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.illowp93 {width: 100%;} +.illowp54 {width: 54%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp54 {width: 100%;} +.illowp52 {width: 52%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp52 {width: 100%;} +.illowp63 {width: 63%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp63 {width: 100%;} +.illowp71 {width: 71%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp71 {width: 100%;} +.illowp48 {width: 48%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp48 {width: 100%;} +.illowp49 {width: 49%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp49 {width: 100%;} +.illowp66 {width: 66%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp66 {width: 100%;} +.illowp67 {width: 67%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp67 {width: 100%;} +.illowp30 {width: 30%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp30 {width: 100%;} +.illowp58 {width: 58%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp58 {width: 100%;} + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78469 ***</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_i">[i]</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage larger">A HISTORY OF<br> +THE AMERICAN PEOPLE</p> + +<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br> +<span class="smcap">WOODROW WILSON, Ph.D., Litt.D., LL.D.</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage">IN FIVE VOLUMES</p> + +<p class="titlepage"><span class="smcap">Vol. II.</span><br> +<span class="gothic">Colonies and Nation</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ii">[ii]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus001" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus001.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>GEORGE WASHINGTON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iii">[iii]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p class="titlepage larger"><span class="smaller">A HISTORY OF</span><br> +THE AMERICAN PEOPLE</p> + +<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br> +<span class="smcap">WOODROW WILSON, Ph.D., Litt.D., LL.D.</span><br> +<span class="smaller">PRESIDENT OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage">ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS, MAPS,<br> +PLANS, FACSIMILES, RARE PRINTS,<br> +CONTEMPORARY VIEWS, ETC.</p> + +<p class="titlepage">IN FIVE VOLUMES</p> + +<p class="titlepage"><span class="smcap">Vol. II.</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter titlepage illowp50" style="max-width: 9.375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/hb.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">NEW YORK AND LONDON</span><br> +HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS<br> +<span class="smaller">MCMVII</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iv">[iv]</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">Copyright, 1901, 1902, by <span class="smcap">Woodrow Wilson</span>.</p> + +<p class="center smaller">Copyright, 1901, 1902, by <span class="smcap">Harper & Brothers</span>.</p> + +<p class="center smaller"><i>All rights reserved.</i></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[v]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> + +</div> + +<table> + <tr> + <td class="tdr smaller">CHAPTER</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">I.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Common Undertakings</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">II.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">The Parting of the Ways</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">98</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">III.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">The Approach of Revolution</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">172</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">IV.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">The War for Independence</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">223</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td>APPENDIX</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#APPENDIX">331</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[vi]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[vii]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="NOTES_ON_ILLUSTRATIONS">NOTES ON ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +</div> + +<table> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">George Washington</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus001"><i>Frontispiece.</i></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Plan of Charleston, South Carolina, + about 1732.</span>—From plate 12 of Henry Popple’s <i>Map of + the British Empire in America</i>. London, 1733</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus002">3</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">New Orleans in 1719.</span>—Redrawn + from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus003">5</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Samuel de Champlain.</span>—Redrawn + from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus004">7</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">An early view of Quebec.</span>—Redrawn + from a view published at London in 1760</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus005">12</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Cour du Bois, xvii. century.</span>—From + a drawing by Frederic Remington</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus006">14</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">An English fleet about 1732.</span>—From + plate 11 of Henry Popple’s <i>Map of the British Empire in + America</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus007">16</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Moale’s sketch of Baltimore, + Maryland, in 1752.</span>—Drawn from the original in + the Maryland Historical Society</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus008">19</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Charleston, from the harbor, + 1742.</span>—Redrawn from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus009">22</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Lord Bellomont.</span>—From an + old engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus010">25</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">William and Mary College before + the fire, 1723.</span>—Redrawn from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus011">27</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John Churchill, Duke of + Marlborough.</span>—From an engraving by R. Cooper in + the Emmet Collection, New York Public Library (Lenox + Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus012">29</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Prince Eugene.</span>—From an old + engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus013">31</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[viii]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">French Huguenot Church, New York, + 1704.</span>—Redrawn from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus014">32</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Old Swedes church, Wilmington, + Delaware.</span>—From a drawing by Howard Pyle</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus015">34</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">New York slave market about + 1730.</span>—Redrawn from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus016">36</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Broad Street, New York, in + 1740.</span>—Redrawn from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus017">37</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Old State House at Annapolis, + Maryland.</span>—Redrawn from an old lithograph by Weber</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus018">39</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">New York, from the harbor, about + 1725.</span>—Redrawn from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus019">41</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Alexander Spotswood.</span>—Redrawn + from the frontispiece in the <i>Official Letters of Alexander + Spotswood</i>, published by the Virginia Historical Society</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus020">42</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Brenton church, where Governor Spotswood + worshipped.</span>—From Lossing’s <i>Field-Book of the + Revolution</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus021">43</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Governor Spotswood’s expedition to + the Blue Ridge.</span>—From a painting by F. Luis Mora</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus022">45</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Colonel Rhett and the pirate Stede + Bonnet.</span>—From a painting by Howard Pyle</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus023">46</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Portrait of the pirate Edward Thatch + (or Teach).</span>—From Capt. Charles Johnson’s <i>General + History of the Highwaymen</i> [etc.]. London, 1736. In the + New York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus024">48</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Sir Robert Walpole.</span>—From + an old engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus025">50</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Map of the coast settlements, + 1742.</span>—From an old English map</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus026">53</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Pohick church, Virginia, where + Washington worshipped.</span>—From a sketch by Benson J. + Lossing in 1850</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus027">55</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Title-page of the proceedings + against the negroes.</span>—Title-page of the original + edition of Daniel Horsmanden’s <i>Journal</i> of the + so-called “Negro Plot” of 1741. From an original in the + New York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus028">57</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">[ix]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Oswego in 1750.</span>—Redrawn and + <i>extended</i> from a folded view in William Smith’s <i>History + of the Province of New York</i>. London, 1757</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus029">60</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">James Oglethorpe.</span>—From an + old engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus030">63</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Oglethorpe’s order for supplies.</span>—From + Winsor’s <i>America</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus031">65</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Savannah in 1734.</span>—From an + original engraving in the New York Public Library (Lenox + Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus032">66</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Alexander Hamilton.</span>—From + the bust by Palmer in possession of the Honorable Nicholas + Fish, of New York</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus033"><i>Facing p.</i> 66</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John Wesley.</span>—From an old + engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus034">68</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Oglethorpe’s expedition against St. + Augustine.</span>—From a painting by F. Luis Mora</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus035">69</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">George Whitefield.</span>—From an old + engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus036">70</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The action at Cartagena.</span>—From + Green’s <i>History of the English People</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus037">72</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">William Pepperrell.</span>—Sir William + Pepperrell. The original painting is in the Essex Institute, + at Salem, Mass.; the artist’s name is not known</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus038">74</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Facsimile of the New York Weekly + <i>Journal</i>.</span>—First page of the second number of + John Peter Zenger’s newspaper, from an original in the + New York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus039">78</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Robert Dinwiddie.</span>—After a phototype + by F. Gutekunst which forms the frontispiece to vol. ii. of the + <i>Dinwiddie Papers</i>, published by the Virginia Historical + Society</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus040">80</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Merchants’ Exchange, New York, + 1752-1799.</span>—From <i>Reminiscences of an Old New-Yorker</i>. + Emmet: New York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus041">83</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The Plains of Abraham on the morning + of the battle.</span>—From a painting by Frederic Remington</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus042">86</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Map of Braddock’s defeat.</span>—Redrawn + from plate 6 of Winthrop Sargent’s <i>History of Braddock’s + Expedition</i>, published by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus043">88</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">William Pitt.</span>—From an old + engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus044">91</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">[x]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Signature of James Abercrombie</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus045">92</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The Capitulation of Louisbourg.</span>—From + a painting by Howard Pyle</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus046">93</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Jeffrey Amherst.</span>—From an old + engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus047">94</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">James Wolfe.</span>—From a mezzotint + by Richard Houston in the Emmet Collection, No. 3217, New + York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus048">95</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">William Byrd.</span>—From Wilson’s + <i>Washington</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus049">101</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Plan of the city of New York, 1767.</span>—From + Janvier’s <i>Old New York</i>, p. 48</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus050">103</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Edmund Burke.</span>—From an engraving + after the painting by Romney</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus051">106</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">View of the buildings belonging to + Harvard College, Cambridge, New England, 1726.</span>—Partial + reproduction of the earliest print of Harvard College. What is + believed to be the only extant copy of this old engraving is + owned by the Massachusetts Historical Society</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus052">109</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Nassau Hall, Princeton College, + 1760.</span>—Redrawn from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus053">111</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">King’s College New York, 1758.</span>—Redrawn + from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus054">112</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Benjamin Franklin.</span>—From the + portrait by Duplessis in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus055"><i>Facing p.</i> 112</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The birthplace of Benjamin Franklin, + Milk Street, Boston.</span>—Redrawn from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus056">113</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Benjamin Franklin.</span>—From an old + engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus057">115</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">A page of “Poor Richard’s” + Almanac.</span>—From an original of this almanac for 1767, + in the New York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus058">117</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Benjamin Franklin in a colonial drawing + room.</span>—From a painting by H. C. Christy</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus059">119</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Mrs. Benedict Arnold and child.</span>—From + the portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence, in the Historical Society + of Pennsylvania</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus060">121</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Franklin’s old book-shop, next to Christ’s + Church, Philadelphia.</span>—Redrawn from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus061">123</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">[xi]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">George Grenville.</span>—From an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus062">125</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Boundary monument on the St. Croix.</span>—From + a lithograph by L. Haghe after a sketch by Joseph Bouchette, made in + July, 1817, and included in his <i>British Dominions in North America</i>. + London, 1832</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus063">127</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Pontiac, chief of the Ottawas.</span>—Redrawn + from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus064">129</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Henry Bouquet.</span>—From a process-plate + in New York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus065">131</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Bouquet’s redoubt at Pittsburg.</span>—Redrawn + from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus066">132</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Patrick Henry.</span>—From an old + engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus067">133</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Signature of Isaac Barré</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus068">134</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Facsimile of poster placed on the + doors of public buildings.</span>—From Lamb’s <i>History + of New York</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus069">135</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John Dickinson.</span>—From an old + engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus070">137</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Thomas Hutchinson.</span>—From the + painting attributed to Copley, in the Massachusetts + Historical Society</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus071">138</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Thomas Hutchinson’s mansion, + Boston.</span>—Redrawn from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus072">139</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Table of stamp charges on + paper.</span>—From an original of this broadside, in the + Emmet Collection, No. 1802, in the New York Public Library + (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus073">141</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Lord Rockingham.</span>—From an + engraving after a painting by Wilson</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus074">142</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">James Otis.</span>—Redrawn from an + old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus075">144</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Stamps forced on the colonies.</span>—From + a photograph of an old document</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus076">145</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Old capitol at Williamsburg, + Virginia.</span>—From a painting by Howard Pyle</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus077">147</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">George Wythe.</span>—From a painting + by Weir, after Trumbull, in Independence Hall, Philadelphia</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus078">149</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">George Washington, 1772.</span>—From + a portrait painted in 1772, by C. W. Peale, now owned by + General George Washington Custis Lee, of Lexington, Virginia</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus079">155</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">[xii]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Landing troops at Boston, 1768.</span>—From + a heliotype in Winsor’s <i>Boston</i>, after the engraving by + Paul Revere</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus080">157</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">List of names of those who would not + conform.</span>—This is a page from the <i>North American + Almanack</i> for 1770, published at Boston by Edes and Gill</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus081">159</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Hand-bill of True Sons of Liberty.</span>—From + Winsor’s <i>America</i>. The Massachusetts Historical Society + possesses a copy of the original broadside</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus082">162</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The Boston massacre.</span>—From a + painting by F. Luis Mora</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus083">163</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">After the massacre. Samuel Adams + demanding of Governor Hutchinson the instant withdrawal of + British troops.</span>—From a painting by Howard Pyle</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus084">165</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Interior of council chamber, old State + House, Boston.</span>—From a photograph</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus085">166</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Protest against the landing of + tea.</span>—Facsimile of a Boston broadside, from Winsor’s + <i>America</i>. An original is in the Massachusetts Historical + Society</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus086">167</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Entry John Adams’s diary.</span>—From + Winsor’s <i>Boston</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus087">168</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Call for meeting to protest against + the landing of tea.</span>—A Philadelphia poster, from Winsor’s + <i>America</i>. There is an original in the Historical Society + of Pennsylvania</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus088">168</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The Boston tea party.</span>—From a + painting by Howard Pyle</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus089">169</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Boycotting poster.</span>—From the + original hand-bill in the Massachusetts Historical Society</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus090">173</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Circular of the Boston Committee of + Correspondence.</span>—From the original in the Boston Public + Library</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus091">175</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">George III.</span>—From an engraving + by Benoit</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus092">177</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">George Mason.</span>—From a painting + by Herbert Walsh, in Independence Hall, Philadelphia</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus093">179</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Seal of Dunmore.</span>—Redrawn from + an impression of the seal</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus094">181</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Earl of Dunmore.</span>—Redrawn from + an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus095">182</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The attack on the Gaspee.</span>—From + a painting by Howard Pyle</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus096">184</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Lord North.</span>—From the engraving + by Mote, after Dance</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus097">186</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Title-page of Hutchinson’s + History.</span>—From an original in the New York Public + Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus098">188</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">General Gage.</span>—Redrawn from + an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus099">190</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Stove in the House of the Burgesses, + Virginia.</span>—From a photograph of the original in the + State Library of Virginia</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus100">191</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John Adams.</span>—From the portrait + by Gilbert Stuart, in Harvard University</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus101"><i>Facing p.</i> 192</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Roger Sherman.</span>—Redrawn from + an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus102">195</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Joseph Galloway.</span>—Redrawn from + an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus103">197</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John Dickinson.</span>—From an + engraving after a drawing by Du Simitier</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus104">198</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Peyton Randolph.</span>—From an + engraving after a painting by C. W. Peale</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus105">200</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Washington stopping at an inn on his + way to Cambridge.</span>—From a painting by F. Luis Mora</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus106">203</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The Liberty Song.</span>—From <i>The + Writings of John Dickinson</i>, edited by Paul Leicester Ford, + published by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus107">205</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Signature of Joseph Hawley</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus108">210</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The House of Commons as it appeared + in 1741.</span>—From a drawing by Gavelot</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus109">214</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Page from the diary of Josiah Quincy, + Jr.</span>—From Winsor’s <i>America</i>. The original diary, + kept while he was in London in 1774, is preserved in the + Massachusetts Historical Society</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus110">216</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Proclamation of the King for the + suppression of the rebellion.</span>—From an original of this + broadside in the Emmet Collection, No. 1496, in the New York + Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus111">218</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Gage’s order permitting inhabitants to + leave Boston.</span>—From Winsor’s <i>Boston</i>. The handwriting + is that of James Bowdoin</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus112">220</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Notice to militia.</span>—From an original + in the Massachusetts Historical Society</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus113">224</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">An account of the Concord fight.</span>—From + Winsor’s <i>America</i>. The original is in the Arthur Lee Papers, + preserved at Harvard College Library</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus114">225</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Signature of Ethan Allen</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus115">226</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga.</span>—Redrawn + from an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus116">227</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Watching the fight at Bunker Hill.</span>—From + a painting by Howard Pyle</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus117">228</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">From Beacon Hill, 1775, no. 1. (Looking + towards Dorchester Heights.)</span>—From Winsor’s <i>America</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus118">230</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">From Beacon Hill, 1775, no. 2. (Looking + towards Roxbury.)</span>—From Winsor’s <i>America</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus119">231</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Order of Committee of Safety.</span>—From + Winsor’s <i>America</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus120">232</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Boston and Bunker Hill, from a print + published in 1781.</span>—Redrawn from a plan in <i>An Impartial + History of the War in America</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus121">234</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Richard Montgomery.</span>—From + an old engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus122">238</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Benjamin Franklin as a politician.</span>—From + a painting by Stephen Elmer</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus123">240</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">R. H. Lee’s resolution for + independence.</span>—From McMaster’s <i>School History of the + United States</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus124">241</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">State House, Philadelphia, 1778.</span>—From + a photograph of the original drawing</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus125">242</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Signature of Thomas Jefferson</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus126">243</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration + of Independence.</span>—This facsimile of Jefferson’s original rough + draft, with interlineations by Adams and Franklin, is from an artotype + by Edward Bierstadt, made from the original in the Department of + State, Washington, D. C.</td> + <td class="tdpg nw"><a href="#illus127a">244, 245, 246, 247</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Rear view of Independence Hall.</span>—From + a photograph</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus128">248</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The President’s chair in the + Constitutional Convention.</span>—From a photograph</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus129">249</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Map of Sullivan’s Island.</span>—Redrawn + from a plan in Johnson’s <i>Traditions and Reminiscences of the + American Revolution in the South</i>. + Charleston, S. C., 1851</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus130">250</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xv">[xv]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Wllliam Moultrie.</span>—From an old + engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus131">251</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Sir William Howe.</span>—From an old + engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus132">253</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Howe’s proclamation preparatory to + leaving Boston.</span>—From the original in the Massachusetts + Historical Society</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus133">255</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Evacuation of Brooklyn Heights.</span>—From + a painting by F. Luis Mora</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus134">257</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Circular of Philadelphia Council of + Safety.</span>—From the original in the Historical Society of + Pennsylvania</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus135">259</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Operations around Trenton and Princeton. + Numbers 76 represent the camps of General Cornwallis and 77 + that of General Knyphausen on the 23d of June, 1777.</span>—Redrawn + from a sketch map by a Hessian officer</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus136">261</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Hessian boot.</span>—From a photograph</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus137">263</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Letter concerning British + outrages.</span>—From the original in the Historical Society + of Pennsylvania</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus138">265</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Recruiting poster.</span>—From + Smith’s <i>American Historical and Literary Curiosities</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus139">267</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John Burgoyne.</span>—From an old + engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus140">269</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Arthur St. Clair.</span>—From an + engraving after the portrait by C. W. Peale</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus141">271</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Samuel Adams.</span>—From the portrait + by Copley in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus142"><i>Facing p.</i> 272</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Benjamin Lincoln.</span>—From the + portrait in the Massachusetts Historical Society</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus143">273</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Sir William Johnson.</span>—From a + mezzotint by Spooner in the Emmet Collection, No. 36, New + York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus144">274</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Sir John Johnson.</span>—From an + engraving by Bartolozzi</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus145">275</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Joseph Brant.</span>—From an engraving + after the original painting by G. Romney</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus146">276</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Peter Gansevoort.</span>—From + Lossing’s <i>Field-Book of the Revolution.</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus147">277</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Facsimile of closing paragraphs of + Burgoyne’s surrender.</span>—From the original in the New + York Historical Society</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus148">279</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Scene of the battle of the + Brandywine.</span>—From an old engraving in the Emmet + Collection, New York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus149">281</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Washington’s proclamation.</span>—From + the original in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus150">283</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Baron de Steuben.</span>—From an + old engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus151">285</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Facsimile of play bill.</span>—From + Smith’s <i>American Historical and Literary Curiosities</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus152">287</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Charles Lee.</span>—From a mezzotint + after the painting by Thomlinson, in Emmet Collection, No. + 1902, New York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus153">289</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Reduced facsimile of instructions from + Congress to privateers.</span>—From Maclay’s <i>History of + American Privateers</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus154">291</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Continental lottery book.</span>—From + a photograph</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus155">292</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Reduced facsimile of the first and + last parts of Patrick Henry’s letter of instructions to + George Rogers Clark.</span>—From the <i>Conquest of the + Northwest</i>, by William E. English</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus156">294</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">George Rogers Clark.</span>—From + a portrait by Jarvis in the Wisconsin Historical Society</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus157">295</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">George Clark’s final summons to + Colonel Hamilton to surrender.</span>—From Winsor’s + <i>America</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus158">297</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Charles James Fox.</span>—From an + engraving after the portrait by Opie</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus159">299</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John Sullivan.</span>—From a mezzotint + by Will</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus160">301</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Casimir Pulaski.</span>—From an + engraving by Hall, in Emmet Collection, No. 3852, New York + Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus161">302</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John Paul Jones.</span>—From a + painting by C. W. Peale, in Independence Hall, Philadelphia</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus162">304</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The fight between Bon Homme Richard + and Serapis.</span>—From a painting by Howard Pyle</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus163">305</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvii">[xvii]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Washington and Rochambeau in the + trenches at Yorktown.</span>—From a painting by Howard Pyle</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus164">307</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Horatio Gates.</span>—From an engraving + by C. Tiebout, after the painting by Gilbert Stuart, Emmet + Collection, New York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus165">309</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Benedict Arnold’s oath of allegiance</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus166">310</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Benedict Arnold.</span>—From a mezzotint + in the Emmet Collection, No. 1877, New York Public Library + (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus167">311</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">John André.</span>—From an engraving + in the New York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus168">312</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Major André’s watch.</span>—From a + photograph</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus169">313</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Benedict Arnold’s pass to Major + André.</span>—From Lossing’s <i>Field-Book of the Revolution</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus170">314</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Major André’s pocket-book.</span>—From + a photograph</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus171">315</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Virginia colonial currency.</span>—From + a photograph</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus172">316</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Lord Cornwallis.</span>—From an old print</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus173">317</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">William Washington.</span>—From an engraving + after a portrait by C. W. Peale</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus174">318</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Banastre Tarleton.</span>—From a mezzotint + in the Emmet Collection, New York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus175">319</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Francis Marion.</span>—From an engraving + in the Emmet Collection, New York Public Library (Lenox Building)</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus176">320</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Daniel Morgan.</span>—From a miniature + in Yale College Library, New Haven</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus177">321</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Count Rochambeau.</span>—From an old + engraving</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus178">322</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Nathanael Greene.</span>—From the original + portrait in possession of Mrs. William Benton Greene, Princeton, + N. J.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus179">323</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Facsimile of the last article of capitulation + at Yorktown.</span>—From a facsimile in Smith’s <i>American + Historical and Literary Curiosities</i></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus180">324</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Parole of Cornwallis.</span>—From + the original in the Library of the University of Virginia</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus181">325</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Order permitting the illumination of + Philadelphia.</span>—From Smith’s <i>American Historical and + Literary Curiosities</i>. Second series. New York</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus182">326</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xviii">[xviii]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Nelson house. Cornwallis’s headquarters, + Yorktown.</span>—From a sketch by Benson J. Lossing in 1850</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus183">327</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Evolution of the American flag.</span>—Compiled + from Preble’s <i>History of the Flag of the United States</i>. Boston, + 1880</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus184">328</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc">LIST OF MAPS</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">English colonies, 1700</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#map1"><i>Facing p.</i> 80</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">North America, 1750. Showing claims arising + out of exploration</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#map2"><i>Facing p.</i> 176</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">English colonies, 1763-1775</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#map3"><i>Facing p.</i> 320</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p><i>The Appendix in this volume is taken by permission from +Mr. Howard W. Preston’s</i> Documents Illustrative of American +History.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span></p> + +<h1>A HISTORY<br> +OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE</h1> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br> +COMMON UNDERTAKINGS</h2> + +</div> + +<p>There had been some noteworthy passages in the +reports which Colonel Francis Nicholson sent to the +government at home when he was first governor of +Virginia (1690); for he studied his duties in those days +with wide-open eyes, and had sometimes written of +what he saw with a very statesmanlike breadth and +insight. It was very noteworthy, among other things, +that he had urged a defensive confederation of the +colonies against the French and Indians, under the +leadership of Virginia, the most loyal of the colonies. +He had made it his business to find out what means of +defence and what effective military force there were +in the other colonies, particularly in those at the north, +conferring with their authorities with regard to these +matters in person when he could not get the information +he wished by deputy. The King and his ministers in +England saw very clearly, when they read his careful +despatches, that they could not wisely act upon such +suggestions yet; but they knew that what Colonel +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span>Nicholson thus openly and definitely advised was what +must occur to the mind of every thoughtful and observant +man who was given a post of authority and guidance +in the colonies, whether he thought it wise to +advise action in the matter or not. It was evident, +indeed, even to some who were not deemed thoughtful +at all. Even the heedless, negligent Lord Culpeper, +little as he really cared for the government he had been +set to conduct, had suggested eight years ago that all +questions of war and peace in the colonies should be +submitted for final decision to the governor and council +of Virginia, where it might be expected that the +King’s interests would be loyally looked after and safeguarded.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp95" id="illus002" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus002.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>PLAN OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, 1732</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>No doubt the colonies would have objected to and +resisted such an arrangement with a very hot resentment, +and no one in authority in London dreamed for +a moment of taking either Lord Culpeper’s or Colonel +Nicholson’s advice in the matter; but it was none the +less obvious that the King and his officers must contrive +some way, if they could, by which they might use +the colonies as a single power against the French in +America, if England was indeed to make and keep an +empire there. If King James, who leaned upon France +as an ally and prayed for the dominion of the Church +of Rome, had seen this, it was not likely that William +of Orange, who was the arch-enemy of France and the +champion of Protestantism against Rome, would overlook +it. He was no sooner on the throne than England +was plunged into a long eight years’ war with the French. +And so it happened that the colonies seemed to reap +little advantage from the “glorious revolution” which +had put out a tyrant and brought in a constitutional +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span>King. William of Orange, it presently appeared, meant +to unite groups of colonies under the authority of a +single royal governor, particularly at the north, where +the French power lay, as James before him had done; +giving to the governors of the principal colonies the +right to command the military forces of the colonies +about them even if he gave them no other large gift of +power. He did more than James had done. Being a +statesman and knowing the value of systematic administration, +he did systematically what James had done +loosely and without consistent plan. The Board of +Trade and Plantations, which he organized to oversee +and direct the government of the colonies, did more to +keep their affairs under the eye and hand of the King +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span>than any group of James’s ministers had been able to +do. The great Dutch King was determined to wield +England and her possessions as a single imperial power +in the game of politics he was playing in Europe.</p> + +<p>The French power, which he chiefly feared, had really +grown very menacing in America; was growing more +so every year; and must very soon indeed be faced and +overcome, if the English were not to be shut in to a +narrow seaboard, or ousted altogether. It was not a +question of numbers. It was a question of territorial aggrandizement, +rather, and strategic advantage. Probably +there were not more than twelve thousand Frenchmen, +all told, in America when William became King +(1689); whereas his own subjects swarmed there full +two hundred thousand strong, and were multiplying +by the tens of thousands from decade to decade. But +the French were building military posts at every strategic +point as they went, while the English were building +nothing but rural homes and open villages. With +the French it did not seem a matter of settlement; it +seemed a matter of conquest, rather, and of military +occupation. They were guarding trade routes and +making sure of points of advantage. The English +way was the more wholesome and the more vital. A +hardy, self-dependent, crowding people like the English +in Massachusetts and Virginia, and the Dutch in New +York, took root wherever they went, spread into real +communities, and were not likely to be got rid of when +once their number had run into the thousands. Their +independence, too, and their capable way of managing +their own affairs without asking or wanting or getting +any assistance from government, made them as hard +to handle as if they had been themselves an established +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span>continental power. But the French had an advantage, +nevertheless, which was not to be despised. They +moved as they were ordered to move by an active and +watchful government which was in the thick of critical +happenings where policies were made, and which meant +to cramp the English, if it could not actually get rid +of them. They extended and organized the military +power of France as they went; and they were steadily +girdling the English about with a chain of posts and +settlements which bade fair to keep all the northern +and western regions of the great continent for the King +of France, from the mouth of the St. Lawrence round +about, two thousand miles, to the outlets of the Mississippi +at the Gulf.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus003" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus003.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>NEW ORLEANS IN 1719</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Their movement along the great rivers and the lakes +had been very slow at first; but it had quickened from +generation to generation, and was now rapid enough +to fix the attention of any man who could hear news +and had his eyes abroad upon what was happening +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span>about him. Jacques Cartier had explored the noble +river St. Lawrence for his royal master of France a +long century and a half ago, in the far year 1535, fifty +years before the English so much as attempted a settlement. +But it was not until 1608, the year after Jamestown +was begun, that Samuel de Champlain established +the first permanent French settlement, at Quebec, and +there were still but two hundred lonely settlers there +when nearly thirty years more had gone by (1636). +It was the quick growth and systematic explorations +of the latter part of the century that made the English +uneasy. The twelve thousand Frenchmen who were +busy at the work of occupation when William of Orange +became King had not confined themselves to the settlements +long ago made in the Bay of Fundy and at Montreal, +Quebec, and Tadousac, where the great river of +the north broadened to the sea. They had carried their +boats across from the upper waters of the Ottawa to +the open reaches of Lake Huron; had penetrated thence +to Lake Michigan, and even to the farthest shores of +Lake Superior, establishing forts and trading posts +as they advanced. They had crossed from Green Bay +in Lake Michigan to the waters of the Wisconsin River, +and had passed by that easy way into the Mississippi +itself. That stout-hearted pioneer Père Marquette had +descended the Father of Waters past the Ohio to the +outlet of the Arkansas (1673); and Robert La Salle +had followed him and gone all the long way to the +spreading mouths of the vast river and the gates of +the Gulf (1682), not by way of the Wisconsin, but by +crossing from the southern end of Lake Michigan to +the stream of the Illinois, and passing by that way to +the Mississippi.