.--The dispirited army which crossed the
Delaware was soon strongly reinforced. After many days of inaction,
General Lee had left his camp at White Plains with the intention, as he
grandiloquently put it, of reconquering New Jersey. After the retreat of
Carleton, Schuyler had sent seven battalions under Sullivan to assist
Washington, but Lee succeeded in getting control of four of them. On
December 13 he was captured at a tavern at Baskingridge. As soon as
Sullivan heard of it, he started the troops for the Delaware and on the
twentieth of December joined Washington. Four other battalions from
Schuyler's army arrived shortly afterward and General Mifflin brought in
a goodly body of Pennsylvania militia. Before Christmas the army
numbered eight thousand.