THE CRISIS.
[Sidenote: Salaries of the judges.]
The surest way to renew and cement the union was to show that the
ministry had not relaxed in its determination to enforce the principle
of the Townshend acts. This was made clear in August, 1772, when it was
ordered that in Massachusetts the judges should henceforth be paid by
the crown. Popular excitement rose to fever heat, and the judges were
threatened with impeachment should they dare accept a penny from the
royal treasury. The turmoil was increased next year by the discovery in
London of the package of letters which were made to support the unjust
charge against Hutchinson and some of his friends that they had
instigated and aided the most extreme measures of the ministry.
[Sidenote: Committees of Correspondence.]
In the autumn of 1772 Hutchinson refused to call an extra session of the
assembly to consider what should be done about the judges. Samuel Adams
then devised a scheme by which the towns of Massachusetts could consult
with each other and agree upon some common course of action in case of
emergencies. For this purpose each town was to appoint a standing
committee, and as a great part of their work was necessarily done by
letter they were called "committees of correspondence." This was the
step that fairly organized the Revolution. It was by far the most
important of all the steps that preceded the Declaration of
Independence. The committees did their work with great efficiency and
the governor had no means of stopping it. They were like an invisible
legislature that was always in session and could never be dissolved; and
when the old government fell they were able to administer affairs until
a new government could be set up. In the spring of 1773 Virginia carried
this work of organization a long step further, when Dabney Carr
suggested and carried a motion calling for committees of correspondence
between the several colonies. From this point it was a comparatively
short step to a permanent Continental Congress.
It happened that these preparations were made just in time to meet the
final act of aggression which brought on the Revolutionary War. The
Americans had thus far successfully resisted the Townshend acts and
secured the repeal of all the duties except on tea. As for tea they had
plenty, but not from England; they smuggled it from Holland in spite of
custom-houses and search-warrants. Clearly unless the Americans could be
made to buy tea from England and pay the duty on it, the king must own
himself defeated.
[Sidenote: Tea ships sent by the king, as a challenge.]
Since it appeared that they could not be forced into doing this, it
remained to be seen if they could be tricked into doing it. A truly
ingenious scheme was devised. Tea sent by the East India Company to
America had formerly paid a duty in some British port on the way. This
duty was now taken off, so that the price of the tea for America might
be lowered. The company's tea thus became so cheap that the American
merchant could buy a pound of it and pay the threepence duty beside for
less than it cost him to smuggle a pound of tea from Holland. It was
supposed that the Americans would of course buy the tea which they could
get most cheaply, and would thus be beguiled into submission to that
principle of taxation which they had hitherto resisted. Ships laden with
tea were accordingly sent in the autumn of 1773 to Boston, New York,
Philadelphia, and Charleston; and consignees were appointed to receive
the tea in each of these towns.
Under the guise of a commercial operation, this was purely a political
trick. It was an insulting challenge to the American people, and merited
the reception which they gave it. They would have shown themselves
unworthy of their rich political heritage had they given it any other.
In New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston mass-meetings of the people
voted that the consignees should be ordered to resign their offices, and
they did so. At Philadelphia the tea-ship was met and sent back to
England before it had come within the jurisdiction of the custom-house.
At Charleston the tea was landed, and as there was no one to receive it
or pay the duty, it was thrown into a damp cellar and left there to
spoil.
[Sidenote: How the challenge was received; the "Boston Tea Party,"
Dec. 16, 1773.]