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus004" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus004.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>And so the lakes and the western rivers and the Mississippi +itself saw the French; and French posts sprang +up upon their shores to mark the sovereignty of the +King of France. Frenchmen easily enough learned +the ways of the wilderness and became the familiars of +the Indians in their camps and wigwams; and they +showed themselves of every kind,—some rough and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span>lawless rovers, only too glad to throw off the restraints +of the orderly life to which they had been bred and live +as they pleased in the deep, secluded forests, trading +without license, seeking adventure, finding a way for +the civilization which was to follow them, but themselves +anxious to escape it; others regular traders, who +kept their hold upon the settlements behind them and +submitted when they were obliged to official exactions +at Montreal; some intrepid priests, who preached salvation +and the dominion of France among the dusky +tribes, and lived or died with a like fortitude and devotion, +never willingly quitting their sacred task or letting go +their hold upon the hearts of the savage men they had +come to enlighten and subdue; some hardy captains +with little companies of drilled men-at-arms from the +fields of France:—at the front indomitable explorers, far +in the rear timid farmers clearing spaces in the silent +woodland for their scanty crops, and little towns slowly +growing within their walls where the river broadened +to the sea.</p> + +<p>This stealthy power which crept so steadily southward +and westward at the back of the English settlements +upon the coast was held at arm’s-length throughout +that quiet age of beginnings, not by the English, +but by a power within the forests, the power of the great +confederated Iroquois tribes, who made good their +mastery between the Hudson and the lakes: the Senecas, +Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks. They +were stronger, fiercer, more constant and indomitable, +more capable every way, than the tribes amidst whom +the French moved; and Champlain had unwittingly +made them the enemies of the French forever. Long, +long ago, in the year 1609, which white men had forgotten, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span>he had done what the Iroquois never forgot or +forgave. He had come with their sworn foes, the Algonquins, +to the shores of that lake by the sources of the +Hudson which the palefaces ever afterwards called by +his name, and had there used the dread fire-arms of +the white men, of which they had never heard before, +to work the utter ruin of the Mohawks in battle. They +were always and everywhere ready after that fatal day +to be any man’s ally, whether Dutch or English, against +the hated French; and the French found it necessary +to keep at the back of the broad forests which stretched +from the eastern Lakes to the Hudson and the Delaware, +the wide empire of these dusky foes, astute, implacable. +They skirted the domains of the Iroquois when they +were prudent, and passed inland by the lakes and the +valley of the Mississippi.</p> + +<p>But, though they kept their distance, they advanced +their power. The colonists in New England had been +uneasy because of their unwelcome neighborhood from +the first. Once and again there had been actual collisions +and a petty warfare. But until William of Orange +made England a party to the great war of the Protestant +powers against Louis XIV. few men had seen what the +struggle between French and English held in store for +America. The English colonies had grown back not a +little way from the sea, steadily pushed farther and farther +into the thick-set forests which lay upon the broad +valleys and rising slopes of the interior by mere increase +of people and drift of enterprise. Before the seventeenth +century was out adventurous English traders +had crossed the Alleghenies, had launched their canoes +upon the waters of the Ohio, and were fixing their huts +here and there within the vast wilderness as men do +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span>who mean to stay. Colonel Dongan, the Duke’s governor +in New York (1683), like many another officer whose +duties made him alert to watch the humors and keep +the friendship of the Iroquois, the masters of the northern +border, had been quick to see how “inconvenient to the +English” it was to have French settlements “running +all along from our lakes by the back of Virginia and +Carolina to the Bay of Mexico.” There was keen rivalry +in trade, and had been these many years, between the +men of the English and Dutch colonies and the men of +the French for the profitable trade in furs which had its +heart at the north; and it was already possible for those +who knew the forest commerce to reason right shrewdly +of the future, knowing, as they did, that the English +gave better goods and dealt more fairly for the furs +than the French, and that many of the very Frenchmen +who ranged the forests in search of gain themselves +preferred to send what they had to Albany for +sale. But, except for a few lonely villages in far-away +Maine, there was nowhere any close contact between +French and English in America. Few, except traders +and thoughtful governors and border villagers, who +feared the tribes whom the French incited to attack and +massacre, knew what France did or was planning.</p> + +<p>King William’s War (1689-1697), with its eight years +of conscious peril, set new thoughts astir. It made +America part of the stage upon which the great European +conflict between French and English was to be fought +out; and immediately a sort of continental air began to +blow through colonial affairs. Colonial interests began +to seem less local, more like interests held in common, +and the colonies began to think of themselves as part +of an empire. They had no great part in the war, it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span>is true. Hale Sir William Phips, that frank seaman +adventurer, led an expedition against Acadia in 1690, +took Port Royal, and stripped the province of all that +could be brought away; but that had hardly had the +dignity of formal war. He had chiefly relished the +private gain got out of it as a pleasant reminder of that +day of fortune when he had found the Spanish treasure-ship +sunk upon a reef in far Hispaniola. His second +expedition, made the same year against Quebec, no +doubt smacked more of the regular business, for he +undertook it as an accredited officer of the crown; but +when it failed it is likely he thought more of the private +moneys subscribed and lost upon it than of the +defeat of the royal arms. There was here the irritation, +rather than the zest, of great matters, and the +colonial leaders were not becoming European statesmen +of a sudden. Their local affairs were still of more +concern to them than the policies of European courts. +Nevertheless the war made a beginning of common undertakings. +The colonies were a little drawn together, +a little put in mind of matters larger than their own.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus005" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus005.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>AN EARLY VIEW OF QUEBEC</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>New York felt herself no less concerned than Massachusetts +and Maine in the contest with the French, with its +inevitable accompaniment of trouble with the Indians; +and Jacob Leisler, plebeian and self-constituted governor +though he was, had made bold to take the initiative +in forming plans for the war. Count Louis de Frontenac +had been made governor of New France the very +year William established himself as king in England +(1689), and had come instructed, as every Englishman +in America presently heard rumor say, to attack the +English settlements at their very heart,—at New York +itself. It was this rumor that had made Leisler hasten +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span>to seize the government in King William’s name, seeing +King James’s governor hesitate, and hearing it cried +in the streets that the French were in the very Bay. +He had thought it not impossible that James’s officers +might prove traitors and friends of King Louis in that +last moment of their power. And then, when the government +was in his hands, this people’s governor called a +conference of the colonies to determine what should be +done for the common defence. Massachusetts, Plymouth, +and Connecticut responded, and sent agents to +the conference (1690), the first of its kind since America +was settled. It was agreed to attempt the conquest of +New France. Sir William Phips should lead an expedition +by sea against Quebec; and another force +should go by land out of Connecticut and New York +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span>to attack Montreal, the only other stronghold, taking +their Iroquois allies with them. But the land expedition +was every way unfortunate, and got no farther than +Lake Champlain. Frontenac was able to devote all +his strength to the defence of Quebec; and Sir William +Phips came back whipped and empty-handed. The +first effort at a common undertaking had utterly miscarried.</p> + +<p>But that was not the end of the war. Its fires burned +hot in the forests. Frontenac prosecuted the ugly business +to the end as he had begun it. He had begun, +not by sending a fleet to New York, for he had none to +send, but by sending his Indian allies to a sudden attack +and savage massacre at Schenectady, where sixty +persons, men and women, old and young, saw swift +and fearful death (1689); and year by year the same +hideous acts of barbarous war were repeated,—not always +upon the far-away border, but sometimes at the +very heart of the teeming colony,—once (1697) at Haverhill, +not thirty-five miles out of Boston itself. Such a +war was not likely to be forgot in the northern colonies, +at any rate, and in New York. Its memories were bitten +into the hearts of the colonists there as with the searings +of a hot iron; and they knew that the French must be +overcome before there could be any lasting peace, or +room enough made for English growth in the forests.</p> + +<p>They would rather have turned their thoughts to +other things. There were home matters of deep moment +which they were uneasy to settle. But these larger +matters, of England’s place and power in the world, +dominated them whether they would or no. King +William’s War was but the forerunner of many more, of +the same meaning and portent. Wars vexed and disciplined +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span>them for half +a century, and their +separate interests had +often to stand neglected +for years together +in order that their +common interests and +the interests of English +empire in America +might be guarded.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp34" id="illus006" style="max-width: 17.1875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus006.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>COURIER DU BOIS, XVII. CENTURY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>And yet those who +were thoughtful did +not lose sight of the +great, though subtle, +gain which came with +the vexing losses of +war, to offset them. +They had not failed +to notice and to take +to heart what had +happened in England +when William and +Mary were brought to +the throne. They were +none the less Englishmen +for being out of +England, and what +Parliament did for +English liberty deeply +concerned them. Parliament, +as all the world knew, had done a great deal during +those critical days in which it had consummated the +“glorious revolution” by which the Stuarts were once +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span>for all put from the seat of sovereignty. It had reasserted +the ancient rights named in Magna Charta; it had done +away with the King’s arrogated right to tax; it had +destroyed his alleged right to set laws aside, or alter +them in any way; it had reduced him from being master +and had made him a constitutional king, subject to his +people’s will, spoken through their legal representatives +in Parliament. The new King, too, had shown himself +willing to extend these principles to America. In the +charters which he granted or renewed, and in the instructions +which he gave to the governors whom he +commissioned, he did not begrudge an explicit acknowledgment +of the right of the colonies to control +their own taxation and the expenditures of their own +colonial establishments.</p> + +<p>War embarrassed trade. It made hostile territory of +the French West Indies, whence New England skippers +fetched molasses for the makers of rum at home; and +that was no small matter, for the shrewd New England +traders were already beginning to learn how much +rum would pay for, whether among the Indians of the +forest country, among the savages of the African slave +coast, or among their own neighbors at home, where +all deemed strong drink a capital solace and defence +against the asperities of a hard life. But it needed only +a little circumspection, it turned out, to keep even that +trade, notwithstanding the thing was a trifle difficult +and hazardous. There was little cause for men who +kept their wits about them to fear the law on the long, +unfrequented coasts of the New World; and there was +trade with the French without scruple whether war +held or ceased. Buccaneers and pirates abounded in +the southern seas, and legitimate traders knew as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span>well as they did how confiscation and capture were to +be avoided.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus007" style="max-width: 37.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus007.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>AN ENGLISH FLEET IN 1732</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The main lines of trade ran, after all, straight to +the mother country, and were protected when there +was need by English fleets. Both the laws of Parliament +and their own interest bound the trade of the +colonies to England. The Navigation Act of 1660, +in force now these forty years, forbade all trade with +the colonies except in English bottoms; forbade also +the shipment of their tobacco and wool anywhither +but to England itself; and an act of 1663 forbade the +importation of anything at all except out of England, +which, it was then once for all determined, must be +the <i>entrepôt</i> and place of staple for all foreign trade. +It was determined that, if there were to be middlemen’s +profits, the middlemen should be English, and that +the carrying trade of England and her colonies should +be English, not Dutch. It was the Dutch against whom +the acts were aimed. Dutch ships cost less in the +building than ships built in England; the Dutch merchantmen +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span>could afford to charge lower rates of freight +than English skippers; and the statesmen of King +Charles, deeming Holland their chief competitor upon +the seas and in the markets of the world, meant to cut +the rivalry short by statute, so far as the English realm +was concerned.</p> + +<p>Fortunately the interests of the colonists themselves +wore easily enough the harness of the acts. For a +while it went very hard in Virginia, it is true, to pay +English freight rates on every shipment of tobacco, +the colony’s chief staple, and to sell only through English +middlemen, to the exclusion of the accommodating +Dutch and all competition. Trade touched nothing +greater than the tobacco crop. Virginia supplied in +that alone a full half of all the exports of the colonies. +Her planters sharply resented “that severe act of Parliament +which excludes us from having any commerce +with any nation in Europe but our own”; for it seemed +to put upon them a special burden. “We cannot add to +our plantation any commodity that grows out of it, as +olive trees, cotton, or vines,” complained Sir William +Berkeley very bluntly to the government in 1671. “Besides +this, we cannot procure any skilful men for one +now hopeful commodity, silk: for it is not lawful for +us to carry a pipe stave or a barrel of corn to any place +in Europe out of the King’s dominions. If this were +for his Majesty’s service or the good of his subjects, +we should not repine, whatever our sufferings are for +it; but on my soul, it is the contrary for both.” But +the thing was eased for them at last when they began +to see how their interest really lay. They had almost +a monopoly of the English market, for Spanish tobacco +was kept out by high duties, the planting of tobacco in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span>England, begun on no mean scale in the west midland +counties in the days of the Protectorate, was prohibited +by law, and a rebate of duties on all tobacco re-exported +to the continent quickened the trade with the northern +countries of Europe, the chief market in any case for +the Virginian leaf. Grumbling and evasion disappeared +in good time, and Virginia accommodated herself +with reasonable grace to what was, after all, no +ruinous or unprofitable arrangement.</p> + +<p>New England, where traders most abounded, found +little in the acts that she need complain of or seek to +escape from. No New England commodity had its +route and market prescribed as Virginian tobacco had; +New England ships were “English” bottoms no less +than ships built in England itself; they could be built +as cheaply as the Dutch, and the long coast of the continent +was clear for their skippers. If laws grew inconvenient, +there were unwatched harbors enough in +which to lade and unlade without clearance papers. +English capital quickened trade as well as supplied +shipping for the ocean carriage, and the King’s navy +made coast and sea safe. If it was irritating to be tied +to the leading-strings of statutes, it was at least an +agreeable thing that they should usually pull in the +direction merchants would in any case have taken. +Though all products of foreign countries had to be +brought through the English markets and the hands +of English middlemen, the duties charged upon them +upon their entrance into England were remitted upon +their reshipment to America, and they were often to be +had more cheaply in the colonies than in London.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus008" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus008.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>MOALE’S SKETCH OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, IN 1752</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>In 1699, when the war was over, Parliament laid a +new restriction upon the colonies, forbidding them to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span>manufacture their own wool for export, even for export +from colony to colony. Good housewives were not +to be prevented from weaving their own wool into cloth +for the use of their own households; village weavers +were not to be forbidden their neighborhood trade; +but the woollen weavers of England supplied more than +half of all the exports to the colonies, and had no mind +to let woollen manufacture spring up in America if +Parliament could be induced to prohibit it. It made +no great practical difference to the colonies, though +it bred a bitter thought here and there. Manufactures +were not likely to spring up in America. “No man +who can have a piece of land of his own, sufficient by +his labor to subsist his family in plenty,” said Mr. +Franklin long afterwards, “is poor enough to be a +manufacturer and work for a master. Hence, while +there is land enough in America for our people, there +can be no manufactures to any amount or value.” But +the woollen manufacturers in England meant to take +no chances in the matter; and the colonists did no more +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span>than grumble upon occasion at the restraints of a law +which they had no serious thought of breaking.</p> + +<p>It was not breaches of the Acts of Navigation and +the acts concerning woollen manufacture that the +ministers found it necessary to turn their heed to when +the war ended, but, rather, the open piracies of the +southern seas. By the treaty of Ryswick, which brought +peace (1697), France, England, Holland, and Spain, +the high contracting parties, solemnly bound themselves +to make common cause against buccaneering. +Spain and England had been mutually bound since +1670 to abolish it. Buccaneering abounded most on +the coasts of America. The lawless business had +begun long ago. Spain had provoked it. She had +taken possession of all Central and South America +and of the islands of the West Indies, and had bidden +all other nations stand off and touch nothing, while +her fleets every year for generations together came +home heavy with treasure. She had denied them the +right of trade; she had forbidden their seamen so much +as to get stores for their own use anywhere within the +waters of Spanish America. She treated every ship +as an intruder which she found in the southern seas, +and the penalties she inflicted for intrusion upon her +guarded coasts went the length of instant drowning +or hangings at the yard-arm. It was a day when there +was no law at sea. Every prudent man supplied his +ship with arms, and was his own escort; and since Spain +was the common bully, she became the common enemy. +English and French and Dutch seamen were not likely +very long to suffer themselves to be refused what they +needed at her ports; and after getting what they needed, +they went on to take whatever they wanted. They +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span>were intruders, anyway, for whatever purpose they +came, and they might as well, as a witty Frenchman +among them said, “repay themselves beforehand” for +the losses they would suffer should Spanish cruisers +find and take them.</p> + +<p>The spirit of adventure and of gain grew on them +mightily. At first they contented themselves with an +illicit trade at the unguarded ports of quiet, half-deserted +islands like Hispaniola, where they could get hides +and tallow, smoked beef and salted pork, in exchange +for goods smuggled in from Europe. But they did +not long stop at that. The exciting risks and notable +profits of the business made it grow like a story of adventure. +The ranks of the lawless traders filled more +and more with every sort of reckless adventurer and +every sort of unquiet spirit who found the ordinary world +stale and longed for a change of luck, as well as with +hosts of common thieves and natural outlaws. Such +men, finding themselves inevitably consorting, felt +their comradeship, helped one another when they could, +and made a common cause of robbing Spain, calling +themselves “Brethren of the Coast.” They took possession, +as their numbers increased, of the little twin +islands of St. Christopher and Nevis for rendezvous +and headquarters, and fortified distant Tortuga for a +stronghold; and their power grew apace through all +the seventeenth century, until no Spanish ship was +safe on the seas though she carried the flag of an admiral, +and great towns had either to buy them off or +submit to be sacked at their pleasure. They mustered +formidable fleets and counted their desperate seamen +by the thousands.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus009" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus009.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>CHARLESTON, FROM THE HARBOR, 1742</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>They were most numerous, most powerful, most to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span>be feared at the very time the English colony was begun +at Charleston (1670). All the English sea-coast at +the south, indeed, was theirs in a sense. They were +regulars, not outlaws, when France or Holland or England +was at war with Spain, for the great governments +did not scruple to give them letters of marque when +they needed their assistance at sea. English buccaneers +had helped Sir William Penn take Jamaica +for Cromwell in 1655. And when there was no war, +the silent, unwatched harbors of the long American +sea-coast were their favorite places of refuge and repair. +New Providence, England’s best anchorage and most +convenient port of rendezvous in the Bahamas, became +their chief place of welcome and recruiting. The coming +of settlers did not disconcert them. It pleased them, +rather. The settlers did not molest them,—had secret +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span>reasons, as they knew, to be glad to see them. There +were the English navigation laws, as well as the Spanish, +to be evaded, and the goods they brought to the +closed markets were very cheap and very welcome,—and +no questions were asked. They were abundantly welcome, +too, to the goods they bought. For thirty years +their broad pieces of gold and their Spanish silver were +almost the only currency the Carolinas could get hold +of. Governors winked at their coming and going,—even +allowed them to sell their Spanish prizes in English +ports. Charleston, too, and the open bays of Albemarle +Sound were not more open to them than New +York and Philadelphia and Providence, and even now +and again the ports of Massachusetts. They got no +small part of their recruits from among the lawless +and shiftless men who came out of England or Virginia +to the Carolinas for a new venture in a new country +where law was young.</p> + +<p>Richard Coote, the Earl of Bellomont, came out in +1698 to be Governor General of New York, New Jersey, +Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, specially instructed +to stamp out the piracy of the coasts; but he found +it no light task. His predecessor in the government of +New York, Benjamin Fletcher, had loved the Brethren +of the Coast very dearly: they had made it to his interest +to like them; and the merchants of New York, +as of the other seaport towns, were noticeably slow +to see the iniquity of the proscribed business. Lord +Bellomont bitterly complained that the authorities of +Rhode Island openly gave notorious pirates countenance +and assistance. Mr. Edward Randolph, whose +business it was to look after the King’s revenues, declared +in his anger that North Carolina was peopled by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span>nobody but smugglers, runaway servants, and pirates. +South Carolina, fortunately, had seen the folly of harboring +the outlaws by the time Lord Bellomont set +about his suppression in the north. Not only had her +population by that time been recruited and steadied +by the coming in of increasing numbers of law-abiding +and thrifty colonists to whom piracy was abhorrent, +but she had begun also to produce great crops of rice +for whose exportation she could hardly get ships +enough, and had found that her whilom friends the +freebooters did not scruple to intercept her cargoes on +their way to the profitable markets of Holland, Germany, +Sweden, Denmark, and Portugal. She presently +began, therefore, to use a great pair of gallows, +set up very conspicuously on “Execution Dock” at +Charleston, for the diligent hanging of pirates. But +the coast to the northward still showed them hospitality, +and Lord Bellomont made little headway at New York,—except +that he brought the notorious Captain Kidd +to justice. William Kidd, a Scotsman, had made New +York his home, and had won there the reputation of +an honest and capable man and an excellent ship captain; +but when he was given an armed vessel strongly +manned, and the King’s commission to destroy the +pirates of the coast, the temptation of power was too +great for him. He incontinently turned pirate himself, +and it fell to Lord Bellomont to send him to England +to be hanged.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp45" id="illus010" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus010.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>LORD BELLOMONT</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span></p> + +<p>The interval of peace during which English governors +in America could give their thoughts to the suppression +of piracy proved all too short. “Queen +Anne’s War” followed close upon the heels of King +William’s, and the French and Indians became once +again more threatening than the buccaneers. Nevertheless +some important affairs of peace were settled +before the storm of war broke again. For one thing, +Mr. Penn was able once more to put in order the government +of Pennsylvania. For two years (1692-1694) +he had been deprived of his province, because, as every +one knew, he had been on very cordial terms of friendship +with James Stuart, the discredited King, and it +was charged that he had taken part in intrigues against +the new sovereign. But it was easy for him to prove, +when the matter was dispassionately looked into, that +he had done nothing dishonorable or disloyal, and +his province was restored to him. In 1699 he found +time to return to America and reform in person the +administration of the colony. Bitter jealousies and +sharp factional differences had sprung up there while +affairs were in confusion after the coming in of William +and Mary, and the two years Mr. Penn spent in their +correction (1699-1701) were none too long for the work +he had to do. He did it, however, in his characteristic +healing fashion, by granting privileges, more liberal +and democratic than ever, in a new charter. One chief +difficulty lay in the fact that the lower counties by the +Delaware chafed because of their enforced union with +the newer counties of Pennsylvania; and Mr. Penn +consented to an arrangement by which they should +within three years, if they still wished it, have a separate +assembly of their own, and the right to act for themselves +in all matters of local government. Self-government, +indeed, was almost always his provident cure +for discontent. He left both Pennsylvania and the +Delaware counties free to choose their own courts,—and +Philadelphia free to select her own officers as an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span>independently incorporated city. Had he been able +to give his colony governors as wise and temperate as +himself, new troubles might have been avoided as successfully +as old troubles had been healed.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus011" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus011.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE BEFORE THE FIRE, 1723</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>While Mr. Penn lingered in America the rights of +the proprietors of West Jersey, his own first province, +passed finally to the crown. In 1702 all proprietary +rights, alike in East and in West Jersey, were formally +surrendered to the crown, and New Jersey, once more +a single, undivided province, became directly subject +to the King’s government. For a generation, indeed, +as it turned out, she was to have no separate governor +of her own. A separate commission issued from the +crown to the governor of New York to be also governor +of New Jersey, upon each appointment in the greater +province. But New Jersey kept her own government, +nevertheless, and her own way of life. She suffered +no merger into the larger province, her neighbor, whose +governor happened to preside over her affairs.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span></p> + +<p>Many things changed and many things gave promise +of change in the colonies as Mr. Penn looked on. In +1700 Virginia had her population enriched by the coming +of seven hundred French Huguenots, under the +leadership of the Marquis de la Muce,—some of them +Waldenses who had moved, in exile, through Switzerland, +Alsace, the Low Countries, and England ere +they found their final home of settlement in Virginia,—all +of them refugees because of the terror that had +been in France for all Protestants since the revocation +of the Edict of Nantes (1685). That same year, 1700, +Williamsburg, the new village capital of the “Old Dominion,” +grew very gay with company come in from all +the river counties, from neighboring colonies, too, and +even from far-off New England, to see the first class +graduated from the infant college of William and Mary. +The next year (1701) Connecticut, teeming more and +more with a thrifty people with its own independent +interests and resources, and finding Harvard College +at Cambridge too far away for the convenience of those +of her own youth who wished such training as ministers +and professional men in general needed, set up a college +of her own,—the college which half a generation later +she called Yale, because of Mr. Elihu Yale’s gift of +eight hundred pounds in books and money.</p> + +<p>Then King William died (1702,—Mary, his queen +and consort, being dead these eight years), and Anne +became queen. It was a year of climax in the public +affairs of Europe. In 1701, Louis XIV. had put his +grandson, Philip of Anjou, on the throne of Spain, in +direct violation of his treaty obligations to England, +and to the manifest upsetting of the balance of power +in Europe, openly rejoicing that there were no longer +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span>any Pyrenees, but only a single, undivided Bourbon +power from Flanders to the Straits of Gibraltar; and +had defied England, despite his promises made at Ryswick, +by declaring James’s son the rightful heir to +the English throne. Instantly England, Holland, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span>Austria drew together in grand alliance against the +French aggression, and for eleven years Italy, Germany, +and the Netherlands rang with the War of the +Spanish Succession. The storm had already broken +when Anne became queen.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus012" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus012.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JOHN CHURCHILL, DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>England signalized the war by giving a great general +to the world. It was the day of John Churchill, Duke +of Marlborough, of whose genius soldiers gossiped to +their neighbors and their children for half a century +after the great struggle was over. The English took +Gibraltar (1704). Prince Eugene of Savoy helped +great Marlborough to the famous victory of Blenheim +(1705),—and Virginians were not likely to forget that +it was Colonel Parke, of Virginia, who took the news of +that field to the Queen. Marlborough won at Ramillies +and Eugene at Turin (1706). The two great captains +triumphed together at Oudenarde (1708) and at Malplaquet +(1709). The crowns of France and Spain were +separated, and France was lightened of her overwhelming +weight in the balance of power.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus013" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus013.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>PRINCE EUGENE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>But for the colonies in America it was only “Queen +Anne’s War,” full of anxiety, suffering, and disappointment,—massacres +on the border, expeditions to +the north blundered and mismanaged, money and +lives spent with little to show for the sacrifice. The +ministers at home had made no preparation in America +for the renewal of hostilities. There had been warnings +enough, and appeals of deep urgency, sent out of the +colonies. Every observant man of affairs there saw +what must come. But warnings and appeals had not +been heeded. Lord Bellomont, that self-respecting gentleman +and watchful governor, had told the ministers +at home very plainly that there ought to be a line of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span>frontier posts at the north, with soldiers for colonists, +and that simply to pursue the Indians once and again +to the depths of the forests was as useless “as to pursue +birds that are on the wing.” An English prisoner +in the hands of the French had sent word what he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>heard they meant to do for the extension of their boundaries +and their power. The deputy governor of Pennsylvania +had proposed a colonial militia to be kept at +the frontier. Certain private gentlemen of the northern +settlements had begged for a common governor “of +worth and honor,” and for some system of common +defence. Mr. Penn, looking on near at hand, had advised +that the colonists be drawn together in intercourse +and interest by a common coinage, a common rule of +citizenship, a common +system of justice, +and by duties +on foreign timber +which would in +some degree offset +the burdens of the +Navigation Acts,—as +well as by +common organization +and action +against the French +and against the pirates of the coast. But nothing had +been done.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus014" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus014.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FRENCH HUGUENOT CHURCH, NEW YORK, 1704</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Even the little that had been gained in King William’s +War had now to be gained all over again. Sir +William Phips had taken Port Royal very handily at the +outset of that war (1690), and Acadia with it, and there +had been no difficulty in holding the conquered province +until the war ended; but the treaty of Ryswick +had handed back to the French everything the English +had taken, the statesmen of England hardly heeding +America at all in the terms they agreed to,—and so a +beginning was once more to be made.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span></p> + +<p>The war began, as every one knew it must, with +forays on the border: the Indians were the first afoot, +and were more to be feared than the French. The +first movement of the English was made at the south, +where, before the first year (1702) of the war was out, +the Carolinians struck at the power of Spain in Florida. +They sent a little force against St. Augustine, and +easily swept the town itself, but stood daunted before +the walls of the castle, lacking cannon to reduce it, +and came hastily away at sight of two Spanish ships +standing into the harbor, leaving their very stores +and ammunition behind them in their panic. They +had saddled the colony with a debt of six thousand +pounds and gained nothing. But they at least kept +their own borders safe against the Indians and their +own little capital at Charleston safe against reprisals +by the Spaniards. The Apalachees, who served the +Spaniards on the border, they swept from their forest +country in 1703, and made their border quiet by fire +and sword, driving hundreds of the tribesmen they +did not kill to new seats beyond the Savannah. Three +years went by before they were in their turn attacked +by a force out of Florida. Upon a day in August, +1706, while the little capital lay stricken with yellow +fever, a fleet of five French vessels appeared off the +bar at their harbor mouth, bringing Spanish troops +from Havana and St. Augustine. There was a quick +rally to meet them. Colonial militia went to face their +landing parties; gallant Colonel Rhett manned a little +flotilla to check them on the water; and they were driven +off, leaving two hundred and thirty prisoners and a +captured ship behind them. The southern coast could +take care of itself.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp59" id="illus015" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus015.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>OLD SWEDES CHURCH, WILMINGTON, DELAWARE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Nothing had been done meanwhile in the north. +The first year of the war (1702) had seen Boston robbed +of three hundred of her inhabitants by the scourge of +small-pox, and New York stricken with a fatal fever +brought out of the West Indies from which no man +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span>could rally. That dismal year lingered for many a +day in the memory of the men of the middle colonies +as “the time of the great sickness.” The northernmost +border had been harried from Wells to Casco by +the French Indians (1703); Deerfield, far away in the +wilderness by the Connecticut, had been fearfully dealt +with at dead of night, in the mid-winter of 1704, by a +combined force of French and Indians; in 1705 the +French in Acadia had brought temporary ruin upon the +English trading posts in Newfoundland; and a French +privateer had insolently come in open day into the +Bay at New York, as if to show the English there how +defenceless their great harbor was, with all the coast +about it (1705). And yet there had been no counterstroke +by the English,—except that Colonel Church, +of Massachusetts, had spent the summer of 1704 in +destroying as he could the smaller and less defended +French and Indian villages upon the coasts which lay +about the Penobscot and the Bay of Fundy. In 1707 +a serious attempt was made to take Port Royal. Colonel +March took a thousand men against the place, in +twenty-three transports, convoyed by a man-of-war, +and regularly laid siege to it; but lacked knowledge of +the business he had undertaken and failed utterly.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus016" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus016.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>NEW YORK SLAVE MARKET ABOUT 1730</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Another three years went by before anything was +accomplished; and the French filled them in, as before, +with raids and massacres. Again Haverhill was surprised, +sacked, and burned (1708). The English were +driven from the Bahama islands. An expedition elaborately +prepared in England to be sent against the +French in America was countermanded (1709), because +a sudden need arose to use it at home. Everything +attempted seemed to miscarry as of course. And then +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span>at last fortune turned a trifle kind. Colonel Francis +Nicholson, governor of Virginia till 1705, had gone to +England when he saw things stand hopelessly still +in America, and, being a man steadfast and hard to +put by, was at last able, in 1710, to obtain and bring +assistance in person from over sea. He had recommended, +while yet he was governor of Virginia, it was +recalled, that the colonies be united under a single +viceroy and defended by a standing army for which +they should themselves be made to pay. The ministers +at home had been too prudent to take that advice; +but they listened now to his appeal for a force to +be sent to America. By the 24th of September, 1710, he +lay off Port Royal with a fleet of thirty-five sail, besides +hospital and store ships, with four regiments of New +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span>England militia aboard his transports and a detachment +of marines. On the 1st of October he opened the +fire of three batteries within a hundred yards of the +little fort that guarded the place, and within twenty-four +hours he had brought it to its capitulation, as +Sir William Phips had done twenty years before. Acadia +was once more a conquered province of England. +Colonel Nicholson renamed its port Annapolis Royal, +in honor of the Queen whom he served. The name of +the province itself the English changed to Nova Scotia.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus017" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus017.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BROAD STREET, NEW YORK, IN 1740</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Two years more, and the war was practically over; +but no victories had been added to that lonely achievement +at Port Royal. Colonel Nicholson went from +his triumph in Acadia back to England again, to solicit +a yet stronger +force to be taken +against Quebec, +and once more got +what he wanted. +In midsummer of +1711 Sir Hovenden +Walker arrived at +Boston with a +great fleet of transports +and men-of-war, +bringing Colonel +Hill and seven of Marlborough’s veteran regiments +to join the troops of New England in a decisive +onset upon the stronghold of New France. Colonel +Nicholson was to lead the colonial levies through the +forests to Quebec; Sir Hovenden Walker was to ascend +the St. Lawrence and strike from the river. But neither +force reached Quebec. The admiral blundered in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span>fogs which beset him at the mouth of the great stream, +lost eight ships and almost a thousand men, and then +put about in dismay and steered straightway for England, +to have his flag-ship blow up under him at Spithead. +Colonel Nicholson heard very promptly of the +admiral’s ignoble failure, and did not make his march. +The next year, 1712, the merchants of Quebec subscribed +a fund to complete the fortifications of their +rock-built city, and even women volunteered to work +upon them, that they might be finished ere the English +came again. But the English did not come. That +very summer brought a truce; and in March, 1713, +the war ended with the peace of Utrecht. The treaty +gave England Hudson’s Bay, Acadia, Newfoundland, +and the little island of St. Christopher alongside Nevis +in the Lesser Antilles.</p> + +<p>“Queen Anne’s War” was over; but there was not +yet settled peace in the south. While the war lasted +North Carolina had had to master, in blood and terror, +the fierce Iroquois tribe of the Tuscaroras, who mustered +twelve hundred warriors in the forests which lay +nearest the settlements. And when the war was over +South Carolina had to conquer a whole confederacy +of tribes whom the Spaniards had stirred up to attack +her. The Tuscaroras had seemed friends through all +the first years of the English settlement on their coast; +but the steady, ominous advance of the English, encroaching +mile by mile upon their hunting grounds, had +at last maddened them to commit a sudden and awful +treachery. In September, 1711, they fell with all their +natural fury upon the nearer settlements, and for three +days swept them with an almost continuous carnage. +The next year the awful butchery was repeated. Both +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>times the settlements found themselves too weak to +make effective resistance; both times aid was sent from +South Carolina, by forced marches through the long +forests; and finally, in March, 1713, the month of the +peace of Utrecht, an end was made. The Tuscaroras +were attacked and overcome in their last stronghold. +The remnant that was left migrated northward to join +their Iroquois kinsmen in New York,—and Carolina +was quit of them forever.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus018" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus018.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>OLD STATE HOUSE AT ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The strong tribes which held sway in the forests of +South Carolina,—the Yamassees, Creeks, Catawbas, +and Cherokees,—were no kinsmen of these alien Iroquois +out of the north, and had willingly lent their aid +to the English to destroy them. But, the war over, the +Spaniards busied themselves to win these tribes also +to a conspiracy against the English settlements, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span>succeeded only too well. They joined in a great confederacy, +and put their seven or eight thousand braves +on the war-path to destroy the English. For almost +a whole year (April, 1715, to February, 1716) they kept +to their savage work unsubdued, until full four hundred +whites had lost their lives at their hands. Then +the final reckoning came for them also, and the shattered +remnants of their tribes sought new homes for +themselves as they could. The savages had all but +accomplished their design against the settlements. The +awful work of destroying them left the Carolinas upon +the verge of utter exhaustion, drained of blood and +money, almost without crops of food to subsist upon, +quite without means to bear the heavy charges of government +in a time of war and sore disorder. There +were some among the disheartened settlers who thought +of abandoning their homes there altogether and seeking +a place where peace might be had at a less terrible +cost. But there was peace at least, and the danger of +absolute destruction had passed.</p> + +<p>New York had had her own fright while the war +lasted. A house blazed in the night (1712), and certain +negroes who had gathered about it killed some of those +who came to extinguish the flames. It was rumored +that there had been a plot among the negroes to put +the whole of the town to the torch; an investigation +was made, amidst a general panic which rendered calm +inquiry into such a matter impossible; and nineteen +blacks were executed.</p> + +<p>But in most of the colonies domestic affairs had gone +quietly enough, the slow war disturbing them very +little. Connecticut found leisure of thought enough, +in 1708, to collect a synod at Saybrook and formulate +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>a carefully considered constitution for her churches, +which her legislature the same year adopted. In 1707 +New York witnessed a notable trial which established +the freedom of dissenting pulpits. Lord Cornbury, +the profligate governor of the province, tried to silence +the Rev. Francis Mackemie, a Presbyterian minister,—pretending +that the English laws of worship and +doctrine were in force in New York; but a jury made +short work of acquitting him. Massachusetts endured +Joseph Dudley as governor throughout the war +(1702-1715), checking him very pertinaciously at times +when he needed the assistance of her General Court, +but no longer refusing to live with reasonable patience +under governors not of her own choosing.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus019" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus019.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>NEW YORK, FROM THE HARBOR, ABOUT 1725</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus020" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus020.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Fortunately for the Carolinas, a very notable man +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span>had become governor of Virginia ere the Tuscaroras +took the war-path. There were tribes at the border,—Nottoways, +Meherrins, and even a detached group +of the Tuscaroras themselves,—who would have joined +in the savage conspiracy against the whites had not +Colonel Spotswood been governor in Virginia and shown +himself capable of holding them quiet with a steady +hand of authority,—a word of conciliation and a hint +of force. Alexander Spotswood was no ordinary man. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span>He added to a gentle breeding a manly bearing such +as Virginians loved, and the administrative gifts which +so many likable governors had lacked. His government +was conducted with clear-eyed enterprise and +steady capacity. It added +to his consequence that he +had borne the Queen’s commission +in the forces of the +great Marlborough on the +field of Blenheim, and came +to his duty in Virginia +(1710) bearing a wound received +on that famous field. +His blood he took from +Scotland, where the distinguished +annals of his family +might be read in many +a public record; and a Scottish +energy entered with him into the government of Virginia,—as +well as a Scottish candor and directness in +speech,—to the great irritation presently of James Blair, +as aggressive a Scotsman as he, and more astute and +masterful.