THE WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.

But the prosperity of America was now to receive a sudden check, and a

contest to begin, more important to her and more momentous in its

consequences, than any which the world had ever witnessed. England was

oppressed by a heavy debt, which had been more than doubled by the

heavy expenses of the late war, and the people were overburdened with

taxes. In an evil hour, it occurred to the Chancellor of the Exchequer

that this pressure might be lightened, if the American Colonies could

be made to contribute to the general expenses of the empire.

Mr. Grenville introduced into parliament his bill for imposing a stamp

tax on the American Colonies, and it became a law with little

opposition February 6th, 1765. Stamped papers, upon which a

considerable impost was to be paid, were required for all judicial

proceedings, clearances at the custom-house, bills of lading, and even

the diplomas granted by seminaries of learning. The law was not to

take effect for about seven or eight months after its passage. The

news that the bill had become a law arrived in Boston early in April;

and the effect was as if a cannon had been fired so near the ears of

the people that they were all stunned by the explosion. They seemed

stupefied at first; there was no popular outbreak, no meeting for the

passage of violent resolutions. But it was the lull which precedes,

and not that which follows, the tempest. The legislative body

assembled in May, and they immediately resolved that the other Colnies

should be invited to unite with them in sending delegates to a

Congress, to be held in New York in October, to consult together on

the present state of affairs and the recent acts of parliament. This

was a significant intimation that the Colonies were at last aware of

the strength and firmness which they might acquire by concert and

union.

Delegates from nine of the colonies assembled at the Congress in New

York, and assurances were received from two other Colonies that they

would acquiesce in the result. The proceedings of this Congress were

singularly moderate, considering the excited temper of the people.

They only published a declaration of the Rights and Grievances of the

Colonies, and addressed a petition to the king, and memorials to the

two houses of parliament; and the tone of these documents, though

firm, was mild, argumentative, and respectful. They claimed all the

privileges of British subjects, and especially that of not being taxed

without their own consent. When these papers were signed, the Congress

was dissolved, after a session of little more than a fortnight. The

chief advantage derived from it was, that it made the patriot leaders

from the different Colonies acquainted with each other, and enabled

them to give assurances of mutual support. November came, but the

stamps were nowhere used and the business even of the courts of

justice, after a short suspension, was resumed. The act was

practically nullified, with the assent, either free or enforced, of

the judges and the governors.

The cause of the Colonies, which they pleaded with much earnestness

and ability, soon found sympathy in the whole of Europe; and in

England itself, it was embraced by a powerful party, which opposed the

measures of government both in speech and writing. At the head of this

opposition stood the great statesman and orator, the elder William

Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham; and he was actively supported by

Conway, Col. Barrè, and Lord Camden, afterwards Lord Chancellor, and

next to Lord Mansfield, the highest legal authority in the realm. This

powerful opposition produced a change of ministry in July, 1765, and,

after a vehement debate, after Dr. Franklin had undergone a memorable

examination before the House of Commons, in which he declared that the

Act could never be enforced, the Stamp Act was repealed. But a bill

was passed at the same time, March, 1766, declaratory of the power and

right of parliament to bind America in all cases whatsoever. In the

Colonies, the news of the repeal was received with great rejoicing,

the accompanying act being justly regarded as a mere contrivance to

save the honor of government. Lord Camden, indeed, in the House of

Lords, had strenously opposed the declaratory bill as ‘absolutely

illegal.’ ‘Taxation and representation,’ he declared, ‘are inseparably

united; God hath joined them, and no British parliament can put them

asunder.’ Indemnity was demanded from the Colonies for those officers

of the crown who had suffered from the late riots; and both New York

and Massachusetts granted them full compensation.

[Illustration: “PLACE DES ARMS,” N. O.]

[Illustration: BLACKWELL PENITENTIARY]

But the joy of the Americans was of short duration, for in little more

than a year, another act was passed by parliament, imposing duties on

all tea, paper, glass, paints, and lead, that should be imported into

the Colonies. This was an avowed attempt to raise a revenue, though,

in form, the bill was like other acts for regulating trade; and it was

hoped that, on this account, it would escape censure. But the

principle first advanced by James Otis was now generally adopted by

the Colonists, that revenue bills under the form of regulations of

trade violated their rights quite as much as direct taxation. Thus the

flame of opposition was kindled anew, and raged as hotly as ever.

Non-importation was an obvious and legal means of escaping these

taxes; and extensive combinations were therefore formed to refrain

from the use, not only of the taxed articles, but, as far as possible,

of all other British commodities. Able leaders and defenders of the

popular causes were not wanting. Besides James Otis, there were the

two Adamses (Samuel and John) and John Hancock in Massachusetts, John

Dickenson in Pennsylvania, (the author of the celebrated ‘Farmer’s

Letters,’ an able plea for Colonial rights,) Patrick Henry, and R. H.

Lee in Virginia, and Gadsden and Rutledge in South Carolina, besides

Dr. Franklin, whose reputation and abilities were of great weight in

London, where he resided for many years as agent of several of the

Colonies.

The war of pamphlets, newspapers, and speeches, the sharp

controversies between colonial assemblies and royal governors, and

occasional outbreaks of popular violence, continued for four or five

years, till the Americans were well nigh weaned from their old

affection for the land of their forefathers, and had ceased to glory

in the British name. Boston was the head quarters of opposition to the

policy of the English ministers, and several regiments of British

troops were accordingly sent thither to dragoon the inhabitants into

submission. But this measure served only to increase the irritation,

and to make the breach irreparable. An affray took place March 5,

1770, between the mob and the soldiers, in which the latter fired, and

killed three of their unarmed assailants, besides dangerously wounding

five others. It was late in the evening; the alarm bells rang, the

citizens rushed into the streets, and an open battle between the

people and the troops was with difficulty prevented. The next day, the

irritation of the people was so strongly manifested in a town meeting,

that the governor and the military commander consented to remove the

troops to an island in the harbor, and quiet was restored. The

soldiers who had fired, with their officer, were brought to trial for

murder; but Adams and Quincy, two of the most distinguished advocates

of popular rights, nobly consented to act as their legal defenders,

and made out so clear a case for them, that they had acted under

strong provocation, that the jury acquitted them of murder, and only

two were convicted of manslaughter, and slightly punished. Yet the

story of ‘the Boston Massacre,’ as it was called, served long to

inflame the passions of the multitude against their British

oppressors.

As yet, no revenue had been received from the duty on tea, because the

Americans would not import any of that commodity, the little which

they consumed being obtained by smuggling. But the contest was brought

to a crisis in 1773, by the East India Company, which, instigated by

the English ministry, sent several cargoes of tea to the Colonies,

supposing with good reason that it would be purchased if it could only

be landed and offered for sale. But the patriots were on the alert,

and immediately formed combinations to prevent the landing of the tea,

and to force the consignees to send it back. In New York and

Philadelphia, popular vengeance was denounced against any persons who

should receive the article, and even against the pilots if they should

guide the ships into the harbor; and the vessels were thus obliged to

return to England, without even effecting an entry at the

custom-house. At Charleston the tea was landed and stored in damp

cellars, where it was quickly spoiled. At Boston, governor Hutchinson

and admiral Montague succeeded in preventing the vessels from leaving

the harbor, in spite of the menaces of the inhabitants; whereupon,

about fifty persons disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians, boarded

the ships at the wharf, and in the presence of a great crowd of

people, drew up the chests of tea from the holds, and emptied their

contents into the water. When the news of this act arrived in England,

the indignant ministry resolved to punish the contumacious Bostonians,

and for this purpose, introduced three bills into parliament, March,

1774, one of which shut up the port of Boston, and removed the

custom-house to Salem; another virtually abrogated the charter of

Massachusetts, by giving to the crown or to the governor the

appointment of the Council and of all officers, and even the selection

of juries, and by prohibiting town meetings from being held without

the governor’s consent; and a third provided that persons accused of

murder might be sent to England for trial. These bills were

strenuously opposed by Fox, Burke, Barré, and Dunning, but were

carried by majorities of more than four to one. Another law provided

for the quartering of troops in America. Four more regiments were sent

to Boston, so that the town was now strongly garrisoned; and Gen. Gage

being appointed governor, in place of Hutchinson, the people of the

province were virtually placed under military law. The Quebec Act,

passed at the same session, for the purpose of preventing Canada from

taking part with the other Colonies, extended the boundaries of that

province to the Ohio and the Mississippi, established the old French

law in all judicial proceedings, and secured to the Catholic Church

there the enjoyment of all its lands and revenues. A short time

before, as if the feelings of the people of Massachusetts had not been

sufficiently irritated, their agent in London, Dr. Franklin, was made

the object of an indecent and scurrilous invective before the Privy

Council by the Solicitor General, Wedderburn, the avowed intention

being to insult him and his constituents. He was charged with having

transmitted to Massachusetts certain letters, written by some officers

of the crown in that province, on public subjects, to their friends in

office in England, which letters had been given to Franklin by some

person who had obtained them by stratagem or unfair means. But before

making this charge, the ministers themselves had repeatedly

intercepted the letters of Franklin and other Colonial agents, and

read them.