In Boston things took a different turn. The stubborn courage of Governor
Hutchinson prevented the consignees, two of whom were his own sons, from
resigning; the ships arrived and were anchored under guard of a
committee of citizens; if they were not unloaded within twenty days, the
custom-house officers were empowered by law to seize them and unload
them by force; and having once come within the jurisdiction of the
custom-house, they could not go out to sea without a clearance from the
collector or a pass from the governor. The situation was a difficult
one, but it was most nobly met by the men of Massachusetts. The
excitement was intense, but the proceedings were characterized from
first to last by perfect quiet and decorum. In an earnest and solemn,
almost prayerful spirit, the advice of all the towns in the commonwealth
was sought, and the response was unanimous that the tea must on no
account whatever be landed. Similar expressions of opinion came from
other colonies, and the action of Massachusetts was awaited with
breathless interest. Many town-meetings were held in Boston, and the
owner of the ships was ordered to take them away without unloading; but
the collector contrived to fritter away the time until the nineteenth
day, and then refused a clearance. On the next day, the 16th of
December, 1773, seven thousand people were assembled in town-meeting in
and around the Old South Meeting-House, while the owner of the ships was
sent out to the governor's house at Milton to ask for a pass. It was
nightfall when he returned without it, and there was then but one thing
to be done. By sunrise next morning the revenue officers would board the
ships and unload their cargoes, the consignees would go to the
custom-house and pay the duty, and the king's scheme would have been
crowned with success. The only way to prevent this was to rip open the
tea-chests and spill their contents into the sea, and this was done,
according to a preconcerted plan and without the slightest uproar or
disorder, by a small party of men disguised as Indians. Among them were
some of the best of the townsfolk, and the chief manager of the
proceedings was Samuel Adams. The destruction of the tea has often been
spoken of, especially by British historians, as a "riot," but nothing
could have been less like a riot. It was really the deliberate action of
the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the only fitting reply to the
king's insulting trick. It was hailed with delight throughout the
thirteen colonies, and there is nothing in our whole history of which
an educated American should feel more proud.
[Sidenote: The Retaliatory Acts, April, 1774.]
The effect upon the king and his friends was maddening, and events were
quickly brought to a crisis. In spite of earnest opposition retaliatory
acts were passed through Parliament in April, 1774. One of these was the
Port Bill, for shutting up the port of Boston and stopping its trade
until the people should be starved and frightened into paying for the
tea that had been thrown overboard. Another was the Regulating Act, by
which the charter of Massachusetts was annulled, its free government
swept away, and a military governor appointed with despotic power like
Andros. These acts were to go into operation on the 1st of June, and on
that day Governor Hutchinson sailed for England, in the vain hope of
persuading the king to adopt a milder policy. It was not long before his
property was confiscated, like that of other Tories, and after six years
of exile he died in London. The new governor, Thomas Gage, who had long
been commander of the military forces in America, was a mild and
pleasant man without much strength of character. His presence was
endured but his authority was not recognized in Massachusetts. Troops
were now quartered again in Boston, but they could not prevent the
people from treating the Regulating Act with open contempt. Courts
organized under that act were prevented from sitting, and councillors
were compelled to resign their places. The king's authority was
everywhere quietly but doggedly defied. At the same time the stoppage of
business in Boston was the cause of much distress which all the colonies
sought to relieve by voluntary contributions of food and other needed
articles.
[Sidenote: Continental Congress meets, Sept. 1774.]
The events of the last twelve months had gone further than anything
before toward awakening a sentiment of union among the people of the
colonies. It was still a feeble sentiment, but it was strong enough to
make them all feel that Boston was suffering in the common cause. The
system of corresponding committees now ripened into the Continental
Congress, which held its first meeting at Philadelphia in September,
1774. Among the delegates were Samuel and John Adams, Robert Livingston,
John Rutledge, John Dickinson, Samuel Chase, Edmund Pendleton, Richard
Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, and George Washington. Their action was
cautious and conservative. They confined themselves for the present to
trying the effect of a candid statement of grievances, and drew up a
Declaration of Rights and other papers, which were pronounced by Lord
Chatham unsurpassed for ability in any age or country. In Parliament,
however, the king's friends were becoming all-powerful, and the only
effect produced by these papers was to goad them toward further attempts
at coercion. Massachusetts was declared to be in a state of rebellion,
as in truth she was.
[Sidenote: The Suffolk Resolves, Sept. 1774.]
While Samuel Adams was at Philadelphia, the lead in Boston was taken by
his friend Dr. Warren. In a county convention held at Milton in
September, Dr. Warren drew up a series of resolves which fairly set on
foot the Revolution. They declared that the Regulating Act was null and
void, and that a king who violates the chartered rights of his subjects
forfeits their allegiance; they directed the collectors of taxes to
refuse to pay the money collected to Gage's treasurer; and they
threatened retaliation in case Gage should venture to arrest any one for
political reasons. These bold resolves were adopted by the convention
and sanctioned by the Continental Congress. Next month the people of
Massachusetts formed a provisional government, and began organizing a
militia and collecting military stores at Concord and other inland
towns.