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="illus021" style="max-width: 15.625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus021.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BRENTON CHURCH, WHERE GOVERNOR + SPOTSWOOD WORSHIPPED</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>It was Colonel Spotswood who, in 1716, gathered a +company of gentlemen about him for a long ride of +discovery into the Alleghanies. They put their horses +through the very heart of the long wilderness, and +won their way despite all obstacles to a far summit of +the Blue Ridge, whence, first among all their countrymen, +they looked forth to the westward upon the +vast slopes which fell away to the Ohio and the great +basin of the Mississippi. Colonel Spotswood, standing +there the leader of the little group, knew that it was this +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span>way the English must come to make conquest of the +continent. He urged his government at home to stretch +a chain of defensive posts beyond the mountains from +the lakes to the Mississippi, to keep the French from +those inner valleys which awaited the coming of the +white man; but he did not pause in the work he could +do himself because the advice went unheeded. He +kept the Indians still; he found excellent lands for a +thrifty colony of Germans, and himself began the manufacture +of iron in the colony, setting up the first iron +furnace in America. The debts of the colony were +most of them discharged, and a good trade in corn, +lumber, and salt provisions sprang up with the West +Indies. He rebuilt the college, recently destroyed +by fire, and established a school for Indian children. +He improved as he could the currency of the colony. +His works were the quiet works of peace and development,—except +for his vigorous suppression of the pirates +of the coast,—and his administration might have outrun +the year 1722, which saw him removed, had he been +a touch less haughty, overbearing, unused to conciliating +or pleasing those whose service he desired. He +made enemies, and was at last ousted by them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus022" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus022.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>GOVERNOR SPOTSWOOD’S EXPEDITION TO THE BLUE RIDGE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus023" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus023.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>COLONEL RHETT AND THE PIRATE STEDE BONNET</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span></p> + +<p>Some of the best qualities of the soldier and administrator +came out in him in the long struggle to put the +pirates down once and for all. Queen Anne’s War +had turned pirates into privateers and given pause +to the stern business for a little, but it began again in +desperate earnest when the war was over and peace +concluded at Utrecht. It was officially reported by +the secretary of Pennsylvania in 1717 that there were +still fifteen hundred pirates on the coasts, making their +headquarters at the Cape Fear and at New Providence +in the Bahamas, and sweeping the sea as they dared +from Brazil to Newfoundland. But the day of their +reckoning was near at hand. South Carolina had +cleared her own coasts for a little at the beginning of +the century, but the robbers swarmed at her inlets again +when the Indian massacres had weakened and distracted +her, and the end of the war with France set +many a roving privateersman free to return to piracy. +The crisis and turning-point came in the year 1718. +That year an English fleet crossed the sea, took New +Providence, purged the Bahamas of piracy, and made +henceforth a stronghold there for law and order. That +same year Stede Bonnet, of Barbadoes, a man who +had but the other day held a major’s commission in +her Majesty’s service, honored and of easy fortune, +but now turned pirate, as if for pastime, was caught +at the mouth of the Cape Fear by armed ships under +redoubtable Colonel Rhett, who had driven the French +out of Charleston harbor thirteen years ago, and was +taken and hanged on Charleston dock, all his crew having +gone before him to the ceremony. “This humour +of going a-pyrating,” it was said, “proceeded from a +disorder in his mind, which had been but too visible +in him some time before this wicked undertaking; and +which is said to have been occasioned by some discomforts +he found in a married state”; but the law saw +nothing of that in what he had done. While Bonnet +awaited his condemnation, Edward Thatch, the famous +“Blackbeard,” whom all the coast dreaded, went +a like just way to death, trapped within Ocracoke Inlet +by two stout craft sent against him out of Virginia by +Colonel Spotswood. And so, step by step, the purging +went on. South Carolina had as capable a governor +as Virginia in Robert Johnson; and the work done +by these and like men upon the coasts, and by the English +ships in the West Indies, presently wiped piracy +out. By 1730 there was no longer anything for ships +to fear on those coasts save the Navigation Acts and +stress of sea weather.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus024" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus024.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>PORTRAIT OF THE PIRATE EDWARD THATCH</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span></p> + +<p>It was a long coast, and it took a long time to carry +law and order into every bay and inlet. But every +year brought increase of strength to the colonies, and +with increase of strength power to rule their coasts as +they chose. Queen Anne’s War over, quiet peace descended +upon the colonies for almost an entire generation +(1712-1740). Except for a flurry of Indian warfare +now and again upon the borders, or here and +there some petty plot or sudden brawl, quiet reigned, +and peaceful progress. Anne, the queen, died the +year after peace was signed (1714); and the next year +Louis XIV. followed her, the great king who had so +profoundly stirred the politics of Europe. An old +generation had passed away, and new men and new +measures seemed now to change the whole face of affairs. +The first George took the throne, a German, not an +English prince, his heart in Hannover; and presently +the affairs of England fell into the hands of Sir Robert +Walpole. Sir Robert kept his power for twenty-one +years (1721-1742), and conducted the government +with the shrewd, hard-headed sense and administrative +capacity of a steady country squire,—as if governing +were a sort of business, demanding, like other businesses, +peace and an assured and equable order in +affairs. It was a time of growth and recuperation, +with much to do, but little to record.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp45" id="illus025" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus025.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SIR ROBERT WALPOLE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span></p> + +<p>The colonies, while it lasted, underwent in many +things a slow transformation. Their population grew +in numbers not only, but also in variety. By the end +of the war there were probably close upon half a million +people within their borders, counting slave with free; +and with the return of peace there came a quickened +increase. New England slowly lost its old ways of +separate action as a self-constituted confederacy; and +Massachusetts, with her new system of royal governors +and a franchise broadened beyond the lines of her +churches, by degrees lost her leadership. She was +losing her old temper of Puritan thought. It was impossible +to keep her population any longer of the single +strain of which it had been made up at the first. +New elements were steadily added; and new elements +brought new ways of life and new beliefs. She was +less and less governed by her pulpits; turned more and +more to trade for sustenance; welcomed new-comers +with less and less scrutiny of their ways of thinking; +grew less suspicious of change, and more like her +neighbors in her zest for progress.</p> + +<p>Scots-Irish began to make their appearance in the +colony, some of them going to New Hampshire, some +remaining in Boston; and they were given a right willing +welcome. The war had brought sore burdens of +expense and debt upon the people, and these Scots-Irish +knew the profitable craft of linen-making which +the Boston people were glad to learn, and use to clothe +themselves; for poverty, they declared, “is coming +upon us as an armed man.” These new immigrants +brought with them also the potato, not before used in +New England, and very acceptable as an addition to +the colony’s bill of fare. Small vessels now began to +venture out from Cape Cod and Nantucket, moreover, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span>in pursuit of the whales that came to the northern coasts, +and it was not long before that daring occupation began +to give promise of wealth and of the building up +of a great industry. Population began slowly to spread +from the coasts into the forests which lay at the west +between the Connecticut and the Hudson. In 1730 a +Presbyterian church was opened in Boston,—almost +as unmistakable a sign of change as King’s Chapel +itself had been with its service after the order of the +Church of England.</p> + +<p>The middle colonies and the far south saw greater +changes than these. South Carolina seemed likely to +become as various in her make-up as were New York +and Pennsylvania with their mixture of races and +creeds. Scots-Irish early settled within her borders +also; she had already her full share of Huguenot +blood; and there followed, as the new century advanced +through the lengthened years of peace, companies of +Swiss immigrants, and Germans from the Palatinate. +Charleston, however, seemed English enough, and +showed a color of aristocracy in her life which no one +could fail to note who visited her. Back from the point +where the rivers met, where the fortifications stood, +and the docks to which the ships came, there ran a +fine road northward which Governor Archdale, that +good Quaker, had twenty years ago declared more +beautiful and pleasant than any prince in Europe could +find to take the air upon when he drove abroad. From +it on either side stretched noble avenues of live oaks, +their strong lines softened by the long drapery of the +gray moss,—avenues which led to the broad verandas +of country residences standing in cool and shadowy +groves of other stately trees. In summer the odor of +jasmine filled the air; and even in winter the winds +were soft. It was here that the ruling men of the +colony lived, the masters of the nearer plantations,—men +bred and cultured after the manner of the Old +World. The simpler people, who made the colony +various with their differing bloods, lived inland, in +the remoter parishes, or near other harbors above or +below Charleston’s port. It was on the nearer plantations +round about Charleston that negro slaves most +abounded; and there were more negroes by several +thousand in the colony than white folk. Out of the +16,750 inhabitants of the colony in 1715, 10,500 were +slaves. But the whites were numerous enough to give +their governors a taste of their quality.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp45" id="illus026" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus026.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>MAP OF THE COAST SETTLEMENTS, 1742</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span></p> + +<p>There were well-developed political parties in South +Carolina, for all she was so small; and astute and able +men to lead them, like Colonel Rhett, now soldier, now +sailor, now statesman, and Mr. Nicholas Trott, now +on one side and again on the other in the matter of self-government +as against the authority of the proprietors +or the crown, but always in a position to make his influence +felt. The province practically passed from +the proprietors to the crown in 1719, because the people’s +party determined to be rid of their authority, and ousted +their governor, exasperated that in their time of need, +their homes burned about their ears by the savages, +their coasts ravaged by freebooters, they should have +been helped not a whit, but left to shift desperately +for themselves. In 1729 the proprietors formally surrendered +their rights. Colonel Francis Nicholson acted +as provisional governor while the change was being +effected (1719-1725), having been meantime governor +of Acadia, which he had taken for the crown. In 1720 +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span>he was knighted; and he seems to have acted as soberly +in this post in Carolina as he had acted in Virginia. +He was truculent and whimsical in the north; but in +the south his temper seemed eased and his judgment +steadied. The change of government in South +Carolina was really an earnest of the fact that the +people’s representatives had won a just and reasonable +ascendency in the affairs of the colony; and Sir Francis +did not seriously cross them, but served them rather, +in the execution of their purposes.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus027" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus027.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>POHICK CHURCH, VIRGINIA, WHERE WASHINGTON WORSHIPPED</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Every colony had its own movements of party. +Everywhere the crown desired the colonial assemblies +to provide a permanent establishment for the governor, +the judges, and the other officers who held the +King’s commission,—fixed salaries, and a recognized +authority to carry out instructions; but everywhere the +people’s representatives persistently refused to grant +either salaries or any additional authority which they +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span>could not control in the interest of their own rights +from session to session. They would vote salaries +for only a short period, generally a year at a time; and +they steadily denied the right of the crown to extend +or vary the jurisdiction of the courts without their assent. +Sometimes a governor like Mr. Clarke, of New +York, long a resident in his colony and acquainted +with its temper and its ways of thought, got what he +wanted by making generous concessions in matters +under his own control; and the judges, whatever their +acknowledged jurisdiction, were likely to yield to the +royal wishes with some servility: for they were appointed +at the King’s pleasure, and not for the term +of their good behavior, as in England. But power +turned, after all, upon what the people’s legislature +did or consented to do, and the colonists commonly +spoke their minds with fearless freedom.</p> + +<p>In New York the right to speak their minds had been +tested and established in a case which every colony +promptly learned of. In 1734 and 1735 one John Peter +Ziegler, a printer, was brought to trial for the printing +of various libellous attacks on the governor and the +administration of the colony,—attacks which were +declared to be highly “derogatory to the character of +his Majesty’s government,” and to have a tendency +“to raise seditions and tumults in the province”; but +he was acquitted. The libel was admitted, but the +jury deemed it the right of every one to say whatever +he thought to be true of the colony’s government; and +men everywhere noted the verdict.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus028" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus028.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>TITLE-PAGE OF THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THE NEGROES</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span></p> + +<p>A second negro plot startled New York in 1741, showing +itself, as before, in sudden incendiary fires. It +was thought that the slaves had been incited to destroy +the town; and there was an uneasy suspicion that these +disturbing occurrences were in some way connected with +the slave insurrections in the south. Uprisings of the +slaves had recently occurred in the West Indies. South +Carolina had suffered such an outbreak a little more +than two years before. In 1738 armed insurgent negroes +had begun there, in a quiet parish, the execution of +a terrible plot of murder and burning which it had taken +very prompt and summary action to check and defeat. +Such risings were specially ominous where the slaves +so outnumbered the whites; and it was known in South +Carolina whence the uneasiness of the negroes came. +At the south of the province lay the Spanish colonies +in Florida. Negroes who could manage to run away +from their masters and cross the southern border were +made very welcome there; they were set free, and encouraged +in every hostile purpose that promised to rob +the English settlements of their ease and peace. Bands +of Yamassees wandered there, too, eager to avenge +themselves as they could for the woful defeat and expulsion +they had suffered at the hands of the Carolinians, +and ready to make common cause with the negroes. +When bands of negroes, hundreds strong, began their +sudden work of burning, plunder, and murder where +the quiet Stono runs to the sea no one doubted whence +the impulse came. And though a single rising was +easily enough put down, who could be certain that that +was the end of the ominous business? No wonder +governors at Charleston interested themselves to increase +the number of white settlers and make their +power of self-defence sure.</p> + +<p>Such things, however, serious as they were, did not +check the steady growth of the colonies. It was not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span>yet questions of self-government or of the preservation +of their peace that dominated their affairs; and +only those who observed how far-away frontiers were +being advanced and two great nations being brought +together for a reckoning face to face saw what was the +next, the very near, crisis in store for the English +in America. Through all that time of peace a notable +drama was in fact preparing. Slowly, but very surely, +English and French were drawing nearer and nearer +within the continent,—not only in the north, but throughout +all the length of the great Mississippi. Step by +step the French had descended the river from their +posts on the lakes; and while peace reigned they had +established posts at its mouth and begun to make their +way northward from the Gulf. So long ago as 1699 +they had built a stockade at Biloxi; in 1700 they had +taken possession of Mobile Bay; by 1716 they had established +posts at Toulouse (Alabama) and at Natchez. +In 1718 they began to build at New Orleans. In 1719 +they captured and destroyed the Spanish post at Pensacola. +By 1722 there were five thousand Frenchmen +by the lower stretches of the great river; and their trading +boats were learning all the shallows and currents +of the mighty waterway from end to end. Meantime, +in the north, they advanced their power to Lake Champlain, +and began the construction of a fort at Crown +Point (1721). That same year, 1721, French and English +built ominously near each other on Lake Ontario, +the English at Oswego, the French at Niagara among +the Senecas. In 1716, the very year Governor Spotswood +rode through the western forests of Virginia to +a summit of the Blue Ridge, the French had found a +short way to the Ohio by following the Miami and the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span>Wabash down their widening streams. It was while +they thus edged their way towards the eastern mountains +and drew their routes closer and closer to their +rivals on the coast that that adventurous, indomitable +people, the Scots-Irish, came pouring of a sudden into +the English colonies, and very promptly made it their +business to pass the mountains and take possession +of the lands which lay beyond them, as if they would +deliberately go to meet the French by the Ohio.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp83" id="illus029" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus029.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>OSWEGO IN 1750</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>For several years after the first quarter of the new +century had run out immigrants from the north of Ireland +came crowding in, twelve thousand strong by the +year. In 1729 quite five thousand of them entered +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span>Pennsylvania alone: and they pressed without hesitation +and as if by preference to the interior. From Pennsylvania +they passed along the broad, inviting valleys +southward into the western parts of Virginia. By 1730 +a straggling movement of settlers had begun to show +itself even upon the distant lands of Kentucky. Still +farther south traders from the Carolinas went constantly +back and forth between the Indian tribes of the country +by the Mississippi and the English settlements at the +coast. Nine thousand redskin warriors lay there in +the forests. Some traded with the French at the river, +some with the English at the coast. They might become +foes or allies, might turn to the one side or the +other, as passion or interest led them.</p> + +<p>In 1739 the French at the north put an armed sloop +on Champlain. The same year the English built a +fortified post at Niagara. Everywhere the two peoples +were converging, and were becoming more and more +conscious of what their approach to one another meant. +So long ago as 1720 orders had come from France bidding +the French commanders on the St. Lawrence occupy +the valley of the Ohio before the English should +get a foothold there. The places where the rivals were +to meet it was now easy to see, and every frontiersman +saw them very plainly. The two races could not possess +the continent together. They must first fight for +the nearer waterways of the West, and after that for +whatever lay next at hand.</p> + +<p>It was no small matter, with threat of such things +in the air, that the English chose that day of preparation +for the planting of a new colony, and planted it in +the south between Carolina and the Florida settlements,—a +barrier and a menace both to French and Spaniard. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span>It was James Oglethorpe, a soldier, who planned the +new undertaking; and he planned it like a soldier,—and +yet like a man of heart and elevated purpose, too, +for he was a philanthropist and a lover of every serviceable +duty, as well as a soldier. He came of that good +stock of country gentlemen which has in every generation +helped so sturdily to carry forward the work of +England, in the field, in Parliament, in administrative +office. He had gone with a commission into the English +army in the late war a mere lad of fourteen (1710); and, +finding himself still unskilled in arms when England +made peace at Utrecht, he had chosen to stay for six +years longer, a volunteer, with the forces of Prince +Eugene in the East. At twenty-two he had come back +to England (1718), to take upon himself the responsibilities +which had fallen to him by reason of the death +of his elder brothers; and in 1722 he had entered the +House of Commons, eager as ever to learn his duty +and do it. He kept always a sort of knightly quality, +and the power to plan and hope and push forward that +belongs to youth. He was a Tory, and believed that +the Stuarts should have the throne from which they +had been thrust before he was born; but that did not +make him disloyal. He was an ardent reformer; but +that did not make him visionary, for he was also trained +in affairs. His clear-cut features, frank eye, erect +and slender figure bespoke him every inch the high-bred +gentleman and the decisive man of action.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp62" id="illus030" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus030.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JAMES OGLETHORPE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>In Parliament he had been made one of a committee +to inspect prisons; and he had been keenly touched +by the miserable plight of the many honest men who, +through mere misfortune, were there languishing in +hopeless imprisonment for debt. He bethought himself +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span>of the possibility of giving such men a new chance +of life and the recovery of fortune in America; and +the thought grew into a plan for a new colony. He +knew how the southern coast lay vacant between +Charleston and the Spaniards at St. Augustine. There +were good lands there, no doubt; and his soldier’s eye +showed him, by a mere glance at a map, how fine a +point of vantage it might be made if fortified against +the alien power in Florida. And so he made his plans. +It should be a military colony, a colony of fortified +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span>posts; and honest men who had fallen upon poverty +or misfortune at home should have a chance, if they +would work, to profit by the undertaking, though he +should take them from debtors’ prisons. Both King +and Parliament listened very willingly to what he proposed. +The King signed a charter, giving the undertaking +into the hands of trustees, who were in effect +to be proprietors (June, 1732); and Parliament voted +ten thousand pounds as its subscription to the enterprise; +while men of as liberal a spirit as Oglethorpe’s +associated themselves with him to carry the humane +plan out, giving money, counsel, and service without +so much as an expectation of gain to themselves, or +any material return for their outlay. Men had ceased +by that time to dream that colonization would make +those rich who fathered it and paid its first bills. By +the end of October, 1732, the first shipload of settlers +was off for America, Oglethorpe himself at their head; +and by February, 1733, they were already busy building +their first settlement on Yamacraw Bluff, within +the broad stream of the Savannah.</p> + +<p>The colony had in its charter been christened Georgia, +in honor of the King, who had so cordially approved +of its foundation; the settlement at Yamacraw, Oglethorpe +called by the name of the river itself, Savannah. +His colonists were no mere company of released debtors +and shiftless ne’er-do-wells. Men had long ago +learned the folly of that mistake, and Oglethorpe was +too much a man of the world to repeat the failures of +others. Every emigrant had been subjected to a +thorough examination regarding his antecedents, his +honesty, his character for energy and good behavior, +and had been brought because he had been deemed fit. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span>Italians skilled in silk culture were introduced into the +colony. Sober German Protestants came from Moravia +and from Salzburg, by Tyrol, and were given their separate +places of settlement,—as quiet, frugal, industrious, +pious folk as the first pilgrims at Plymouth. Clansmen +from the Scottish Highlands came, and were set +at the extreme south, as an outpost to meet the Spaniard. +Some of the Carolina settlers who would have +liked themselves to have the Highlanders for neighbors +tried to dissuade them from going to the spot selected +for their settlement. They told them that the Spaniards +were so near at hand that they could shoot them +from the windows of the houses that stood within the +fort. “Why, then, we shall beat them out of their +fort, and shall have houses ready built to live in!” cried +the men in kilts, very cheerily, and went on to their +settlement.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus031" style="max-width: 37.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus031.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>OGLETHORPE’S ORDER FOR SUPPLIES</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus032" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus032.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SAVANNAH IN 1754</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Fortunately it was seven years before the war with +Spain came which every one had known from the first +to be inevitable; and by that time the little colony was +ready enough. Georgia’s territory stretched upon the +coast from the Savannah to the Altamaha, and from +the coast ran back, west and northwest, to the sources +of those rivers; from their sources due westward “to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span>the South Seas.” Savannah was thus planted at +the very borders of South Carolina. New settlers were +placed, as they came, some in Savannah, many by +the upper reaches of the river. The Highlanders had +their post of danger and honor upon the Altamaha; +and before war came new settlers, additional arms +and stores, and serviceable fortifications had been +placed at St. Simon’s Island at the mouth of the Altamaha. +Every settlement was in some sort a fortified +military post. The first settlers had been drilled in +arms by sergeants of the Royal Guards in London +every day between the time of their assembling and +the time of their departure. Arms and ammunition +were as abundant almost as agricultural tools and +food stores in the cargoes carried out. Negro slavery +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span>was forbidden in the colony, because it was no small +part of Oglethorpe’s purpose in founding it to thrust a +solid wedge of free settlers between Carolina and the +country to the south, and close the border to fugitive +slaves. Neither could any liquor be brought in. It +was designed that the life of the settlements should +be touched with something of the rigor of military discipline; +and so long as Oglethorpe himself was at hand +laws were respected and obeyed, rigid and unacceptable +though they were; for he was a born ruler of men.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp45" id="illus033" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus033.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>ALEXANDER HAMILTON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>He had not chosen very wisely, however, when he +brought Charles and John Wesley out as his spiritual +advisers and the pastors of his colony. They were +men as inapt at yielding and as strenuous at prosecuting +their own way of action as he, and promoted diversity +of opinion quite as successfully as piety. They +stayed but three or four uneasy years in America, and +then returned to do their great work of setting up a +new dissenting church in England. George Whitefield +followed them (1738) in their missionary labors, +and for a little while preached acceptably enough in +the quiet colony; but he, too, was very soon back in +England again. The very year Oglethorpe brought +Charles Wesley to Georgia (1734) a great wave of religious +feeling swept over New England again,—not +sober, self-contained, deep-currented, like the steady +fervor of the old days, but passionate, full of deep excitement, +agitated, too like a frenzy. Enthusiasts +who saw it rise and run its course were wont to speak +of it afterwards as “the Great Awakening,” but the +graver sort were deeply disturbed by it. It did not +spend its force till quite fifteen years had come and +gone. Mr. Whitefield returned to America in 1739, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span>to add to it the impulse of his impassioned preaching, +and went once more to Georgia also. Again and again +he came upon the same errand, stirring many a colony +with his singular eloquence; but Georgia was busy +with other things, and heeded him less than the rest.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus034" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus034.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JOHN WESLEY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus035" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus035.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>OGLETHORPE’S EXPEDITION AGAINST ST. AUGUSTINE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus036" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus036.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>GEORGE WHITEFIELD</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>When the inevitable war came with Spain, in 1739,—inevitable +because of trade rivalries in the West Indies +and in South America, and because of political rivalry +at the borders of Florida,—Oglethorpe was almost +the first to strike. Admiral Vernon had been despatched +in midsummer, 1739, before the declaration of war, +to destroy the Spanish settlements and distress Spanish +commerce in the West Indies; and had promptly taken +Porto Bello in November, scarcely a month after war +had been formally declared. Oglethorpe struck next, +at St. Augustine. It was this he had looked forward +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span>to in founding his colony. In May, 1740, he moved +to the attack with a mixed army of redskins and provincial +militia numbering a little more than two thousand +men,—supported at sea by a little fleet of six vessels +of war under Sir Yelverton Peyton. But there had +been too much delay in getting the motley force together. +The Spaniards had procured reinforcements +from Havana; the English ships found it impracticable +to get near enough to the Spanish works to use +their guns with effect; Oglethorpe had no proper siege +pieces; and the attack utterly failed. It had its effect, +nevertheless. For two years the Spaniards held nervously +off, carefully on the defensive; and when they +did in their turn attack, Oglethorpe beat them handsomely +off, and more than wiped out the disrepute of +his miscarriage at St. Augustine. In June 1742, +there came to St. Simon’s Island a Spanish fleet of +fifty-one sail, nearly five thousand troops aboard, and +Oglethorpe beat them off with six hundred and fifty +men,—working his little forts like a master, and his +single guard-schooner and few paltry armed sloops +as if they were a navy. Such a deliverance, cried Mr. +Whitefield, could not be paralleled save out of Old Testament +history.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Vernon and Wentworth had met with +overwhelming disaster at Cartagena. With a great +fleet of ships of the line and a land force of nine thousand +men, they had made their assault upon it in March, +1741; but because Wentworth bungled everything he +did with his troops the attack miserably failed. He +was caught by the deadly wet season of the tropics; +disease reduced his army to a wretched handful; and +thousands of lives were thrown away in his dismal +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span>disgrace. Both New England and Virginia had sent +troops to take their part with that doomed army; and +the colonies knew, in great bitterness, how few came +home again. The war had its issues for them, they +knew, as well as for the governments across the water. +It meant one more reckoning with the Spaniard and +the Frenchman, their rivals for the mastery of America. +And in 1745 New England had a triumph of her own, +more gratifying even than Oglethorpe’s astonishing +achievement at St. Simon’s Island.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp94" id="illus037" style="max-width: 37.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus037.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>THE ACTION AT CARTAGENA</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Only for a few months had England dealt with Spain +alone upon a private quarrel. In 1740 the male line +of the great Austrian house of Hapsburg had run out: +Maria Theresa took the throne; rival claimants disputed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span>her right to the succession; and all Europe was presently +plunged into the “War of the Austrian Succession” +(1740-1748). “King George’s War” they called +it in the colonies, when France and England became +embroiled; but the name did not make it doubtful what +interests, or what ambitions, were involved; and New +England struck her own blow at the power of France. +A force of about four thousand men, levied in Massachusetts, +New Hampshire, and Connecticut, moved +in the spring of 1745 against the French port of Louisbourg +on Cape Breton Island. Commodore Warren, +the English naval commander in the West Indies, furnished +ships for their convoy, and himself supported +them in the siege; and by the 16th of June the place +had been taken. For twenty-five years the French +had been slowly building its fortifications, covering +with them an area two and a half miles in circumference. +They had made them, they supposed, impregnable. +But the English had struck quickly, without warning, +and with a skill and ardor which made them wellnigh +irresistible; and their triumph was complete. +Provincial troops had taken the most formidable fortress +in America. William Pepperrell, the gallant gentleman +who had led the New Englanders, got a baronetcy +for his victory. Warren was made an admiral.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus038" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus038.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>WILLIAM PEPPERRELL</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The next year an attack was planned against the +French at Crown Point on Champlain, but nothing +came of it. The war almost stood still thenceforth, +so far as the colonies were concerned, till peace was +signed at Aix-la-Chapelle in October, 1748. That peace +brought great chagrin to New England. By its terms +Louisbourg and all conquests everywhere were restored. +The whole work was to do over again, as after King +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span>William’s War and the restoration of Port Royal, which +Sir William Phips had been at such pains to take. The +peace stood, however, little longer than that which +had separated King William’s War from the War of +the Spanish Succession. Seven years, and France +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span>and England had once more grappled,—this time for +a final settlement. All the seven years through the +coming on of war was plainly to be seen by those who +knew where to look for the signs of the times. The +French and English in that brief interval were not +merely to approach; they were to meet in the western +valleys, and the first spark of a war that was to embroil +all Europe was presently to flash out in the still +forests beyond the far Alleghanies.</p> + +<p>It was on the borders of Virginia this time that the +first act of the drama was to be cast. The French determined +both to shorten and to close their lines of +occupation and defence from the St. Lawrence to the +Mississippi and the Gulf. They knew that they could +do this only by taking possession of the valley of the +Ohio; and the plan was no sooner formed than it was +attempted. And yet to do this was to come closer than +ever to the English and to act under their very eyes. +A few German families had made their way far to the +westward in Pennsylvania, and hundreds of the indomitable +Scots-Irish had been crowding in there for +now quite twenty years, passing on, many of them, +to the beautiful valley of the Shenandoah below, and +pressing everywhere closer and closer to the passes +which led down but a little way beyond into the valleys +of the Alleghany, the Monongahela, and the Ohio. These +men, at the frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia, +were sure to observe what was going forward in front +of them, and to understand what they saw. Traders +crossed those mountains now by the score from the +English settlements,—three hundred in a year, it was +said. They knew the waters that ran to the Ohio quite +as well as any Frenchman did. Their canoes had followed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span>the turnings of the broad Ohio itself, and had +found it a highway to the spreading Mississippi, where +French boats floated slowly down from the country of +the Illinois, carrying their cargoes of meat, grain, tobacco, +tallow, hides, lead, and oil to the settlements +on the Gulf. In 1748, the year of the last peace, certain +leading gentlemen in Virginia had organized an +Ohio Land Company,—among the rest Mr. Augustus +Washington, who had served with Vernon and Wentworth +at Cartagena and had lost his health in the fatal +service. He had named his estate by the Potomac, +his home of retirement, Mount Vernon, as his tribute +of admiration to the gallant sailor he had learned to +love during those fiery days in the South. In 1750 +the English government had granted to the Company +six hundred thousand acres of land on the coveted +river. Virginian officials themselves had not scrupled +meanwhile also to issue grants and titles to land beyond +the mountains. The English claim to the Ohio country +was unhesitating and comprehensive.</p> + +<p>The English had seized French traders there as +unlicensed intruders, and the French in their turn had +seized and expelled Englishmen who trafficked there. +French and English matched their wits very shrewdly +to get and keep the too fickle friendship of the Indians, +and so make sure of their trade and their peace with +them; and the Indians got what they could from them +both. It was a sharp game for a great advantage, and +the governments of the two peoples could not long refrain +from taking a hand in it.</p> + +<p>The French authorities, it turned out, were, as usual, +the first to act. In 1752 the Marquis Duquesne became +governor of Canada, an energetic soldier in his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span>prime; and it was he who took the first decisive step. +In the spring of 1753 he despatched a force to Presque +Isle, on the southern shore of Lake Erie, built a log fort +there, and thence cut a portage for his boats southward +a little way through the forest to a creek (French +Creek the English called it afterwards) whose waters, +when at flood, would carry his boats to the Alleghany, +and by that open stream to the Ohio. It was the short +and straight way from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi +and the Gulf. At the creek’s head he placed +another log fort (Le Bœuf), and upon the Alleghany +a rude outpost.</p> + +<p>The same year that saw the Marquis Duquesne made +governor of Canada saw Robert Dinwiddie come out +as governor of Virginia, and no one was likelier than +he to mark and comprehend the situation on the border. +Mr. Dinwiddie had been bred in a counting house, for +he was the son of a well-to-do merchant of Glasgow; +but business had long since become for him a matter +of government. He had gone in his prime to be collector +of customs in Bermuda; and after serving in +that post for eleven years he had been made surveyor +general of customs in the southern ports of America,—a +post in which he served most acceptably for another +ten years. For twenty years he had shown singular +zeal and capacity in difficult, and, for many +men, demoralizing, matters of administration. He had +lived in Virginia when surveyor general of customs. +During the two years which immediately preceded his +appointment to the governorship of the Old Dominion +he had engaged in business on his own account in London, +and had become by purchase one of the twenty +stockholders of the Ohio Land Company. He came to +his new office, therefore, acquainted in more than one +way with the leading men of the colony,—especially +with Mr. Augustine Washington, now the Ohio Company’s +president, and the little group of influential +gentlemen,—Lees, Fairfaxes, and the rest,—often to be +found gathered at Mount Vernon. He came, therefore, +with his eyes on the western lands where the company +and his government were alike bound to see to it that +the French were checked.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp45" id="illus039" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus039.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FACSIMILE OF THE NEW YORK WEEKLY <i>JOURNAL</i></p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span></p> + +<p>He saw Duquesne’s movement, consequently, at its +very outset, warned the government at home, and was +promptly instructed to require the French “peaceably +to depart,” and if they would not go for the warning, +“to drive them off by force of arms.” He chose as his +messenger to carry the summons Mr. George Washington, +half-brother to Mr. Augustine Washington, of Mount +Vernon. George Washington was only a lad of twenty-one; +but he had hardened already to the work of a +man. He had received no schooling in England such +as Augustine had had, but had gone from the simple +schools and tutors of the Virginian country-side to serve +as a surveyor for Lord Fairfax in the rough country +of the Shenandoah,—whither Fairfax, heir of the old +Culpeper grants, had come to seek a life away from +courts in the picturesque wilderness of America. +Augustine Washington died the very year Mr. Dinwiddie +became governor, though he was but thirty-four; +and he had left George, lad though he was, to +administer his estate and serve in his stead as commander +of the militia of eleven counties. Governor +Dinwiddie knew whom he was choosing when he sent +this drilled and experienced youngster, already a frontiersman, +to bid the French leave the Ohio.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus040" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus040.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>ROBERT DINWIDDIE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The message was carried in the dead of winter to +the grave and courteous soldier who commanded at +Fort Le Bœuf; and Washington tried the endurance +even of the veteran frontiersman who accompanied +him by the forced marches he made thither and back +again through the dense and frosted woods, across +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span>frozen streams, and through the pathless, storm-beaten +tangles of deep forests, where there was hardly so much +as the track of a bison for their horses to walk in. He +reported that the French had received him very graciously; +but had claimed the Ohio as their own, had +made no pretence that they would abandon it because +the English bade them, and clearly meant to establish +themselves where they were. Juniors among their +officers had told him so very plainly as he sat with them +after dinner in a house which they had seized from +an English trader.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp46" id="map1" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/map1.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>ENGLISH COLONIES, 1700.</p> + <p>BORMAY & CO., N. Y.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>He was back at Williamsburg with his report by the +middle of January, 1754; and the next month a small +body of frontiersmen was hurried forward to make a +clearing at the forks of the Ohio and begin the construction +of fortifications there ere spring came, and the +French. The French came, nevertheless, all too soon. +By the 17th of April their canoes swarmed there, bearing +five hundred men and field ordnance, and the forty Englishmen +who held the rude, unfinished defences of the +place had no choice but to retire or be blown into the +water. The French knew the importance of the place +as a key to the western lands, and they meant to have +it, though they should take it by an open act of war. +Their force there numbered fourteen hundred before +summer came. They built a veritable fort, of the rough +frontier pattern, but strong enough, as it seemed, to +make the post secure, and waited to see what the English +would do.</p> + +<p>Dinwiddie had acted with good Scots capacity, as +efficiently and as promptly as he could with the power +he had. He was obliged to deal with a colonial assembly,—the +French governors were not; and the Virginian +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span>burgesses thought of domestic matters when Dinwiddie’s +thought was at the frontier. While Washington +was deep in the forests, bearing his message, they +quarrelled with the governor about the new fees which +were charged since his coming for grants of the public +land; and they refused him money because he would +not yield in the matter. But when they knew how +things actually stood in the West, and saw that the +governor would levy troops for the exigency whether +they acted with him or not, and pay for them out of +his own pocket if necessary, they voted supplies.</p> + +<p>There was no highway of open rivers for the Virginians, +as for the French, by which they could descend +to the forks of the Ohio; and Virginia had no troops +ready as the French had. Raw levies of volunteers +had first to be got together; and when they had been +hastily gathered, clothed, and a little drilled, the first +use to which it was necessary to put them was to cut +a rough, mountainous road for themselves through +the untouched forests which lay thick upon the towering +Blue Ridge. It was painfully slow work, wrought +at for week after week, and the French were safely +intrenched at their fort “Duquesne” before the tired +Virginian recruits had crossed the crest of the mountains. +By midsummer they were ready to strike and +drive the English back.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus041" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus041.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>MERCHANTS’ EXCHANGE, NEW YORK, 1752-1799</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Blood had been spilled between the rivals ere that. +Washington was in command of the little force which +had cut its way through the forest, and he did not understand +that he had been sent into the West this time +merely to bear a message. When, therefore, one day +in May (28 May, 1754) he found a party of French lurking +at his front in a thicketed glade, he did not hesitate +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span>to lead an attacking party of forty against them. The +young commander of the French scouts was killed in +the sharp encounter, and his thirty men were made +prisoners. Men on both sides of the sea knew, when +they heard that news, that war had begun. Young +Washington had forced the hands of the statesmen +in London and Paris, and all Europe presently took +fire from the flame he had kindled. In July, Washington +was obliged to retire. He had only three hundred +and fifty men, all told, at the rudely intrenched camp +which he had constructed in the open glade of “Great +Meadows” as the best place to await reinforcements; +and in July the French were upon him with a force +of seven hundred. All day he fought (3 July, 1754), +and in a drenching rain, the French firing from the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span>edges of the woods, his own men in their shallow, flooded +trenches in the open; but by night he knew he must +give way. The French offered him an honorable +capitulation, and the next day let him go untouched, +men and arms, with such stores as he could carry.</p> + +<p>It was a bad beginning at winning the West from +the French; and all the worse because it showed how +weak the English were at such work. The danger +was not Virginia’s alone; it touched all the English +in America; but the colonies could not co-operate, and, +when they acted at all, acted sluggishly, as if war would +wait for both parties to get ready. The assemblies +of Pennsylvania and New York declared very coldly +that they did not see what right the English crown +had to the valley of the Ohio. Maryland had been +about to raise a force, but had not yet done so when +the fatal day at Great Meadows came. Two “independent +companies” in the King’s pay had been ordered +from New York, and a like company from South Carolina; +and North Carolina had sent forward three hundred +and fifty men; but only the single company from +South Carolina had reached Great Meadows, where +Washington was, before the French were upon him.