The passage of the Boston Port Bill was the virtual commencement of

the American Revolution, though a collision with arms did not take

place till another year had elapsed. The agreements to import no more

British goods, and to abstain from the consumption of them, were

renewed with greater solemnity and strictness than before. Another

general Congress was called by Massachusetts, to meet at Philadelphia

in September; and committees of correspondence were instituted, to

render the action of the different Colonies harmonious, and to keep

them advised of each other’s proceedings. Closing the harbor had

deprived the people of Boston of their usual means of livelihood; but

Salem and Marblehead generously tendered them the use of their

wharves, and subscriptions for the more indigent were obtained all

over the country. The Congress met at the appointed time and place,

and twelve Colonies were represented in it, only Georgia sending no

delegates. Among the members were the two Adamses from Massachusetts,

and Washington and Patrick Henry from Virginia. Memorials and

addresses were sent forth, as by the former assembly; and the tone of

these papers was naturally firmer and more decisive than on the former

occasion, though it was still moderate. A dignified and eloquent

Address to the people of Great Britain, written by Mr. Jay, was much

admired. The Declaration of Colonial Rights was precise and

comprehensive, and it included a protest against the employment of a

standing army in the Colonies without their consent. Professions were

made of perfect loyalty to the king, and of great solicitude for the

restoration of former harmony with Great Britain; and, from a majority

of the delegates, these professions were undoubtedly sincere. After a

session of eight weeks, the delegates separated, having first

recommended that another Congress should meet in the ensuing May, if

the difficulties with England were not previously adjusted.

In Massachusetts, hostilities seemed to be on the point of breaking

out. Governor Gage prorogued the General Court before it had come

together; but the members met at Salem, in spite of the prorogation,

organized themselves into a provincial congress, chose John Hancock

for their president, and proceeded to business. In an address to the

governor, they protested against the presence of British troops, and

the erection of the fortifications in Boston. They appointed a

committee of safety, to make measures for the defense of the province,

and another committee to obtain provisions and military stores. They

forbade the payment of any more money to the late treasurer, and

ordered all taxes to be collected by an officer whom they had

appointed. Three generals were commissioned by them, to take the

command of the militia, who were organized and disciplined with much

diligence. Gage issued counter orders and proclamations, but no one

out of the range of his soldiers’ muskets listened to them. His power

was limited to Boston, which he held by a considerable military force,

and had carefully fortified; but the people throughout Massachusetts

rendered strict and cheerful obedience to the provincial congress.

Later in the year, 12,000 ‘minute men’ were enrolled, being volunteers

from the militia, who pledged themselves to be ready for service at a

minute’s notice. Minute men were also enrolled in the other New

England colonies, where, also, measures were taken to procure

artillery and military stores.

The Port Bill went into operation in June, 1774, and the battle of

Lexington was not fought till the following April. During the

intervening months, the attitude of the whole people was calm and

watchful; they did not collect together in large bodies, they made no

menacing demonstrations, but waited patiently till their opponents

should commit the first overt act of hostility.

It was the firing of the king’s troops on Lexington common April 19th,

1775, which rang the alarm bell of the revolution, and the hitherto

seemingly quiescent Colony burst at once into a flame. This event took

place at four o’clock in the morning; and before noon, the hills and

roads were alive with ‘minute men,’ hurrying from all quarters to the

scene of conflict. General Gage had sent out Colonel Smith, the night

before, with 800 men, to destroy some military stores which the

patriots had collected at Concord. On arriving at Lexington, Colonel

Smith found a company of ‘minute men’ collected on the common, who

were ordered to disperse, and almost at the same moment were fired

upon by the British, who killed or wounded eighteen of them. A few

shots were fired in return, and the king’s troops then passed on to

Concord, where they destroyed a few stores, were attacked by the

provincials, and commenced their retreat to Boston about noon. But the

minute men were now rapidly coming up from the neighboring towns, and

each company, as it arrived, without waiting for orders, or stopping

to concert action with those already on the field, took the best

position it could find for annoying the enemy, and opened its fire.

The woods and stone walls on each side of the road were lined with

sharp shooters, who availed themselves of every advantage of the

ground as skillfully as if they had been directed by an able general.

When the British, on their retreat, had reached Lexington, they were

met by a reinforcement of 1,200 men, without which they would probably

have been cut off. But as soon as they resumed their march, they were

again attacked, and the affair continued as it had begun, each company

of the rustic soldiery finding its own station and fighting on its own

hook. The action ended only when the harassed king’s troops reached

Charlestown, where they found safety under the guns of their shipping.

They lost about 270 in killed, wounded, and missing, while the

American loss was but 93.

The manner in which this battle was fought was a type of the whole

contest in New England, from the time when the tea was destroyed till

Boston was evacuated. It is the most striking, perhaps the only

complete, instance which all history affords, of the whole population

of a country, self-moved, and self-governed, acting together with

great unanimity and vigor, yet acting patiently, prudently, and with

even a punctilious regard for the laws, while their excitement was

intense, and while they were bravely defying a powerful empire, and

setting at nought an authority, which, when exercised within the

bounds of justice, they and their fathers had always implicitly, and

even lovingly, recognized. The first action of the Massachusetts

Provincial Congress, after the battle of Lexington, was characteristic

of the men and the times. They appointed a committee to take the

depositions of those who were present, in order to prove that _the

British fired first_. If they had been conducting a lawsuit about the

title to a farm, they could not have been more anxious to collect

testimony, and show that ‘the law’ was on their side. Most of the

resolutions which they passed at this period, were accompanied by

formidable preambles, in which the justice and legality of the measure

proposed were demonstrated at length, though often with more

earnestness than logic. The time for action had now arrived, and it

soon appeared that the spirit which the people had shown at Lexington

was no transient feeling. Within a few days, an army of about 16,000

men had come together, and the siege of Boston was begun. This, again,

was a spontaneous and unconcerted movement; they assembled before

preparations were made for them, before a commander-in-chief had been

appointed, or any plan of action formed. Rhode Island and Connecticut

retained the control of their own troops, and the care of providing

them with arms and sustenance, merely instructing them to cooperate

with the Massachusetts army. But for the excellent spirit of the men,

the army would have been merely an armed mob. But the ranks were

filled with steady farmers and mechanics, who were brought thither by

their attachment to the cause, and who needed little discipline to

keep them in order.

Ammunition and artillery were yet wanting, though great exertions had

been made to obtain military stores. But this want was partially

supplied by an enterprise of the ‘Green Mountain Boys,’ as the

inhabitants of the country which is now the State of Vermont were then

called. It was known that the fortresses of Ticonderoga and Crown

Point had but slender garrisons and were imperfectly guarded. Ethan

Allen and Seth Warner, who commanded some armed volunteers in that

region, undertook upon their own responsibility to take these forts by

surprise, and they succeeded, May, 1775. Two hundred pieces of

artillery and a considerable supply of powder were thus obtained for

the camp near Boston. The British army at that place had been

reinforced, and now amounted to 10,000 men, under Generals Howe,

Clinton, and Burgoyne. To straiten their quarters, Col. Prescott was

sent, with about a thousand men from the American army, to throw up an

entrenchment on Bunker’s Hill in Charlestown. A small redoubt was

constructed there in the night time, on which, as soon as it was

discovered in the morning, the English ships in the harbor opened

their fire, June 17. This produced but little effect; and the

reinforcements sent to Prescott during the forenoon enabled him to

throw up an imperfect breast-work, and other slight fortifications

outside of the redoubt. Generals Putnam, Pomeroy, and Warren joined

him at this time, but did not take the command out of his hands. Three

thousand men were sent over at noon from Boston, led by Howe and

Pigot, to take the hill by assault. They advanced bravely, but the

fire of the Americans was so close and well-sustained, that the

British wavered, and fell back in great disorder. Gage then ordered

the village of Charlestown, which was near the foot of the hill, to be

set on fire, and while the flames were raging, the troops again moved

forward. Again, as they approached the redoubt, the murderous fire of

the Americans, many of whom were practiced marksmen, burst forth, and

again the assailants were driven back to the landing place. They

formed and advanced a third time, and as the ammunition of the

Americans was now nearly spent, they succeeded in getting possession

of the hill. But their opponents retired in a body, and were not

pursued, though they suffered much from the fire of the shipping in

their retreat. The victory of Howe might well be considered a defeat,

for he lost over a thousand men in killed and wounded, while the

American loss was not half as great. But Gen. Warren was among the

slain. The battle was as characteristic as that of Lexington; a

Colonel commanded, and three Generals either served under him, or

acted independently in directing the troops. The result was very

encouraging to the Americans, as it proved that their raw levies were

capable of waging a desperate conflict with regular troops.