[Sidenote: Battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775.]
General Gage's position at this time was a trying one for a man of his
temperament. In an unguarded moment he had assured the king that four
regiments ought to be enough to bring Massachusetts into an attitude of
penitence. Now Massachusetts was in an attitude of rebellion, and he
realized that he had not troops enough to command the situation. People
in England were blaming him for not doing something, and late in the
winter he received a positive order to arrest Samuel Adams and his
friend John Hancock, then at the head of the new provisional government
of Massachusetts, and send them to England to be tried for high treason.
On the 18th of April, 1775, these gentlemen were staying at a friend's
house in Lexington; and Gage that evening sent out a force of 800 men to
seize the military stores accumulated at Concord, with instructions to
stop on the way at Lexington and arrest Adams and Hancock. But Dr.
Warren divined the purpose of the movement, and his messenger, Paul
Revere, succeeded in forewarning the people, so that by the time the
troops arrived at Lexington the birds were flown. The soldiers fired
into a company of militia on Lexington common and slew eight or ten of
their number; but by the time they reached Concord the country was
fairly aroused and armed yeomanry were coming upon the scene by
hundreds. In a sharp skirmish the British were defeated and, without
having accomplished any of the objects of their expedition, began their
retreat toward Boston, hotly pursued by the farmers who fired from
behind walls and trees after the Indian fashion. A reinforcement of 1200
men at Lexington saved the routed troops from destruction, but the
numbers of their assailants grew so rapidly that even this larger force
barely succeeded in escaping capture. At sunset the British reached
Charlestown after a march which was a series of skirmishes, leaving
nearly 300 of their number killed or wounded along the road. By that
time yeomanry from twenty-three townships had joined in the pursuit. The
alarm spread like wildfire through New England, and fresh bands of
militia arrived every hour. Within three days Israel Putnam and Benedict
Arnold had come from Connecticut and John Stark from New Hampshire, a
cordon of 16,000 men was drawn around Boston, and the siege of that town
was begun.
[Sidenote: Capture of Ticonderoga, May 10, 1775.]
[Sidenote: Washington appointed to command the army, June 15, 1775.]
[Sidenote: Charles Lee.]
The belligerent feeling in New England had now grown so strong as to
show itself in an act of offensive warfare. On the 10th of May, just
three weeks after Lexington, the fortresses at Ticonderoga and Crown
Point, controlling the line of communication between New York and
Canada, were surprised and captured by men from the Green Mountains and
Connecticut valley under Ethan Allen and Seth Warner. The Congress,
which met on that same day at Philadelphia, showed some reluctance in
sanctioning an act so purely offensive; but in its choice of a president
the spirit of defiance toward Great Britain was plainly shown. John
Hancock, whom the British commander-in-chief was under stringent orders
to arrest and send over to England to be tried for treason, was chosen
to that eminent position on the 24th of May. This showed that the
preponderance of sentiment in the country was in favour of supporting
the New England colonies in the armed struggle into which they had
drifted. This was still further shown two days later, when Congress in
the name of the "United Colonies of America" assumed the direction of
the rustic army of New England men engaged in the siege of Boston. As
Congress was absolutely penniless and had no power to lay taxes, it
proceeded to borrow £6000 for the purchase of gunpowder. It called for
ten companies of riflemen from Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, to
reinforce what was henceforth known as the Continental army; and on the
15th of June it appointed George Washington commander-in-chief. The
choice of Washington was partly due to the general confidence in his
ability and in his lofty character. In the French War he had won a
military reputation higher than that of any other American, and he was
already commander-in-chief of the forces of Virginia. But the choice was
also partly due to sound political reasons. The Massachusetts leaders,
especially Samuel Adams and his cousin John, were distrusted by some
people as extremists and fire-eaters. They wished to bring about a
declaration of independence, for they believed it to be the only
possible cure for the evils of the time. The leaders in other colonies,
upon which the hand of the British government had not borne so heavily,
had not yet advanced quite so far as this. Most of them believed that
the king could be brought to terms; they did not realize that he would
never give way because it was politically as much a life and death