</p> + +<p>Dinwiddie and every other governor who heeded or +wrote of the business told the ministers in England +that they must act, and send the King’s own troops; +and happily the ministers saw at last the importance +of what should be won or lost in America. Troops +were sent. For Europe it was the beginning of the +Seven Years’ War (1755-1763), which was to see the +great Frederick of Prussia prove his mastery in the +field; which was to spread from Europe to Asia and to +Africa; which was to wrest from the French for England +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span>both India and America. But for the colonists in +America it was only “the French and Indian War.” +Their own continent was the seat of their thoughts.</p> + +<p>The beginnings the home government made were +small and weak enough; but it did at least act, and +it was likely that, should it keep long enough at the +business, it would at last learn and do all that was +necessary to make good its mastery against a weaker +rival. By the 20th of February, 1755, transports were in +the Chesapeake, bringing two regiments of the King’s +regulars, to be sent against Duquesne. The French, +too, were astir. Early in the spring eighteen French +ships of war sailed for Canada, carrying six battalions +and a new governor; and though the English put an +equal fleet to sea to intercept them, the Frenchmen got +into the St. Lawrence with a loss of but two of their ships, +which had strayed from the fleet and been found by +the English befogged and bewildered off the American +coast. The scene was set for war both north and south.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus042" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus042.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM ON THE MORNING OF THE BATTLE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span></p> + +<p>Major General Edward Braddock commanded the +regiments sent to Virginia, and was commissioned +to be commander-in-chief in America. He therefore +called the principal colonial governors to a conference at +Alexandria, his headquarters. By the middle of April +five had come: Robert Dinwiddie, of course, the governor +of Virginia; Robert Hunter Morris, whose thankless +task it was to get war votes out of the Pennsylvanian +assembly of Quakers and lethargic German farmers; +Horatio Sharpe, the brave and energetic gentleman +who was governor of Maryland; James DeLancey, the +people’s governor, of New York; and William Shirley, +governor of Massachusetts, past sixty, but as strenuous +as Dinwiddie, and eager for the field though he had +been bred a lawyer,—every inch “a gentleman and +politician,” it was said. It was he who had done most +to organize and expedite the attack on Louisbourg +which had succeeded so handsomely ten years ago +(1745). He would at any rate not fail for lack of self-confidence. +The conference planned an attack on +Niagara, to be led by Shirley himself, to cut the French +off from Duquesne; an attack on Crown Point, to be led +by Colonel William Johnson, of New York, whom the +Mohawks would follow, to break the hold of the French +on Champlain; an attack upon Beauséjour, in Acadia, +under the leadership of Lieutenant-Colonel Monckton, +of the King’s regulars; and a movement, under the command +of General Braddock himself straight through +the forests against Duquesne, by the way Washington +had cut to Great Meadows.</p> + +<p>It would have been much better had General Braddock +chosen a route farther to the north, where the +Pennsylvanian farmers of the frontier had begun to +make roads and open the forests for the plough; but +it made little difference, after all, which way he went: +his temper and his training doomed him to fail. He +lacked neither courage nor capacity, but he sadly lacked +discretion. He meant to make his campaign in +the wilderness by the rules of war he had learned in +Europe, where the forests were cleared away and no +subtile savages could dog or ambush an army; and he +would take no advice from provincials. Few but Washington +cared to volunteer advice, for the commander-in-chief +was “a very Iroquois in disposition.” He +took two thousand men into the wilderness, with artillery +trains and baggage: fourteen hundred regulars, +nearly five hundred Virginians, horse and foot, two +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span>independent companies from New York, and sailors +from the transports to rig tackle to get his stores and +field-pieces out of +difficulties in the +rough road. Washington +went with +the confident commander, +by special +invitation, to act +as one of his aides, +and was the only +provincial officer +whose advice was +given so much as +consideration during +all the weary +weeks in which the +little army widened +and levelled its +way with axe and +spade through the +dense woods. And +then the fatal day +came which filled +all the colonies +with dismay.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp40" id="illus043" style="max-width: 20.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus043.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>MAP OF BRADDOCK’S DEFEAT</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The French commander +at Duquesne +had no +such force as Braddock +was bringing against him. He expected to be +obliged to retire. But on the 9th of July the English +general, with his advance force of twelve hundred +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span>men, forded the shallow Monongahela but eight miles +from Duquesne, and striking into the trail which led +to the fort, walked into an ambush. A thousand +men,—Indians, chiefly, and Canadian provincials,—poured +a deadly fire upon him from the thick cover +of the woods on either hand. He would not open his +order and meet the attack in forest fashion, as Washington +begged him to do, but kept his men formed and +crowded in the open spaces of the road, to be almost +annihilated, and driven back, a mere remnant, in utter +rout. It was shameful, pitiful. Washington and his +Virginian rangers could with difficulty keep the rear +when the rout came, and bring the stricken commander +off, to die in the retreat. Dinwiddie could not persuade +the officers left in command even to stay upon the Virginian +frontier to keep the border settlements safe against +the savages. It was Washington’s impossible task +for the rest of the war to guard three hundred and fifty +miles of frontier with a handful of half-fed provincial +militia, where the little huts and tiny settlements of +the Scots-Irish immigrants lay scattered far and wide +among the foothills and valleys of the spreading mountain +country, open everywhere to the swift and secret +onset of the pitiless redskins.</p> + +<p>Braddock’s papers, abandoned in the panic of the +rout, fell into the hands of the French, and made known +to them all the English plans. They were warned +what to do, and did it as promptly as possible. Shirley +gave up the attempt to take Niagara before reaching +the lake. Johnson, assisted by Lyman, of Connecticut, +met the French under Dieskau at Lake George, and +drove them back (September 8, 1755),—the commander +and part of the force the French had so hastily despatched +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span>to America in the spring,—and Dieskau himself +fell into their hands; but they did not follow up +their success or shake the hold of the French upon the +line of lakes and streams which ran from the heart +of New York, like a highway, to the valley of the St. +Lawrence. The attack upon Beauséjour alone accomplished +what was planned. A force of two thousand +New England provincials, under Colonel Monckton +and Colonel John Winslow, found the half-finished +fortifications of the French on Beauséjour hill in their +hands almost before their siege was fairly placed; and +Acadia was more than ever secure.</p> + +<p>There followed nearly three years of unbroken failure +and defeat. In 1756 the Marquis Montcalm succeeded +Dieskau as commander in Canada, and the very year +of his coming took and destroyed the English forts at +Oswego. That same year the Earl of Loudon came +over to take charge of the war for the English; but he +did nothing effective. The government at home sent +reinforcements, but nothing was done with them that +counted for success. “I dread to hear from America,” +exclaimed Pitt. In 1757 Loudon withdrew the best of +his forces to the north, to make an attack on Louisbourg. +Montcalm took advantage of the movement +to capture Fort William Henry, the advanced post of +the English on Lake George; and Loudon failed in his +designs against Louisbourg. Even the stout and +wily English frontiersmen of the northern border found +themselves for a little while overmatched. In March, +1758, Robert Rogers, the doughty New Hampshire +ranger whose successful exploits of daring all the northern +border knew, was beaten by a scouting party from +Ticonderoga, and barely came off with his life. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span>pouring in of troops, even of regulars from over sea, +seemed to count for nothing. General James Abercrombie +led an army of fifteen thousand men, six thousand +of them regulars, against Ticonderoga, where +Montcalm had less than four thousand; blundered at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span>every critical point of the attack; lost two thousand +men; and retired almost as if in flight (July, 1758).</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus044" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus044.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>WILLIAM PITT</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus045" style="max-width: 37.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus045.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SIGNATURE OF JAMES ABERCROMBIE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus046" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus046.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>THE CAPITULATION OF LOUISBOURG</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span></p> + +<p>But that was the end of failure. The year 1757 had +seen the great Pitt come into control of affairs in England, +and no more incompetent men were chosen to +command in America. Pitt had been mistaken in +regard to Abercrombie, whom he had retained; but he +made no more mistakes of that kind, and a war of failure +was transformed into a war of victories, quick and +decisive. Two more years, and the French no longer +had possessions in America that any nation need covet. +Pitt saw to it that the forces, as well as the talents, used +were adequate. In July, 1758, a powerful fleet under +Admiral Boscawen, and twelve thousand troops under +General Jeffrey Amherst, whom Pitt had specially +chosen for the command, invested and took Louisbourg. +In August, Colonel John Bradstreet, with three +thousand of Abercrombie’s men, drove the French +from Fort Frontenac at Oswego. In November the +French abandoned Fort Duquesne, upon the approach +of a force under General Forbes and Colonel Washington. +In June, 1759, Johnson captured the French fort +at Niagara and cut the route to the Ohio,—where Fort +Duquesne gave place to Fort Pitt. At midsummer +General Amherst, after his thorough fashion, led eleven +thousand men against Ticonderoga, and had the satisfaction +of seeing the French retire before him. He +cleared Lake George and captured and strengthened +Crown Point upon Champlain. The French needed +all their power in the north, for Pitt had sent Wolfe +against Quebec. They had concentrated quite fourteen +thousand men in and about the towering city ere +Wolfe came with scarcely nine thousand (June 21, 1759), +and their fortifications stood everywhere ready to defend +the place. For close upon three months the English +struck at their strength in vain, first here and +then there, in their busy efforts to find a spot where +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span>to get a foothold against the massive stronghold,—Montcalm +holding all the while within his defences +to tire them out; until at last, upon a night in September +which all the world remembers, Wolfe made his way by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span>a path which lay within a deep ravine upward to the +heights of Abraham, and there lost his life and won +Canada for England (September 13, 1759).</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus047" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus047.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JEFFREY AMHERST</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus048" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus048.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JAMES WOLFE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>After that the rest of the task was simple enough. +The next year Montreal was yielded up, all Canada +passed into the hands of the English, and the war was +practically over. There were yet three more years to +wait before formal peace should be concluded, because +the nations of Europe did not decide their affairs by the +issue of battles and sieges in America; but for the English +colonies the great struggle was ended. By the +formal peace, signed in 1763, at Paris, England gained +Canada, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, and all the +islands of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the river and harbor +of Mobile, and all the disputed lands of the continent, +north and south, between the eastern mountain +ranges and mid-stream of the Mississippi, except +New Orleans,—besides the free navigation of the great +river. From Spain she got Florida. France had the +year before (1762) ceded to Spain her province of “Louisiana,” +the great region beyond the Mississippi, whose +extent and boundaries no man could tell. She was +utterly stripped of her American possessions, and the +English might look forward to a new age in their colonies.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>The general <i>authorities</i> for the condition of the country and the +movement of affairs during this period are the well known histories +of Bancroft, Hildreth, and Bryant; the third volume of J. A. Doyle’s +<i>English Colonies in America</i>; the third volume of J. G. Palfrey’s +<i>Compendious History of New England</i>; W. B. Weeden’s <i>Economic +and Social History of New England</i>; Mr. Barrett Wendell’s <i>Cotton +Mather</i>; Mr. Eben G. Scott’s <i>Development of Constitutional Liberty +in the English Colonies of America</i>; C. W. Baird’s <i>Huguenot +Emigration to America</i>; James Russell Lowell’s <i>New England +Two Centuries Ago</i>, in his <i>Among My Books</i>; Mr. Brooks Adams’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span><i>Emancipation of Massachusetts</i>; Madame Knight’s <i>Journal</i> +(1704); John Fontaine’s <i>Diary</i>, in the <i>Memoirs of a Huguenot +Family</i>; and Benjamin Franklin’s <i>Autobiography</i>.</p> + +<p>A more particular account of many of the transactions that fell +within the period may be found in Justin Winsor’s <i>New England, +1689-1763</i>, in the fifth volume of Winsor’s <i>Narrative and Critical +History of America</i>; Berthold Fernow’s <i>Middle Colonies</i>, Justin +Winsor’s <i>Maryland and Virginia</i>, and William J. Rivers’s <i>The +Carolinas</i>, in the same volume of Winsor; Charles C. Smith’s +<i>The Wars on the Seaboard: Acadia and Cape Breton</i>, and Justin +Winsor’s <i>Struggle for the Great Valleys of North America</i>, in the +same volume of Winsor.</p> + +<p>The chief <i>authorities</i> for the settlement and early history of +<i>Georgia</i> are Bancroft, Hildreth, and Bryant; Charles C. Jones’s +<i>History of Georgia</i> and <i>English Colonization of Georgia</i> in the fifth +volume of Winsor’s <i>Narrative and Critical History of America</i>; +W. E. H. Lecky’s <i>History of England in the Eighteenth Century</i>; +Alexander Hewatt’s <i>Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of +the Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia</i>, in Carroll’s <i>Historical +Collections of South Carolina</i>; the first and second volumes of +Peter Force’s <i>Tracts and Other Papers relating to the Colonies in +North America</i>; and the <i>Colonial Acts</i> of Georgia.</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II<br> +THE PARTING OF THE WAYS</h2> + +</div> + +<p>No one who marked how the English colonies had +grown, and how the French had lagged in the effectual +settlement and mastery of the regions they had taken, +could wonder that in the final struggle for supremacy +the English had won and the French lost everything +there was to fight for. The French had been as long +on the continent as the English, and yet they did not +have one-tenth the strength of the English, either in +population or in wealth, when this war came. There +were fifty-five thousand white colonists in Canada, +all told; and only twenty-five thousand more in all the +thin line of posts and hamlets which stretched from +the St. Lawrence through the long valley of the Mississippi +to the Gulf,—eighty thousand in all. In the +English settlements there were more than a million +colonists (1,160,000), not scattered in separated posts +set far apart in the forested wilderness, but clustered +thick in towns and villages, or in neighborly plantations, +where the forest had been cleared away, roads +made, and trade and peace established. The English +had been seeking, not conquest, but comfort and wealth +in busy centres and populous country-sides, where their +life now ran as strong and as calm, almost, as if they +were still in the old lands of England itself. The French, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span>on the contrary, were placed where their government +wished them to be; could hardly be said to have formed +independent communities at all; and were glad if they +could so much as eke out a decent subsistence from the +soil, or from food brought by ship from France over sea. +The English spread very slowly, considering how fast +they came, and kept in some sort a solid mass; but +the result was that they thoroughly possessed the country +as they went, and made homes, working out a life +of their own. The French merely built frontier posts, +the while, on the lakes and rivers, as they were bidden +or guided or exhorted by their governors; took up such +land as was assigned them by royal order; did their +daily stint of work, and expected nothing better. They +were, moreover, painfully, perilously isolated. Ships +could come from England to any part of the English +coasts of America in five weeks, whereas it was a good +six months’ journey from France to the frontier posts +upon the lakes or by the far-away western rivers. The +St. Lawrence was closed for nearly half the year by ice; +and it was a weary task to get any boat up the stream +of the endless Mississippi against its slow tide of waters +and through the puzzling, shifting channels of its +winding course.</p> + +<p>The Marquis Duquesne had called the Iroquois to +a council in 1754, ere he left his governorship, and had +commended his sovereign’s government to them because +of this very difference between French and English. +“Are you ignorant,” he said, “of the difference +between the King of England and the King of France? +Go, see the forts that our King has established, and +you will see that you can still hunt under their very +walls. They have been placed for your advantage +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span>in places which you frequent. The English, on the +contrary, are no sooner in possession of a place than +the game is driven away. The forest falls before them +as they advance, and the soil is laid bare so that you +can scarce find the wherewithal to erect a shelter for +the night.” Perhaps Duquesne, being a soldier and +no statesman, did not realize all that this difference +meant. The French posts, with the forests close about +them, were not self-supporting communities such as +everywhere filled the English dominion. Their governors +were soldiers, their inhabitants a garrison, the +few settlers near at hand traders, not husbandmen, +or at best mere tenants of the crown of France. No +doubt it was easier for the savages to approach and +trade with them; but it would turn out to be infinitely +harder for the French to keep them. Their occupants +had struck no deep rootage into the soil they were seated +upon, as the English had.</p> + +<p>Englishmen themselves had noted, with some solicitude, +how slow their own progress was away from the +sea-coast. It was not until 1725 that settlers in Massachusetts +had ventured to go so far away from the Bay +as the Berkshire Hills. “Our country has now been +inhabited more than one hundred and thirty years,” +exclaimed Colonel Byrd, of Virginia, in 1729, “and still +we hardly know anything of the Appalachian Mountains, +that are nowhere above two hundred and fifty +miles from the sea. Whereas the French, who are later +comers, have ranged from Quebec southward as far +as the mouth of the Mississippi, in the Bay of Mexico, +and to the west almost as far as California, which is +either way above two thousand miles.” But Colonel +Byrd was thinking of discovery, not of settlement; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span>the search for minerals and the natural wealth of the +forests, not the search for places to which to extend +permanent homes and government. The difference +arose out of the +fundamental unlikeness +of French +and English, both +in life and in government.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus049" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus049.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>WILLIAM BYRD</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The statesmen of +both France and +England accepted +the same theory +about the use colonies +should be put +to,—the doctrine +and practice everywhere +accepted in +their day. Colonies +were to be used to +enrich the countries +which possessed +them. They should send their characteristic native products +to the country which had established them, and for +the most part to her alone, and should take her manufactures +in exchange; trade nowhere else to her disadvantage; +and do and make nothing which could bring them +into competition with her merchants and manufacturers. +But England applied this theory in one way, France +in another. It was provoking enough to the English +colonists in America to have, in many a petty matter, +to evade the exacting Navigation Acts, which restricted +their trade and obliged them to buy manufactured goods +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span>at prices fixed by the English merchants. It a little +cramped and irritated them that they were forbidden to +manufacture now this and now that, though the material +lay at their very doors, because English manufacturers +wished their competition shut out. Restriction was added +to restriction. In 1706, naval stores and rice, which +the Carolinas were learning to produce to their increasing +profit, were added to the list of products which must +be sent to England only; and in 1722 copper and furs. +In 1732 the manufacture of beaver hats was forbidden, +and in 1750 the maintenance of iron furnaces or slit +mills. But there was always an effort made at reciprocal +advantage. Though the colonies were forbidden +to manufacture their iron ores, their bar and pig iron +was admitted into England free of duty, and Swedish +iron, which might have undersold it, was held off by +a heavy tariff, to the manifest advantage of Maryland +and Virginia. Though the rice of the Carolinas for +a time got admission to market only through the English +middlemen, their naval stores were exported under +a heavy bounty; and in 1730, when the restriction laid +on the rice trade pinched too shrewdly, it was removed +with regard to Portugal, the chief European market +open to it. Parliament had generally an eye to building +up the trade of the colonies as well as to controlling +it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus050" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus050.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Plan of the <span class="smcap">City of New York</span> 1767.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span></p> + +<p>The home government, moreover, though it diligently +imposed restrictions, was by no means as diligent +in enforcing them. An ill-advised statute of 1733 laid +prohibitory duties on the importation of sugar, molasses, +and rum out of the French West Indies, in the hope +that the sales of sugar and molasses in the islands +owned by England might be increased. To enforce +the act would have been to hazard the utter commercial +ruin of New England. Out of the cheap molasses of the +French islands she made the rum which was a chief +source of her wealth,—the rum with which she bought +slaves for Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas, and +paid her balances to the English merchants. But no +serious attempt was made to enforce it. Customs officers +and merchants agreed in ignoring it, and officers +of the crown shut their eyes to the trade which it +forbade. Smuggling upon that long coast was a simple +matter, and even at the chief ports only a little circumspection +was needed about cargoes out of the Indies.</p> + +<p>Moreover, the men who governed in England contented +themselves with general restrictions and did +not go on to manage the very lives of the colonists in +the colonies themselves. That was what the French +did. They built their colonies up by royal order; sent +emigrants out as they sent troops, at the King’s expense +and by the King’s direction; could get only men +to go, therefore, for the most part, and very few women +or families. For the English there was nothing of +the sort, after the first. Rich men or great mercantile +companies might help emigrants with money or supplies +or free gifts of land in order to fill up the colonies +which the crown had given them the right to establish +and govern; but only those went out who volunteered. +Emigrants went, moreover, in families, after the first +years were passed and the colonies fairly started, if +not at the very outset of the enterprise,—in associated +groups, congregations, and small volunteer communities. +When they reached the appointed place of settlement +they were left to shift for themselves, as they had +expected, exactly as they would have been at home; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span>and they insisted upon having the same rights and +freedom they would have had there. They were making +homes, without assistance or favor, and for their own +use and benefit.</p> + +<p>It was inevitable in the circumstances that their +colonial governments should be like themselves, home-made +and free from control in the management of what +chiefly concerned their own lives. They were just as +hard to supervise and regulate when the settlements +were small as when they grew large and populous,—a +little harder, indeed, because the colonists were the +more anxious then about how the new life they were +beginning was to go, and the less sure of their power +or influence to resist the efforts of the crown to manage +and interfere with them. By the time the French war +came there was no mistaking the fact that the English +colonies had grown to be miniature states, proud, hard-fibred, +independent in temper, practised in affairs. +They had, as Edmund Burke said, “formed within +themselves, either by royal instruction or royal charter, +assemblies so exceedingly resembling a parliament, +in all their forms, functions, and powers, that it was +impossible they should not imbibe some opinion of a +similar authority.” At first, no doubt, their assemblies +had been intended to be little more than the managing +bodies of corporations. “But nothing in progression +can rest on its original plan. We may as well think of +rocking a grown man in the cradle of an infant. Therefore, +as the colonies prospered and increased to a numerous +and mighty people, spreading over a very great +tract of the globe, it was natural that they should attribute +to assemblies so respectable in their formal constitution +some part of the dignity of the great nations +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span>which they represented.” They “made acts of all sorts +and in all cases whatsoever. They levied money upon +regular grants to the crown, following all the rules and +principles of a parliament, to which they approached +every day more and more nearly.” And Burke saw +how inevitable, as well as how natural, the whole growth +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span>had been. “Things could not be otherwise,” he said; +“English colonies must be had on these terms, or not +had at all.”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus051" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus051.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>EDMUND BURKE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>They had used their governments for their own purposes, +and rather like independent states than like dependent +communities. In every colony the chief point +of conflict between governor and assembly, whether in +the proprietary or in the crown colonies, had always +been connected with the subject of salaries. Again +and again governors had been instructed to insist upon +an adequate income, charged permanently upon some +regular source of public revenue; but again and again, +as often as made, their demand had been refused. They +could get only annual grants, which kept all officers +of the crown dependent upon the people’s assemblies +for maintenance while in office. There had long been +signs that the ministers of the King and the proprietors +at home were tired of the contest, and meant, for the +mere sake of peace, to let the colonial assemblies alone, +to rule, as Parliament ruled, by keeping control of the +moneys spent upon their own governments.</p> + +<p>There was, too, more and more money in the colonies +as the years went by. New England, where, except +in the rich valley of the Connecticut, the soil yielded +little beyond the bare necessaries of life, led the rest +of the colonies in the variety of her industries. Though +parliamentary statutes forbade the making of woollen +goods or hats or steel for export, the colonists were free +to make anything they might need for use or sale within +a single colony or in their own homes; and the thrifty +New England farmers and villagers made most of their +own furniture, tools, and household utensils, while +their women or the village weavers wove the linen and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span>woollen stuffs of which their clothes were made. They +lived upon their own resources as no other colonists +did. And their trade kept six hundred vessels busy +plying to and fro to English and foreign ports. Almost +every sea-coast hamlet was a port and maintained +its little fleet. A thousand vessels, big and little, went +every year to the fisheries, or up and down the coasts +carrying the trade between colony and colony. A +great many of these vessels the colonists had built +themselves, out of the splendid timber which stood +almost everywhere at hand in their forests; and every +one knew who knew anything at all about New England +that her seamen were as daring, shrewd, and +hardy as those bred in past generations in the Devonshire +ports of old England. Their boats flocked by +the hundreds every year to the misty, perilous banks +of Newfoundland, where the cod were to be caught. +They beat up and down the long seas in search of the +whale all the way from “the frozen recesses of Hudson’s +Bay and Davis’s Straits” to the coasts of Africa and +Brazil, far in the south. “Neither the perseverance of +Holland, nor the activity of France, nor the dexterous +and firm sagacity of English enterprise,” exclaimed +Burke, “ever carried this most perilous mode of hardy +industry to the extent to which it has been pushed by +this recent people,—a people who are still, as it were, +but in the gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone, +of manhood.”</p> + +<p>Massachusetts had been known, while peace held +and men breathed freely, between Queen Anne’s and +King George’s wars, to complete one hundred and fifty +ships in a single year, every town upon the coast and +even little villages far within the rivers launching vessels +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span>from busy shipyards. Ship building became New England’s +chief industry; and in 1724 the master builders +of the Thames prayed Parliament for protection +against the competition of the colonies. The annual +catch of whale and cod by the New Englanders was +worth two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling; +and, besides fish and fish-oil, they shipped their fine timber, +and not a little hay and grain even, across the sea +or to the other colonies. Everywhere in America the forests +yielded splendid timber, as his Majesty’s ministers +well knew: for they sent into the northern forests of +pine and had the tallest, straightest trees there marked +with the royal arms, as a notice that they were reserved +to be used as masts for his Majesty’s war-ships,—as +if the King had a right to take what he would.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus052" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus052.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>VIEW OF THE BUILDINGS BELONGING TO HARVARD COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, + NEW ENGLAND, 1726</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>“New England improved much faster than Virginia,” +Colonel Byrd admitted; and yet Virginia had her own +rich trade, of which tobacco was the chief staple; and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span>all the colonies busied themselves as they could, and +visibly grew richer year by year. The middle colonies +were scarcely less industrious than those of the bleaker +north, and prospered even more readily with their kindlier +climate and their richer soil. Pennsylvania, with +her two hundred and twenty thousand colonists, with +her thrifty mixture of Germans, Quakers, Scots, and +Scots-Irishmen, needed a fleet of four hundred sail to +carry each season’s spare produce from the docks at +Philadelphia; and New York had her separate fleet +of close upon two hundred sail.</p> + +<p>England depended upon the colonies for much of +the naval stores, of the potash, and of the pearlash +which she needed every year. Mines of iron and of +copper had been opened both in the middle colonies +and in the south. The colonists made their own brick +for building, and their own paper and glass, as well +as their own coarse stuffs for clothing, and many of +their own hats of beaverskin. Substantial houses +and fine, sightly streets sprang up in the towns which +stood at the chief seaports; and in the country spacious +country seats, solidly built, roomy, full of the simpler +comforts of gentlefolk. The ships which took hides +and fish and provisions to the West Indies brought +sugar and molasses and wine and many a delicacy +back upon their return, and the colonists ate and drank +and bore themselves like other well-to-do citizens the +world over. They were eager always to know what +the London fashions were; there was as much etiquette +to be observed upon quiet plantations in Virginia as +in English drawing rooms. It was, indeed, touched +with a certain beauty of its own, because of the provincial +simplicity and frank neighborliness which went +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span>along with it; but it was grave and punctilious, and +intended to be like London manners. There was as +much formality and gayety “in the season” at Williamsburg, +Virginia’s village capital, as in Philadelphia, the +biggest, wealthiest, most stately town in the colonies.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus053" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus053.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>NASSAU HALL, PRINCETON COLLEGE, 1760</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus054" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus054.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>KING’S COLLEGE, NEW YORK, 1758</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>There were many ways in which the colonies finished +and filled out their lives which showed that they regarded +themselves as in a sense independent communities +and meant to provide for themselves everything +they needed for their life alone on a separate continent. +They had no thought of actually breaking away from +their allegiance to the home government over sea; but +no man could possibly overlook the three thousand +miles of water that stretched between England and +America. At that immense distance they were obliged +in great measure to look out for themselves and contrive +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span>their own ways of sustenance and development, +and their own way of culture. Before the French war +began, two more colleges, in addition to Harvard in +Massachusetts and William and Mary in Virginia, had +been established to provide the higher sort of training +for youths who were to enter the learned professions. +Besides Yale, the College of New Jersey had been founded. +At first set up in 1746 as a collegiate school, at +Elizabethtown, it was in 1756 given a permanent home +and built up into a notable training place for youth +at Princeton. In 1754, the year Washington attacked +the French in the western forests, King’s College was +added to the growing list, in New York, by royal charter. +Ten years later (1764), upon the very morrow of the signing +of peace, certain public-spirited men of the Baptist +communion followed suit in Rhode Island by founding +the school which was afterwards to be called Brown +University. Here were six colleges for this new English +nation at the west of the Atlantic. Many wealthy +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span>colonists, particularly in the far south, continued to +send their sons to the old country to take their learning +from the immemorial sources at Oxford and Cambridge; +but more and more the colonies provided learning +for themselves.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus055" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus055.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BENJAMIN FRANKLIN</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="illus056" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus056.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>THE BIRTHPLACE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, MILK STREET, BOSTON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Their growing and expanding life, moreover, developed +in them the sense of neighborhood to one another, +the consciousness of common interests, and the feeling +that they ought in many things to coöperate. In +1754, while the first sharp note of war was ringing from +the Alleghanies, a conference with the Six Nations +was held at Albany, which, besides dealing with the +redmen, and binding them once more to be friends and +allies of the English against the French, considered +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span>nothing less than a plan of union for the colonies. This +was the fourth time that the representatives of several +colonies at once had come together at Albany to confer +with the Iroquois. The first conference had taken +place there in 1689, the year King William’s War began. +Albany lay nearest the country of the Iroquois. It +was necessary when war was afoot to make sure that +the redskins should side with the English, and not +with the French; and that was now for the fourth time, +in 1754, more critically important than ever. The +home government had directed that the conference be +held, before they knew what Washington had done. +It was the ministers in London, too, who had directed +that a plan of union be considered, in order that the +colonies might act in concert in the coming struggle +with the French, and if possible under a single government +even. Seven colonies were represented at the +conference. Twenty-five delegates were there to take +part in the business; and there was no difficulty about +securing their almost unanimous assent to a plan of +union. They adopted the plan which Mr. Benjamin +Franklin, one of Pennsylvania’s delegates, had drawn +up as he made the long journey from Philadelphia.</p> + +<p>Mr. Franklin had led a very notable life during the +thirty eventful years which had gone by since he made +his way, a mere lad, from Boston to Philadelphia to +earn his livelihood as a journeyman printer; and how +shrewd a knowledge he had gained of the practical +affairs of the world anybody could see for himself who +would read the homely-wise maxims he had been putting +forth these twenty-two years in his “Poor Richard’s” +Almanacs, begun in 1732. The plan of union he suggested +at Albany was, that the colonies should submit +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span>to have their common interests cared for by a congress +of delegates chosen by their several assemblies, and a +“president-general” appointed and paid by the crown; +giving to the congress a considerable power of actual +law-making and to the president-general the right to +veto its acts, subject to the approval of the ministers at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span>home. To all the delegates at Albany except those +from Connecticut the plan seemed suitable and excellent; +but the ministers at home rejected it because they +thought it gave too much power to the proposed congress, +and the colonial assemblies rejected it because +they thought it gave too much power to the president-general. +Mr. Franklin said that the fact that neither +the assemblies nor the King’s ministers liked the plan +made him suspect that it must be, after all, an excellent +half-way measure, the “true medium” between +extremes, effecting a particularly fair and equal distribution +of power.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp60" id="illus057" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus057.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BENJAMIN FRANKLIN</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Then the war came, and made many things plain. +The colonies did not coöperate. They contributed +troops, watched their own frontiers as they could against +the redskins, and freely spent both blood and money in +the great struggle; but when it was all over, and the +French dominion swept from the continent, it was plain +that it had not been the power of the colonies but the +power of England and the genius of the great Pitt that +had won in the critical contest. France could send +few reinforcements to Canada because England’s ships +commanded the sea. The stout Canadians had had +to stand out for themselves unaided, with such troops +as were already in the colony. In 1759, the year Wolfe +took Quebec, there were more soldiers in the English +colonies threatening the St. Lawrence than there were +men capable of bearing arms in all Canada,—and +quite half of them were regulars, not provincials. Pitt +saw to it that enough troops and supplies were sent +to America to insure success, and that men capable +of victory and of efficient management even in the +forested wilderness were put in command of affairs +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span>in the field. He did not depend upon the colonies to +do what he knew they had no plan or organization for +doing, but set himself to redress the balance of power +in Europe by decisive victories which should make +England indisputable mistress of America. “No man +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span>ever entered Mr. Pitt’s closet who did not find himself +braver when he came out than when he went in,” said +a soldier who had held conference with him and served +him; and it was his statesmanship and his use of English +arms that had made England’s dominion complete +and England’s colonies safe in America.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp42" id="illus058" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus058.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>A PAGE OF “POOR RICHARD’S” ALMANAC</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus059" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus059.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN A COLONIAL DRAWING ROOM</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>English fleets and armies had not been sent to America, +however, and equipped for warfare there, sustained +in war season and out of it, without enormous expense; +and that expense, which had set the colonies free to +live without dread of danger or of confinement at any +border, England had borne. It had been part of Mr. +Franklin’s plan of union, proposed at Albany, that the +congress of the colonies should sustain the armies used +in their defence and pay for them by taxes levied in +America; but that plan had been rejected, and this +war for the ousting of the French had been fought at +England’s cost,—much as the colonies had given of +their own blood, and of their own substance for the +equipment of their provincial levies, and much as they +had suffered in all the obscure and painful fighting to +protect their frontiers against the redskins, far away +from set fields of battle. They had done more, indeed, +than pay the costs which inevitably fell to them. They +had “raised, paid, and clothed twenty-five thousand +men,—a number,” if Mr. Franklin was right, “equal +to those sent from Great Britain and far beyond their +proportion. They went deeply in debt in doing this; +and all their estates and taxes are mortgaged for many +years to come in discharging that debt.” Parliament +had itself acknowledged their loyal liberality and self-sacrifice, +and had even voted them £200,000 a year for +five years, when the war was over, by way of just reimbursement. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span>But, though they had made sacrifices, +they had, of course, not shared with the royal treasury +the chief outlays of the war. Colonial governors, viewing +affairs as representatives of the government at +home, had again and again urged the ministers in London +to tax the colonies, by act of Parliament, for means +to pay for frontier forts, armies of defence, and all the +business of imperial administration in America. But the +ministers had hitherto known something of the temper +of the colonists in such matters and had been too wise +to attempt anything of the kind. Sir George Keith, +who had been governor of Pennsylvania, had suggested +to Sir Robert Walpole that he should raise revenue +in the colonies; but that shrewd politician and +man of affairs had flatly declined. “What,” he exclaimed, +“I have old England against me, and do you +think I will have New England likewise?” Chatham +had held the same tone. What English armies did in +America was part of England’s struggle for empire, +for a leading station in power and riches in the world, +and England should pay for it. The desire of the +colonies to control their own direct taxes should be +respected. English statesmen, so far, had seen the +matter very much as observant Colonel Spotswood had +seen it thirty odd years ago. If the ministers should +direct moneys to be paid by act of Parliament, he +said, “they would find it no easy matter to put such +an act into execution”; and he deemed it “against +the right of Englishmen,” besides, “to be taxed, but +by their representatives,”—new colonist though he +was, and only the other day a governor of the crown +in Virginia, the oldest and most loyal of the colonies.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="illus060" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus060.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>MRS. BENEDICT ARNOLD AND CHILD</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>It was now more than forty years since Colonel Spotswood, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span>in the days of his governorship, had ridden to +the far summit of the Alleghanies and looked down +their western slopes towards the regions where England +and France were to meet. Since that day he had +served the crown very quietly as postmaster general +for the colonies. At last he had died (1740) when on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span>the eve of sailing with Virginian troops for Cartagena, +about to return at the very end of his days to his old +calling of arms. He had lived thirty years in Virginia, +all told, and spoke out of abundant knowledge +when he expressed a judgment as to what the ministers +would find it hard to do in the colonies. He knew, as +every man did who had had anything to do with the +service of the crown in America, how stubbornly the +colonists had resisted every attempt to unite their governments +under a single governor or any single system, +and how determined they had been to keep their governments +in their own hands, notwithstanding they +must have seen, as everybody else saw, the manifest +advantage of union and a common organization in +the face of England’s rivals in America, north and +south. The King’s object in seeking to consolidate +the more northern colonies under Sir Edmund Andros, +whom New England had so hated, was not to attack +their liberties, but “to weld them into one strongly +governed state,” such as should be able to present a +firm front to the encroachments of the French,—a statesmanlike +object, which no man who wished to serve the +interests of English empire could reasonably criticise. +But the colonists had not cared to regard their little +commonwealths as pieces of an empire. They regarded +them simply as their own homes and seats of +self-government; and they feared to have them swallowed +up in any scheme of consolidation, whatever +its object. The French war, consequently, had been +fought by the government in England, and not by any +government in America.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp34" id="illus061" style="max-width: 17.1875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus061.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FRANKLIN’S OLD BOOK-SHOP, NEXT TO CHRIST’S CHURCH, + PHILADELPHIA</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Though a few statesmen like Walpole had had the +sagacity to divine it, and all leaders in party counsels +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span>had instinctively +feared it, very few +public men in England +understood +the temper or the +unchangeable resolution +of the colonies +in such matters. +Pitt understood +it, but now +that the war was +over he was no +longer suffered to +be master in affairs. +Burke understood +it, but +few heeded what +he said. Such +men knew by instant +sympathy +that this seemingly +unreasonable +temper of the colonists +in great affairs +was nothing +else than the common +English spirit +of liberty. The +colonists were simply +refusing, as +all Englishmen +would have refused, to be directly ruled in their own +affairs, or directly taxed for any purpose whatever, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span>by a government which they themselves had no part +in conducting; and, whether reasonable or unreasonable, +so long as they remained Englishmen it was useless +to try to argue them out of that refusal. “An +Englishman,” cried Burke, “is the unfittest person +on earth to argue another Englishman into slavery”; +and he knew that to an Englishman it would seem +nothing less than slavery to be stripped of self-government +in matters of the purse.