Congress had again assembled at Philadelphia at the appointed time,

May 10, and it began to exercise all the functions of a government,

though there was no formal union of the Colonies, and the cheerful

acquiescence of the people was the only basis of its authority. But

the delegates were not yet prepared for a total rupture with England;

they voted to send another petition to the king, and an address to the

people of Great Britain, in which they declared that they did not

intend to throw off their allegiance, and professed an anxious desire

for peace. At the same time, they resolved to put the country in a

state of defense, and to complete the organization of an army, George

Washington, a delegate from Virginia, was chosen commander-in-chief,

the members from New England heartily concurring in his nomination,

from their wish to secure the coöperation of the southern Colonies.

Ward, Lee, Schuyler, and Putnam were commissioned as major-generals,

and ten brigadiers were appointed, among whom were Gates, Green,

Montgomery, and Sullivan. Most of these officers had seen service in

the French and Indian wars. Bills of credit, or paper money, were

issued to the amount of three millions of dollars; a post-office

department was organized, and a committee was appointed to secure, if

possible, the neutrality of the Indians. Massachusetts asked the

advice of Congress, in reference to its form of government; and it was

advised to establish a provisional government, that should conform as

nearly as possible to the charter. The governors of most of the

Colonies had now either abandoned their posts, or were coöperating

with the enemies of the country; and the direction of affairs had

generally fallen into the hands either of the most numerous

representative body under the old organization, or of such an assembly

created for the occasion. It may be observed here, by anticipation,

that new constitutions of government were established by all the

Colonies, except Connecticut and Rhode Island, during the progress of

the war. New Hampshire formed such a constitution in 1775; New Jersey,

South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and North

Carolina, in 1776,――the first three before the Declaration of

Independence; Georgia and New York, in 1777; Massachusetts, in 1780.

The forms of government thus established were not arbitrary and novel.

They supplied omissions, it is true; but they made no unnecessary

innovations. They were the old forms of polity, adopted by the first

settlers, or created for them by charter, with such modifications only

as were rendered necessary by the transition from a state of partial,

to one of total, independence. Connecticut and Rhode Island did not

find it necessary to make any change; their charters were so liberal

that the people, in fact, had always chosen all their own officers,

and enacted all their own laws; and under these charters, the

government continued to be administered for nearly half a century

after the Revolution.

Washington assumed the command of the army before Boston about a

fortnight after the battle of Bunker Hill, and immediately endeavored

to improve its organization and discipline, and to obtain supplies of

arms and military stores. The troops at first consisted entirely of

volunteers, and so many of these left and went home after a short

stay, that it was feared the camp would be deserted. An attempt was

now made to enlist soldiers for definite periods, to form them into

regiments, and accustom them to discipline and the use of their arms.

The most pressing want was that of powder, of which there was not

enough to furnish nine rounds to a man, and the whole supply in the

country was so inadequate that active operations could not be

undertaken for some months. Attempts were made to establish

manufactories of saltpetre and to import powder and lead from the West

Indies; and a small supply of military stores was obtained from

captured vessels. The patience and firmness of the commander-in-chief

were severely taxed by the many discouraging circumstances of his

position, at the head of a motley collection of troops, with

insufficient means of paying them and of providing many necessaries of

war. Reserved and dignified in his demeanor, inflexible in purpose,

circumspect and yet enterprising in his plans, industrious and

methodical in business, he united the highest qualifications for the

elevated post which he was called to fill. His equanimity was seldom

ruffled, and no failures or disasters could dishearten him or paralyze

his energies. A keen judge of character and qualifications, he was

generally fortunate in selecting his agents and giving his confidence.

Under his direction, and in spite of the most adverse circumstances,

the raw levies were gradually converted into disciplined and effective

troops, and the efforts of an enemy greatly superior in means and

equipment were successfully foiled.

Congress had projected an expedition against Canada, in the hope of

obtaining the sympathy and aid of the French inhabitants of that

province, or perhaps of inducing them to unite with the other Colonies

in resistance to the British ministry. In August, 1775, Schuyler and

Montgomery, at the head of a small body of troops, advanced by way of

Lake Champlain against Montreal, whilst Arnold, with about a thousand

men, was detached from the camp before Boston, to ascend the Kennebeck

river, and then make his way through the wilderness to the banks of

the St. Lawrence opposite Quebec. Schuyler being prevented by illness

from advancing farther than St. John’s on the Sorel, the command

devolved on Montgomery, who, after a few weeks’ siege, captured St.

John’s, and then advanced against Montreal, which was surrendered to

him without resistance. Arnold’s troops, after suffering great

hardships from exposure and want of food while passing through a wild

and uninhabited region, reached the southern bank of the St. Lawrence,

December 1st, where they were joined by Montgomery, who came down the

river to meet them. Their united forces hardly exceeded a thousand

men, while Carleton, the British commander, by landing the sailors and

organizing the citizens into military companies, had garrisoned Quebec

with 1,200. The artillery of the Americans not being sufficient to

make any impression on the works, they resolved to attempt to carry

the place by assault. Under cover of a snow-storm, December 31, the

men advanced to the attack with great gallantry, and forced their way

into the lower town; but Montgomery was killed, Arnold’s leg was

broken by a musket ball, and after some desperate fighting, the party

in the streets found themselves surrounded and were obliged to

surrender. Arnold, with about 600 men, retreated a few miles up the

river, and there kept up the blockade of Quebec through the winter.

Reinforcements were sent to him; but after the spring opened, a large

body of British troops arrived at Quebec and the Americans were forced

to retire, first to Montreal, and afterwards to St. John’s.

Howe’s army in Boston, having learned caution from the battle of

Bunker Hill, made no attempt at offensive operations during the autumn

and winter; and the want of cannon and powder in the American camp

prevented Washington from attacking them. But through the great

exertion of Colonel Knox, over fifty pieces of artillery were dragged

on sleds, over the frozen lake and the snow, from Crown Point and

Ticonderoga; and active measures were then adopted to drive the

British out of the place. On the evening of the 4th of March, the

attention of the enemy being drawn by a brisk cannonade to the

opposite quarter, a large body of troops secretly took possession of

Dorchester heights, and erected a line of fortifications there which

commanded the harbor and the town. The English general made immediate

preparation to attack these works; but a furious storm of wind and

rain, that prevailed for two days, prevented the troops from crossing

in boats to Dorchester, and when this had ceased, the intrenchments

seemed too strong to be forced. General Howe consequently resolved to

evacuate the town; and on the 17th, the fleet sailed, carrying off the

whole army, and about one thousand inhabitants of the place and its

vicinity who adhered to the king’s cause. The recovery of Boston

caused great rejoicing throughout the country; the thanks of Congress

were voted to the general and his army, and a gold medal was ordered

to be struck in commemoration of the event. After a delay of a few

days, Washington marched with the main body of the army to New York.

The Loyalists, or Tories, as the favorers of the British cause were

called, were numerous in that place and its neighborhood, and for this

reason, among others, it was supposed that Howe would carry his army

thither. In reality, the British troops sailed for Halifax, where they

remained inactive till the end of June, and then, after receiving

large reinforcements, proceeded to New York.

A year had now elapsed since the battle of Lexington; it had been

passed in active hostilities, the exasperation of both parties had

increased, and there seemed no longer any hope of a reconciliation

with England. Lord North’s ministry, supported by the obstinacy of the

king and by a large majority in both houses of Parliament, evinced no

disposition to change its policy; on the contrary, treaties had been

formed with several of the minor powers of Germany, in virtue of which

about 17,000 Hessians, Waldeckers, and Hanoverians were collected by

crafty recruiting officers, and hired out to England for the purpose

of putting down the rebellion in America. Of course, the news that

these mercenaries were to be employed greatly increased the irritation

of the Colonies. Thomas Paine, a very vigorous writer, published his

famous pamphlet, called ‘Common Sense,’ to prove that a final

separation from England was inevitable and ought not to be delayed.