struggle for him as for them. Washington was not yet clearly in favour
of independence, nor was Jefferson, who a twelvemonth hence was to be
engaged in writing the Declaration. It is doubtful if any of the leading
men as yet agreed with the Adamses, except Dr. Franklin, who had just
returned from England after his ten years' stay there, and knew very
well how little hope was to be placed in conciliatory measures. The
Adamses, therefore, like wise statesmen, were always on their guard lest
circumstances should drive Massachusetts in the path of rebellion faster
than the sister colonies were likely to keep pace with her. This was
what the king above all things wished, and by the same token it was what
they especially dreaded and sought to avoid. To appoint George
Washington to the chief command was to go a long way toward irrevocably
committing Virginia to the same cause with Massachusetts, and John Adams
was foremost in urging the appointment. Its excellence was obvious to
every one, and we hear of only two persons that were dissatisfied. One
of these was John Hancock, who coveted military distinction and was vain
enough to think himself fit for almost any position. The other was
Charles Lee, a British officer who had served in America in the French
War and afterward wandered about Europe as a soldier of fortune. He had
returned to America in 1773 in the hope of playing a leading part here.
He set himself up as an authority on military questions, and pretended
to be a zealous lover of liberty. He was really an unprincipled
charlatan for whom, the kindest thing that can be said is that perhaps
he was slightly insane. He had hoped to be appointed to the chief
command, and was disgusted when he found himself placed second among the
four major-generals. The first major-general was Artemas Ward of
Massachusetts; the third was Philip Schuyler of New York; the fourth was
Israel Putnam of Connecticut. Eight brigadier-generals were appointed,
among whom we may here mention Richard Montgomery of New York, William
Heath of Massachusetts, John Sullivan of New Hampshire, and Nathanael
Greene of Rhode Island. The adjutant-general, Horatio Gates, was an
Englishman who had served in the French War, and since then had lived in
Virginia.
[Sidenote: Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775.]
While Congress was appointing officers and making regulations for the
Continental army, reinforcements for the British had landed in Boston,
making their army 10,000 strong. The new troops were commanded by
General William Howe, a Whig who disapproved of the king's policy. With
him came Sir Henry Clinton and John Burgoyne, who were more in sympathy
with the king. Howe and Burgoyne were members of Parliament. On the
arrival of these reinforcements Gage prepared to occupy the heights in
Charlestown known as Breed's and Bunker's hills. These heights commanded
Boston, so that hostile batteries placed there would make it necessary
for the British to evacuate the town. On the night of June 16, the
Americans anticipated Gage in seizing the heights, and began erecting
fortifications on Breed's Hill. It was an exposed position for the
American force, which might easily have been cut off and captured if the
British had gone around by sea and occupied Charlestown Neck in the
rear. The British preferred to storm the American works. In two
desperate assaults, on the afternoon of the 17th, they were repulsed
with the loss of one-third of their number; and the third assault
succeeded only because the Americans were not supplied with powder. By
driving the Americans back to Winter Hill, the British won an important
victory and kept their hold upon Boston. The moral effect of the battle,
however, was in favour of the Americans, for it clearly indicated that
under proper circumstances they might exhibit a power of resistance
which the British would find it impossible to overcome. It was with
George III. as with Pyrrhus: he could not afford to win many victories
at such cost, for his supply of soldiers for America was limited, and
his only hope of success lay in inflicting heavy blows. In winning
Bunker Hill his troops were only holding their own; the siege of Boston
was not raised for a moment.
The practical effect upon the British army was to keep it quiet for
several months. General Howe, who presently superseded Gage, was a brave
and well-trained soldier, but slothful in temperament. His way was to
strike a blow, and then wait to see what would come of it, hoping no
doubt that political affairs might soon take such a turn as to make it
unnecessary to go on with this fratricidal war. This was fortunate for
the Americans, for when Washington took command of the army at Cambridge
on the 3d of July, he saw that little or nothing could be done with that
army until it should be far better organized, disciplined, and equipped,
and in such work he found enough to occupy him for several months.