</p> + +<p>Now that the French were driven out, it was more +useless than ever to argue the point. The chief and +most obvious reason for feeling dependent upon the +mother country was gone. Awe of the British was +gone, too. The provincial levies raised in the colonies +had fought alongside the King’s troops in all the movements +of the war, and had found themselves not a whit +less undaunted under fire, not a whit less able to stand +and fight, not a whit less needed in victory. Braddock +had died loathing the redcoats and wishing to +see none but the blue cloth of the Virginian volunteers. +When the war began, a regular from over sea had seemed +to the colonists an unapproachable master of arms; +but the provincials knew when the war was over that +the redcoats were no better than they were. They +had nothing to remember with mortification except +the insulting contempt some of the British officers +had shown for them, and the inferior rank and consideration +their own officers had been compelled to +accept.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus062" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus062.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>GEORGE GRENVILLE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>It was the worst possible time the home government +could have chosen in which to change its policy of concession +towards the colonies and begin to tax and govern +them by act of Parliament; and yet that was exactly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span>what the ministers determined to do. No master of +affairs or of men, like Walpole or Pitt, was any longer +in a place of guiding authority in London. George +Grenville was prime minister: a thorough official and +very capable man of affairs, of unquestionable integrity, +and with a certain +not unhandsome +courage as of conviction +in what he did, +but incapable of understanding +those who +opposed or resisted +him, or of winning +from them except by +an exercise of power. +The late war had been +no mere “French and +Indian” affair for +English statesmen. +It had been part of +that stupendous “Seven +Years’ War” which +had fixed Prussia in a +place of power under +the great Frederick, +and had changed the +whole balance of power in Europe; had brought India +under England’s widening dominion on one side of the +world and America on the other,—had been a vast +game which the stout little island kingdom had played +almost alone against united Europe. It had not been +a mere American war. America had reaped the benefits +of England’s effort to found an empire and secure +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span>it, east and west. And yet the colonists seemed, when +this momentous war by which they had so profited was +over, to drop into indifference towards everything that +remained to be done to finish what had been so well begun, +even though it remained to be done at their own +very doors.</p> + +<p>France had ceded to England as a result of the war +all the vast territory which lay upon the St. Lawrence +and between the Mississippi and the eastern mountains, +north and south. It was possible to provide a +government for the province of Quebec and for the lands +in the far south, in Florida and beside the mouths of +the Mississippi; but between these lay the long regions +which stretched, unsettled, along the great streams +which ran everywhere into the Mississippi,—the Illinois +country, the country round about the Ohio, the +regions by the Cumberland,—all the boundless “back +country” which lay directly behind the colonies at +the west. The Lords Commissioners for Trade and +Plantations in London wished to keep settlers out of +these lands, in order that they might be left as a great +hunting ground for the Indians, and so remain a permanent +source of supply for the fur skins which enriched +trade between the mother country and her colonies. +But, meanwhile, whether settlers made their way thither +or not, it was necessary to carry England’s power among +the Indians, and make them know that she, and not +the King of France, was now sovereign there. This +the Indians were slow to believe. They could not know +what treaty-makers in Europe had decided: they did +not believe that the French would leave and the English +come in in their stead at the western forts; and it +moved them hotly to think of such a change. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span>French had made them welcome at their frontier posts, +and did not drive off the game, as Duquesne had told +them, ere this fatal war began. The French had been +willing to be comrades with them, and had dealt with +them with a certain gracious courtesy and consideration; +while the English treated them, when they dared, +like dogs rather than like men, drove them far into the +forests at their front as they advanced their settlements, +bullied them, and often cheated them in trade. It +was intolerable to the northern Indians to think of these +men whom they feared and hated being substituted +for the French, with whom they found it at least possible +to live.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp93" id="illus063" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus063.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BOUNDARY MONUMENT ON THE ST. CROIX</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>They were dangerous neighbors, and the danger was +near and palpable. The war with the French was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span>hardly over when English settlers began to pour across +the Alleghanies from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia,—men +of the stern and sober Scots-Irish breeding +for the most part, masterful and imperious, and +sure to make the lands they settled upon entirely their +own. There were already tribes among the Indians +in the northwest who had been driven out of Pennsylvania +by the earlier movements of these same people, +and who had taken with them to their new homes the +distress and the dread of exile. It were fatal, they +knew, to wait. If the English were ever to be driven +within the barriers of the Alleghanies again, it must +be done now, and all the tribes must rally to the desperate +business.</p> + +<p>They found a leader in Pontiac, a chief of the Ottawas. +A dozen powerful tribes heeded him when he +counselled secret confederacy, and, when all should +be ready, sudden war; and the English presently had +reason to know how able an enemy they had to fear,—a +man of deep counsel, astute and masterful. In +June, 1763, the first blow was struck,—from end to +end of the open border,—even the Senecas, one of the +Six Nations, joining in the bitter work. Every frontier +fort except Detroit, Niagara, and Pitt was in their hands +at the first surprise: smoking ruins and the bodies +of white men slain marked all the borders where the +French had been. The English rallied, stubborn and +undaunted. Three forts at least were saved. There +were men at hand like Colonel Bouquet, the gallant +officer who went to the relief of Fort Pitt, who knew +the strategy of the forest as well as the redskins did, +and used steadfast English, not fickle savages, in the +fighting; and, though the work was infinitely hard +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span>and perilous and slow in the doing, within two years +it was done. Before the year 1765 was out, Pontiac +had been brought to book, had acknowledged himself +beaten, and had sued for peace.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus064" style="max-width: 23.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus064.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>PONTIAC, CHIEF OF THE OTTAWAS</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>But by that time the English ministers knew the +nature of the task which awaited them in America. +It was plain that they must strengthen the frontier +posts and maintain a force of soldiers in the colonies, +if English power was to be safe there, and English +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span>lives. Not fewer than twenty thousand men would +be needed; and it would be necessary to organize +government, civil as well as military, in a more effective +way. It might be necessary to pay the colonial +judges and even the colonial governors out of the general +treasury of the empire, rather than leave them +always dependent upon the uncertain grants of the +colonial legislatures. The new plans would, taken all +together, involve, it was reckoned, the expenditure of at +least £300,000 a year. Mr. Grenville, now at the head +of the government in England, was a lawyer and a +man of business. “He took public business not as a +duty which he was to fulfil, but as a pleasure he was +to enjoy,” and, unfortunately, he regarded American +affairs as ordinary matters of duty and of business. +England had spent £60,000,000 sterling to put the French +out of America; £140,000,000 had been added to the +national debt. Her own sources of revenue were quite +run dry. Mr. Grenville and his colleagues did not +know where else to turn for another penny, if not to +America. They therefore determined that, since heavy +additional expenditures must be undertaken for the +proper administration and defence of the colonies, +America must be made to supply at least a part of the +money to meet them. Not all of it. It was the ministers’ +first idea to raise only £100,000 out of the £300,000 +by taxes directly derived from the colonies: and every +farthing of that, with twice as much more, was to be +spent, of course, in America. The money was none +of it to cross the sea. It was to remain in the colonial +treasuries until expended for colonial administration +and defence.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus065" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus065.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>HENRY BOUQUET</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Some men there were in England who were far-sighted +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span>enough to see what this new policy would lead to; but +Grenville did not, and Parliament did not. In March, +1764, therefore, upon the introduction of his annual +budget, the prime minister introduced a bill, which +was passed, laying fresh and more effective taxes on +wines, sugar, and molasses imported into the colonies, +tightening and extending the old Navigation Acts, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span>and still further restraining manufactures; and at the +same time announced that he would, the next year, +propose a moderate direct tax upon the colonies in the +form of an act requiring revenue stamps to be used +on the principal sorts of documents employed in America +in legal and mercantile business.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp83" id="illus066" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus066.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BOUQUET’S REDOUBT AT PITTSBURG</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Mr. Grenville had no desire to irritate the Americans. +He thought they might protest; he never dreamed they +would disobey. He was, no doubt, surprised when he +learned how hot their protests were; and when his Stamp +Act the next year became law, their anger and flat +defiance must have seemed to him mere wanton rebellion. +He introduced the Stamp Act with his budget +of 1765. The Commons gave only a single sitting to +the discussion of its principles; passed it almost without +opposition; and by the 22d of March it was law. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span>A few members protested. Colonel Barré, standing +there in his place, square, swarthy, a soldier from the +field, that staring wound upon his face which he had +taken where Wolfe died, on the Plains of Abraham, +told the ministers very flatly that the colonists, whom +he had seen and fought for, owed to them neither the +planting nor the nourishing of their colonies, had a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span>liberty they had made for themselves, were very jealous +of that liberty, and would vindicate it. Benjamin +Franklin was in London to make protest for Pennsylvania; +and the agents of the other colonies were as +active as he, and as ready to promise that the colonial +legislatures would themselves grant out of their own +treasuries more than the Act could yield, if only they +were left to do it in their own way. Mr. Franklin +had pointed out in very plain terms how sharp a departure +there was in such measures from the traditional +dealings of the crown with the colonies, how loyal they +had been in granting supplies when required, and how +ill a new way of taxation would sit upon the spirits of +the colonists. But the vote for the bill was five to one. +Neither the ministers nor the Commons showed the +least hesitation or misgiving.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus067" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus067.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>PATRICK HENRY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus068" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus068.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SIGNATURE OF ISAAC BARRÉ</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp93" id="illus069" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus069.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FACSIMILE OF POSTER PLACED ON THE DOORS OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The Act operated in America like a spark dropped +on tinder. First dismay, then anger, then riot and +open defiance, showed what the colonists thought and +meant to do. Their own agents in London were as +little prepared as the ministers themselves for the sudden +passion. They had asked for appointments for +their friends as stamp distributers under the Act. Richard +Henry Lee, of Virginia, even asked for a place +for himself under it, so different a look did things wear +in London from that which they wore at home in the +Old Dominion. But these gentlemen learned the temper +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span>of America, and changed their own, soon enough. +The Act was in no way extraordinary or oppressive +in its provisions. It required of the colonists only what +was already required in respect of business transactions +in England: namely, that revenue stamps, of +values varying with the character of the transaction +or the amount involved, should be attached to all deeds, +wills, policies of insurance, and clearance papers for +ships, to legal papers of almost every kind, to all written +contracts and most of the business papers used by +merchants in their formal dealings, and to all periodical +publications and advertisements. The colonies themselves +had imposed such taxes; in England they had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span>been used since William and Mary, and had proved +eminently convenient and easy of collection. Governor +Shirley, of Massachusetts, had himself urged that +Parliament use them in America, American though +he was. Mr. Franklin had taken it for granted, when +he saw the Act become law, that they must be submitted +to. But America flatly refused obedience, and, except +in the newly conquered provinces of Nova Scotia and +Canada, the stamps were not used.</p> + +<p>The Act was not to go into operation until the 1st +of November (1765); but long before the first of November +it was evident that it would not go into effect at +all. It was universally condemned and made impossible +of application. There was instant protest from the +colonial assemblies so soon as it was known that the +Act was passed; and the assembly of Massachusetts +proposed that a congress of delegates from the several +colonies be held in October, ere the Act went into effect, +to decide what should be done to serve their common +interest in the critical matter. The agitations and +tumults of that eventful summer were not soon forgot. +In August, Boston witnessed an outbreak such +as she had never witnessed before. Mr. Andrew Oliver, +who had been appointed distributer of the stamps there, +was burned in effigy; the house in which it was thought +the stamps were to be stored was torn down; Mr. Oliver’s +residence was broken into and many of its furnishings +were destroyed. He hastily resigned his obnoxious +office. Mobs then plundered the house of the deputy +registrar of the court of admiralty, destroying his +private papers and the records and files of the court,—because +the new acts of trade and taxation gave +new powers to that court. The house of the comptroller +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span>of customs was sacked. Mr. Thomas Hutchinson, +the lieutenant-governor of the colony, found himself +obliged, on the night of the 26th, to flee for his +life; and returned when order was restored to find his +home stripped of everything it contained, including +nine hundred pounds sterling in money, and manuscripts +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span>and books which he had been thirty years collecting. +Only the walls and floors of the house remained.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus070" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus070.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JOHN DICKINSON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus071" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus071.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>THOMAS HUTCHINSON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus072" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus072.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>THOMAS HUTCHINSON’S MANSION, BOSTON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>There was no violence elsewhere to equal this in +Boston. There was tumult everywhere, but in most +places the mobs contented themselves with burning +the stamp agents in effigy and frightening them into +the instant relinquishment of their offices. Not until +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span>the autumn came, and the day for the application of +the Act, did they show a serious temper again. Then +New York also saw a house sacked and its furniture +used to feed a bonfire. The people insisted upon having +the stamps handed over to their own city officers; and +when more came they seized and burned them. At +Philadelphia many Quakers and Church of England +men, and some Baptists, made as if they would have +obeyed the Act; but the mobs saw to it that they should +not have the chance. The stamp distributer was compelled +to resign, and there was no one from whom +stamps could be obtained. Stamp distributers who +would not resign found it best to seek safety in flight. +There was no one in all the colonies, north or south, +who had authority to distribute the hated pieces of +stamped paper which the ministers had expected would +so conveniently yield them a modest revenue for their +colonial expenses. There was a little confusion and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span>inconvenience for a time. The courts hesitated to +transact business without affixing the stamps required +to their written pleadings; it seemed imprudent to send +ships out without stamps on their clearance papers; +business men doubted what would come of using no +stamps in their transactions. But the hesitation did +not last long. Business was presently going forward, +in court and out, as before, and never a stamp +used!</p> + +<p>It was singular and significant how immediately +and how easily the colonies drew together to meet the +common danger and express a common purpose. Early +in October the congress which Massachusetts had asked +for came together at New York, the delegates of nine +colonies attending. It drew up and sent over sea a +statement of the right of the colonies to tax and govern +themselves,—as loyal to the King, but not as subject +to Parliament,—which arrested the attention of the +world. Mr. Grenville and his colleagues were just +then, by a fortunate turn of politics at home, most +opportunely obliged to resign, and gave place to the +moderate Whigs who followed Lord Rockingham (July, +1765), and who thought the protests of the colonies not +unreasonable. On the 18th of March, 1766, accordingly, +the Stamp Act was repealed,—within a year of its enactment. +It was at the same time declared, however, by +special declaratory act, that Parliament had sovereign +right to tax the colonies, and legislate for them, if it +pleased. It was out of grace and good policy, the ministers +declared, that the tax was withdrawn; a concession, +not of right, but of good feeling; and everybody knew +that it was done as much because the London merchants +were frightened by the resolution of the American +merchants to take no cargoes under the tax as because +the colonies had declined to submit. But the results +were none the less salutary. The rejoicings in America +were as boisterous and as universal as had been +the tempest of resentment.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp54" id="illus073" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus073.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>TABLE OF STAMP CHARGES ON PAPER</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp46" id="illus074" style="max-width: 23.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus074.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>LORD ROCKINGHAM</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>But that was not the end of the matter. The Stamp +Act had suddenly brought to light and consciousness +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span>principles and passions not likely to be again submerged, +and which it was worth the while of statesmen over +sea to look into very carefully. Some there were in +England who understood them well enough. Mr. +John Adams used to say, long afterwards, that the +trouble seemed to him to have begun, not in 1765, but +in 1761. It was in that year that all the colonies, +north and south, had heard of what James Otis had +said in the chief court of the province at Boston against +the general warrants, the sweeping writs of assistance, +for which the customs officers of the crown had asked, +to enable them to search as they pleased for goods +brought in from foreign parts in defiance of the acts +of trade. The writs were not new, and Mr. Otis’s protest +had not put a stop to their issue. It had proved +of no avail to say, as he did, that they were an intolerable +invasion of individual right, flat violations of +principles of law which had become a part of the very +constitution of the realm, and that even an act of Parliament +could not legalize them. But all the colonies +had noted that hot contest in the court at Boston, because +Mr. Otis had spoken with a singular eloquence +which quickened men’s pulses and irresistibly swung +their minds into the current of his own thought, and +because it had made them more sharply aware than +before of what the ministers at home were doing to fix +upon the colonies the direct power of the government +over sea. These writs of assistance gave the officers +who held them authority to search any place they pleased +for smuggled goods, whether private residence or public +store-house, with or without reasonable ground of suspicion, +and meant that the government had at last +seriously determined, at whatever cost, to break up +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span>the trade with the West Indies and the Spanish Main. +Presently armed cutters were put on the coasts the +more effectually to stop it. A vice-admiralty court +was set up to condemn the cargoes seized, without a +jury. The duties were to be rigorously collected and +the trade broken up, for the sake of the sugar growers +of the British West +Indies and merchants +in London.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp52" id="illus075" style="max-width: 21.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus075.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JAMES OTIS</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>If New England +could no longer +send her horses, +cattle, lumber, +casks, and fish to +the French islands +and the Spanish +Main, and bring +thence, in exchange +for them, sugar and +molasses, she must +let her ships rot at +the wharves and +five thousand of her +seamen go idle and +starve; must seek +elsewhere for a market +for her chief products; could make no more rum with +which to carry on her home trade in spirits or her traffic +in slaves on the slave coast; must forego her profits +at the southern ports, and go without the convenient +bills drawn on exported Virginian tobacco wherewith +she had been used to pay her debts to the London merchants. +For thirty years and more it had been understood +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span>that the duties on that trade were not to be collected; +but now, of a sudden, the law was to be carried +out by armed vessels, writs of general search, and the +summary proceedings of a court of admiralty. In 1764 +Mr. Grenville had drawn the lines tighter than ever by +a readjustment of duties. +That meant ruin; and the +Stamp Act was but the +last touch of exasperation. +The disposition of the ministers +seemed all the more +obvious because of the obnoxious +“Quartering Act” +which went along with the +Stamp Act. They were +authorized by Parliament +to quarter troops in the +colonies, and by special +enactment the colonists +were required to provide +the troops with lodgings, +firewood, bedding, drink, +soap, and candles.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp42" id="illus076" style="max-width: 12.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus076.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>STAMPS FORCED ON THE COLONIES</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>There were other causes +of irritation which touched +the colonists almost as +nearly. In 1740 the Massachusetts assembly had set +up a Land Bank authorized to issue notes based upon +nothing but mortgages on land and personal bonds, +with surety, given by those who subscribed to its support, +and Parliament, at the solicitation of Boston +men who knew what certain disaster such a bank +would bring upon the business of the colony, had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span>thrust in its hand and suppressed it. The scheme +had been in great favor among the men of the +country districts, and its suppression by direct act of +Parliament had stirred them to a deep resentment. +“The Act to destroy the Land Bank scheme,” John +Adams declared, had “raised a greater ferment in the +province than the Stamp Act did”; and it made the +men who had resented it all the readier to take fire +at the imposition of the stamp duties. The churches +of the province had been deeply alarmed, too, by the +effort of English churchmen to establish bishops in +America, as if in preparation for a full Establishment; +and the clergy were, almost to a man, suspicious of the +government. The lumbermen of the forests felt the +constant irritation of the crown’s claim to all their +best sticks of timber for the royal navy, and were +themselves fit fuel for agitation. Each class seemed +to have its special reason for looking askance at everything +that savored of control from over sea. The measures +taken against the trade with the Indies were but +the latest item in a growing account.</p> + +<p>Massachusetts and the greater trading ports of the +south felt the burden of the new policy more than the +rest of the country felt it; but thoughtful men everywhere +saw what it portended that Parliament should +thus lay its hand directly upon the colonies to tax, +and in some sort to govern, them. Quite as many men +could tell you of the “parson’s case,” tried in quiet +Hanover Court House in rural Virginia, as could tell +you of Mr. Otis’s speech against the writs of assistance. +It meant that the authorities in London were thrusting +their hands into the affairs of Virginia just as they +were thrusting them into the affairs of Massachusetts. +Parson Maury had in that case set up an Order in +Council by the ministers at home against an act of the +Virginian House of Burgesses determining the value of +the currency in which his salary was to be paid, and +young Patrick Henry had sprung into sudden fame +by declaring to the court very boldly against him that +the crown had no right to override the self-government +of Virginia.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus077" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus077.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>OLD CAPITOL AT WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span></p> + +<p>The eloquence of that famous speech carried the young +advocate to the House of Burgesses itself; and it was +he who showed the colonies how to speak of the Stamp +Act. The burgesses were in session when the news +of that hateful law’s enactment reached Virginia. The +young member waited patiently for the older members +of the House to show the way in the new crisis,—Randolph +and Pendleton and Nicholas, Richard Bland +and George Wythe,—the men who had framed so +weighty a protest and warning and sent so strong a +remonstrance over sea only last year against this very +measure. But when he saw that they would not lead, +he sprang to the task himself, plain, country-bred though +he was, and unschooled in that leadership; scribbled +his resolutions on the fly-leaf of an old law-book, and +carried them with a rush of eloquence that startled and +swept the House, and set the tone for all the country.</p> + +<p>His resolutions not only declared the right of the +colonies to tax themselves to be exclusive, and established +beyond recall; they also declared that Virginians +were not bound to obey the Parliament when it acted +thus against established privilege, and that any one +who should advocate obedience was an enemy to the +colony. The sober second thought of the burgesses +cut that defiant conclusion out at last,—after Mr. Henry +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span>had gone home; but the resolutions had already been +sent post-haste through the colonies in their first form, +unrevised and unsoftened, and had touched the feeling +of every one who read them like a flame of fire. They +were the first word of revolution; and no man ever +thought just the same again after he had read them.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus078" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus078.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>GEORGE WYTHE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span></p> + +<p>It seemed a strange defiance, no doubt, to come from +loyal Virginia. The Stamp Act was not, in fact, oppressive +or unreasonable. Why should it so kindle +the anger of the colonies that the sovereign Parliament, +which had for many a day levied indirect charges +upon them by means of the many acts concerning trade +and manufactures, now laid a moderate direct tax +upon them, the proceeds of which were to be spent upon +their own protection and administration? Because, +though it might be the sovereign legislature of the +empire, Parliament was not in their view the direct +sovereign legislature of America. No one could truly +say that Parliament had been the sovereign power +even of England before 1688, that notable year in which +it had, by a revolution, changed the succession to the +throne and begun the making and unmaking of governments. +The colonies had most of them been set up +before that momentous year of change, while the Parliament +was still only a body of representatives associated +with the crown, with the right to criticise and +restrain it, but with no right to usurp its prerogatives; +entitled to be consulted, but not licensed to rule. The +King, not the Parliament, had chartered the colonies; +and they conceived their assemblies to be associated +with him as Parliament itself had been in the older +days before the Revolution of 1688: to vote him grants, +assent to taxation, and with his consent make the laws +they were to live under. He stood, they thought, in +the same relation to all the legislatures of his realm: +to the Parliament in England and to the assemblies +in America. It was the fundamental principle of the +English constitution, as all agreed, that the King’s +subjects should be associated with him in government +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span>by representation; and, since the Americans could +not be represented in Parliament, and were, by his own +authority, represented in local assemblies, he must deal +with them, not through Parliament, but through those +assemblies.</p> + +<p>The law of their view was not very sound or clear; +but the common-sense of it was unassailable; and it +rested upon unquestionable and long-standing practice, +that best foundation of institutions. Their governments +were no doubt, in law, subject to the government +of Great Britain. Whoever ruled there had the +legal right to rule in the colonies also, whether it were +the King independent of Parliament, or the ministers +dependent upon Parliament. The revolution of 1688 +had radically altered the character of the whole structure, +and perhaps the colonies could not, in strict constitutional +theory, decline their logical part in the change. +But no man in America had ever seen that revolution +cross the seas. English statesmen might have changed +their views, but the colonies had not changed theirs, +nor the practice of their governments either. Their +governments were from of old, and they meant to keep +them intact and uncorrupted. They did not object to +the amount or to the form of the tax; they objected only +that they had not themselves imposed it. They dissented +utterly from the opinion that Parliament had +the right to tax them at all. It was that principle, and +not the tax itself, which moved them so deeply.</p> + +<p>English statesmen claimed that the colonists were +as much represented in Parliament as the thousands +of Englishmen in England who did not have the right +to vote for members of the Commons; and no doubt +they were. The franchise was narrow in England, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span>and not the whole population but only a few out of some +classes of the people were actually represented in the +Houses. Were not the interests represented there which +America stood for? Perhaps so. But why govern +the colonies through these remote and theoretical representatives +when they had, and had always had, immediate +and actual representatives of their own in their +assemblies,—as ready and accessible an instrument +of government as the House of Commons itself? The +colonists were accustomed to actual representation, +had for a century and more been dealt with by means +of it, and were not willing now to reverse their history +and become, instead of veritable states, merely detached +and dependent pieces of England. This was the fire +of principle which the Stamp Act kindled.</p> + +<p>And, once kindled, it burned with an increasing +flame. Within ten years it had been blown to the full +blaze of revolution. Mr. Grenville had not lost his +power because he had set the colonies aflame by his +hated Stamp Act, but merely because the King intensely +disliked his tedious manners, and resented the dictatorial +tone used by the ministers in all their dealings +with himself. The Marquis of Rockingham and the +group of moderate Whigs who stood with him in the +new ministry of July, 1765, had repealed the stamp +tax, not because they deemed it wrong in legal principle, +but because it had bred resistance, had made the colonists +resolve not to buy goods of English merchants, +or even pay the debts of £4,000,000 sterling already +incurred in their business with them,—because they +deemed it wise to yield, and so quiet disorders over +sea. Their power lasted only a single year. The +King liked their liberal principles as little as he liked +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span>Grenville’s offensive manners, and in August, 1766, +dismissed them, to substitute a ministry under William +Pitt, now made Earl of Chatham. Had Pitt retained +his mastery, all might have gone well; but his health +failed, his leadership became a mere form, real power +fell to other men with no wide, perceiving vision like +his own, and America was presently put once again +in revolutionary mood.</p> + +<p>Pitt had said that the colonists were right when they +resisted the Stamp Act: that Parliament could lawfully +impose duties on commerce, and keep, if it would, +an absolute monopoly of trade for the English merchants, +because such matters were of the empire and +not merely of America; but that the Americans were +justified in resisting measures of internal taxation +and government, their charters and accustomed liberties +no doubt giving them in such matters constitutions of +their own. Mr. Burke, whose genius made him the +spokesman of the Rockingham Whigs, whether they +would or no, had said very vehemently, and with that +singular eloquence of his of which only his own words +know the tone, that he cared not at all what legal rights +might be involved; it was a question of government +and of good-will between a king and his subjects; and +he would not support any measure, upon whatever +right it might be founded, which led to irritation and +not to obedience. The new ministry of the Earl of +Chatham acted upon its chief’s principles, and not +upon Mr. Burke’s,—though they acted rashly because +that consummate chief did not lead them. They proceeded +(June, 1767), after the great earl’s illness had +laid him by, to put upon the statute book two acts for +the regulation of colonial trade and the government +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span>of the colonies which Charles Townshend, their Chancellor +of the Exchequer, had drawn. The first provided +for the more effectual enforcement of the acts of +trade already in existence; the second imposed duties +on wine, oil, lead, glass, paper, painters’ colors, and +tea carried to the colonies, and explicitly legalized +the use of the hated general search-warrants known +as “writs of assistance.” The revenues raised by +these duties were to be applied, as the stamp tax would +have been had it been collected, to the support of the +courts of justice and of the civil establishments of the +several colonies, and to the expenses connected with +their military defence. Evasions of the revenue acts +were to be tried by the admiralty courts without juries.</p> + +<p>To the colonists this seemed simply a return to the +policy of the Stamp Act. The tax was different, but +the object was the same: to make their judges and their +governors independent of them, and to compel them +to pay for the maintenance of troops not of their own +raising. These same ministers had suspended the +legislative power of the New York assembly because +it refused to make proper provision for the quartering +of the King’s troops, as commanded by the act of 1765; +and that assembly had felt itself obliged to yield and +obey. Several companies of royal artillery had been +sent to Boston in the autumn of 1766, and were quartered +there at the colony’s expense by order of the governor +and council.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp59" id="illus079" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus079.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>GEORGE WASHINGTON, 1772</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The new taxes were laid upon trade, and they could +not be attacked on the same grounds upon which the +stamps had been objected to. But the trouble was +that the new taxes, unlike the old restrictions, were +to be enforced, evasion prevented. Mr. Townshend’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span>first act was to send commissioners to America specially +charged and empowered to see to that. The ruinous +acts of 1764 were to be carried out, and the West India +trade, by which Boston merchants and ship owners +lived, put a stop to. These were bitter things to endure. +Some grounds must be found from which to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span>fight them,—if not the arguments used against the +Stamp Act, then others, if need be more radical. The +ministers at home had set their far-away subjects to +thinking with the eagerness and uneasiness of those +who seek by some means to defend their liberties, and +were fast making rebels of them.</p> + +<p>Even in the midst of the universal rejoicings over +the repeal of the Stamp Act the temper of several of +the colonial assemblies had risen at reading the “Declaratory +Act” which accompanied the repeal, and +which asserted the absolute legal right of Parliament +“to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever.” They +had declared very flatly then that Parliament had no +legal authority whatever in America except such as it +might exercise by the consent of the colonial assemblies,—so +far had their thought and their defiant purpose +advanced within the year. There were conservative +men in the colonies as well as radical, men who hated +revolution and loved the just and sober ways of law; +and there was as strong a sentiment of loyalty on one +side the sea as on the other. But even conservative +men dreaded to see Parliament undertake to break +down the independence of America. Mr. Thomas +Hutchinson, of Massachusetts, whose house the rioters +in Boston had wantonly looted when they were mad +against the Stamp Act, had been born and bred in the +colony, and loved her welfare as honestly as any man; +but he was lieutenant-governor, an officer of the crown, +and would have deemed it dishonor not to uphold the +authority he represented. Mr. Otis, on the other hand, +had resigned his office as Advocate General under the +crown to resist the writs of assistance. The public-spirited +gentlemen who had opposed Mr. Henry’s fiery +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span>resolutions in the Virginian House of Burgesses did +not fear usurpation or hate tyranny less than he; but +they loved the slow processes of argument and protest +and strictly legal opposition more than he did, and +were patient enough to keep within bounds. They +feared to shake an empire by pursuing a right too impetuously. +Men of every temper and of every counsel +made up the various people of the colonies, and there +were men of equal patriotism on both sides of the rising +quarrel.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus080" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus080.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>LANDING TROOPS AT BOSTON, 1768</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>And yet the most moderate and slow-tempered grew +uneasy at Mr. Townshend’s measures. Mr. John +Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, wrote and published a +series of letters,—<i>Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer</i>, +he called them,—which stated as pointedly, as boldly, +as earnestly as any man could wish, the constitutional +rights of self-government which the colonists cherished +and thought imperilled by the new acts of Parliament,—and +yet Mr. Dickinson was as steady a loyalist as +any man in America, as little likely to countenance +rebellion, as well worth heeding by those who wished +to compose matters by wise and moderate counsels. +His firm-spoken protests were, in fact, read and pondered +on both sides the water (1767), and no one could +easily mistake their significance.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp42" id="illus081" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus081.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>LIST OF NAMES OF THOSE WHO WOULD NOT CONFORM</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span></p> + +<p>The action of the people gave only too grave an emphasis +to what their more self-restrained and thoughtful +leaders said. Mr. Townshend’s acts were as openly +resisted as Mr. Grenville’s had been; and every art +of evasion, every trick of infringement, upon occasion +even open and forcible violation, set at naught other +restrictions of trade as well. It was startling to see +how rapidly affairs approached a crisis. Resistance +centred, as trade itself did, at Boston. When Mr. +Townshend’s commissioners of customs seized the sloop +<i>Liberty</i> in Boston harbor for evasion of the duties, +rioters drove them to the fort for shelter, and they sent +hastily to England for more troops. The Massachusetts +assembly, under the masterful leadership of Mr. Samuel +Adams, protested that the measures of the new ministry +were in violation of colonial rights, and protested in +terms which, though dignified and respectful enough, +were unmistakably imperative.</p> + +<p>The leadership of Samuel Adams was itself a sign +of the times. He was a man of the people, passionate +in his assertion of rights, and likely to stir and increase +passion in those for whom he spoke. Subtle, a born +politician; bold, a born leader of men, in assembly +or in the street, he was the sort of man and orator +whose ascendency may mean revolution almost when +he chooses. The assembly, at his suggestion, went beyond +the ordinary bounds of protest and sent a circular +letter to the other colonies, as if to invite a comparison +of views and a general acquiescence in the course of +settled opposition it had itself adopted. When the +ministers in London demanded a withdrawal of the +letter, the assembly of course refused, and the other +colonies were more than ever inclined to stand by the +stout Bay Colony at whose capital port the fight centred. +The ministers, in their desperate purpose to compel +submission, declared their intention to remove to England +for trial any one who should be charged with +treason,—under an almost forgotten statute passed long +before Jamestown was settled or English colonies dreamed +of in America. That roused the Virginian House +of Burgesses once more. They declared, with a sort +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span>of quiet passion, in their session of 1769, that no one +but their own assemblies had a right to tax the colonies; +that they had the inalienable right to petition the government +at home upon any matter of grievance whatever, +and to petition, if they pleased, jointly, as a body +of colonies united in right and interest; and that any +attempt to try a colonist for crime anywhere except in +the courts of his own colony and by known course of +law was “highly derogatory of the right of British +subjects,” and not for a moment to be deemed within +the lawful power of the crown. There was no need +this time for Mr. Henry. All men were now of the +same opinion in Virginia, and the action was unanimous.</p> + +<p>The Virginian governor at once dissolved the Burgesses; +but the members came together again almost +immediately at a private house; and there Colonel +Washington, whom all the English world had known +since Braddock’s day, proposed a general agreement to +import no goods at all upon which a tax was laid,—to +see what effect it would have if the English tradesmen +and manufacturers who looked to America for a market +were starved into a true appreciation of the situation +and of the state of opinion among their customers. +Many of the other colonies followed suit. Trade with +England for a few months almost stood still, and there +was quick distress and panic among those interested +over sea. They promptly demanded of Parliament +that the new taxes be taken off and trade allowed to +live again. The ministers yielded (April, 1770),—except +with regard to the tax on tea. That was the +least of the taxes, and the King himself positively commanded +that it be retained, to save the principle of the +bill and show that Parliament had not reconsidered its +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span>right to tax. The taxes had yielded nothing: the +single tax on tea would serve to assert a right without +the rest.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp63" id="illus082" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus082.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>HAND-BILL OF TRUE SONS OF LIBERTY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus083" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus083.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>THE BOSTON MASSACRE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span></p> + +<p>Meanwhile a very ominous thing had happened in +Boston,—though the ministers had not yet heard of +it when the bill passed to repeal the taxes. Upon an +evening in March, 1770, a mob had attacked a squad +of the King’s redcoats in King Street, pelting them +with sharp pieces of ice and whatever else they could +lay their hands on, and daring them derisively to fire; +and the troops had fired, being hard pressed and maddened. +Five of the mob were killed and six wounded, +and a thrill of indignation and horror went through +the excited town. The next day a great meeting in +Faneuil Hall sent a committee to Mr. Hutchinson, the +governor, to demand the instant withdrawal of the +troops. Samuel Adams headed the committee, imperious +and on fire; told the governor, in the council +chamber where they met, that he spoke in the name +of three thousand freemen who counted upon being +heeded; and won his point. The troops were withdrawn +to an island in the bay. The town had hated their +“lobster backs” for all the year and a half they had +been there, and rejoiced and was quiet when they withdrew.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus084" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus084.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>AFTER THE MASSACRE. SAMUEL ADAMS DEMANDING OF GOVERNOR HUTCHINSON + THE INSTANT WITHDRAWAL OF BRITISH TROOPS</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span></p> + +<p>But quiet could not last long. The flame was sure +somewhere to burst out again whenever any incident +for a moment stirred excitement. In North Carolina +there was the next year a sudden blaze of open rebellion +against the extravagant exactions of William Tryon, +the adventurer who was royal governor there; and +only blood extinguished it (1771). In Rhode Island, +in June, 1772, his Majesty’s armed schooner <i>Gaspee</i> +was taken by assault and burned, upon a spit of land +where she lay aground. It had been her business to +watch against infringements of the navigation laws +and the vexatious acts of trade; her commander had +grown exceptionally insolent in his work; a sloop which +he chased had led him on to the spit, where his schooner +stuck fast; and the provincials took advantage of her +helplessness to burn her. No one could be found who +would inform on those who had done the bold thing; +the courageous chief-justice of the little province flatly +denied the right of the English authorities to order +the perpetrators to England for trial; and the royal +commission which was appointed to look into the whole +affair stirred all the colonies once more to a deep irritation. +The far-away House of Burgesses in Virginia +very promptly spoke its mind again. It invited +the several colonies to join Virginia in forming committees +of correspondence, in order that all might be +of one mind and ready for one action against the aggressions +of the government in England. The ministers +in London had meantime resolved to pay the +provincial judges, at any rate in Massachusetts, out +of the English treasury, taxes or no taxes; and the +Massachusetts towns had formed committees of correspondence +of their own, as Mr. Adams bade.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus085" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus085.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>INTERIOR OF COUNCIL CHAMBER, OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp71" id="illus086" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus086.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>PROTEST AGAINST THE LANDING OF TEA</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus087" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus087.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>ENTRY JOHN ADAMS’S DIARY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus088" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus088.