Written in an eminently popular style, it had an immense circulation,

and was of great service in preparing the minds of the people for

independence. A proposition to dissolve all connection with Great

Britain was first introduced into Congress by Richard Henry Lee, of

Virginia and was warmly supported by John Adams and other members from

New England. But it was not carried without difficulty; New York,

Pennsylvania, Maryland, and South Carolina hesitated. Indeed, the

legislatures of the two former Colonies had expressly instructed their

representatives in Congress to vote against it. But the tide of

popular opinion now set strongly towards independence, and the

waverers were carried along with it, in spite of their efforts. The

recusant Colonies recalled their instructions, and on the 4th of July,

1776, the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson,

and revised by a committee, of which John Adams and Dr. Franklin were

members, was solemnly adopted in Congress by a vote of the whole

Thirteen States.

The progress of the contest had been watched with great attention on

the Continent of Europe, where the efforts of the Americans were

naturally regarded with favor and sympathy, partly out of jealousy of

England, but still more by the enthusiasm which a gallant contest for

freedom always awakens in the hearts of the people. Among the French,

particularly, this feeling was very strong, as the success of the

patriots would humiliate and weaken the haughty rival that had

recently triumphed over France, and deprived her of nearly all her

colonial dominion. Congress had previously appointed a ‘Committee of

Secret Correspondence,’ to keep up intercourse with the friends of the

cause in various parts of Europe; and now that the United States had

become an independent power, it seemed proper to extend this

intercourse, and to establish diplomatic relations with other

governments. Three commissioners, of whom Dr. Franklin was one, were

sent to Paris, and Arthur Lee was deputed by them to visit Prussia and

Spain. These agents were not formally received at court, for no

European power was yet prepared for war with England. But the French

ministers treated them with much courtesy, and agreed to furnish the

Americans with secret supplies of money, arms, and military stores, to

a considerable amount. Many shipments were consequently made, and the

aid thus received was very seasonable. The appearance of Dr. Franklin,

with his high reputation as a philosopher, his plain garb, and

agreeable manners, as an envoy from the combatants for freedom in the

New World, created a great sensation among the excitable people of

Paris. Honors and attentions of all kinds were lavished upon him. ‘Men

imagined,’ says Lacretelle, ‘that they saw in him a sage of antiquity,

come back to give austere lessons and generous examples to the

moderns. They personified in him the republic of which he was the

representative and legislator.’ The young and wealthy Marquis of

Lafayette, inspired with a noble enthusiasm, crossed the ocean to

hazard life and property in the cause of American freedom. Some

Germans, also, among whom Kalb and Steuben, were best known, and the

gallant Pole, Kosciusko, with a number of volunteers from other

nations, came to the aid of the Americans.

The campaign of 1776 was very disastrous to the American arms, and but

for the surpassing fortitude and magnanimity of their great military

leader, it would have been ruinous to the cause. Washington’s army was

very weak when it arrived in New York; several regiments had been left

behind to garrison Boston, and others were detached to strengthen the

northern army, then lying near Montreal. Unfortunately, also, the men

had been enlisted for very short periods, owing to the uncertainty how

long the war would continue; and now, when their services were most

wanted, and they had been trained and disciplined, whole regiments had

to be disbanded and sent home, and their places were taken by raw

recruits. Frequent drafts were made from the militia, to meet pressing

emergencies; but these raw troops could not be depended upon for

efficient service.

The Continental troops under Washington at New York did not number

more than 8,000, while the British army, which Howe led thither in

June, including the German mercenaries, amounted to 24,000. Among them

were the troops lately employed against Charleston, South Carolina,

where they had attempted to land, but the fleet had been driven off by

the heavy fire from the forts. The fortifications at New York did not

prove so formidable, as the British vessels passed them without

damage, and entered the Hudson river. Howe landed most of his troops

on Long Island, where the tories were very numerous, and marched to

attack the Americans, who were in an entrenched camp at the western

end of the island, opposite New York. A battle followed, in which the

British army succeeded in gaining the rear of the Americans by an

unguarded road, and totally defeated them, taking over a thousand

prisoners. The remainder of the army secretly retreated, on the second

night after the battle, from Long Island to New York. Leaving a

garrison in the town, Washington placed the body of the troops on

Harlem heights, a strong position at the northward. But the garrison

was soon obliged with loss to quit New York, as the place was not

tenable except by a large force, and even the troops on the heights

behaved so ill that a further retreat became necessary. Discouragement

was now very general; the militia deserted by companies, and the

Continentals, as the regular troops were called, began to follow their

example. Washington adopted the only system of warfare which was

practicable under these gloomy circumstances; he resolved to risk no

general engagement, to encamp only in strong positions, to weary out

the enemy by frequent marches, and not to meet them except in

skirmishes. A partial action was fought at White Plains, October 28,

without any decisive result, and most of the Americans were then

withdrawn to the western shore of the Hudson, as an invasion of New

Jersey was threatened. A large garrison was left in Fort Washington,

on New York island, about ten miles above the city; but the British

attacked it before the fortifications were completed, and the

commander was obliged to capitulate, giving up the place and stores,

and over 2,000 prisoners. The enemy then crossed the Hudson in force,

and Washington was obliged to abandon Fort Lee, on the Jersey shore,

with a great quantity of baggage and artillery. He then retreated

rapidly southward through New Jersey as far as Trenton, where, for

safety, the army crossed the Delaware into Pennsylvania. At this

gloomy period for the American cause, Sir William Howe issued a

proclamation, offering pardon to all who would return to their

allegiance within sixty days, and commanding all persons who had taken

up arms, and all congresses and associations, to desist from their

treasonable proceedings, and give up their usurped authority. Many

individuals, among them were two former members of Congress, were weak

enough to accept the proposal. As the British army approached

Philadelphia, Congress adjourned to Baltimore, having first granted to

the commander-in-chief almost dictatorial powers.

Washington perceived that some bold stroke was necessary to revive the

spirits of his countrymen. Some reinforcements had joined him, and the

English army had gone into winter-quarters, being stationed in

detachments in several places in New Jersey. On Christmas night, at

the head of 2,500 men, he recrossed the Delaware with great

difficulty, as the river was full of floating ice, surprised a body of

Hessians in Trenton, took 900 prisoners and then returned to his

former position with only a trifling loss. A week afterwards, he

reöccupied Trenton with a larger force; but lord Cornwallis came up to

meet him with a large portion of the British army, and it appeared too

hazardous either to stand an engagement or retreat when the enemy were

so near. Washington devised a manœuvre which was completely

successful. Leaving the watch-fires burning in the deserted camp, the

troops were led by a circuitous route into the rear of the British,

and then conducted to Princeton, where they fell unexpectedly upon

three regiments that were stationed there, drove them out of the town

with great loss, and took 300 prisoners. Cornwallis heard the firing

in his rear, and divining the cause, hurried off in pursuit; but

before he could overtake the Americans, they were encamped on

unassailable ground at Morristown. These exploits taught Sir William

Howe to respect an opponent whom he had begun to contemn; and he

therefore withdrew his troops from the greater part of New Jersey, and

concentrated them round New York. Washington stationed his army at

Morristown, Princeton, and in the Highlands on the Hudson; and the

next six months were spent in organizing it anew, and reducing it to

discipline. The British had taken possession of the southern part of

Rhode Island, and had surprised and captured Gen. Lee. On the other

hand, privateers and national cruisers had been fitted out in the

ports of Massachusetts, and had captured many valuable British ships,

which were carried to the West Indies and the harbors of continental

Europe, and sold.