[Sidenote: Last petition to the king; and its answer.]
[Illustration: Invasion of Canada by Montgomery and Arnold.]
Meanwhile Congress, at the instance of John Dickinson of Pennsylvania
and John Jay of New York, decided to try the effect of one more candid
statement of affairs, in the form of a petition to the king. This paper
reached London on the 14th of August, but the king refused to receive
it, although it was signed by the delegates as separate individuals and
not as members of an unauthorized or revolutionary body. His only answer
was a proclamation dated August 23, in which he called for volunteers
to aid in putting down the rebellion in America. At the same time he
opened negotiations with the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, the duke of
Brunswick, and other petty German princes, and succeeded in hiring
20,000 troops to be sent to fight against his American subjects. When
the news of this reached America it produced a profound effect. Perhaps
nothing done in that year went so far toward destroying the lingering
sentiment of loyalty.
[Sidenote: Americans invade Canada, Aug., 1775--June, 1776.]
In the spring Congress had hesitated about encouraging offensive
operations. In the course of the summer it was ascertained that the
governor of Canada, Sir Guy Carleton, was planning an invasion of
northern New York and hoping to obtain the coöperation of the Six
Nations and the Tories of the Mohawk valley. Congress accordingly
decided to forestall him by invading Canada. Two lines of invasion were
adopted. Montgomery descended Lake Champlain with 2000 men, and after a
campaign of two months captured Montreal on the 12th of November. At the
same time Benedict Arnold and Daniel Morgan set out from Cambridge with
1200 men, and made their way through the wilderness of Maine, up the
valley of the Kennebec and down that of the Chaudière, coming out upon
the St. Lawrence opposite Quebec on the 13th of November. This long
march through the primeval forest and over rugged and trackless
mountains was one of the most remarkable exploits of the war. It cost
the lives of 200 men, but besides this the rear-guard gave out and went
back to Cambridge, so that when Arnold reached Quebec he had only 700
men, too few for an attack upon the town. After Montgomery joined him,
it was decided to carry the works by storm, but in the unsuccessful
assault on December 31, Montgomery was killed, Arnold disabled, and
Morgan taken prisoner. During the winter Carleton was reinforced until
he was able to recapture Montreal. The Americans were gradually driven
back, and by June, 1776, had retreated to Crown Point. Carleton then
resumed his preparations for invading New York.
[Sidenote: Washington takes Boston, March 17, 1776.]
While the northern campaign was progressing thus unfavourably, the
British were at length driven from Boston. Howe had unaccountably
neglected to occupy Dorchester heights, which commanded the town; and
Washington, after waiting till a sufficient number of heavy guns could
be collected, advanced on the night of March 4 and occupied them with
2000 men. His position was secure. The British had no alternative but to
carry it by storm or retire from Boston. Not caring to repeat the
experiment of Bunker Hill, they embarked on the 17th of March and sailed
to Halifax, where they busied themselves in preparations for an
expedition against New York. Late in April Washington transferred his
headquarters to New York, where he was able to muster about 8000 men for
its defence. Thus the line of the Hudson river was now threatened with
attack at both its upper and lower ends.
[Sidenote: Lord Dunmore in Virginia.]
This change in the seat of war marks the change that had come over the
political situation. It was no longer merely a rebellious Massachusetts
that must be subdued; it was a continental Union that must be broken up.
During the winter and spring the sentiment in favour of a declaration of
independence had rapidly grown in strength. In November, 1775, Lord
Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, sought to intimidate the
revolutionary party by a proclamation offering freedom to such slaves as
would enlist under the king's banner. This aroused the country against
Dunmore, and in December he was driven from Norfolk and took refuge in a
ship of war. On New Year's Day he bombarded the town and laid it in
ashes from one end to the other. This violence rapidly made converts to
the revolutionary party, and further lessons were learned from the
experience of their neighbours in North Carolina.
[Sidenote: North Carolina and Virginia.]
That colony was the scene of fierce contests between Whigs and Tories.