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>CALL FOR MEETING TO PROTEST AGAINST THE LANDING OF TEA</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Such were the signs of the times when the final test +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span>came of the tax on tea. The East India company +was in straits for money. It had to pay twelvepence +into the royal treasury on every pound of tea it imported, +whether it sold it in England or not; but the +government there offered to relieve it of that tax on +every pound it carried on to America, and exact only +the threepence to be paid at the colonial ports under +Mr. Townshend’s act: so willing were the King’s ministers +to help the Company, and so anxious also to test +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span>the act and the submissiveness of the colonists. The +test was soon made. The colonists had managed to +smuggle in from Holland most of the tea they needed; +and they wanted none, under the circumstances, from +the East India ships,—even though it cost less, with +the twelvepence tax off, than the smuggled tea obtained +of the Dutch. The East India Company promptly +sent tea-laden ships to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, +and Charleston; and in the autumn of 1773 they began +to come in. In Boston a quiet mob, disguised as Indians, +threw the chests overboard into the harbor. At +New York and Philadelphia the ships were “permitted” +to leave port again without landing their cargoes. At +Charleston the tea was landed, but it was stored, not +sold, and a public meeting saw to its secure bestowal. +The experiment had failed. America was evidently +of one mind, and had determined not to buy tea or anything +else with a parliamentary tax on it. The colonists +would no more submit to Mr. Townshend’s tax than +to Mr. Grenville’s, whatever the legal difference between +them might be, either in principle or in operation. +The issue was squarely made up: the colonies would +not obey the Parliament,—would be governed only +through their own assemblies. If the ministers persisted, +there must be revolution.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus089" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus089.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>THE BOSTON TEA PARTY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span></p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>Here the leading general <i>authorities</i> are the histories of Bancroft, +Hildreth, and Bryant; but to these we now add David Ramsay’s +<i>History of the American Revolution</i>; the fourth volume of +James Grahame’s excellent <i>History of the Rise and Progress of +the United States of North America from their Colonization till +the Declaration of Independence</i>; Thomas Hutchinson’s <i>History +of Massachusetts</i>, one of the most valuable of the contemporary +authorities; John S. Barry’s <i>History of Massachusetts</i>; John +Fiske’s <i>American Revolution</i>; Mellen Chamberlain’s <i>The Revolution +Impending</i>, in the sixth volume of Winsor’s <i>Narrative +and Critical History of America</i>; the twelfth chapter of W. E. +H. Lecky’s <i>History of England in the Eighteenth Century</i>; Sir +J. R. Seeley’s <i>Expansion of England</i>; Richard Frothingham’s +<i>Rise of the Republic of the United States</i>; Mr. Edward Channing’s +<i>United States of America, 1765-1865</i>; Mr. Henry Cabot Lodge’s +<i>Short History of the English Colonies in America</i>; Mr. Horace +E. Scudder’s <i>Men and Manners in America One Hundred Years +Ago</i>; Moses Coit Tyler’s <i>Life of Patrick Henry</i>; Mr. Horace Gray’s +important discussion of Otis’s speech against the writs of assistance, +in the <i>Appendix</i> to Quincy’s <i>Reports of Massachusetts Bay, 1761-1772</i>; +Moses Coit Tyler’s <i>Literary History of the American Revolution</i>; +F. B. Dexter’s <i>Estimates of Population</i>, in the <i>Proceedings</i> +of the American Antiquarian Society; and the <i>Lives</i> of the leading +American and English statesmen of the time, notably the invaluable +series of brief biographies known as <i>The American Statesmen +Series</i>.</p> + +<p>Abundant <i>contemporary material</i> may be found in the published +letters, papers, and speeches of American and English public +men of the time, especially in the pamphlets of such men as James +Otis, Richard Bland, Stephen Hopkins, John Adams, Samuel +Adams, John Dickinson, and their <i>confrères</i>; in Franklin’s <i>Autobiography</i>; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span>Andrew Burnaby’s <i>Travels through the Middle Settlements +in North America, in the Years 1759 and 1760</i>; Ann Maury’s +<i>Memoirs of a Huguenot Family</i>; and Hezekiah Niles’s <i>Principles +and Acts of the Revolution in America</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Lists of the authorities</i> on the several colonies during these +years may be found in Edward Channing and Albert Bushnell +Hart’s very convenient and careful little <i>Guide to American History</i>.</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br> +THE APPROACH OF REVOLUTION</h2> + +</div> + +<p>The ministers did persist, and there was revolution. +Within less than a year from those memorable autumn +days of 1773 when the East India Company’s ships +came into port with their cargoes of tea, the colonies +had set up a Congress at Philadelphia which looked +from the first as if it meant to do things for which there +was no law; and which did, in fact, within less than +two years after its first assembling, cut the bonds of +allegiance which bound America to England. The +colonists did not themselves speak or think of it as a +body set up to govern them, or to determine their relations +with the government at home, but only as a +body organized for consultation and guidance, a general +meeting of their committees of correspondence. But it +was significant how rapidly, and upon how consistent +and executive a plan, the arrangements for “correspondence” +had developed, and how naturally, almost +spontaneously, they had come to a head in this “Congress +of Committees.” There were men in the colonies +who were as quick to act upon their instinct of leadership, +and as apt and masterful at organization, as the +English on the other side of the water who had checkmated +Charles I.; and no doubt the thought of independent +action, and even of aggressive resistance, +came more readily to the minds of men of initiative in +America, where all things were making and to be made, +than in old England, where every rule of action seemed +antique and venerable. Mr. Samuel Adams had been +deliberately planning revolution in Massachusetts ever +since 1768, the year the troops came to Boston to hold +the town quiet while Mr. Townshend’s acts strangled +its trade; and he had gone the straight way to work +to bring it about. He knew very well how to cloak his +purpose and sedulously keep it hid from all whom it +might shock or dismay or alienate. But the means +he used were none the less efficacious because those +who acted with him could not see how far they led.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus090" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus090.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BOYCOTTING POSTER</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span></p> + +<p>It was he who had stood at the front of the opposition +of the Massachusetts assembly to the Stamp Act; he +who had drafted the circular letter of Massachusetts +to the other colonies in 1768 suggesting concert of action +against the Townshend acts; he who had gone from +the town meeting in Faneuil Hall to demand of Hutchinson +the immediate removal of the troops, after the +unhappy “massacre” of March, 1770; he who had +led the town meeting which took effectual measures +to prevent the landing of the tea from the East India +Company’s ships. No man doubted that his hand +had been in the plan to throw the tea into the harbor. +It was he who, last of all, as the troubles thickened, +had bound the other towns of Massachusetts to Boston +in a common organization for making and propagating +opinion by means of committees of correspondence. +It was late in 1772 when he proposed to the town meeting +in Boston that the other towns of the colony be invited +to co-operate with it in establishing committees of correspondence, +by means of which they could exchange +views, and, if need were, concert action. The end of +November had come before he could make Boston’s +initiative complete in the matter; and yet the few scant +weeks that remained of the year were not gone before +more than eighty towns had responded.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp42" id="illus091" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus091.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>CIRCULAR OF THE BOSTON COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span></p> + +<p>It turned out that he had invented a tremendously +powerful engine of propaganda for such opinions and +suggestions of action as he chose to put upon the wind +or set afloat in his private correspondence,—as he had, +no doubt, foreseen, with his keen appreciation of the +most effectual means of agitation. Here was, in effect, +a league of towns to watch and to control the course +of affairs. There was nothing absolutely novel in +the plan, except its formal completeness and its appearance +of permanence, as if of a standing political +arrangement made out of hand. In the year 1765, +which was now seven years gone by, Richard Henry +Lee had taken an active part among his neighbors in +Virginia in forming the “Westmoreland Association,” +which drew many of the leading spirits of the great +county of Westmoreland together in concerted resistance +to the Stamp Act. Four years later (1769) the +Burgesses of Virginia, cut short in their regular session +as a legislature by a sudden dissolution proclaimed +by their royal governor, met in Mr. Anthony Hay’s +house in Williamsburg and adopted the resolutions for +a general non-importation association which George +Mason had drawn up, and which George Washington, +Mr. Mason’s neighbor and confidant, read and moved. +There followed the immediate organization of local +associations throughout the little commonwealth to +see to the keeping of the pledge there taken. Virginia +had no town meetings; each colony took its measures +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a><a id="Page_178"></a>[178]</span>of non-importation and resistance to parliamentary +taxation after its own fashion; but wherever there were +Englishmen accustomed to political action there was +always this thought of free association and quick and +organized coöperation in the air, which no one was +surprised at any time to see acted upon and made an +instrument of agitation.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp49" id="map2" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/map2.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>NORTH AMERICA 1750, SHOWING CLAIMS + ARISING OUT OF EXPLORATION.</p> + <p>BORMAY & CO., N. Y.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus092" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus092.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>GEORGE III</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>What made the Massachusetts committees of correspondence +especially significant and especially telling +in their effect upon affairs was that they were not used, +like the “Westmoreland Association” or the non-importation +associations of 1769, merely as a means of +keeping neighbors steadfast in the observance of a +simple resolution of passive resistance, but were employed +to develop opinion and originate action from +month to month,—dilatory, defensive, or aggressive, as +occasion or a change of circumstances might demand. +The non-importation associations had been powerful +enough, as some men had reason to know. The determination +not to import or use any of the things +upon which Parliament had laid a tax to be taken of +the colonies,—wine, oil, glass, paper, tea, or any of the +rest of the list,—was not a thing all men had thought +of or spontaneously agreed to. Certain leading gentlemen, +like Mr. Mason and Colonel Washington, deemed +it a serviceable means of constitutional resistance to +the mistaken course of the ministry, induced influential +members of the House of Burgesses to indorse it, and +formed associations to put it into effect,—to see to it +that no one drank wine or tea which had been brought +in under Mr. Townshend’s taxes. There was here +no command of law,—only a moral compulsion, the +“pressure of opinion”; but it was no light matter to be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span>censured and talked about by the leading people in +your county as a person who defied the better sort of +opinion and preferred wine and tea to the liberties of +the colony. Associated opinion, spoken by influential +men, proved a tremendous engine of quiet duress, and +the unwilling found it prudent to conform. It was +harder yet for the timid where active committees of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span>correspondence looked into and suggested opinion. +Men could give up their wine, or women their tea, and +still keep what opinions they pleased; but committees +of correspondence sought out opinion, provoked discussion, +forced men to take sides or seem indifferent; +more than all, saw to it that Mr. Samuel Adams’s opinions +were duly promulgated and established by argument.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus093" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus093.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>GEORGE MASON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Men thought for themselves in Massachusetts, and +Mr. Adams was too astute a leader to seem to force +opinions upon them. He knew a better and more certain +way. He drew Mr. Hutchinson, the governor, into +controversy, and provoked him to unguarded heat in +the expression of his views as to the paramount authority +of Parliament and the bounden duty of the colonists +to submit if they would not be accounted rebels. He +let heat in the governor generate heat in those who +loved the liberty of the colony; supplied patriots with +arguments, phrases, resolutions of right and privilege; +watchfully kept the fire alive; forced those who were +strong openly to take sides and declare themselves, +and those who were weak to think with their neighbors; +infused agitation, disquiet, discontent, dissonance of +opinion into the very air; and let everything that was +being said or done run at once from town to town through +the ever talkative committees of correspondence. He +sincerely loved the liberty to which America had been +bred; loved affairs, and wanted nothing for himself, +except the ears of his neighbors; loved the air of strife +and the day of debate, and the busy concert of endless +agitation; was statesman and demagogue in one, and +had now a cause which even slow and thoughtful men +were constrained to deem just.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span></p> + +<p>The ministers supplied fuel enough and to spare to +keep alive the fires he kindled; and presently the system +of committees which he had devised for the towns +of a single colony had been put into use to bring the +several colonies themselves together. Opinion began +to be made and moved and augmented upon a great +scale. Spontaneous, no doubt, at first, at heart spontaneous +always, it was elaborately, skilfully, persistently +assisted, added to, made definite, vocal, universal,—now +under the lead of men in one colony, again +under the lead of those in another. +Massachusetts, with her +busy port and her noisy town +meetings, drew the centre of the +storm to herself; but the other +colonies were not different in +temper. Virginia, in particular, +was as forward as Massachusetts. +Virginia had got a new +governor out of England early +in 1772, John Murray, Earl of +Dunmore, who let more than a +year go by from his first brief meeting with the Burgesses +before he summoned them again, because he +liked their lack of submission as little as they liked his +dark brow and masterful temper; but he suffered them +to convene at last, in March, 1773, and they forthwith +gave him a taste of their quality, as little to his palate +as he could have expected.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp66" id="illus094" style="max-width: 12.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus094.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SEAL OF DUNMORE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp40" id="illus095" style="max-width: 23.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus095.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>EARL OF DUNMORE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>It was in June, 1772, while the Virginian burgesses +waited for their tardy summons to Williamsburg that +his Majesty’s revenue cutter <i>Gaspee</i> was deliberately +boarded and burned by the Rhode Islanders. The Burgesses +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span>had but just assembled in the autumn when the +ominous news came that a royal commission had been +sent over to look sharply into the matter, and see to +the arrest and deportation of all chiefly concerned. +Dabney Carr, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and +Thomas Jefferson, young men all, and radicals, members +of the House, privately associated themselves for +the concert of measures to be taken in the common +cause of the colonies. Upon their initiative the Burgesses +resolved, when the news from Rhode Island came, +to appoint at once a permanent committee of correspondence; +instruct it to inquire very particularly into +the facts about this royal commission; and ask the +other colonies to set up similar committees, for the exchange +of information concerning public affairs and +the maintenance of a common understanding and +concert in action. By the end of the year Massachusetts, +Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and +South Carolina had adopted the suggestion and set +their committees to work.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus096" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus096.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>THE ATTACK ON THE “GASPEE”</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span></p> + +<p>Massachusetts, of course. This was Mr. Samuel +Adams’s new machinery of agitation upon a larger +scale. Adams himself had long cherished the wish +that there might be such a connection established between +the colonies. In the autumn of 1770 he had induced +the Massachusetts assembly to appoint a committee +of correspondence, to communicate with Mr. +Arthur Lee, of Virginia, the colony’s agent in London, +and with the Speakers of the several colonial assemblies; +and though the committee had accomplished +little or nothing, he had not been discouraged, but had +written the next year to Mr. Lee expressing the wish +that “societies” of “the most respectable inhabitants” +might be formed in the colonies to maintain a correspondence +with friends in England in the interest of +colonial privilege. “This is a sudden thought,” he +said, “and drops undigested from my pen”; but it +must have seemed a natural enough thought to Mr. +Lee, whose own vast correspondence,—with America, +with Englishmen at home, with acquaintances on the +continent,—had itself, unaided, made many a friend +for the colonies over sea at the same time that it kept +the leading men of the colonies informed of the opinions +and the dangers breeding in England. But Mr. Adams’s +town committees came first. It was left for the little +group of self-constituted leaders in the Virginian assembly, +of whom Richard Henry Lee, Mr. Arthur Lee’s +elder brother, was one, to take the step which actually +drew the colonies into active coöperation when the +time was ripe. It was, in part, through the systematic +correspondence set afoot by the Virginian burgesses +that something like a common understanding had been +arrived at as to what should be done when the tea came +in; and the lawless defiance of the colonists in that +matter brought the ministers in England to such a +temper that there were presently new and very exciting +subjects of correspondence between the committees, and +affairs ran fast towards a crisis.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus097" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus097.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>LORD NORTH</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Teas to the value of no less than eighteen thousand +pounds sterling had been thrown into the harbor at +Boston on that memorable night of the 16th of December, +1773, when “Captain Mackintosh,” the redoubtable +leader of the South End toughs of the lively little +town, was permitted for the nonce to lead his betters; +but what aroused the ministers and put Parliament +in a heat was not so much the loss incurred by the East +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span>India Company or the outcry of the merchants involved +as the startling significance of the act, and the unpleasant +evidence which every day came to hand that +all the colonies alike were ready to resist. After the +tea had been sent away, or stored safe against sale or +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span>present use, or thrown into the harbor, at Philadelphia, +Charleston, New York, and Boston, as the leaders of +the mobs or the meetings at each place preferred, there +was an instant spread of Virginia’s method of union. +Six more colonies hastened to appoint committees of +correspondence, and put themselves in direct communication +with the men at Boston and at Williamsburg +who were forming opinion and planning modes of redress. +Only Pennsylvania held off. The tea had been +shut out at Philadelphia, as elsewhere, but the leaders +of the colony were not ready yet to follow so fast in the +paths of agitation and resistance. Members of Parliament +hardly noticed the exception. It was Boston +they thought of and chiefly condemned as a hot-bed +of lawlessness. Not every one, it is true, was ready +to speak quite so plainly or so intemperately as Mr. +Venn. “The town of Boston ought to be knocked +about their ears and destroyed,” he said. “You will +never meet with proper obedience to the laws of this +country until you have destroyed that nest of locusts.” +But, though few were so outspoken, no doubt many +found such a view very much to their taste, excellently +suited to their temper.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp45" id="illus098" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus098.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>TITLE-PAGE OF HUTCHINSON’S HISTORY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span></p> + +<p>At any rate, the ministers went a certain way towards +acting upon it. In March, 1774, after communicating +to the House the despatches from America, the leaders +of the government, now under Lord North, proposed +and carried very drastic measures. By one bill they +closed the port of Boston, transferring its trade after +the first of June to the older port of Salem. Since the +headstrong town would not have the tea, it should have +no trade at all. By another bill they suspended the +charter of the colony. By a third they made provision +for the quartering of troops within the province; and +by a fourth they legalized the transfer to England of +trials growing out of attempts to quell riots in the +colony. News lingered on the seas in those days, +waiting for the wind, and the critical news of what +had been done in Parliament moved no faster than the +rest. It was the 2d of June before the text of the new +statutes was known in Boston. That same month, +almost upon that very day, Thomas Hutchinson, the +constant-minded governor whom Samuel Adams had +tricked, hated, and beaten in the game of politics, left +his perplexing post and took ship for England, never +to return. Born and bred in Massachusetts, of the +stock of the colony itself, he had nevertheless stood +steadfastly to his duty as an officer of the crown, deeming +Massachusetts best served by the law. He had +suffered more than most men would have endured, but +his sufferings had not blinded him with passion. He +knew as well as any man the real state of affairs in +the colony,—though he looked at them as governor, +not as the people’s advocate,—and now went to England +to make them clear to the ministers. “The prevalence +of a spirit of opposition to government in the plantation,” +he had already written them, “is the natural +consequence of the great growth of colonies so remote +from the parent state, and not the effect of oppression +in the King or his servants, as the promoters of this +spirit would have the world to believe.” It would be +of good omen for the settlement of difficulties if he could +make the ministers see that the spirit which so angered +them was natural, and not born of mere rebellion.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus099" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus099.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>GENERAL GAGE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp40" id="illus100" style="max-width: 20.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus100.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>STOVE IN THE HOUSE OF BURGESSES, VIRGINIA</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Mr. Hutchinson left General Gage governor in his +stead,—at once governor and military commander. +Gage was to face a season of infinite trouble, and, as +men soon learned, did not know how to face it either +with patience or with tact and judgment. The news +of Boston’s punishment +and of the +suspension of the +Massachusetts charter, +of the arrangements +for troops, +and of the legal establishment +of methods +of trial against +which all had protested,—and, +in the +case of the <i>Gaspee</i> +affair, successfully +protested,—had an +instant and most disturbing +effect upon +the other colonies, +as well as upon +those who were most +directly affected. +The ministers could +not isolate Massachusetts. +They were +dealing with men +more statesmanlike +than themselves, +who did not need to +see their own liberties directly struck at to recognize danger, +though it was not yet their danger. They had protested +in the time of the Stamp Act, which affected +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span>them all; this time they protested even more emphatically +against measures aimed at Massachusetts alone. +What was more significant, they had now means at +hand for taking action in common.</p> + +<p>Virginia, no doubt, seemed to the ministers in England +far enough away from Massachusetts, but her Burgesses +acted upon the first news of what Parliament +was doing,—a month before the text of the obnoxious +acts had reached Boston. In May, 1774, they ordered +that June 1st, the day the Boston Port bill was to go +into effect, be set apart as a day of fasting and prayer,—prayer +that civil war might be averted and that the +people of America might be united in a common cause. +Dunmore promptly dissolved them for their pains; +but they quietly assembled again in the long room +of the Raleigh Tavern; issued a call thence to the +other colonies for a general Congress; and directed +that a convention, freely chosen by the voters of the +colony as they themselves had been, should assemble +there, in that same room of the Raleigh, on the first +day of August following, to take final measures with +regard to Virginia’s part in the common action hoped +for in the autumn. The next evening they gave a +ball in honor of Lady Dunmore and her daughters, +in all good temper, as they had previously arranged +to do,—as if nothing had happened, and as if to show +how little what they had done was with them a matter +of personal feeling or private intrigue, how much a +matter of dispassionate duty. They had not acted +singularly or alone. Rhode Island, New York, and +Massachusetts herself had also asked for a general +“Congress of Committees.” The Massachusetts assembly +had locked its doors against the governor’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span>messenger, sent to dissolve it, until it had completed +its choice of a committee “to meet the committees appointed +by the several colonies to consult together upon +the present state of the colonies.” It was chiefly because +Massachusetts called that the other colonies +responded, but the movement seemed general, almost +spontaneous. Virginia and Massachusetts sent their +real leaders, as the other colonies did; and September +saw a notable gathering at Philadelphia,—a gathering +from which conservatives as well as radicals hoped +to see come forth some counsel of wisdom and accommodation.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp45" id="illus101" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus101.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JOHN ADAMS</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Every colony but Georgia sent delegates to the Congress. +Not all who attended had been regularly elected +by the colonial assemblies. The Virginian delegates +had been elected by Virginia’s August convention, a +body unknown to the law; in some of the colonies there +had been no timely sessions of the assemblies at which +a choice could be made, and representatives had accordingly +been appointed by their committees of correspondence, +or elected directly by the voters at the +town and county voting places. But no one doubted +any group of delegates real representatives,—at any +rate, of the predominant political party in their colony. +In New York and Pennsylvania the conservatives had +had the upper hand, and had chosen men who were +expected to speak for measures of accommodation and +for obedience to law. In the other colonies, if only +for the nonce, the more radical party had prevailed, +and had sent representatives who were counted on to +speak unequivocally for the liberties of the colonies, +even at the hazard of uttering words and urging action +which might seem revolutionary and defiant.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span></p> + +<p>It was noteworthy and significant how careful a +selection had been made of delegates. No doubt the +most notable group was the group of Virginians: +Colonel Washington; that “masterly man,” Richard +Henry Lee, as Mr. John Adams called him, as effective +in Philadelphia as he had been in the House of Burgesses; +Patrick Henry, whose speech was so singularly +compounded of thought and fire; Edmund Pendleton, +who had read nothing but law books and knew nothing +but business, and yet showed such winning grace and +convincing frankness withal in debate; Colonel Harrison, +brusque country gentleman, without art or subterfuge, +downright and emphatic; Mr. Bland, alert +and formidable at sixty-four, with the steady insight +of the life-long student; and Mr. Peyton Randolph, +their official leader and spokesman, whom the Congress +chose its president, a man full of address, and seeming +to carry privilege with him as a right inherited. +Samuel Adams and John Adams had come from Massachusetts, +with Mr. Cushing and Mr. Paine. South +Carolina had sent two members of the Stamp Act Congress +of 1765, Mr. Christopher Gadsden and Mr. John +Rutledge, with Mr. Edward Rutledge also, a youth +of twenty-five, and plain Mr. Lynch, clad in homespun, +as direct and sensible and above ceremony as Colonel +Harrison. Connecticut’s chief spokesman was Roger +Sherman, rough as a peasant without, but in counsel +very like a statesman, and in all things a hard-headed +man of affairs. New York was represented by Mr. +John Jay, not yet thirty, but of the quick parts of the +scholar and the principles of a man of honor. Joseph +Galloway, the well-poised Speaker and leader of her +House of Assembly, John Dickinson, the thoughtful +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span>author of the famous “Farmer’s Letters” of 1768, +a quiet master of statement, and Mr. Thomas Mifflin, +the well-to-do merchant, represented Pennsylvania. +It was, take it all in all, an assembly of picked men, +fit for critical business.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus102" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus102.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>ROGER SHERMAN</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Not that there was any talk of actual revolution in +the air. The seven weeks’ conference of the Congress +disclosed a nice balance of parties, its members acting, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span>for the most part, with admirable candor and individual +independence. A good deal was said and +conjectured about the “brace of Adamses” who led +the Massachusetts delegation,—Samuel Adams, now +past fifty-two, and settled long ago, with subtle art, +to his life-long business, and pleasure, of popular leadership, +which no man understood better; and John Adams, +his cousin, a younger man by thirteen years, at once +less simple and easier to read, vain and transparent,—transparently +honest, irregularly gifted. It was +said they were for independence, and meant to take +the leadership of the Congress into their own hands. +But it turned out differently. If they were for independence, +they shrewdly cloaked their purpose; if they +were ambitious to lead, they were prudent enough to +forego their wish and to yield leadership, at any rate +on the floor of the Congress, to the interesting men who +represented Virginia, and who seemed of their own +spirit in the affair.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp42" id="illus103" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus103.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JOSEPH GALLOWAY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp66" id="illus104" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus104.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JOHN DICKINSON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>There was a marked difference between what the +Congress said aloud, for the hearing of the world, and +what it did in order quietly to make its purpose of defeating +the designs of the ministers effective. At the +outset of its sessions it came near to yielding itself to +the initiative and leadership of its more conservative +members, headed by Joseph Galloway, the trusted +leader of the Pennsylvanians, a stout loyalist, but for +all that a sincere patriot and thorough-going advocate +of the legal rights of the colonies. He proposed a +memorial to the crown asking for a confederate government +for the colonies, under a legislature of their own +choosing, very like the government Mr. Franklin had +made a plan for twenty years ago in the congress at +Albany; and his suggestion failed of acceptance by +only a very narrow margin when put to the vote. Even +Edward Rutledge, of South Carolina, who spoke more +hotly than most men for the liberties of the colonies, +declared it an “almost perfect plan”; and the Congress, +rejecting it, substituted no other. It turned, rather, +to the writing of state papers, and a closer organization +of the colonies for concert of action. Its committees +drew up an address to the King, memorials to the people +of Great Britain and to the people of British North +America, their fellow-subjects, and a solemn declaration +of rights, so earnest, so moderate in tone, reasoned +and urged with so evident and so admirable a quiet +passion of conviction, as to win the deep and outspoken +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span>admiration of their friends in Parliament and stir the +pulses of liberal-minded men everywhere on both sides +of the sea.</p> + +<p>So much was for the world. For themselves, they +ordered a closer and more effective association throughout +the colonies to carry out the policy of a rigorous +non-importation and non-consumption of certain classes +of British goods as a measure of trade against the +English government’s policy of colonial taxation. It +recommended, in terms which rang very imperative, +that in each colony a committee should be formed in +every town or county, according to the colony’s local +administrative organization, which should be charged +with seeing to it that every one within its area of oversight +actually kept, and did not evade, the non-importation +agreement; that these committees should act +under the direction of the central committee of correspondence +in each colony; and that the several +colonial committees of correspondence should in their +turn report to and put into effect the suggestions of +the general Congress of Committees at Philadelphia. +For the Congress, upon breaking up at the conclusion +of its business in October, resolved to meet again in +May of the next year, should the government in England +not before that time accede to its prayers for a +radical change of policy. Its machinery of surveillance +was meanwhile complete. No man could escape +the eyes of the local committees. Disregard of the +non-importation policy meant that his name would +be published, and that he would be diligently talked +about as one who was no patriot. The Congress ordered +that any colony which declined to enter into the +new association should be regarded as hostile to “the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span>liberties of this country.” Samuel Adams himself +had not had a more complete system of surveillance +or of inquisitorial pressure upon individual conduct +and opinion at hand in his township committees of +correspondence. In the colonies where sentiment ran +warm no man could escape the subtle coercion.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus105" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus105.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>PEYTON RANDOLPH</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Such action was the more worthy of remark because +taken very quietly, and as if the Congress had of course +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span>the right to lead, to speak for the majority and command +the minority in the colonies, united and acting +like a single body politic. There was no haste, no +unusual excitement, no fearful looking for trouble in +the proceedings of this new and quite unexampled assembly. +On the contrary, its members had minds +sufficiently at ease to enjoy throughout all their business +the entertainments and the attractive social ways +of the busy, well-appointed, cheerful, gracious town, +the chief city of the colonies, in which there was so +much to interest and engage. Dinings were as frequent +almost as debates, calls as committee meetings. +Evening after evening was beguiled with wine and +tobacco and easy wit and chat. The delegates learned +to know and understand each other as men do who are +upon terms of intimacy; made happy and lasting friendships +among the people of the hospitable place; drank +in impressions which broadened and bettered their +thinking, almost as if they had actually seen the several +colonies with whose representatives they were dealing +from day to day; and went home with a cleared +and sobered and withal hopeful vision of affairs.</p> + +<p>It was well to have their views so steadied. Events +moved fast, and with sinister portent. Massachusetts +could not be still, and quickly forced affairs to an issue +of actual revolution. Before the Congress met again +her leaders had irrevocably committed themselves to +an open breach with the government; the people of the +province had shown themselves ready to support them +with extraordinary boldness; and all who meant to +stand with the distressed and stubborn little commonwealth +found themselves likewise inevitably committed +to extreme measures. The Massachusetts men not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span>only deeply resented the suspension of their charter, +they denied the legal right of Parliament to suspend +it. On the 9th of September, 1774, four days after +the assembling of the Congress at Philadelphia, delegates +from Boston and the other towns in Suffolk +County in Massachusetts had met in convention and +flatly declared that the acts complained of, being unconstitutional, +ought not to be obeyed; that the new +judges appointed under the act of suspension ought +not to be regarded or suffered to act; that the collectors +of taxes ought to be advised to retain the moneys collected, +rather than turn them into General Gage’s treasury; +and that, in view of the extraordinary crisis which +seemed at hand, the people ought to be counselled to +prepare for war,—not, indeed, with any purpose of +provoking hostilities, but in order, if necessary, to resist +aggression. They declared also for a provincial +congress, to take the place of the legislative council of +their suspended charter, and resolved to regard the +action of the Congress at Philadelphia as law for the +common action of the colonies.</p> + +<p>It gave these resolutions very grave significance +that the Congress at Philadelphia unhesitatingly declared, +upon their receipt, that the whole continent +ought to support Massachusetts in her resistance to +the unconstitutional changes in her government, and +that any person who should accept office within the +province under the new order of things ought to be +considered a public enemy. Moreover, the Suffolk +towns did not stand alone. Their temper, it seemed, +was the temper of the whole colony. Other towns +took action of the same kind; and before the Congress +at Philadelphia had adjourned, Massachusetts had +actually set up a virtually independent provincial +congress. General Gage had summoned the regular +assembly of the province to meet at Salem, the new +capital under the parliamentary changes, on the 5th +of October, but had withdrawn the summons as he +saw signs of disaffection multiply and his authority +dwindle to a mere shadow outside his military lines +at Boston. The members of the assembly convened, +nevertheless, and, finding no governor to meet them, +resolved themselves into a provincial congress and +appointed a committee of safety to act as the provisional +executive of the colony. The old government +was virtually dissolved, a revolutionary government +substituted.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus106" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus106.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>WASHINGTON STOPPING AT AN INN ON HIS WAY TO CAMBRIDGE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span></p> + +<p>The substitution involved every hazard of license +and disorder. A people schooled and habituated to +civil order and to the daily practice of self-government, +as the people of Massachusetts had been, could not, +indeed, suffer utter demoralization or lose wholly and +of a sudden its sobriety and conscience in matters of +public business. But it was a perilous thing that there +was for a time no recognized law outside of the fortifications +which General Gage had thrown across Boston +Neck, to defend the town against possible attack from +its own neighbors. Town meetings and irregular committees +took the place of officers of government in every +locality. The committees were often self-constituted, +the meetings too often disorderly and irregularly summoned. +Everything fell into the hands of those who +acted first; and inasmuch as the more hot-headed and +violent are always at such times the first to act, many +sober men who would fain have counselled restraint +and prudence and the maintenance so far as might be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span>of the old order, were silenced or overridden. The +gatherings at which concerted action was determined +upon were too often like mere organized mobs. Men +too often obtained ascendency for the time being who +had no claim upon the confidence of their followers but +such as came from audacity and violence of passion; +and many things happened under their leadership +which it was afterwards pleasant to forget. No man +of consequence who would not openly and actively put +himself upon the popular side was treated with so much +as toleration. General Gage presently found Boston +and all the narrow area within his lines filling up, +accordingly, with a great body of refugees from the +neighboring towns and country-sides.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus107" style="max-width: 37.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus107.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>THE LIBERTY SONG</p> + <p class="x-ebookmaker-drop">[<a href="music/music.mp3">Listen</a>] | [<a href="music/music.mxl">MusicXML</a>]<br> + Music Transcriber’s Note: In bar 6, a missing quaver rest has been added.<br> + In bar 12, the final quaver has been replaced with a crotchet.</p> +<div class="poetry-container x-ebookmaker-drop"> + <div class="poetry"> + <p>The LIBERTY SONG. <i>In Freedom we’re born, &c.</i></p> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Come join hand in hand brave Americans all,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And rouse your bold hearts at fair Liberty’s call.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">No tyrannous acts shall suppress your just claim,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or stain with dishonour America’s name.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0"><i>In Freedom we’re</i> born <i>and in Freedom we’ll</i> live,</div> + <div class="verse indent0"><i>Our purses are ready.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent0"><i>Steady, Friends, Steady.</i></div> + <div class="verse indent0"><i>Not as Slaves, but as Freemen our money we’ll give.</i></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Our worthy Forefathers—Let’s give them a cheer</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To Climates unknown did courageously steer;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Thro’ Oceans, to deserts, for freedom they came,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And dying bequeath’d us their freedom and Fame.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent2"><i>In freedom we’re</i> born <i>&c.</i></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Their generous bosoms all dangers despis’d,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">So highly, so wisely, their <i>Birthrights</i> they priz’d;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">We’ll keep what they gave, we will piously keep,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Nor frustrate their toils on the land and the deep.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent2"><i>In Freedom we’re</i> born, <i>&c.</i></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The Tree their own hands had to liberty rear’d;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They liv’d to behold growing strong and rever’d,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With transport they cry’d, “now our wishes we gain,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For our children shall gather the fruits of our pain.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent2"><i>In Freedom we’re</i> born <i>&c.</i></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Swarms of placemen and pensioners soon will appear</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Like locusts deforming the charms of the year;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Suns vainly will rise, Showers vainly descend,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">If we are to drudge for what other shall spend.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent2"><i>In Freedom we’re</i> born <i>&c.</i></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Then join hand in hand brave Americans all,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In so Righteous a cause let us hope to succeed,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For Heaven approves of each generous deed.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent2"><i>In Freedom we’re</i> born, <i>&c.</i></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">All ages shall speak with amaze and applause,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of the courage we’ll shew in support of our laws;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To die we can bear—but to serve we disdain,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For shame is to Freedom more dreadful than pain.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent2"><i>In Freedom we’re</i> born, <i>&c.</i></div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">This bumper & crown for our Sovereign’s health,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And this for Britannia’s glory and wealth;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That wealth and that glory immortal may be,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">If she is but just—and if we are but Free.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent2"><i>In Freedom we’re</i> born <i>&c.</i></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>It gave those who led the agitation the greater confidence +and the greater influence that the ministers of +the churches were for the most part on their side. The +control of Parliament had come, in the eyes of the New +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span>England clergy, to mean the control also of bishops +and the supremacy of the Establishment. Now, as always +before, since the very foundation of the colony, +the independence of their little commonwealths seemed +but another side of the independence of their churches; +and none watched the course of government over sea +more jealously than the Puritan pastors.</p> + +<p>Not only those who sided with the English power +because of fear or interest,—place-holders, sycophants, +merchants who hoped to get their trade back through +favor, weak men who knew not which side to take and +thought the side of government in the long run the +safer,—but many a man of dignity and substance +also, and many a man of scrupulous principle who +revered the ancient English power to which he had +always been obedient with sincere and loyal affection, +left his home and sought the protection of Gage’s troops. +The vigilance of the local committees effectually purged +the population outside Boston, as the weeks went by, +of those who were not ready to countenance a revolution. +There was, besides, something very like military +rule outside Boston as well as within it. The provincial +congress met, while necessary, from month to month, +upon its own adjournment, and, prominent among +other matters of business, diligently devoted itself to +the enrolment and organization of a numerous and +efficient militia. Local as well as general commanders +were chosen; there was constant drilling on village +greens; fire-arms and ammunition were not difficult +to get; and an active militia constituted a very effective +auxiliary in the consolidation of local opinion concerning +colonial rights and the proper means of vindicating +them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span></p> + +<p>It is the familiar story of revolution: the active and +efficient concert of a comparatively small number controlling +the action of whole communities at a moment +of doubt and crisis. There was not much difference +of opinion among thoughtful men in the colonies with +regard to the policy which the ministers in England +had recently pursued respecting America. It was +agreed on all hands that it was unprecedented, unwise, +and in plain derogation of what the colonists had time +out of mind been permitted to regard as their unquestioned +privileges in matters of local self-government. +Some men engaged in trade at the colonial ports had, +it is true, found the new policy of taxation and enforced +restrictions very much to their own interest. The +Sugar Act of 1733, which cut at the heart of the New +England trade with the French West Indies, and which +Grenville and Townshend had, in these last disturbing +years, tried to enforce, had, it was said, been passed +in the first instance at the suggestion of a Boston merchant +who was interested in sugar growing in the British +islands whence the act virtually bade the colonial importers +take all their sugar, molasses, and rum; and +no doubt there were many in all the American ports +who would have profited handsomely by the enforcement +of the law. But, however numerous these may +have been, they were at most but a small minority. +For a vast majority of the merchants the enforcement +of the acts meant financial ruin. Merchants as well +as farmers, too, were hotly against taxes put upon +them in their own ports by an act of Parliament. +They were infinitely jealous of any invasion of their +accustomed rights of self-government under their revered +and ancient charter. Governor Hutchinson himself, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span>though he deemed the commands of Parliament +law, and thought it his own bounden duty as an officer +of the crown to execute them, declared in the frankest +fashion to the ministers themselves that their policy +was unjust and mistaken.