The next year, 1777, was the turning point, or critical period of the

war. It was checkered by good and evil fortune. It was a period of

much financial difficulty and great suffering both by the army and the

people; but towards its close, the unexpected and great success of the

American arms at the north really decided the fate of the contest, and

showed that the attempt of Great Britain to reduce the Colonies by

force to their former allegiance was a hopeless undertaking. About the

end of May, the American army, now much strengthened by recruits, left

its winter quarters, and took a strong position at Middlefield. Howe

manœuvred for some time, in the hope of inducing or compelling it to

fight a battle on equal ground. But finding that Washington was too

cautious to run this hazard, he suddenly embarked his army on board

the fleet, and carried it round to the head of Chesapeake Bay, where

he landed and began his march for Philadelphia. He was obliged to take

this route, as the American fortifications on the Delaware made it too

hazardous for the fleet to ascend that river. Anxious to save the city

which was the seat of Congress and was regarded in some measure as the

capital of the country, Washington marched hurriedly south to

intercept him. After passing through Philadelphia, he first attempted

to check the progress of the enemy at Brandywine, where a creek,

everywhere fordable, guarded the front of the American position. The

British passed this stream in two divisions, September 11, at

considerable distance from each other; and Washington’s army being

thus attacked in front and on the flank, some regiments broke and

fled, and the rest were forced to retreat in some disorder. The

Americans again offered battle five days afterwards, but a violent

storm interrupted the engagement almost as soon as it began. The hope

of saving Philadelphia was then abandoned; Congress adjourned to

Lancaster, the magazines and public stores were removed, and Howe

entered the city on the 25th, leaving the bulk of his army ten miles

off, at Germantown. It was a barren conquest; experience was now

teaching the British that they could hold no more ground in America

than what they actually occupied with their troops; and these were not

to be too much scattered, or they were liable to be cut off in detail.

To raise the sinking spirits of his men, Washington planned a surprise

of the British army in Germantown. The enterprise seemed successful at

first; but the troops got separated from each other, in the darkness

of the morning, by the inequalities of the ground, a panic seized upon

some, and the whole were then driven to make a disorderly retreat.

Rightly deeming that Washington could not soon make another attack

after this repulse, Howe resolved to attack the forts on the Delaware,

in order to establish communication with his fleet, which had not yet

been able to pass up the river. Count Donop, with 1,200 Hessians,

assaulted the post at Red Bank, on the Jersey shore, but fell in the

attempt, and his men were driven off with great slaughter; and of the

ships which assailed Fort Mifflen, on an island in the Delaware, a

sixty four was blown up, a frigate was burned, and the others were

much injured and compelled to retire. The enemy then erected

land-batteries, which kept up so heavy a fire that the fortifications

were ruined, and the garrison was withdrawn. Red Bank was also

evacuated, and the Delaware was thus opened to the British fleet.

But the most important military operations of this year took place at

the North. Gen. Burgoyne received the command in Canada, with a finely

appointed army of 10,000 men, and was instructed to force his way down

Lake Champlain, and then cross to Albany, and descend the Hudson, to

join the British forces in New York. This plan, if executed, would

have cut off New England from the other Colonies, and have rendered

the subjugatian of the Americans extremely probable. And there was

great danger for a time that it would be executed. Burgoyne summoned

the Indians to his standard, and easily drove the feeble and

disorganized army of St. Clair before him, captured Ticonderoga and

Skenesborough, July 6, and prepared to force his way through the

wilderness, from the head of the lake to the Hudson. St. Clair had

brought a poor remnant of his army to join Schuyler at Fort Edward, on

the Hudson; but their united forces did not number 5,000, most of them

were militia, and both ammunition and provisions were wanting. The

news of the loss of Ticonderoga and the rapid progress of Burgoyne

created great consternation; the militia of New England came forward

readily, and in considerable numbers, to strengthen the northern army,

which also received some detachments from the posts in the Highlands.

Schuyler was superseded by Gen. Gates, and under him were placed

Arnold, Morgan, Lincoln, and others, who were among the best officers

in the army. Burgoyne had succeeded in reaching the Hudson after

immense labor and fatigue, but he found that difficulties were now

beginning to thicken around him. He sent out a strong detachment of

regular troops, Tories, and Indians, to his right, to turn the alarm

to the western frontier of New York, and lay siege to Fort Schuyler at

the head of the Mohawk. Arnold was sent against him, and the fear of

his approach caused so many of the Indians to desert, that St. Leger

was compelled to raise the siege and retire so precipitately that most

of his stores and baggage fell into the hands of the Americans.

Another and stronger detachment was sent out to the left, under Col.

Baum, to try the temper of the people and to obtain horses and

provisions; this was encountered, at Bennington, by some New Hampshire

militia and Green Mountain Boys, under Col. Stark, and totally

defeated, most of the German soldiers being taken prisoners. Col.

Breyman, who had been sent with 500 men to aid Baum, came up two hours

after the battle was fought, was himself attacked by the victorious

party, and obliged to make the best retreat he could, with the loss of

all his baggage and artillery. Thus both of Burgoyne’s wings were

clipped, and he found himself at Saratoga, on the west side of the

Hudson, in the heart of a difficult country, short of provisions, and

with an enemy constantly increasing in numbers on all sides of him. He

first tried an attack upon Gates’ camp, upon Behmus’s Heights, in his

front Sept. 19; and the result was a drawn battle, in which he lost

500 men, and gained not a single advantage. A party of Lincoln’s

militia had got into his rear, surprised the posts around Lake George,

and besieged Ticonderoga, so that his communications were cut off. But

he was encouraged to hold out, as a letter reached him from Clinton in

New York, saying that the latter was about to make an expedition up

the Hudson, which could operate as a diversion, and might reach

Albany, so as to place Gates between two fires. The promise was kept,

the passes of the Highlands were forced, and the British had proceeded

as far north as Esopus, when they learned that they were too late, and

found it prudent to return. Burgoyne offered battle again on the 7th

of October, and his troops were defeated and driven back into his

camp, his entrenchments in one quarter were forced, and a part of his

artillery and ammunition were captured. His position was thus rendered

untenable, and he secretly drew back in the night to a rising ground

in the rear. Thence he retreated, two days afterwards, to Saratoga,

and found that the difficulties of the country and the position of the

American parties were such that he could go no further. He held out a

week longer; and then, his provisions being exhausted and his camp

surrounded and hard pressed, he was obliged to capitulate. He had

already lost about 4,000 men, and 5,642 others were now surrendered as

prisoners of war, all his arms, baggage, and camp equipage also

passing into the hands of the victors. The garrison of Ticonderoga,

when they heard of this calamity, hastily retreated into Canada, and

the Americans again took possession of this renowned fortress.

Two days after the news arrived at Paris of the capture of Burgoyne

and the battle of Germantown, the French ministry intimated to Dr.

Franklin that they were willing to consider the project of a treaty of

alliance with the American States. Two treaties were accordingly

framed, Feb. 6, 1778, in one of which France acknowledged the

independence of the States, and formed relations of amity and commerce

with them; in the other, which was to go into effect if Great Britain

should make war upon France, the two contracting parties bound

themselves to aid each other as good friends and allies, to maintain

the sovereignty and independence of the American States, and not to

make a truce or peace except by mutual consent. About the same time,

the British ministry caused two laws to be enacted, declaring that no

tax should hereafter be imposed by parliament on the Colonies, and

appointing commissioners to treat with them on almost any terms short

of absolute independence. The concession was ample, but it came too

late; Congress refused even to hold a conference with the

commissioners before the British armies were withdrawn and the

independence of the country acknowledged. England therefore declared

war against France, and prepared to keep up in America some years

longer a useless, expensive, and murderous conflict, in which she had

hardly a hope of ultimate success. The Colonists were indeed compelled

to pay a heavy price for their freedom. The public finances were in a

deplorable state; recruits could not be obtained except by enormous

bounties, and the troops were but half fed and half clothed; and the

people generally were suffering from the interruption of trade and

agriculture, and the scarcity of breadstuffs. There was hardly a

family in the land to which the war had not already brought privation

and bereavement. And yet the spirit of the people continued high; they

expected much from the French alliance, and, except among the Tories,

hardly a wish was breathed for peace on any terms short of

independence. For the army, which had passed the winter in miserable

huts at Valley Forge, suffering from cold and disease, and to some

extent also from hunger and nakedness, Washington set apart a day for

rejoicing when the news of the treaty with France were received.

Losses and hardships were then forgotten in the general exultation;

‘every heart was filled with gratitude to the French king, and every

mouth spoke his praise.’