As early as May 31, 1775, the patriots of Mecklenburg county had
adopted resolutions pointing toward independence and forwarded them to
their delegates in Congress, who deemed it impolitic, however, to lay
them before that body. Josiah Martin, royal governor of North Carolina,
was obliged to flee on board ship in July. He busied himself with plans
for the complete subjugation of the southern colonies, and corresponded
with the government in London, as well as with his Tory friends ashore.
In pursuance of these plans Sir Henry Clinton, with 2000 men, was
detached in January, 1776, from the army in Boston, and sent to the
North Carolina coast; a fleet under Sir Peter Parker was sent from
Ireland to meet him; and a force of 1600 Tories was gathered to assist
him as soon as he should arrive. But the scheme utterly failed. The
fleet was buffeted by adverse winds and did not arrive; the Tories were
totally defeated on February 27 in a sharp fight at Moore's Creek; and
Clinton, thus deprived of his allies, deemed it most prudent for a while
to keep his troops on shipboard. On the 12th of April the patriots of
North Carolina instructed their delegates in Congress to concur with
other delegates in a declaration of independence. On the 14th of May
Virginia went further, and instructed her delegates to propose such a
declaration. South Carolina, Georgia, and Rhode Island expressed a
willingness to concur in any measures which Congress might think best
calculated to promote the general welfare. In the course of May
town-meetings throughout Massachusetts expressed opinions unanimously in
favour of independence.
Massachusetts had already, as long ago as July, 1775, framed a new
government in which the king was not recognized; and her example had
been followed by New Hampshire in January, 1776, and by South Carolina
in March. Now on the 15th of May Congress adopted a resolution advising
all the other colonies to form new governments, because the king had
"withdrawn his protection" from the American people, and all governments
deriving their powers from him were accordingly set aside as of no
account. This resolution was almost equivalent to a declaration of
independence, and it was adopted only after hot debate and earnest
opposition from the middle colonies.
[Sidenote: Richard Henry Lee's motion in Congress.]
On the 7th of June, in accordance with the instructions of May 14 from
Virginia, Richard Henry Lee submitted to Congress the following
resolutions:--
"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."
This motion of Virginia, in which Independence and Union went hand in
hand, was at once seconded by Massachusetts, as represented by John
Adams. It was opposed by John Dickinson and James Wilson of
Pennsylvania, and by Robert Livingston of New York, on the ground that
the people of the middle colonies were not yet ready to sever the
connection with the mother country. As the result of the discussion it
was decided to wait three weeks, in the hope of hearing from all those
colonies which had not yet declared themselves.
The messages from those colonies came promptly enough. As for
Connecticut and New Hampshire, there could be no doubt; and their
declarations for independence, on the 14th and 15th of June
respectively, were simply dilatory expressions of their sentiments. They
were late, only because Connecticut had no need to form a new government
at all, while New Hampshire had formed one as long ago as January. Their
support of the proposed declaration of independence was already secured,
and it was only in the formal announcement of it that they were somewhat
belated. But with the middle colonies it was different. There the
parties were more evenly balanced, and it was not until the last moment
that the decision was clearly pronounced. This was not because they were
less patriotic than the other colonies, but because their direct
grievances were fewer, and up to this moment they had hoped that the
quarrel was one which a change of ministry in Great Britain might
adjust. In the earlier stages of the quarrel they had been ready enough
to join hands with Massachusetts and Virginia. It was only on this
irrevocable decision as to independence that they were slow to act.
[Sidenote: The middle colonies.]
But in the course of the month of June their responses to the invitation
of Congress came in,--from Delaware on the 14th, from New Jersey on the
22d, from Pennsylvania on the 24th, from Maryland on the 28th. This
action of the middle colonies was avowedly based on the ground that, in
any event, united action was the thing most to be desired; so that,
whatever their individual preferences might be, they were ready to
subordinate them to the interests of the whole country. The broad and
noble spirit of patriotism shown in their resolves is worthy of no less
credit than the bold action of the colonies which, under the stimulus of
direct aggression, first threw down the gauntlet to George III.