</p> + +<p>But, while men’s sentiments concurred in a sense of +wrong, their judgments parted company at the choice +of what should be done. Men of a conservative and +sober way of thinking; men of large fortune or business, +who knew what they had at stake should disorders +arise or law be set aside; men who believed that there +were pacific ways of bringing the government to another +temper and method in dealing with the colonies, +and who passionately preferred the ways of peace to +ways of violence and threatened revolution, arrayed +themselves instinctively and at once against every +plan that meant lawlessness and rebellion. They +mustered very strong indeed, both in numbers and in +influence. They bore, many of them, the oldest and +most honored names of the colony in Massachusetts, +where the storm first broke, and were men of substance +and training and schooled integrity of life, besides. +Their counsels of prudence were ignored, nevertheless,—as +was inevitable. Opinion formed itself with quick +and heated impulse in the brief space of those first +critical months of irritation and excitement; and these +men, though the natural leaders of the colony, were +despised, rejected, proscribed, as men craven and lacking +the essential spirit either of liberty or of patriotism.</p> + +<p>It was, no doubt, a time when it was necessary that +something should be done,—as well as something said. +It was intolerable to the spirit of most of the people, +when once they were roused, to sit still under a suspension +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span>of their charter, a closing of their chief port, +the appointment of judges and governors restrained +by none of the accustomed rules of public authority +among them, and tamely utter written protests only, +carrying obedience to what seemed to them the length +of sheer servility. It happened that there had gone +along with the hateful and extraordinary parliamentary +measures of 1774 an act extending the boundaries +of the province of Quebec to the Ohio River and establishing +an arbitrary form of government within +the extended province. It was a measure long ago +planned. Its passage at that time had nothing to do +with the ministers’ quarrel with the self-governing colonies +to the southward. But it was instantly interpreted +in America as an attempt to limit the westward +expansion of the more unmanageable colonies which, +like Massachusetts, arrogated the right to govern themselves; +and it of course added its quota of exasperation +to the irritations of the moment. It seemed worse than +idle to treat ministers who sent such a body of revolutionary +statutes over sea as reasonable constitutional +rulers who could be brought to a more lawful and moderate +course by pamphlets and despatches and public +meetings, and all the rest of the slow machinery of +ordinary agitation. Of course, too, Samuel Adams +and those who acted with him very carefully saw to it +that agitation should not lose its zest or decline to the +humdrum levels of ordinary excitement. They kept +their alarm bells pealing night and day, and were +vigilant that feeling should not subside or fall tame. +And they worked upon genuine matter. They knew +the temper of average men in the colony much better +than their conservative opponents did, and touched +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span>it with a much truer instinct in their appeals. Their +utterances went to the quick with most plain men,—and +they spoke to a community of plain men. They +spoke to conviction as well as to sentiment, and the +minds they touched were thoroughly awakened. Their +doctrine of liberty was the ancient tradition of the colony. +The principles they urged had been urged again and +again by every champion of the chartered liberties of +the colonies, and seemed native to the very air.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus108" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus108.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SIGNATURE OF JOSEPH HAWLEY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>If not constitutional statesmen, they were at least +the veritable spokesmen of all men of action, and of +the real rank and file of the colonists about them,—as +Patrick Henry was in Virginia. John Adams had +read to Henry, while the first Congress was sitting in +Philadelphia, Joseph Hawley’s opinion that what the +ministers had done made it necessary to fight. “I +am of that man’s opinion,” cried the high-spirited Virginian. +That was what men said everywhere, unless +imperatively held back from action by temperament, +or interest, or an unusual, indomitable conviction of +law-abiding duty, upon whatever exigency or provocation. +It is not certain that there could be counted in +Massachusetts so much as a majority for resistance +in those first days of the struggle for right; but it is +certain that those who favored extreme measures had +the more effective spirit of initiative among them, +the best concert of action, the more definite purpose, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span>the surest instinct of leadership, and stood with true +interpretative insight for the latent conviction of right +which underlay and supported every colonial charter +in America.</p> + +<p>And not only every colonial charter, but the constitution +of England itself. The question now raised, +to be once for all settled, was, in reality, the question +of constitutional as against personal government; +and that question had of late forced itself upon men’s +thoughts in England no less than in America. It +was the burden of every quiet as well as of every impassioned +page in Burke’s <i>Thoughts on the Present +Discontents</i>, published in 1770. The Parliament of +1774 did not represent England any more than it represented +the colonies in America, either in purpose +or principle. So ill distributed was the suffrage and +the right of representation that great centres of population +had scarcely a spokesman in the Commons, while +little hamlets, once populous but now deserted, still +returned members who assumed to speak for the country. +So many voters were directly under the influence +of members of the House of Lords, as tenants and dependants; +so many members of the House of Lords +were willing to put themselves and the seats which +they controlled in the Commons at the service of the +King, in return for honors and favors received or hoped +for; so many elections to the Lower House were corruptly +controlled by the court,—so full was Parliament, +in short, of placemen and of men who counted upon +the crown’s benefactions, that the nation seemed excluded +from its own councils, and the King acted as +its master without serious let or hinderance.</p> + +<p>The Whig party, which stood for constitutional +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span>privilege, was utterly disorganized. Some Whigs had +followed Chatham to the end, despite his uncertain +temper, his failing health, his perverse treatment of +his friends; some had followed, rather, the Marquis +of Rockingham, whose brief tenure of power, in 1766, +had been but long enough to effect the repeal of the +odious Stamp Act; but nothing could hold the divergent +personal elements of the party together, and there +was no place for a party of principle and independence +in an unrepresentative Parliament packed with the +“King’s friends.” Ministries rose or fell according +to the King’s pleasure, and were Whig or Tory as he +directed, without change of majority in the Commons. +“Not only did he direct the minister” whom the House +nominally obeyed “in all matters of foreign and domestic +policy, but he instructed him as to the management +of debates in Parliament, suggested what motions +should be made or opposed, and how measures should +be carried.” The Houses were his to command; and +when Chatham was gone, no man could withstand him. +Persons not of the ministry at all, but the private and +irresponsible advisers of the King, became the real +rulers of the country. The Duke of Grafton, who became +the nominal head of the government in 1768, +was not his own master in what he did or proposed; +and Lord North, who succeeded him in 1770, was little +more than the King’s mouthpiece.</p> + +<p>Thoughtful men in England saw what all this meant, +and deemed the liberties of England as much jeoparded +as the liberties of America. And the very men who +saw to the heart of the ominous situation in England +were, significantly enough, the men who spoke most +fearlessly and passionately in Parliament in defence +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span>of America,—statesmen like Chatham and Burke, +frank soldiers like Colonel Barré, political free lances +like the reckless John Wilkes, and all the growing +company of agitators in London and elsewhere whom +the government busied itself to crush. It was the +group gathered about Wilkes in London who formed, +under Horne Tooke’s leadership, the famous “Society +for supporting the Bill of Rights,” with which Samuel +Adams proposed, in his letter to Arthur Lee in 1771, +that similar societies, to be formed in the several colonies +in America, should put themselves in active +coöperation by correspondence. Those who attacked +the prerogative in England were as roundly denounced +as traitors as those who resisted Parliament in America. +Wilkes was expelled from the House of Commons; +the choice of the Westminster electors who had chosen +him was arbitrarily set aside and annulled; those who +protested with too much hardihood were thrown into +prison or fined. But each arbitrary step taken seemed +only to increase the rising sense of uneasiness in the +country. The London mob was raised; rioting spread +through the country, till there seemed to be chronic +disorder; writers like “Junius” sprang up to tease the +government with stinging letters which no one could +successfully answer, because no one could match their +wit or point; an independent press came almost suddenly +into existence; and because there was no opinion +expressed in the House of Commons worthy of being +called the opinion of the nation, public opinion formed +and asserted itself outside the Houses, and began to +clamor uncomfortably for radical constitutional reforms. +Mr. Wilkes was expelled the House in 1769, +just as the trouble in America was thickening towards +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span>storm; and long before that trouble was over it had +become plain to every man of enlightened principle +that agitation in England and resistance in America +had one and the same object,—the rectification of the +whole spirit and method of the English government.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp62" id="illus109" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus109.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>THE HOUSE OF COMMONS</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>George III. had too small a mind to rule an empire, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span>and the fifteen years of his personal supremacy in affairs +(1768-1783) were years which bred a revolution +in England no less inevitably than in America. His +stubborn instinct of mastery made him dub the colonists +“rebels” upon their first show of resistance; +he deemed the repeal of the Stamp Act a fatal step of +weak compliance, which had only “increased the pretensions +of the Americans to absolute independence.” +Chatham he called a “trumpet of sedition” because +he praised the colonists for their spirited assertion of +their rights. The nature of the man was not sinister. +Neither he nor his ministers had any purpose of making +“slaves” of the colonists. Their measures for +the regulation of the colonial trade were incontestably +conceived upon a model long ago made familiar in +practice, and followed precedents long ago accepted +in the colonies. Their financial measures were moderate +and sensible enough in themselves, and were conceived +in the ordinary temper of law-making. What +they did not understand or allow for was American +opinion. What the Americans, on their part, did not +understand or allow for was the spirit in which Parliament +had in fact acted. They did not dream with +how little comment or reckoning upon consequences, +or how absolutely without any conscious theory as to +power or authority, such statutes as those which had +angered them had been passed; how members of the +Commons stared at Mr. Burke’s passionate protests +and high-pitched arguments of constitutional privilege; +how unaffectedly astonished they were at the rebellious +outbreak which followed in the colonies. And, because +they were surprised and had intended no tyranny, +but simply the proper government of trade and the +adequate support of administration throughout the +dominions of the crown, as the ministers had represented +these things to them, members of course thought +the disturbances at Boston a tempest in a teapot, the +reiterated protests of the colonial assemblies a pretty +piece of much ado about nothing. The radical trouble +was that the Parliament really represented nobody +but the King and his “friends,” and was both ignorant +and unreflective upon the larger matters it dealt with.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus110" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus110.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>PAGE FROM THE DIARY OF JOSIAH QUINCY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span></p> + +<p>It was the more certain that the promises of accommodation +and peaceful constitutional reform which +the supporters of the government in America so freely +and earnestly made would be falsified, and that exasperation +would follow exasperation. The loyal partisans +of the crown in the colonies understood as little +as did the radical patriotic party the real attitude and +disposition of the King and his ministers. The men +with whom they were dealing over sea had not conceived +and could not conceive the American point of +view with regard to the matters in dispute. They +did not know whereof Mr. Burke spoke when he told +them that the colonial assemblies had been suffered +to grow into a virtual independence of Parliament, +and had become in fact, whatever lawyers might say, +coördinated with it in every matter which concerned +the internal administration of the colonies; and that +it was now too late to ask or expect the colonists to +accept any other view of the law than that which +accorded with long-established fact. Mr. Burke admitted +that his theory was not a theory for the strict +lawyer: it was a theory for statesmen, for whom fact +must often take precedence of law. But the men he +addressed were strict legists and not statesmen. There +could be no understanding between the two sides of +the water; and the loyalists who counselled submission, +if only for a time, to the authority of the ministers, +were certain to be rejected among their own people. +The spirit of American affairs was with the patriots, +and would be with them more and more as the quarrel +thickened.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus111" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus111.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>PROCLAMATION OF THE KING FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THE REBELLION</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span></p> + +<p>It thickened fast enough, and the storm broke before +men were aware how near it was. While winter held +(1774-1775), affairs everywhere grew dark and uneasy, +not only in Massachusetts, where Gage’s troops waited +at Boston, but in every colony from Maine to the Gulf. +Before the end of 1774 the Earl of Dunmore reported +to the government, from Virginia, that every county +was “arming a company of men for the avowed purpose +of protecting their committees,” and that his own +power of control was gone. “There is not a justice +of peace in Virginia,” he declared, “that acts except +as a committee-man”; and it gave him the graver concern +to see the turn affairs were taking because “men +of fortune and pre-eminence joined equally with the +lowest and meanest” in the measures resorted to to +rob him of authority.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus112" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus112.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>GAGE’S ORDER PERMITTING INHABITANTS TO LEAVE BOSTON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span></p> + +<p>To the south and north of Virginia, counsels were +divided. Those who led against the government in +North Carolina had good reason to doubt whether they +had even a bare majority of the people of their colony at +their back. Every country-side in South Carolina, for +all Charleston was as hot as Boston against the ministers, +was full of warm, aggressive, outspoken supporters +of the King’s prerogative. The rural districts +of Pennsylvania, every one knew, were peopled with +quiet Quakers whose very religion bade them offer no +resistance even to oppressive power, and of phlegmatic +Germans who cared a vast deal for peace but very little +for noisy principles that brought mischief. Many a +wealthy and fashionable family of Philadelphia, moreover, +was much too comfortable and much too pleasantly +connected with influential people on the other side of +the water to relish thoughts of breach or rebellion. Virginians, +it might have seemed, were themselves remote +enough from the trouble which had arisen in Massachusetts +to keep them in the cool air of those who wait +and will not lead. But they were more in accord than +the men of Massachusetts itself, and as quick to act. +By the close of June, 1775, Charles Lee could write +from Williamsburg, “Never was such vigor and concord +heard of, not a single traitor, scarcely a silent +dissentient.” As the men of the several counties armed +themselves, as if by a common impulse, all turned +as of course to Colonel Washington, of Fairfax, as their +natural commander; and no one in Virginia was surprised +to learn his response. “It is my full intention,” +he said, “to devote my life and fortune to the cause we +are engaged in.” On the 20th of March, 1775, the second +revolutionary convention of Virginia met at Richmond, +not at Williamsburg; and in it Mr. Henry made +his individual declaration of war against Great Britain. +Older and more prudent men protested against his words; +but they served on the committee on the military organization +of the colony for which his resolutions called, +and Virginia was made ready.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>Here our general <i>authorities</i> are still Bancroft, Hildreth, and +Bryant; David Ramsay’s <i>History of the American Revolution</i>; +the last volume of James Grahame’s <i>Rise and Progress of the United +States of North America</i>; John Fiske’s <i>American Revolution</i>; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span>Thomas Hutchinson’s <i>History of Massachusetts</i>; John S. Barry’s +<i>History of Massachusetts</i>; Richard Frothingham’s <i>Rise of the +Republic of the United States</i>; Justin Winsor’s <i>The Conflict Precipitated</i>, +in the sixth volume of Winsor’s <i>Narrative and Critical +History of America</i>; and the twelfth chapter of W. E. H. Lecky’s +<i>History of England in the Eighteenth Century</i>. To these we now +add Frank Moore’s <i>Diary of the American Revolution</i>; George +Chalmers’s <i>Introduction to the History of the Revolt</i>; Timothy +Pitkin’s <i>Political and Civil History of the United States</i>; and the +fourth volume of John Richard Green’s <i>History of the English +People</i>. Here, also, the biographies of the chief public men of the +period must be the reader’s constant resource for a closer view of +affairs, particularly the <i>Lives</i> of such men as John and Samuel +Adams, John Dickinson, Franklin, Hamilton, Patrick Henry, +John Jay, Jefferson, the Lees, George Mason, James Otis, Timothy +Pickering, and Washington.</p> + +<p>The chief <i>sources</i> that should be mentioned are the <i>Debates of +Parliament</i>; the <i>Annual Register</i>; the <i>Proceedings</i> and <i>Collections</i> +of the Historical Societies of the original States; Peter Force’s +<i>American Archives</i>; Jared Sparks’s <i>Correspondence of the Revolution</i>; +Hezekiah Niles’s <i>Principles and Acts of the Revolution +in America</i>; <i>Copy of Letters sent to Great Britain by Thomas +Hutchinson</i>, reprinted in <i>Franklin Before the Privy Council</i>; +P. O. Hutchinson’s <i>Life and Letters of Thomas Hutchinson</i>; and +the published speeches, letters, and papers of the leading American +and English statesmen of the time.</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br> +THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE</h2> + +</div> + +<p>Then, almost immediately, came the clash of arms. +General Gage would not sit still and see the country +round about him made ready for armed resistance without +at least an effort to keep control of it. On the 19th +of April he despatched eight hundred men to seize the +military stores which the provincials had gathered at +Concord, and there followed an instant rising of the +country. Riders had sped through the country-side +during the long night which preceded the movement of +the troops, to give warning; and before the troops could +finish their errand armed men beset them at almost +every turn of the road, swarming by companies out of +every hamlet and firing upon them from hedge and +fence corner and village street as if they were outlaws +running the gauntlet. The untrained villagers could +not stand against them in the open road or upon the +village greens, where at first they mustered, but they +could make every way-side covert a sort of ambush, +every narrow bridge a trap in which to catch them at a +disadvantage. Their return to Boston quickened to a +veritable rout, and they left close upon three hundred +of their comrades, dead, wounded, or prisoners, behind +them ere they reached the cover of their lines again. +The news of their march and of the attack upon them +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span>had spread everywhere, and in every quarter the roads +filled with the provincial minute men marching upon +Boston. Those who had fired upon the troops and +driven them within their lines did not go home again; +those who came too late for the fighting stayed to see +that there were no more sallies from the town; and the +morning of the 20th disclosed a small army set down +by the town in a sort of siege.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="illus113" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus113.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>NOTICE TO MILITIA</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp45" id="illus114" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus114.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>AN ACCOUNT OF THE CONCORD FIGHT</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span></p> + +<p>That same night of the 20th Lord Dunmore, in Virginia, +landed a force of marines from an armed sloop in +the river and seized the gunpowder stored at Williamsburg. +There, too, the country rose,—under Mr. Henry +himself as captain. They did not reach the scene soon +enough to meet the marines,—there were no thick-set +villages in that country-side to pour their armed men +into the roads at a moment’s summons,—but they forced +the earl, their governor, to pay for the powder he had +ordered seized and taken off.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus115" style="max-width: 21.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus115.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SIGNATURE OF ETHAN ALLEN</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The rude muster at Boston expanded into a motley +yeoman army of sixteen thousand men within the first +week of its sudden rally, and settled in its place to watch +the town until the general Congress of the colonies at +Philadelphia should +give it countenance, +and a commander. On +the day the Congress +met (May 10, 1775), +Ethan Allen walked +into the unguarded gates of the fort at Ticonderoga, +at the head of a little force out of Vermont, and took +possession of the stout place “in the name of the Great +Jehovah and the Continental Congress,” though he +held a commission from neither; and two days later +Crown Point, near by, was taken possession of in the +same manner. When the Congress met it found itself +no longer a mere “Congress of Committees,” assembled +for conference and protest. Its appeals for better +government, uttered the last autumn, its arguments for +colonial privilege, its protestations of loyalty and its +prayers for redress, had been, one and all, not so +much rejected as put by with contempt by the King +and his ministers; and the mere movement of affairs +was hurrying the colonies which it represented into +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span>measures which would presently put the whole matter +of its controversy with the government at home +beyond the stage of debate. Its uneasy members did +not neglect to state their rights again, in papers whose +moderation and temper of peace no candid man could +overlook or deny; but they prepared for action also +quite as carefully, like practical men who did not deceive +themselves even in the midst of hope.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus116" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus116.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>RUINS OF FORT TICONDEROGA</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Colonel Washington had come to the Congress in his +provincial uniform; and, if no one cared to ask a man +with whom it was so obviously difficult to be familiar +why he wore such a habit there, all were free to draw +their own conclusions. It was, no doubt, his instinctive +expression of personal feeling in the midst of all that +was happening; and his service in the Congress was +from first to last that of a soldier. Its committees consulted +him almost every day upon some question of +military preparation: the protection of the frontier +against the Indians, the organization of a continental +force, the management of a commissariat, the gathering +of munitions, proper means of equipment, feasible +plans of fortification. While they deliberated, his own +colony passed openly into rebellion. The 1st of June +saw Virginia’s last House of Burgesses assemble. By +the 8th of the month Dunmore had fled his capital, +rather than see a second time the anger of a Williamsburg +mob, and was a fugitive upon one of his Majesty’s +armed vessels lying in the river. The colony +had thenceforth no government save such as it gave +itself; and its delegates at Philadelphia knew that there +was for them no turning back.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus117" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus117.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>WATCHING THE FIGHT AT BUNKER HILL</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span></p> + +<p>On the 15th of June, on the motion of Mr. John +Adams, the Congress chose Colonel Washington commander-in-chief +of the American forces, and directed +him to repair to Boston and assume command in the +field. Two days later the British and the provincials +met in a bloody and stubborn fight at Bunker Hill. +On the 25th of May heavy reinforcements for General +Gage had arrived from over sea which swelled the force +of regulars in Boston to more than eight thousand +men, and added three experienced general officers to +Gage’s council: William Howe, Sir Henry Clinton, and +John Burgoyne. The British commanders saw very +well, what was indeed apparent enough to any soldier, +that their position in Boston could be very effectively +commanded to the north and south on either hand by +cannon placed upon the heights of Charlestown or Dorchester, +and determined to occupy Charlestown heights +at once, the nearer and more threatening position. But +so leisurely did they go about it that the provincials +were beforehand in the project. The early morning +light of the 17th of June disclosed them still at work +there on trenches and redoubts which they had begun +at midnight. The British did not stop to use either +the guns of the fleet or any caution of indirect approach +to dislodge them, but at once put three thousand men +straight across the water to take the hill, whose crest +the Americans were fortifying, by direct assault. It +cost them a thousand men; and the colonials retired, +outnumbered though they were, only because their +powder gave out, not their pluck or steadfastness. +When the thing was done, the British did not care to +take another intrenched position from men who held +their fire till they were within a few score yards of +them and then volleyed with the definite and deadly +aim of marksmen.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus118" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus118.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FROM BEACON HILL, 1775, NO. 1. (LOOKING TOWARDS DORCHESTER HEIGHTS)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus119" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus119.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FROM BEACON HILL, 1775, NO. 2. (LOOKING TOWARDS ROXBURY)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus120" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus120.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>ORDER OF COMMITTEE OF SAFETY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span></p> + +<p>Colonel Washington received his formal commission +on the 19th, and was on horseback for the journey northward +by the 21st. On the 3d of July he assumed command +at Cambridge. In choosing Washington for the +command of the raw levies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, +Rhode Island, and New Hampshire set down in impromptu +siege before Boston, Mr. John Adams and the +other New Englanders who acted with him had meant, +not only to secure the services of the most experienced +soldier in America, but also, by taking a man out of the +South, to give obvious proof of the union and co-operation +of the colonies. They had chosen better than they +knew. It was no small matter to have so noticeable a +man of honor and breeding at the head of an army whose +enemies deemed it a mere peasant mob and rowdy assemblage +of rebels. Washington himself, with his +notions of authority, his pride of breeding, his schooling +in conduct and privilege, was far from pleased till he +began to see below the surface, with the disorderly +array he found of uncouth, intractable plough boys +and farmers, one esteeming himself as good as another, +with free-and-easy manners and a singular, half-indifferent +insolence against authority or discipline.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp40" id="illus121" style="max-width: 23.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus121.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BOSTON AND BUNKER HILL, FROM A PRINT PUBLISHED IN 1781</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span></p> + +<p>“There are some fine fellows come from Virginia,” +Joseph Reed, of Pennsylvania, had written of the Virginian +delegates to the Congress at Philadelphia; “but +they are very high. We understand they are the capital +men of the colony.” It was good that one of the +masterful group should ride all the public way from +Philadelphia to Boston to take command of the army, +the most conspicuous figure in the colonies, showing +every one of the thousands who crowded to greet or see +him as he passed how splendid a type of self-respecting +gentlemen was now to be seen at the front of affairs, +putting himself forward soberly and upon principle. +The leaders of the revolt in Massachusetts were by no +means all new men like John Adams or habitual agitators +like Samuel Adams; many a man of substance +and of old lineage had also identified himself with the +popular cause. But new, unseasoned men were very +numerous and very prominent there among those who +had turned affairs upside down; a very great number +of the best and oldest families of the colony had promptly +ranged themselves on the side of the government; +the revolution now at last on foot in that quarter could +too easily be made to look like an affair of popular +clamor, a mere rising of the country. It was of signal +advantage to have high personal reputation and a +strong flavor, as it were, of aristocratic distinction +given it by this fortunate choice the Congress had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span>made of a commander. It was no light matter to despise +a cause which such men openly espoused and +stood ready to fight for.</p> + +<p>The British lay still till Washington came, and gave +him the rest of the year, and all the winter till spring +returned, in which to get his rude army into fighting +shape,—why, no one could tell, not even their friends +and spokesmen in Parliament. The Americans swarmed +busy on every hand. It proved infinitely difficult for them +to get supplies, particularly arms and ammunition; but +slowly, very slowly, they came in. General Washington +was but forty-three, and had an energy which was +both imperative and infectious. His urgent, explicit, +businesslike letters found their way to every man of +influence and to every colonial committee or assembly +from whom aid could come. Cannon were dragged all +the way from Ticonderoga for his use. The hardy, +danger-loving seamen of the coasts about him took very +cheerfully to privateering; intercepted supply ships and +even transports bound for Boston; brought English +merchantmen into port as prizes; cut ships out from +under the very guns of a British man-of-war here and +there in quiet harbors. Food and munitions intended +for the British regiments at Boston frequently found +their way to General Washington’s camps instead, +notwithstanding Boston harbor was often full of armed +vessels which might have swept the coasts. The commanders +in Boston felt beset, isolated, and uneasy, and +hesitated painfully what to do.</p> + +<p>The country at large was open to the insurgent forces, +to move in as they pleased. In the autumn Colonel +Montgomery, the gallant young Irish soldier who had +served under Wolfe at Quebec, led a continental force +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span>northward through the wilderness; took the forts which +guarded the northern approaches to Lake Champlain; +and occupied Montreal, intercepting and taking the +little garrison which left the place in boats to make +its way down the river. Meanwhile Colonel Benedict +Arnold was at the gates of Quebec, and Montgomery +pushed forward to join him. Colonel Arnold had forced +his way in from the coast through the thick forests of +Maine, along the icy streams of the Kennebec and the +Chaudière. The bitter journey had cost him quite a +third of the little force with which Washington had sent +him forth. He had but seven hundred men with whom +to take the all but impregnable place, and Montgomery +brought but a scant five hundred to assist him. But +the two young commanders were not to be daunted. +They loved daring, and touched all who followed them +with their own indomitable spirit. In the black darkness +of the night which preceded the last day of the +year (December 31, 1775), amidst a blinding storm of +snow, they threw themselves upon the defences of the +place, and would have taken it had not Montgomery +lost his life ere his men gained their final foothold +within the walls. The Congress at Philadelphia had +at least the satisfaction of receiving the colors of the +Seventh Regiment of his Majesty’s regulars, taken at +Fort Chambly, as a visible token of Montgomery’s exploits +at the northern outlet of Champlain; and every +added operation of the Americans, successful or unsuccessful, +added to the feeling of isolation and uneasiness +among the British at Boston.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus122" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus122.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>RICHARD MONTGOMERY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>October 10, 1775, Sir William Howe superseded General +Gage as commander-in-chief in the closely watched +and invested town; but the change of commanders +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span>made little difference. Every one except the sailors, +the foragers, the commissaries, the drill sergeants, +the writing clerks, the colonial assemblies, the congressional +and local committees, lay inactive till March +came, 1776, and Washington was himself ready to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span>take the offensive. At last he had such cannon and +such tools and stores and wagons and teams as he had +been asking and planning and waiting for the weary, +anxious winter through. On the morning of the 5th +of March the British saw workmen and ordnance and +every sign of a strong force of provincials on Dorchester +heights, and were as surprised as they had been, close +upon a year before, to see men and trenches on Bunker +Hill. Washington had done work in the night which +it was already too late for them to undo; a storm beat +the waters of the bay as the day wore on and made it +impossible to put troops across to the attack in boats; +Washington had all the day and another night in +which to complete his defences; and by the morning +of the 6th the British knew that the heights could not +be taken without a risk and loss they could not afford. +The town was rendered untenable at a stroke. With +deep chagrin, Howe determined upon an immediate +evacuation; and by the 17th he was aboard his ships,—eight +thousand troops and more than a thousand +loyalists who dared not stay. The stores and cannon, +the ammunition, muskets, small-arms, gun carriages, +and supplies of every kind which he found +himself obliged to leave behind enriched Washington +with an equipment more abundant than he could ever +have hoped to see in his economical, ill-appointed camp +at Cambridge.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus123" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus123.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AS A POLITICIAN</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The only British army in America had withdrawn +to Halifax: his Majesty’s troops had nowhere a foothold +in the colonies. But that, every one knew, was only +the first act in a struggle which must grow vastly greater +and more tragical before it was ended. Washington +knew very well that there was now no drawing back. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[240]</span>Not since the affair at Bunker Hill had he deemed it +possible to draw back; and now this initial success +in arms had made the friends of revolution very bold +everywhere. As spring warmed into summer it was +easy to mark the growth in the spirit of independence. +One of the first measures of the Continental Congress, +after coming together for its third annual session in +May, 1776, was to urge the several colonies to provide +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[241]</span>themselves with regular and permanent governments +as independent states, instead of continuing to make +shift with committees of safety for executives and provisional +“provincial congresses” for legislatures, as +they had done since their government under the crown +had fallen to pieces; and they most of them promptly +showed a disposition to take its advice. The resolution +in which the Congress embodied this significant counsel +plainly declared “that the exercise of every kind of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span>authority under the crown ought to be totally suppressed,” +and all the powers of government exercised +under authority from the people of the colonies,—words +themselves equivalent to a declaration for entire separation +from Great Britain. Even in the colonies +where loyalists mustered strongest the government of +the crown had in fact almost everywhere been openly +thrown off. But by midsummer it was deemed best to +make a formal Declaration of Independence. North +Carolina was the first to instruct her delegates to take +that final and irretrievable step; but most of the other +colonies were ready to follow her lead; and on July +4th Congress adopted the impressive Declaration which +Mr. Jefferson had drawn up in the name of its committee.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus124" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus124.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>R. H. LEE’S RESOLUTION FOR INDEPENDENCE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus125" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus125.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>STATE HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA, 1778</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Washington himself had urgently prayed that such +a step be taken, and taken at once. It would not change, +it would only acknowledge, existing facts; and it might +a little simplify the anxious business he was about. +He had an army which was always making and to be +made, because the struggle had been calculated upon +a short scale and the colonies which were contributing +their half-drilled contingents to it were enlisting their +men for only three months at a time. Sometimes the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span>men would consent to re-enlist, sometimes they would +not. They did as they pleased, of course, and would +time and again take themselves off by whole companies +at once when their three months’ term was up. Sir +William Howe would come back, of course, with a force +increased, perhaps irresistible: would come, Washington +foresaw, not to Boston, where he could be cooped +up and kept at bay, but to New York, to get control +of the broad gateway of the Hudson, whose long valley +had its head close to the waters of Lake George and +Lake Champlain, and constituted an infinitely important +strategic line drawn straight through the heart +of the country, between New England, which was no +doubt hopelessly rebellious, and the middle colonies, +in which the crown could count its friends by the thousand. +The Americans must meet him, apparently, +with levies as raw and as hastily equipped as those +out of which an army of siege had been improvised at +Boston, each constituent part of which would fall to +pieces and have to be put together again every three +months.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus126" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus126.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SIGNATURE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[244]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus127a" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus127a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JEFFERSON’S ORIGINAL DRAFT OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[245]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus127b" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus127b.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[246]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus127c" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus127c.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus127d" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus127d.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The worst of it was, that the country back of New +York had not been, could not be, purged of active loyalists +as the country round about Boston had been by +the local “committees” of one sort or another and by +the very active and masterful young men who had +banded themselves together as “Sons of Liberty,” seeing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[248]</span>much rich adventure, and for the present little +responsibility, ahead of them in those days of government +by resolution. Washington transferred his +headquarters to New York early in April and set +about his almost hopeless task with characteristic +energy and fertility of resource; but there were spies +without number all about him, and every country-side +was full of enemies who waited for General Howe’s +coming to give him trouble. The formal Declaration +of Independence which the Congress adopted in July +hardened the face and stiffened the resolution of +every man who had definitely thrown in his lot with +the popular cause, as Washington had foreseen that +it would, just because it made resistance avowed rebellion, +and left no way of retreat or compromise. +But it also deeply grieved and alienated many a man +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[249]</span>of judgment and good feeling, and made party differences +within the colonies just so much the more bitter +and irreconcilable.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus128" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus128.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>REAR VIEW OF INDEPENDENCE HALL</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp93" id="illus129" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus129.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>THE PRESIDENT’S CHAIR IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The first attempt of the British was made against +Charleston in the south. A fleet under Sir Peter Parker +came out of England with fresh troops commanded +by the Earl of Cornwallis, was joined by transports +and men-of-war from Halifax, bearing a force under +Sir Henry Clinton, and, as June drew towards its close, +delivered a combined attack, by land and sea, upon +the fort on Sullivan’s Island, seeking to win its way +past to the capture of Charleston itself. But they +could not force a passage. Two of the ships,—one +of them Sir Peter’s own flag-ship,—never came away +again. Colonel Moultrie and Colonel Thompson beat +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span>off both the fleet and the troops landed from it; and +the British went northward again to concentrate upon +New York.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp93" id="illus130" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus130.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>MAP OF SULLIVAN’S ISLAND</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>On the 28th of June,—the very day of the attack at +Charleston,—Howe’s transports began to gather in +the lower bay. A few days more, and there were thirty +thousand troops waiting to be landed. It was impossible, +with the force Washington had, to prevent their +being put ashore at their commander’s convenience. It +was impossible to close the Narrows, to keep their ships +from the inner bay, or even to prevent their passing +up the river as they pleased. Washington could only +wait within the exposed town or within his trenches +on Brooklyn heights, which commanded the town almost +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span>as Dorchester and Charlestown heights commanded +Boston.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus131" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus131.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>WILLIAM MOULTRIE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>For a month and more Sir William waited, his troops +most of them still upon the ships, until he should first +attempt to fulfil his mission of peace and accommodation. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[252]</span>His brother, Admiral Lord Howe, joined him +there in July. They were authorized to offer unconditional +pardon, even now, to all who would submit. +The ministers in England could not have chosen commissioners +of peace more acceptable to the Americans +or more likely to be heard than the Howes. Not only +were they men of honor, showing in all that they did +the straightforward candor and the instinctive sense +of duty that came with their breeding and their training +in arms, but they were also brothers of that gallant +young soldier who had come over almost twenty years +ago to fight the French with Abercrombie, to be loved +by every man who became his comrade, and to lose +his life untimely fighting forward through the forests +which lay about Ticonderoga, a knightly and heroic +figure. But they could offer no concessions,—only +pardon for utter submission, and, for all their honorable +persistency, could find no one in authority among +the Americans who would make the too exacting exchange. +Their offers of pardon alternated with the +movements of their troops and their steady successes +in arms. Lord Howe issued his first overture of peace, +in the form of a public proclamation offering pardon, +immediately upon his arrival with his fleet at Sandy +Hook, and followed it up at once with messages to the +Congress at Philadelphia. Sir William Howe put his +troops ashore on the 22d of August, and made ready +to dislodge Washington from the heights of Brooklyn; +but on the 23d he too, in his turn, made yet another +offer of general pardon, by proclamation.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus132" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus132.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SIR WILLIAM HOWE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>On the 27th he drove the American forces on Long +Island in on their defences, and rendered the heights +at once practically untenable. Washington had but +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span>eighteen thousand half-disciplined militiamen with +which to hold the town and all the long shores of the +open bay and river, and had put ten thousand of +them across the river to hold Long Island and the +defences on the heights. Sir William had put twenty +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span>thousand men ashore for the attack on the heights; +and when Washington knew that his advanced guard +was driven in, and saw Sir William, mindful of Bunker +Hill, bestow his troops, not for an assault, but for +an investment of the heights, he perceived at once how +easily he might be cut off and trapped there, armed +ships lying at hand which might at any moment completely +command the river. Immediately, and as secretly +as quickly, while a single night held, he withdrew +every man and every gun, as suddenly and as +successfully as he had seized the heights at Dorchester.