The quarters of the British army were now found to be too much

extended; and it was resolved to evacuate Philadelphia and to retreat

to New York. The American army, which had been reinforced in the

spring of 1778, and somewhat trained and disciplined through the great

efforts of Baron Steuben, a brave and skillful Prussian officer, hung

upon their rear and gave them much trouble. A battle was fought at

Monmouth, June 28, with indecisive results, though the British loss

considerably exceeded that of the Americans. Many of the German

soldiers, also, took the opportunity to desert. Count D’Estaing soon

arrived with a powerful fleet, having 4,000 French soldiers on board,

and a scheme for a combined attack on New York having failed because

the pilots would not conduct the heavier ships over the bar, an

expedition against Newport was agreed upon, that place being held by

Gen. Pigot, at the head of 6,000 men. The fleet blockaded the harbor,

and forced the English to sink some of their frigates; but the

Continental troops and New England militia did not arrive soon enough

to coöperate with the ships, which were compelled to put to sea by

Lord Howe’s fleet, and were also crippled by a storm. The undertaking

was abandoned, and Gen. Sullivan had much difficulty in bringing off

the American troops, as the British had received a large

reinforcement. These were the only military operations on a large

scale during the year; though as the war was now prosecuted both by

the British and the Tories in a less hopeful and more revengeful

spirit, several predatory expeditions were sent out that did much

wanton injury, and in some skirmishes no quarter was given, and acts

of sickening barbarity were committed. Wyoming, a flourishing

settlement in Pennsylvania, was desolated by an incursion of Indians

and Tories, the male inhabitants were massacred, the houses burned,

and the cattle killed or driven off. Some towns on the coast of

Massachusetts were burned, and a heavy contribution was levied on a

defenseless island. In New York, Baylor’s troop of dragoons were

surprised, and the men bayonetted, under Gen. Gray’s orders to give no

quarter; and the same fate befell the infantry of Pulaski’s legion.

There was some excuse for the Tories in these proceedings; their

property had been very generally confiscated, they often had rough

personal treatment, and on slight pretexts, some of them had been

hanged.

During the next two years, the war was chiefly carried on by the

British in the southern States, where the population was more

scattered and divided in opinion, and the country offered fewer means

of defense. At the close of 1778, Savannah was taken by an expedition

from New York, and another body of royal troops coming up from

Florida, nearly completed the conquest of Georgia. Gen. Lincoln was

sent to take the command in this department, and by great exertions he

protected Charleston and South Carolina from the enemy till September

1779, when D’Estaing, with a French fleet and 6,000 men, arrived on

the coast, and the two armies in concert laid siege to Savannah. But

as the French could remain but a short time, the attack was made

prematurely, and the besiegers were beaten off with great loss, the

gallant Count Pulaski being among the slain. Gen. Mathews was sent

from New York, with 2,500 men, on a plundering expedition to Virginia.

He took possession of Portsmouth and Norfolk, burned some ships of war

and many private vessels, and brought off a large quantity of tobacco,

after destroying private property to the amount of two millions of

dollars. At the north, Congress took measures to punish the Indians

for the atrocities they had committed at Wyoming, and other places.

Gen. Sullivan led an expedition of 4,000 men into the heart of their

country, in the western part of the State of New York, destroyed their

villages, cut down their fruit trees, and so devastated the region,

that the miserable savages could attempt nothing more till the close

of the war. Some British troops under Gen. Tryon paid a marauding

visit to the Connecticut shore, plundered and burned several towns,

and destroyed a large amount of property. About the only legitimate

military exploits of the year, at the north, were the capture by the

British of Stony Point and Verplanck’s Point on the Hudson, thus

rendering the communication between New England and the Middle States

more circuitous and difficult, and the recapture of Stony Point in a

very gallant manner by the Americans under Gen. Wayne.

Spain had now joined the alliance against England, June, 1779, though

with no very definite purpose, except the hope that, while the

attention of the British ministry was occupied by so many enemies, she

might regain possession of Gibraltar. For a short time, the united

French and Spanish fleet swept the British seas; but it was soon

compelled to go into harbor. The next year, 1780, added another

European power to the list of England’s enemies, and brought her

assumed empire of the seas into great danger. To check the maritime

superiority of the British, who, during the war, had greatly disturbed

the neutral trade at sea, and molested the ships of every country by

an oppressive search for contraband goods, Catherine II of Russia

concluded an alliance with the several neutral powers, which should

maintain the principle of ‘free ships, free goods,’ and thus secure

the trade of the neutral states on the coasts and in the harbors of

either of the belligerent powers. The confederacy also declared that

no blockade of any port should be deemed effectual, so as to exclude

neutral vessels from entering it, if there were not an adequate naval

force present to maintain the blockade and render it dangerous for any

ship to attempt to enter. This neutral alliance was constituted

successively by Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Prussia, Austria, Naples, and

Portugal. But Holland, whose adherence was very important from her

situation and maritime strength, hesitated so long that England got

information of the project, and declared war against the Dutch before

they could give in their adhesion at St. Petersburg. Holland thus

disappeared from the list of the neutral powers, and the alliance was

deprived of her aid towards accomplishing their great purpose.

A powerful British armament, under Clinton and Arbuthnot, appeared

before Charleston in February, 1780, and laid siege to it, with a view

to the ultimate conquest of the whole State. Gen. Lincoln’s means of

defense were very inadequate, and though he made every effort, he was

compelled, after a resistance of 42 days, to surrender the city and

give up his whole army as prisoners of war. The enemy then easily

overran South Carolina; and many of the inhabitants, to avoid the

extremities of war, took ‘protections’ from them, and thereby avowed

themselves to be British subjects. Lord Cornwallis was then left to

command at the South, while Clinton returned to New York. Congress

appointed Gen. Gates to oppose the former, and by great exertions an

army of 4,000 men was collected for this purpose, mostly militia, who

were ill fed and ill armed, and not at all disciplined. With the rash

confidence inspired by his success against Burgoyne, Gates advanced

hastily and with little precaution, was attacked under unfavorable

circumstances by Cornwallis, near Camden, and his army so completely

routed that not a fourth part of them could be again brought together.

The southern States were thus rendered almost entirely defenseless,

though the British for the present were not able to invade North

Carolina from the want of supplies. Sumter and Marion, also, noted

partisan officers, gave them great annoyance by collecting bands of

irregular troops, and waging a kind of guerrilla warfare against their

outposts and detachments. One motley collection of such troops,

chiefly mounted backwoodsmen with their rifles, under Shelby and

Sevier, intercepted Ferguson, an active Loyalist, at the head of about

1,000 Tories, at King’s Mountain, and totally defeated him, taking

most of his men prisoners, and hanging some of them as traitors. At

the end of the year, Gen. Greene was sent to take Gates’ place, and a

small regular army was collected for him, which he led with consummate

ability. At the north, a French fleet and army, the latter under

Rochambeau, arrived at Newport, but were blockaded there by a superior

British fleet, so that they accomplished nothing.

Another remarkable incident of the year was the treason of Gen.

Arnold, a very brave officer, but dissolute, wayward, and extravagant,

who sold himself to the British for £10,000 and a general’s

commission, covenanting to give into their power, also, West Point and

the other American fortresses in the Highlands. The conspiracy was

detected just before the time fixed for its execution. Arnold

succeeded in making his escape; but Major Andrè, a gallant English

officer whom Clinton had sent to negotiate with him, was seized when

in disguise within the American lines, and was tried and executed as a

spy. The want of pay and the impossibility of complying with the just

demands of the soldiers, caused some Pennsylvania regiments, who were

encamped near Morristown, to break out into open revolt. They were

invited to join the British, as Arnold had done; but they refused, and

after the matter had been compromised by Congress some of their

grievances being redressed, they gave up the emissaries of the enemy,

who were hanged as spies. Some New Jersey troops quickly followed this

example of insubordination; but their revolt was crushed with a strong

hand, and a few of the ringleaders were executed.