On the 1st of July, when Lee's motion was taken up in Congress, all the
colonies had been heard from except New York. The circumstances of this
central colony were peculiar. We have already seen that the Tory party
was especially strong in New York. Besides this, her position was more
exposed to attack on all sides than that of any other state. As the
military centre of the Union, her territory was sure to be the scene of
the most desperate fighting. She was already threatened with invasion
from Canada. As a frontier state she was exposed to the incursions of
the terrible Iroquois, and as a sea-board state she was open to the
attack of the British fleet. At that time, moreover, the population of
New York numbered only about 170,000, and she ranked seventh among the
thirteen colonies. The military problem was therefore much harder for
New York than for Massachusetts or Virginia. Her risks were greater than
those of any other colony. For these reasons the Whig party in New York
found itself seriously hampered in its movements, and the 1st of July
arrived before their delegates in Congress had been instructed how to
vote on the question of independence.
[Sidenote: Difficulties in New York.]
Richard Henry Lee had been suddenly called home to Virginia by the
illness of his wife, and so the task of defending his motion fell upon
John Adams who had seconded it. His speech on that occasion was so able
that Thomas Jefferson afterward spoke of him as "the Colossus of that
debate." As Congress sat with closed doors and no report was made of
the speech, we have no definite knowledge of its arguments. Fifty years
afterwards, shortly after John Adams's death, Daniel Webster wrote an
imaginary speech containing what in substance he _might_ have said. The
principal argument in opposition was made by John Dickinson, who thought
that before the Americans finally committed themselves to a deadly
struggle with Great Britain, they ought to establish some stronger
government than the Continental Congress, and ought also to secure a
promise of help from some such country as France. This advice was
cautious, but it was not sound and practical. War had already begun, and
if we had waited to agree upon some permanent kind of government before
committing all the colonies to a formal defiance of Great Britain, there
was great danger that the enemy might succeed in breaking up the Union
before it was really formed. Besides, it is not likely that France would
ever have decided to go to war in our behalf until we had shown that we
were able to defend ourselves. It was now a time when the boldest advice
was the safest.
[Sidenote: The Declaration of Independence, July 1 to 4, 1776.]
During this debate on the 1st of July Congress was sitting as a
committee of the whole, and at the close of the day a preliminary vote
was taken. Like all the votes in the Continental Congress, it was taken
by colonies. The majority of votes in each delegation determined the
vote of that colony. Each colony had one vote, and two-thirds of the
whole number, or nine colonies against four, were necessary for a
decision. On this occasion the New York delegates did not vote at all,
because they had no instructions. One delegate from Delaware voted yea
and another nay; the third delegate, Cæsar Rodney, had been down in the
lower counties of his little state, arguing against the loyalists. A
special messenger had been sent to hurry him back, but he had not yet
arrived, and so the vote of Delaware was divided and lost. Pennsylvania
declared in the negative by four votes against three. South Carolina
also declared in the negative. The other nine colonies all voted in the
affirmative, and so the resolution received just votes enough to carry
it. A very little more opposition would have defeated it, and would
probably have postponed the declaration for several weeks.
The next day Congress took the formal vote upon the resolution. Mr.
Rodney had now arrived, so that the vote of Delaware was given in the
affirmative. John Dickinson and Robert Morris stayed away, so that
Pennsylvania was now secured for the affirmative by three votes against
two. Though Dickinson and Morris were so slow to believe it necessary or
prudent to declare independence, they were firm supporters of the
declaration after it was made. Without Morris, indeed, it is hard to
see how the Revolution could have succeeded. He was the great financier
of his time, and his efforts in raising money for the support of our
hard-pressed armies were wonderful.
When the turn of the South Carolina delegates came they changed their
votes in order that the declaration might go forth to the world as the
unanimous act of the American people. The question was thus settled on
the 2d of July, and the next thing was to decide upon the form of the
declaration, which Jefferson, who was weak in debate but strong with the
pen, had already drafted. The work was completed on the 4th of July,
when Jefferson's draft was adopted and published to the world. Five days
afterward the state of New York declared her approval of these
proceedings. The Rubicon was crossed, and the thirteen English colonies
had become the United States of America.