The comparative ease with which Georgia and South Carolina had been

subdued caused great efforts to be made, in 1781, for the conquest of

North Carolina and Virginia. In January of this year the traitor

Arnold was sent with 1,600 men, chiefly Tories, to plunder and

devastate the country on the Chesapeake and the James river, in order

to cripple the resources of the state; and after he had accomplished

this service, he was joined by Gen. Phillips, with 2,000 troops from

New York. But these marauding expeditions did not help the British

cause much; they caused great misery, but they incensed the people so

much that they lost all thoughts of acquiescence and submission, and

made desperate efforts to repulse the destroyers. The plan was, that

Cornwallis should march north, to join Phillips and Arnold, their

united forces being deemed sufficient to crush all opposition at the

South. But Cornwallis had now an able and determined opponent in

Greene, who gave him enough to do in the Carolinas. Half of Greene’s

force, under Morgan, who had been sent to put down the Tories in the

west, encountered the British light troops under Tarleton, at the

Cowpens, and gave them a signal defeat, killing or taking prisoners

over 600 of them. Cornwallis instantly started of in great haste, to

overtake and punish Morgan before he could rejoin his commander. But

the activity of the Americans baffled him. Still the British general

pushed on; and Greene’s whole force being much inferior, he was

obliged to make a rapid retreat into Virginia. He soon returned,

however, with some reinforcements, and offered battle at Guilford

Court House, where Cornwallis indeed defeated him, but the victory was

equivalent to a defeat. The British loss was greater than the

American, and Cornwallis was obliged to retire to Wilmington, near the

sea. Greene pursued him for a while, and then took the bold step of

marching directly into South Carolina, which had been left in charge

of Lord Rawdon with a small force. Finding it impossible to overtake

him, Cornwallis imitated his bold policy by marching north, to join

the king’s troops in Virginia. Greene and Rawdon came in conflict with

each other at Hobkirk’s Hill, April 25, and the former was again

defeated, though his loss was no greater than the enemy’s and the

advantages of the encounter were all on his side. Lee and Marion, with

other partisan officers, encouraged by his presence, roused the

inhabitants to arms; nearly all the British posts in the upper country

were captured or abandoned, and the larger part of South Carolina was

restored to the Americans. Their irritated opponents shot as deserters

all whom they captured in arms that had once accepted British

protection; among these victims was Colonel Hayne, an eminent citizen

of Charleston, whose fate caused much sorrow and indignation. The

conflict on both sides had all the aggravated features of a civil war.

The arrival of a powerful fleet under Count De Grasse having given the

French a temporary superiority at sea, the French forces at Newport

were released, and an attack upon the British in New York was

projected for the combined army of Washington and Rochambeau. But this

came to be thought an enterprise beyond their strength, and it was

resolved in preference to strike a blow at Cornwallis in Virginia.

That enterprising general, after vainly endeavoring to overtake and

crush the small American force commanded by Lafayette, had retired to

Yorktown, a peninsula at the mouth of York river, where he had

strongly intrenched himself at the head of 8,000 men. Here he was

blockaded by De Grasse’s fleet, and, a fortnight afterwards, was

invested by the combined French and American army, 16,000 strong.

About the same time, also, the ever active Greene had fought another

battle with the British in South Carolina, at Eutaw Springs, the

immediate result of which was indecisive, the loss on each side being

about 700; but the general consequence was, that the British were

thenceforward cooped up in Charleston and the small district between

the Cooper and Ashley rivers. Cornwallis was vigorously pressed his

intrenchments being ruined and his guns dismounted by the fire of

heavy breaching batteries. He tried a sally without improving his

situation; and then, all hope of aid from New York having failed, he

was obliged to capitulate and surrender his whole army, still about

7,000 strong, as prisoners of war. This grand stroke was virtually the

end of the armed contest in America; having sacrificed two large

armies, and protracted the struggle for six years, the British could

no longer hope to retain a foothold in the United States, far less to

bring them back to their former allegiance.

Such now came to be the general opinion even in England, where,

indeed, for the last three years, the war had been very unpopular. It

had added over one hundred millions sterling to the national debt; it

had sullied the military reputation of the kingdom, which had never

stood higher than in 1760, and never lower than after the capture of

Cornwallis; it had brought France, Spain, and Holland into a league of

hostilities against her, and had combined the other professedly

neutral powers in an alliance hardly less injurious to her interests

and her fame. Even the signal victory obtained by the English admiral,

Lord Rodney, over De Grasse’s fleet in the West Indies, April 12th

1782, and the equally signal defeat of the Spaniards in their last and

desperate attempt to take Gibraltar, failed to restore English

self-complacency, or to reconcile the nation of that ministry (Lord

North’s) which had brought them into so humiliating a position. These

successes were but casual gleams of good fortune that came to lighten

the close of a long period of disaster and shame. The phalanx of Lord

North’s parliamentary supporters was broken, his ministry was driven

from office, the king’s obstinacy was overcome, and the Whigs, under

the guidance of Lord Rockingham, were established in power, with the

express understanding that they were to make peace by submitting to

the independence of the United States. Negotiations were immediately

commenced with the American commissioners at Paris, Franklin, Adams,

Laurens, and Jay; they were protracted by points of form, and by the

breaking up of the Whig ministry through the death of Rockingham; but

provisional articles of peace were signed on the 30th of November,

1782, and the cessation of hostilities was agreed upon in January

following. Owing to the necessity of including the Continental powers

of Europe in the pacification, the definitive treaty of peace was not

concluded till the next September. In this, the independence of the

United States was acknowledged, their boundaries adjusted, and a share

in the fisheries secured to them; while the claims of the other

belligerent powers were adjusted by the surrender or return of the

conquered towns and islands.

The peace came not too soon for exhausted and bleeding America. The

impossibility of satisfying the just demands of the army, the

consequent sufferings both of officers and men, and the prospect of

being disbanded at the peace and sent home in utter poverty, created a

determination among many of them to insist upon the payment of their

dues with arms in their hands. Nothing but the moderation, wisdom, and

firmness of their great commander-in-chief saved the country from the

horrors of military usurpation. Some of the officers so far misjudged

Washington as to think that he might be tempted to play the part of

Cromwell; but his prompt and stern rebuke put an immediate end to the

project. He then exerted himself, and with success, to soothe the

passions that had been excited, and to lead the army back to moderate

and patriotic counsels. The officers and men were persuaded to accept

certificates of debt, with interest, for the arrears that were due to

them, and to rely upon the efforts of Congress and the gratitude of

the people for their redemption. The troops were quietly disbanded in

the course of the summer and autumn of 1783, and towards the close of

the year, after the British had evacuated every place upon the

seaboard, Washington was admitted to a public audience by Congress,

when he resigned his commission, and took a final leave, as he

supposed, ‘of all the employments of public life.’ Universal gratitude

and respect which amounted almost to veneration, attended him to his

retirement at Mount Vernon.

At the close of the war, the United States were burdened with a heavy

debt, of which they had not the means even of paying the interest, the

public credit was annihilated, commerce and manufactures were in a

torpid condition, and the country was almost without a government.

During the greater part of the struggle, Congress had possessed no

authority but what was tacitly granted to it from the necessity of the

case. The individual States were unwilling to give up any portion of

that independence which they were striving to vindicate against a

foreign power. They claimed complete sovereignty, and were unwilling

to appear only as the members of a confederacy, under the general

control of a central government. Besides, it was hard to adjust the

terms of such an alliance. Perfect equality was hardly to be expected

among states that differed so widely from each other in regard to

population, wealth, and extent of territory; yet on no terms short of

equality would any one State consent to a union with the others. There

were also many unadjusted controversies between them, in respect to

boundary, and the ownership of that vast territory beyond the

Alleghanies which had been wrested from the French. In 1777, a plan of

union had been framed and adopted in Congress, after two years’

discussion, not as the best which could be imagined, or as adapted to

all exigencies, but as the only one ‘suited to existing circumstances,

or at all likely to be adopted.’ It was not to go into effect until it

was ratified by all the States; and only four of them could be induced

at first to adopt it. Slowly and reluctantly the others gave in their

adhesion, the consent of New Jersey and Delaware not being obtained

till 1779, and that of Maryland not till 1781, when, at last, the

final sanction of the articles of Confederation, as they were termed,

was joyfully announced by Congress. But the union thus effected was

very inadequate for the ends in view. It did not establish a central

government; it was only a league of several independent sovereignties.

Congress was the only organ of the confederacy; each State had but one

vote in this body on the decision of any question; and in respect to

many subjects, the consent of nine States was requisite before the

measure could go into effect. And after all, Congress had no power but

to recommend measures; it could not enforce them. It could ‘ascertain

the sums necessary to be raised for the service of the United States,’

and determine the quota or proportion which each State ought to pay;

but it depended upon the States whether the specified amount should be

raised and paid, or the recommendation entirely neglected. The fact

generally was, that they refused compliance, or paid no attention to

the demand; of the many requisitions of Congress, not one fourth were

complied with. Excuses or palliations of such conduct were not

wanting; the States were very poor, and had heavy debts of their own

to provide for. Again, Congress could not impose duties upon imports,

and the circumstances of the case prevented even the individual States

from exercising this power. If imported goods were taxed by one, they

were admitted free by another, which thus obtained a larger share of

domestic and foreign trade, while the ports of its rival were

deserted. Treaties with foreign powers could not be negotiated, as

there was no power in the country to enforce the provisions made in

them, the authority of Congress and that of the separate members of

the confederacy just serving to paralyze each other. There was no

common tribunal to which the States could appeal for the adjustment of

their controversies with each other; and the ill compacted league was

therefore liable to be broken by the first serious dispute which might

grow out of many conflicting interests. It was obvious that this state

of things could not long continue without bringing upon the country

all the evils of anarchy and civil war.

The condition and temper of the people increased this hazard. The vast

exertions they had made during the armed struggle had exhausted their

energies, and, to a certain extent, had demoralized them. On the one

hand, there was a general feeling of lassitude, an indisposition to

make any further sacrifices or efforts, and on the other, a fierce

impatience of any act or movement which should even seem to limit

their recently acquired, universal freedom. The load of public and

private debt was enormous. Of what use was it, that the people had

successfully resisted English bayonets, if they were now to be called

upon to respect implicitly the orders of the sheriff and the staff of

the constable? To what purpose had they braved the wrath of the crown

and the parliament, if creditors were still to distress them, and

county courts sentence them to fine and imprisonment? Or why tax

themselves millions of hard dollars, when they had just gone through a

seven years war because they would not pay an impost of three pence a

pound on tea? It is no cause for wonder that such questions were

frequently asked, or even that the majority of the people were

inclined to answer them in a way most consonant with their present

feelings. It was a period of general anxiety and gloom――a true crisis

in the history of free institutions, not only in this country, but

throughout the world. It was now to be determined whether national

independence was to prove a blessing or a curse;――whether the people,

after throwing off all foreign restraint, would be wise and

magnanimous enough to impose laws upon themselves, and to respect them

when made, or whether they would follow that course of anarchy,

license, and civil war which has subsequently rendered the history of

the South American republics and of the ephemeral republican

governments of the Old World a warning to mankind.

The matter was brought to a crisis in 1786, by the breaking out of a

rebellion in Massachusetts, the object of the insurgents being to

close by violence the courts of law, thus putting a stop to all legal

measures for the collection of debts, and to compel the government to

issue paper money, in order that all obligations might be discharged

in a much depreciated currency. Job Shattuck and Daniel Shays,

formerly a captain in the revolutionary army, were the leaders of the

disaffected party, and it was at least doubtful whether they did not

count a majority of the people among their followers. Job Shattuck, at

the head of an armed force, took possession of the court-house at

Worcester, and sent a written message to the judges, ‘that it was the

sense of the people that the courts should not sit.’ At last by great

exertions on the part of the government and the well-affected

citizens, an army of 4,000 men, under General Lincoln, was fitted out,

and after a very severe campaign in the midst of winter, this

dangerous insurrection was suppressed with but little loss of life. An

indirect but happy consequence of this rebellion was, that it

convinced the majority of the people throughout the United States that

a strong central government was indispensable, not merely for their

wellbeing, but for the preservation of society itself from anarchy and

ruin. ‘You talk, my good Sir,’ wrote Washington from Mount Vernon, ‘of

employing _influence_ to appease the present tumults in Massachusetts.

I know not where that influence is to be found; and, if attainable, it

would not be a proper remedy for these disorders. Influence is not

government. Let us have a government, by which our lives, liberties,

and properties will be secured, or let us know the worst at once.’

Accordingly, a Convention of delegates from eleven of the States was

held in Philadelphia in May, 1787, to revise the Articles of the

Confederation, or, in other words, to frame a Constitution of

government for the whole country. The delegates from New Hampshire did

not appear till the Convention had been two months in session, and

Rhode Island was never represented at all. Among the members present

were Dr. Franklin, then in his 81st year, and Washington, who was

unanimously chosen president of the Convention. After they had been in

session four months, with closed doors, strict secrecy being observed

as to all their proceedings, they framed and published the present

Constitution of the United States, approved by the signatures of all

but three of the delegates who were then present, and which was to go

into effect after it had been ratified in nine of the States, by

Conventions that were to be called for the occasion. Not without great

difficulty, and many compromises of conflicting opinions and

interests, had this great step been taken.

The central government established by the Constitution was to consist

of three departments, legislative, executive, and judicial. The

legislature, called the Congress, was to consist of two branches, the

Senate and the House of Representatives. In the former, the

representation was equal, each State having two senators; in the

latter, the number of representatives was to be proportioned to the

population, which was to be ascertained every ten years by adding to

the whole number of the freemen three-fifths of the slaves. Two

classes of opposing claims were thus adjusted by concessions on both

sides. The executive power was vested in a president, chosen for four

years, by electors equal in number, for each State, to all its

senators and representatives in Congress. The president was allowed a

qualified negative on all the enactments of the legislature, as a bill

to which he refused his consent was to become a law only when approved

by two-thirds of the votes in both branches. The judicial power was

vested in a Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as Congress might

establish; and it extended to all cases arising under the

Constitution, the laws of Congress, and treaties made with foreign

powers, to all cases of maritime jurisdiction, and all controversies

between States, between citizens of different States, and between

foreigners and citizens. Congress was not to prevent the importation

of slaves till the year 1808, and slaves escaping from one State to

another were to be delivered up. Congress received the power to

declare war, to raise and support armies, to lay and collect taxes,

duties, imposts, and excises, to coin money, to establish post-offices

and post-roads, to provide and maintain a navy, and to call forth the

militia for the purpose of executing the laws, suppressing

insurrections, and repelling invasions. The States were prohibited,

generally, from exercising any of the functions that were conferred

upon Congress. In general terms, the States retained the power of

domestic legislation upon all subjects in regard to which their

interests were not likely to conflict, or which could be effectually

disposed of without the coöperation of the whole Union; while the

Federal government assumed the functions which the States were

deprived of, and received whatever other authority was needed to

enable it to negotiate effectively with foreign powers as the

representative of one nation. Numerous provisions were borrowed from

Magna Charta and the more liberal portions of the English Common Law,

and incorporated into the Constitution, to protect the liberty and the

rights of individuals, and to guard against acts of oppression and

injustice on the part of either the Federal or the State Governments.

The instrument was very practical in its character, and far more

simple and concise than could reasonably have been expected,

considering the complicated subject with which it had to do, and the

difficulty in adjusting the relations of the Federal government to the

individual States, and of so distributing power between them that they

could work together harmoniously and effectively. As a whole, if

judged either by the most approved maxims of political science, or by

the light reflected upon it from that experience of more than sixty

years to which it has been subjected, it may claim a high place among

the best models of government that have been devised in ancient and

modern times. It has required but few and slight amendments, and it

has accomplished the whole work which it was designed to perform.

Great difficulties were again experienced in obtaining its

ratification by the conventions in the several States, to which it was

soon submitted. The two parties which were then formed, of its

advocates and opponents, divided the people very equally between them,

and, with some modifications, these parties have subsisted to the

present day. The consent of nine States was necessary; five ratified

the instrument soon and with little difficulty. Then the question came

up in Massachusetts, where the parties were nearly equal, though the

democratic and independent spirit of the people seemed to incline the

balance against the Constitution. Everything was thought to depend

upon the decision of this State and Virginia, on account of their

great weight in the Union, and the influence which they would

respectively exert at the north and the south. Governor Hancock and

Samuel Adams, the former being the president of the Convention, and

the latter one of its most influential members, wavered. The

Convention at last decided to propose certain amendments for adoption

in the form prescribed by the Constitution itself; these served as an

anodyne for the scruples of the two leading patriots, and the

ratification was finally carried, though by a very slender majority.

The consent of Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire was then

obtained, and next came that of Virginia, though after as warm a

struggle as in Massachusetts, the opposition being led with great

effect by Patrick Henry. The question was now virtually decided, and

New York therefore gave a tardy and reluctant assent, which would

probably have been a refusal if the measure could thereby have been

defeated. North Carolina would only ratify upon certain conditions,

and Rhode Island would not even hold a Convention to consider the

subject; but as eleven States had adopted the Constitution, their

approval was not absolutely necessary, and it was finally given after

the new form of government had been some time in operation. It must be

granted, in favor of the opposition, that they showed no factious

spirit, but calmly acquiesced in the decision of their countrymen.

Congress appointed the first Wednesday in January, 1789, for the

choice of electors, the first Wednesday in February for those electors

to choose a president, and the first Wednesday in March for the new

government to go into operation. As had been anticipated, George

Washington was unanimously elected president; indeed, the certainty

that he would be chosen to this office induced many to vote for the

Constitution who would otherwise have opposed it. John Adams was

elected Vice-President, and senators and representatives were also

chosen to form the first Congress. Proceedings were commenced at New

York on the 4th of March, 1789; but a quorum of both houses did not

come together till April, and on the 30th of this month, President

Washington was sworn into office, and the new government went into

full operation.