</p> + +<p>Again Sir William sent a message of conciliation +to the Congress, by the hands of General Sullivan, +his prisoner. On the 11th of September, before the next +movement of arms, Dr. Franklin, Mr. John Adams, +and Mr. Edward Rutledge met Lord Howe and Sir +William, as commissioners from the Congress, to discuss +possible terms of accommodation. Dr. Franklin +had been in London until March. During the past winter +he had more than once met Lord Howe in earnest +conference about American affairs, the ministers wishing +to find through him some way, if it were possible, +of quieting the colonies. But the ministers had not +been willing then to make the concessions which might +have ended the trouble, and their commissioners were +not authorized to make them now; and the conference +with the representatives of the Congress came to nothing, +as the conferences in London had come to nothing.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus133" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus133.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>HOWE’S PROCLAMATION PREPARATORY TO LEAVING BOSTON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[256]</span></p> + +<p>Washington could no more hold Manhattan Island +with the forces at his command than he could hold +Brooklyn heights. He had no choice in the end but +to retire. General Howe was cautious, moved slowly, +and handled his forces with little energy or decision; +Washington made stand and fought at every point +at which there was the least promise of success. His +men and his commanders were shamefully demoralized +by their defeat on Long Island, but he held them together +with singular tact and authority: repulsed the +enemy at Haarlem heights (September 16th), held his +own before them at White Plains (October 28th),—and +did not feel obliged to abandon the island until late in +November, after General Greene had fatally blundered +by suffering three thousand of the best trained men +of the scant continental force, with invaluable artillery, +small-arms, and stores, to be trapped and taken +at Fort Washington (November 16th).</p> + +<p>When he did at last withdraw, and leave Howe in +complete control of the great port and its approaches, +the situation was indeed alarming. He had been unspeakably +stung and disquieted, as he withdrew mile +by mile up the island, to see how uncertain his men +were in the field,—how sometimes they would fight +and sometimes they would not at the hot crisis of a +critical encounter; and now things seemed to have gone +utterly to pieces. He might at any moment be quite +cut off from New England. While he still faced Howe +on Manhattan Island, General Carleton, moving with +a British force out of Canada, had driven Benedict +Arnold up Champlain, despite stubborn and gallant +resistance (October 11th and 13th), and on the 14th of +October had occupied Crown Point. There he had +stopped; and later news came that he had withdrawn. +But apparently he could strike again almost when he +pleased, and threaten all the long line of the Hudson +even to where Howe lay at New York itself.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[257]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus134" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus134.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>EVACUATION OF BROOKLYN HEIGHTS</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[258]</span></p> + +<p>It was not mere defeat, however, that put the cast +almost of despair upon affairs as Washington saw +them that dismal autumn. His forces seemed to melt +away under his very eyes. Charles Lee, his chief +subordinate in command, too much a soldier of fortune +to be a man of honor, obeyed or disregarded his +orders at his own discretion. When once it was known +that General Washington had been obliged to abandon +the Hudson, consternation and defection spread +everywhere. On the 30th of November, when his defeat +seemed complete, it might be final, the Howes +joined in a fresh proclamation of pardon, inviting all, +once again, to submit and be forgiven; and it looked +for a little as if all who dared would take advantage +of the offer and make their peace with the enemy,—for +Washington now moved in a region where opinion +had from the first been sharply divided. While defection +spread he was in full retreat, with scarcely +three thousand men all told in his demoralized force,—that +handful ill-clad and stricken with disease, and +dwindling fast by desertion,—an overwhelming body +of the enemy, under Cornwallis, at his very heels as +he went, so that he dared hardly so much as pause +for rest until he had put the broad shelter of the Delaware +behind him. “These are the times that try men’s +souls,” cried Thomas Paine (December, 1776); “the +summer soldier and the sunshine patriot” were falling +away. One after another, that very summer, the delegates +of the several states had put their names to the +Declaration of Independence; but already there seemed +small prospect of making it good. To not a few it +already began to seem a piece of mere bravado, to be +repented of.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus135" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus135.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>CIRCULAR OF PHILADELPHIA COUNCIL OF SAFETY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[260]</span></p> + +<p>The real strength and hope of the cause lay in the +steadfastness and the undaunted initiative of the indomitable +Virginian whom the Congress had chosen +for the chief command. He proved himself a maker +as well as a commander of armies, struck oftenest when +he was deemed most defeated, could not by any reverse +be put out of the fighting. He was now for the first +time to give the British commanders a real taste of +his quality. What there was to be done he did himself. +The British stopped at the Delaware; but their +lines reached Burlington, within eighteen miles of Philadelphia, +and from Trenton, which they held in some +force, extended through Princeton to New Brunswick +and their headquarters at New York. Philadelphia was +stricken with utter panic. Sick and ragged soldiers +poured in from Washington’s camp, living evidences +of what straits he was in, and had to be succored and +taken care of; the country roads were crowded with +vehicles leaving the town laden with women and children +and household goods; the Congress itself incontinently +fled the place and betook itself to Baltimore. +Washington’s military stores were in the town, but he +could get no proper protection for them. It was at that +very moment, nevertheless, that he showed all the +world with what skill and audacity he could strike. +By dint of every resolute and persistent effort he had +before Christmas brought his little force to a fighting +strength of some six thousand. More than half of these +were men enlisted only until the new year should open, +but he moved before that.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus136" style="max-width: 32.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus136.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>OPERATIONS AROUND TRENTON AND PRINCETON. NUMBERS 76 + REPRESENT THE CAMPS OF GENERAL CORNWALLIS AND 77 THAT OF GENERAL + KNYPHAUSEN ON THE 23D OF JUNE, 1777</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span></p> + +<p>During the night of Christmas Day, 1776, ferried +by doughty fishermen from far Gloucester and Marblehead,—the +same hardy fellows who had handled +his boats the night he abandoned the heights of Brooklyn,—he +got twenty-five hundred men across the river +through pitchy darkness and pounding ice; and in +the early light and frost of the next morning he took +Trenton, with its garrison of nine hundred Hessians, +at the point of the bayonet. There he waited,—keeping +his unwilling militiamen to their service past the +opening of the year by dint of imperative persuasion +and a pledge of his own private fortune for their pay,—until +Cornwallis came down post-haste out of New +York with eight thousand men. Moving only to change +his position a little, he dared to wait until his adversary +was encamped, at nightfall of the 2d of January, +1777, within ear-shot of his trenches; then slipped northward +in the night, easily beat the British detachment +posted at Princeton, as the next day dawned and had +its morning; and could have taken or destroyed Cornwallis’s +stores at New Brunswick had his men been +adequately shod to outstrip the British following hard +behind them. As it was, he satisfied himself with +having completely flanked and thwarted his foe, and +withdrew safe to the heights of Morristown. The +British had hastily retired from Burlington upon the +taking of Trenton,—so hastily that they took neither +their cannon nor even their heavier baggage away +with them. Now they deemed it unsafe to take post +anywhere south of New Brunswick, until spring should +come and they could see what Washington meant to +do. Once again, therefore, the Americans controlled +New Jersey; and Washington ordered all who had +accepted General Howe’s offer of pardon either to withdraw +to the British lines or take the oath of allegiance +to the United States. Daring and a touch of genius +had turned despair into hope. Americans did not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span>soon forget that sudden triumph of arms, or that the +great Frederick of Prussia had said that that had been +the most brilliant campaign of the century.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus137" style="max-width: 12.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus137.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>HESSIAN BOOT</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>A soldier’s eye could see quickly and plainly enough +how the whole aspect of the war had been changed by +those brief, sudden, unexpected strokes at Trenton and +Princeton. Men near at hand, and looking for what +a soldier would deem it no business of his to reckon +with, saw that it had not only radically +altered the military situation, +but also the very atmosphere of +the times for all concerned. The +fighting at Trenton and Princeton +had been of no great consequence +in itself, but it had in every way +put the war beyond its experimental +stage. It had taught the British +commanders with what sort of +spirit and genius they had to deal, +and how certain it was that their +task must be carried to a finish +not only by conquering marches +and a mere occupation of the country, but by careful +strategy and the long plans of a set campaign. Moreover, +they now obviously had a country, and not an +insurgent army merely, to conquer,—and a vast country +at that. That surprising winter had set men’s sinews +to what they had undertaken, on the one side as on +the other.</p> + +<p>In December (1776) it had looked as if all firmness +had been unnerved and all hope turned to foreboding +by the success of the British at New York and in the +Jerseys. Joseph Galloway, of Pennsylvania, when +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[264]</span>that crisis came, took advantage of the opportunity +to remove within the British lines and cast in his lot +there with those who were ready to stake everything +upon their loyalty and the success of the British arms. +Others followed his example,—some out of panic, but +many, it seemed, not out of fear, but out of principle. +Only the other day Mr. Galloway had been the chief +figure in the Congress of Committees which spoke for +the colonies; for many a long day he had been the chief +figure in the politics of his own colony; and many of +those who made submission when he did were of families +of the first dignity and consequence. They, like him, +had been champions of colonial rights until it came +to the point of rebellion. They would not follow further. +Their example was imitated now, moreover, in their +act of formal submission, by some who had played the +part of patriot more boldly and with less compunction. +Mr. Samuel Tucker, even, who until this untoward +month had been president of New Jersey’s revolutionary +committee of safety, made his submission. It seemed +hard to find steadfastness anywhere.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus138" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus138.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>LETTER CONCERNING BRITISH OUTRAGES</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[266]</span></p> + +<p>But Washington’s genius and the license of the +British soldiery had turned the tide at last, when it +seemed upon the very point of becoming overwhelming. +The occupation of the British, brief as it had +been, had brought upon New York and the Jerseys +experiences like those of a country overrun by a foreign +soldiery permitted almost every license of conquest. +When the ministers in England found themselves, +in 1774, face to face with the revolt in the colonies, +they could count but 17,547 men all told in the King’s +forces; and when it came to sudden recruiting, they +could obtain very few enlistments. They dared not risk +conscription,—English opinion had never tolerated +that, except to meet invasion. They sent to America, +therefore, to reinforce General Howe, not only English +soldiers as many as they could muster, but a great +force of German troops as well, hired by the regiment, +their trained officers included, from the Landgrave of +Hesse-Cassel and other German princes, neighbors to +the German dominions of the House of Hannover. +It was close upon a thousand of these “Hessians” +(for the colonists knew them all by that single name) +that Washington had taken at Trenton, but not until +they and their comrades had had time to make every +country-side from New York to the Delaware dread +and hate them. The British commanders had suffered +their men, whether English or foreign, to plunder +houses, insult and outrage women, destroy fields of +grain, and help themselves to what the towns contained +almost as they pleased; and had hardened the faces +of ten of the angry colonists against them for every +one who made submission and sought to put himself +on their side, accordingly. Their marauding parties +made little distinction between friend and foe, so they +but got what they wanted. Washington could thank +them for doing more to check defections from the patriotic +party than he could possibly do for himself by +carrying out the orders of the Congress to disarm all +loyalists and bring recusants to a sharp reckoning.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp67" id="illus139" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus139.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>RECRUITING POSTER</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<div class="note"> + +<p><i>Editor’s Note.</i>—The blurred inscription at the bottom +of the poster reads as follows:</p> + +<p>That tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, and saturday, at +Spotswood, in Middlesex county, attendance will be given by +Lieutenant Reading, with his music and recruiting party +of —— company in Major Shute’s Battalion of the 11th regiment +of infantry, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Aaron Ogden, for +the purpose of receiving the enrollment of such youth of spirit +as may be willing to enter into this honourable service.</p> + +<p>The Encouragement, at this time, to enlist is truly liberal +and generous, namely, a bounty of twelve dollars, an annual +and fully sufficient supply of good and handsome cloathing, +a daily allowance of a large and ample ration of provisions, +together with sixty dollars a year in gold and silver money +on account of pay, the whole of which the soldier may lay up +for himself and friends, as all articles proper for his +subsistence and comfort are provided by law, without any +expence to him.</p> + +<p>Those who may favour this recruiting party with their +attendance as above will have an opportunity of hearing and +seeing in a more particular manner the great advantages which +these brave men will have who shall embrace this opportunity +of spending a few happy years in viewing the different parts +of this beautiful continent, in the honourable and truly +respectable character of a soldier, after which he may, +if he pleases, return home to his friends, with his pockets +full of money and his head covered with laurels.</p> + +<p class="center">GOD SAVE THE UNITED STATES.</p> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span></p> + +<p>And so the year 1777 dawned like a first year of settled +war and revolution. For a little while, at the outset +of the year, the Congress made Washington practical +dictator in every affair that concerned the prosecution +of the war. It authorized long enlistments, moreover, +instead of the makeshift enrolments for three months +which had hitherto kept Washington’s army always +a-making and to be made, dissolving and reforming +month by month. The Congress had, it is true, neither +the energy nor the authority it needed. It could get +little money to pay the troops; its agents seriously +mismanaged the indispensable business of supplying +the army with stores and clothing; and the men deserted +by the score in disgust. Washington declared, +in the summer of 1777, that he was losing more men +by desertion than he was gaining by enlistment, do +what he would. But these were difficulties of administration. +In spite of all dangers and discouragements, +it was evident that the continent was settling to its +task. And the end of the year showed the struggle +hopefully set forward another stage.</p> + +<p>The military operations of that memorable year +were a striking illustration of the magnitude of the +task the British generals were set to accomplish, and +of their singular lack of the energy, decision, and despatch +necessary to accomplish it. They seemed like +men who dallied and dreamed and did not mean to +succeed. They planned like men of action, but then +tarried and bungled at the execution of their plans. +It was their purpose that year (1777) to strike from +three several directions along the valley of the Hudson, +and break once for all the connection between the New +England colonies and their confederates. General +Burgoyne was to move, with eight thousand men, down +Lake Champlain; Colonel St. Leger, with a small but +sufficient force, along a converging line down the valley +of the Mohawk, from Oswego on Ontario; and General +Howe was to meet them from the south, moving +in strength up the Hudson. More than thirty-three +thousand men would have effectually swept the whole +of that great central valley, north and south, when +their plan was executed. But it was not executed. +The British commanders were to learn that, for their +armies, the interior of the country was impracticable.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus140" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus140.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JOHN BURGOYNE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span></p> + +<p>Both St. Leger and Burgoyne were baffled in that +vast wilderness. It was simple enough for Burgoyne +to descend the lakes and take once again the forts which +guarded them. Even Ticonderoga he took without +a blow struck. A precipitous height, which the Americans +had supposed inaccessible by any sort of carriage, +rose above the strong fortifications of the place beyond +a narrow strip of water; the English dragged cannon +to its summit; and General St. Clair promptly withdrew +in the night, knowing his position to be no longer +tenable. But it was another matter to penetrate the +forests which lay about Lake George and the upper +waters of the Hudson with militiamen out of every +country-side within reach swarming thicker and thicker +at every step the redcoats took into the depths of the +perplexing region. A thousand men Burgoyne felt +obliged to leave at Ticonderoga for the sake of his communications; +close upon a thousand more he lost (August +16th) at Bennington, whither he had sent them to +seize stores; and by the time he had reached the neighborhood +of Saratoga with the six thousand left him, +fully fourteen thousand provincials beset him. He +had been told that the people of the country through +which he was to pass would gladly give him aid and +succor; that those quiet forests of Vermont and New +York would even yield him, it might be, a regiment +or two of loyalists wherewith to recruit his ranks when +once his presence there should give the secluded settlers +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span>heart of grace to declare themselves openly for the +King. Instead of that, he presently had a formidable +force of provincial yeomanry out of Vermont dogging +his steps under General Lincoln; a like levy, hurriedly +drawn together out of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, +beat and captured his best German troops at +Bennington; the country was emptied of its people +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span>and of its cattle, was stripped of its forage even, as he +advanced; and every step he took threatened to cut +him off alike from his sources of supply and from his +lines of retreat. It maddened the watchful men of +those scattered homes to see him come with half a thousand +savages at his front. It had been bad enough +to see any invaders on that defenceless border: but the +presence of the redskins put their homes and their lives +in immediate and deadly peril, and they mustered as +they would have mustered to meet a threat of massacre. +Burgoyne himself would have checked his savage +allies when the mischief had been done and it was too +late; but he only provoked them to desert him and leave +him without guides in an almost pathless wilderness, +without appeasing the men their presence had brought +swarming upon his flanks.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus141" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus141.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>ARTHUR ST. CLAIR</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus142" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus142.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SAMUEL ADAMS</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus143" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus143.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BENJAMIN LINCOLN</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>He pushed forward nevertheless, dogged, indomitable, +determined to risk everything rather than fail +of his rendezvous with Howe and St. Leger at the +Hudson. And yet close upon the heels of his defeat +and heavy loss at Bennington came news that St. Leger +had already failed. Late in July, St. Leger had thrust +his way cautiously through the forests from Oswego +to the upper waters of the Mohawk; and there, on the +3d of August, he had set himself down to take Fort +Stanwix, with its little garrison of six hundred men +under Colonel Peter Gansevoort. There, if anywhere, +in those northern forests by the Mohawk, might men +who fought in the name of the King look to be bidden +Godspeed and given efficient aid and counsel by the +settlers of the country-side through which they moved. +There William Johnson (Sir William since the French +war) had reigned supreme for a long generation, his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[273]</span>energy, subtlety, quick resource, and never failing +power over men holding the restless Iroquois always +to their loyalty to the English, the English always to +their duty to the crown. Sir William had been dead +these three years; but his son, Sir John, still held his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[274]</span>ancient allies to their fealty and stood at the front of +those who would not accept the revolution wrought +at Boston and Williamsburg and Philadelphia. This +war among the English sadly puzzled the red warriors +of the forest. War between the king of the French +and the king of the English they understood; it was a +war of hostile peoples; but this war of the English +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[275]</span>against their chiefs? “You are two brothers,” they +said, “of one blood.” The Mohawks deemed it some +subtile treachery, as their great chief did, the redoubtable +Joseph Brant, himself trained with the English +boys in Mr. Wheelock’s school at Lebanon and taught +to see the white +man close at hand; +and the Cayugas +and Senecas followed +them in their +allegiance to the +mighty sachem +who “lived over the +great lake,” their +friend and ally +time out of mind. +The Onondagas +held off, neutral. +The Oneidas and +Tuscaroras, among +whom Mr. Kirkland +was missionary, +aided the patriots +when they +could, because he +wished it, but +would not take the +war-path. There were white loyalists, too, as well as +red, on that far frontier. Sir John Johnson was their +leader. Their regiment of Royal Greens, together with +John Butler’s Tory rangers, constituted the bulk of +St. Leger’s motley force of seventeen hundred, red men +and white. Scottish highlanders, stubborn Englishmen +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[276]</span>hot against the revolution, and restless Irishmen, +for the nonce on the side of authority, filled their +ranks.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus144" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus144.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp52" id="illus145" style="max-width: 21.875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus145.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SIR JOHN JOHNSON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus146" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus146.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JOSEPH BRANT</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus147" style="max-width: 20.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus147.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>PETER GANSEVOORT</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>But even there, in Sir William Johnson’s one-time +kingdom, enemies of King and Parliament mustered +stronger yet, and showed quicker concert, freer, more +instant union than the Tories. There were Dutch +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span>there, and Germans and Scots-Irish, who recked nothing +of the older ties that had bound them when it came to +the question whether they should yield in their own +affairs to masters over sea. Peter Gansevoort commanded +the little garrison at Stanwix; Nicholas Herkimer +brought eight +hundred men to his +succor. Brant and +Johnson trapped the +stout-hearted German +in a deadly ambush +close by Oriskany as +he came; but he beat +them off. While that +heroic struggle went +forward there in the +close ravine the hot +morning through (August +6, 1777), Gansevoort +made sally and +sacked Sir John’s +camp. Herkimer could +come no further; but +there came, instead, +rumors that Burgoyne +was foiled and taken +and the whole American army on the road to Stanwix. +It was only Benedict Arnold, with twelve hundred +Massachusetts volunteers; but the rumors they +industriously sent ahead of them carried the panic +they had planned, and when they came there was no +army to meet. St. Leger’s men were in full flight to +Oswego, the very Indians who had been their allies +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[278]</span>harrying them as they went, in mere wanton savagery +and disaffection.</p> + +<p>Though he knew now that St. Leger could not come, +though he knew nothing, and painfully conjectured +a thousand things, of Sir William Howe’s promised +movement below upon the river, Burgoyne pushed +forward to the Hudson and crossed it (September 13, +1777), to face the Americans under General Gates upon +the western bank. It was as safe to go forward as to +turn back. Gates, secure within his intrenchments, +would not strike; and he, his supplies instantly threatened +behind him, could not wait. On the 19th of September +he threw four thousand men forward through +the forest to turn, if it were possible, the flank of General +Gates’s army where it lay so still upon Bemis’s +Heights by Stillwater. But Arnold was too quick for +him. With three thousand men Arnold met and checked +him, moving with all the quick audacity and impetuous +dash of which he had given Guy Carleton a taste +upon Champlain and at the gates of Quebec, Daniel +Morgan and his Virginian riflemen again at his back +as they had been at far Quebec. His stroke having +failed, Burgoyne lay still for eighteen tedious days, +waiting once more for Sir Henry Clinton, now at last, +he knew, actually upon the river. On the 7th of October +he struck again. Clinton came too slowly. Burgoyne’s +lines of communication by the northern lakes, +long threatened by General Lincoln and his Vermonters, +were now actually cut off, and it was possible to +calculate just how few days’ rations remained to make +his campaign upon. He tried an attack with picked +men, moving quickly; but overwhelming forces met +him, and the inevitable Arnold, coming upon the field +when he was already beaten, turned his defeat almost +into a rout. He withdrew hopelessly towards Saratoga. +Every crossing of the river he found heavily guarded +against him. No succor came to him, or could come, +it seemed, either from the west or from the south; he +could find no safe way out of the wilderness; without +aid, the odds were too great against him; and on the +17th of October he capitulated.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[279]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus148" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus148.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FACSIMILE OF CLOSING PARAGRAPHS OF BURGOYNE’S SURRENDER</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[280]</span></p> + +<p>General Howe had moved south instead of north. +He fancied that it would bring him no small moral +advantage to take Philadelphia, the “capital” of the +insurgent confederacy; and he calculated that it ought +to be easily possible to do so before Burgoyne would +need him in the north. Early in June, accordingly, +he attempted to cross the Jerseys; but Washington, +striking from Morristown, threatened his flank in a +way which made him hesitate and draw back. He +returned to New York, and put eighteen thousand men +aboard his transports, to get at Philadelphia by water +from the south. It was the 25th of August, and Burgoyne +was needing him sorely in the northern forests, +before he had got ready for his land movement. He +had gone all the long way round about into Chesapeake +Bay, and had made his landing at the Head of Elk, in +Maryland. Washington met him behind the fords of +the Brandywine (September 11th), but could not withstand +him. He could only delay him. Defeat no longer +meant dismay for the Americans; Washington acted in +force as steadily and effectively after defeat as after victory. +It was the 27th of September before Sir William +entered Philadelphia. He was hardly settled there before +Washington attacked him again, at his outpost +at Germantown, in the thick mist of the morning of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span>the 4th of October, and would have taken the place +had not the mist confused and misled his own troops. +Meantime Burgoyne was trapped at Saratoga. On +October 3d Sir Henry Clinton had begun at last the +movement from New York for Burgoyne’s relief which +ought to have been begun in midsummer,—carrying +northward a strong fleet upon the river and an army +of three thousand men. But it was too late. Burgoyne’s +surrender was already inevitable. The net +result of the campaign was the loss of the northern +army and the occupation of Philadelphia. “Philadelphia +has taken Howe,” laughed Dr. Franklin, in Paris, +when they told him that Howe had taken Philadelphia.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus149" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus149.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>SCENE OF THE BATTLE OF THE BRANDYWINE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The long, slow year had been full of signs both good +and bad. International forces were beginning to work +in favor of the insurgent colonies. From the outset +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[282]</span>France and Spain had been willing to give them aid +against England, their traditional rival and enemy. +Since the summer of 1776 they had been promised +French and Spanish assistance through Beaumarchais, +acting ostensibly as the firm of “Roderigue Hortalez +et Cie.,” but really as the secret agent of the two governments; +and early in 1777 the fictitious firm had begun +actually to despatch vessels laden with arms and ammunition +to America. Private money also went into +the venture, but governments were known to be behind +it; and on January 5th, 1777, Mr. Franklin had +arrived in Paris to assist in bringing France into still +closer touch with the war for independence over sea. +As the year drew towards its close the great Frederick +of Prussia had forbidden troops hired in the other German +states to cross Prussian territory to serve the English +in America, and so had added his good-will to the +French and Spanish money. French, and even German +and Polish officers, too, volunteered for service in the +American armies. It was the gallant Polish patriot +Tadeusz Kosciuszko who had shown General Gates +how to intrench himself upon Bemis’s Heights.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[283]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus150" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus150.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>WASHINGTON’S PROCLAMATION</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[284]</span></p> + +<p>The winter was deeply disheartening, nevertheless, +for Washington. Having failed in the mist at Germantown, +he withdrew his army to Valley Forge, +whence he could watch Howe at Philadelphia, and +move as he moved, and yet himself feel safe against +attack; but utter demoralization had fallen upon the +Congress, sitting in a sort of exile at York, and his +army was brought to such straits of privation and suffering +in its exposed camp as he had never been obliged +to see it endure before. There was plenty of food in +the country; plenty even at the disposal of Congress +and in the stores of its commissariat. The British had +overrun very little of the fertile country; the crops had +been abundant and laborers had not been lacking to +gather them in,—especially there in thriving Pennsylvania. +But the Congress had lost all vigor alike +in counsel and in action. Men of initiative had withdrawn +from it to serve their states in the reorganization +of their several governments and in the command +of forces in the field. Sometimes scarcely a dozen +members could be got together to take part in its deliberations. +It yielded to intrigue,—even to intrigue +against Washington; allowed its executive committees, +and most of all the commissary department, upon which +the army depended, to fall into disorganization; listened +to censures and bickerings rather than to plans +of action; lost the respect of the states, upon which +its authority depended; and left the army almost to +shift for itself for sustenance. Fortunately it was a +mild winter. Fortunately Washington was masterful +and indomitable, and proved equal to checkmating +at a single move those who intrigued in the Congress +to displace him. Despite every bitter experience of +that dark and anxious season, he had when spring +came an army stronger and fitter for service than it +had been when he took it into winter quarters. The +lengthened term of service had given him at last an +army which might be drilled, and foreign officers,—notably +the capable Steuben,—had taught him how +to drill it.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus151" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus151.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BARON DE STEUBEN</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>General Howe’s winter passed easily and merrily +enough in Philadelphia. The place was full of people +of means and influence who hoped as heartily as Mr. +Galloway did for the success of the British arms. Some +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[285]</span>of the leading Quakers of the town, whose influence +was all for an accommodation of the quarrel with the +mother country, had been arrested the previous summer +(1777) and sent south by the patriot leaders; but +many more were left who were of their mind, and General +Howe met something like a welcome when he came +in the autumn. The fashionable young women of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[286]</span>the town were delighted to look their best and to use +their charms to the utmost at all the balls and social +gatherings that marked the gay winter of his stay, +and their parents were not displeased to see them shine +there. But for the soldiers’ coats one would have +thought that peace had come again.</p> + +<p>But the minds of the ministers in England were not +so much at ease. In February, 1778, Lord North introduced +and pressed through Parliament conciliatory +measures of the most radical sort, practically retracing +every misjudged step taken with regard to the colonies +since 1763; and commissioners of peace were +sent to America with almost plenipotentiary powers +of accommodation. But that very month a formal +treaty of alliance was signed between France and the +United States; by the time the peace commissioners +reached Philadelphia, England had a war with France +on her hands as well as a war with the colonies; there +was no rejoicing in the camp at Valley Forge over the +news of Lord North’s unexpected turn of purpose, but +there was very keen rejoicing when news of the French +alliance came. The Congress would not treat with +the commissioners. Conciliation had come too late; +for the colonies the aspect of the war was too hopeful.</p> + +<p>When the commissioners reached Philadelphia they +found General Clinton about to abandon it. Sir Henry +Clinton had succeeded General Howe in chief command +in May. His orders were to evacuate Philadelphia +and concentrate his forces once more at New +York. The town was as full of excitement and dismay +at the prospect as it had been but a little more +than a year ago at news of the British approach. When +the army began to move, three thousand loyalists +abandoned the town with it, going with the stores by +sea, while Sir Henry took his fifteen thousand men +overland through the Jerseys again.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[287]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp45" id="illus152" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus152.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FACSIMILE OF PLAY BILL</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[288]</span></p> + +<p>When he moved, Washington moved also; outstripped +him; caught him at a disadvantage at Monmouth +Court House (June 28, 1778); and would inevitably +have beaten him most seriously had not Charles Lee +again disobeyed him and spoiled the decisive movement +of the day,—Charles Lee, the soldier of fortune +whom the Americans had honored and trusted. He +had disobeyed before, when Washington was retreating +hard pressed from New York. This time he seemed +to play the coward. It was not known until afterwards +that he had played the traitor, too. Clinton got off, +but in a sort of rout, leaving his wounded behind him. +“Clinton gained no advantage except to reach New +York with the wreck of his army,” was the watchful +Frederick’s comment over sea. “America is probably +lost for England.”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp46" id="illus153" style="max-width: 23.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus153.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>CHARLES LEE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Even the seas were no longer free for the movements +of the British fleets, now that France was America’s +ally and French fleets were gathering under orders +for the American coast. Every month the war had +lasted the English had found their commerce and their +movement of stores and transports more and more +embarrassed by the American privateersmen. There +were bold and experienced seamen at every port of the +long coast. The little vessels which were so easily +set up and finished by skilful carpenters and riggers +in almost any quiet inlet were sure to be fast and deftly +handled when they got to sea; kept clear of his Majesty’s +fleets and of too closely guarded harbors; cruised +whithersoever the wits of their sagacious masters took +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[289]</span>them; and had generally to be heavily overmatched +to be beaten. They had taken more than five hundred +British soldiers from the transports before the Congress +at Philadelphia had uttered its Declaration of +Independence. Their prizes numbered more than four +hundred and fifty the year of Saratoga and Brandywine +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[290]</span>and the fight in the morning’s mist at Germantown, +though there were seventy ships of war upon +the coast. The very coasts of England herself were +not safe against them. Mr. Franklin went to France +in the autumn of 1776 with his pocket full of blank +letters of marque, and American privateersmen from +out the French ports caught prizes enough in English +waters to keep the commissioners in Paris well found +in money for their plans. In January, 1778, Captain +Rathburne, in the <i>Providence</i>, actually seized the fort +in the harbor of Nassau in New Providence of the Bahamas, +and took possession of town and shipping; +and in the spring of that same year John Paul Jones +performed the same daring feat at Whitehaven by +Solway Firth in England itself.</p> + +<p>These privateersmen, it turned out, were more to be +feared for the present than the fleets of France. The +Count d’Estaing was, indeed, despatched to America +with twelve ships of the line and six frigates, with four +thousand troops aboard; and his fleet appeared off +Sandy Hook in midsummer, 1778, while Sir Henry +Clinton was still fresh from his fright at Monmouth. +But the too cautious admiral came and went, and that +was all. He would not attempt an attack upon the +English fleet within the bay at New York, though it +was of scarcely half his strength. His pilots told him +his larger ships could not cross the bar. Newport +was the only other harbor the English held; and there +he allowed Lord Howe to draw him off. A storm separated +the fleets before they could come to terms, and +his cruise ended peaceably in Boston harbor. But it +was a heavy thing for England to have French fleets +to reckon with, and embarrassments thickened very +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[291]</span>ominously about her. She had absolutely no hold on +America, it seemed, outside the lines actually occupied +by her armies at Newport and New York; the very +sea was beset, for her merchantmen; and France was +now kindled into war against her.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp40" id="illus154" style="max-width: 23.4375em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus154.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>REDUCED FACSIMILE OF INSTRUCTIONS FROM + CONGRESS TO PRIVATEERS</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[292]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp30" id="illus155" style="max-width: 12.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus155.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>CONTINENTAL LOTTERY BOOK</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>And yet the Americans, too, were beset. They had +not only their long coasts to watch and British armies +to thwart and checkmate, but their western borders also +to keep, against Tory and +savage. The Iroquois country, +in particular, and all +the long valleys of the Mohawk, +the Unadilla, and the +Susquehanna, were filled +with the terrors of raid and +massacre throughout that +disappointing and anxious +summer of 1778. The stubborn +loyalists of the forest +country, with their temper +still of the untamed highlands +of old Scotland or of +the intractable country-sides +of old England, had been +driven into exile by the uncompromising +patriots, their +neighbors, who outnumbered +them. But they had not +gone far. They had made +their headquarters, the more +dogged and determined of +them, at Niagara, until this +score should be settled. Sir +John Johnson was still +their leader, for all he had been so discomfited before +Fort Stanwix; and John Butler and Walter Butler, +father and son, men touched with the savagery of the +redmen, their allies. Joseph Brant, that masterful +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[293]</span>spirit who was a sort of self-appointed king among +the savage Mohawks, did not often willingly forget +the precepts of that Christian creed to which good Mr. +Wheelock had drawn him in his boyhood, and held +the redmen back when he could from every wanton +deed of blood; but the Butlers stopped at nothing, and +white men and red made common cause against the +border settlements. Their cruel strokes were dealt +both far and near. Upon a day in July, 1778, never +to be forgotten, twelve hundred men fell upon the far-away +Wyoming Valley upon the Susquehanna and +harried it from end to end until it was black and desolate. +In November a like terrible fate fell upon peaceful +Cherry Valley, close at hand. There could be no +peace or quarter until the hands of these men were +stayed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[294]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp45" id="illus156" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus156.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>REDUCED FACSIMILE OF THE FIRST AND LAST PARTS OF PATRICK + HENRY’S LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS TO GEORGE ROGERS CLARK</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus157" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus157.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>GEORGE ROGERS CLARK</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>But, though very slowly, the end came. The men +who mustered in the patriotic ranks knew the forest +and were masters of its warfare. They had only to +turn to it in earnest to prevail. There were men upon +the border, too, who needed but a little aid and countenance +to work the work of pioneer statesmen on the +western rivers. Most conspicuous among these was +George Rogers Clark, the young Saxon giant who, in +1777, left his tasks as pioneer and surveyor on the lands +which lay upon the south of the great river Ohio in +far Kentucky, Virginia’s huge western county, and +made his way back to the tide-water country to propose +to Mr. Henry, now governor of the revolutionized commonwealth, +an expedition for the conquest of the +“Illinois country” which lay to the north of the river. +He was but five-and-twenty, but he had got his stalwart +stature where men came quickly into their powers, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[295]</span>deep in the forests, where he had learned woodcraft +and had already shown his mettle among men. Mr. +Henry and Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Wythe and Mr. +Madison, whom he consulted, approved his purpose +very heartily. It was a thing which must be prepared +for very quietly, and pushed, when once begun, with +secrecy and quick despatch; but the mustering of men +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[296]</span>and the gathering of munitions and supplies were incidents +which made no stir in those days of familiar +war. Clark could bring together what force he pleased +at Pittsburgh, and excite only the expectation that a +new band of armed men were about to set out for the +frontiers of Kentucky. In May, 1778, he was ready. +He took but one hundred and eighty picked riflemen, a +modest flotilla of small boats, and a few light pieces +of artillery, but they sufficed. Before the summer +was out he had gained easy mastery of the little settlements +which lay to the northward upon the Mississippi +and within the nearer valley of the Wabash. He had +an infinitely pleasing way of winning the friendship +of men upon any border, and the Frenchmen of the +settlements of the Illinois country relished the change +he promised them, liked well enough the prospect of being +quit of the English power. There were few Englishmen +to deal with.</p> + +<p>When winter came Colonel Hamilton, the British +commander at Detroit, came south into the forest with +a motley force of five hundred men, mixed of regulars, +Tories, and Indians, such as St. Leger had taken against +Stanwix, and occupied Vincennes again, upon the +Wabash; but Clark struck once more, sending his boats +up the river and bringing his picked force straight across +the frozen forests from Kaskaskia by the Mississippi; +and by the end of February, 1779, Colonel Hamilton +and all his levy were his prisoners. The Illinois country +was added to Virginia, and the grant of her ancient +charter, “up into the land, west and northwest,” seemed +made good again by the daring of her frontiersmen. +He could have taken Detroit itself, Clark declared, +with but a few hundred men. While he cleared the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[297]</span>northern rivers of the British arms a force like his own +descended the Mississippi, seized Natchez, and cleared +the southern reaches of the great stream.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp71" id="illus158" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus158.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>GEORGE CLARK’S FINAL SUMMONS TO COLONEL HAMILTON TO SURRENDER</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>That winter had witnessed a sharp shifting of the +scene of the war in the east. The British commanders +there had turned away from General Washington +and the too closely guarded reaches of the Hudson to +try for better fortune in the far south. In December, +1778, Clinton sent thirty-five hundred men from New +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[298]</span>York to the southern coasts by sea, and on the 29th +Savannah was taken, with comparative ease, there +being but a scant six hundred to defend it. The town +once taken, it proved an easy matter, at that great +remove from the centre of the American strength, to +overrun the country back of it during the early weeks +of 1779. But after that came delay again, and inaction, +as of those who wait and doubt what next to do. +The new year saw nothing else decisive done on either +side. In April Spain made common cause with France +against England; but Washington waited in vain +the year through to see the fighting transferred to +America. A few strategic movements about New +York, where Clinton lay; a few raids by the British; +a few sharp encounters that were not battles, and the +year was over. The British made sallies here and +there, to pillage and burn, to keep the country in awe +and bring off whatever they could lay hands upon, +striking sometimes along the coast as far as Connecticut +and even the Chesapeake at the south; but armed +bands were quick to muster to oppose and harass them +wherever they went, and it was never safe for them to +linger. Clinton thrust his lines out upon the river +and fortified Stony Point; but Anthony Wayne stormed +the place of a sudden, with twelve hundred men, and +took it, with unshotted guns at the point of the bayonet +before dawn on the morning of the 15th of July, +and brought more than five hundred prisoners away +with him, having come with that quick fury of reckless +attack which made men call him Mad Anthony, +and having as quickly withdrawn again. Harry Lee +stormed Paulus Hook in like fashion, and the British +were nowhere very easy within their lines. But, for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[299]</span>the rest, there was little to break the monotony of waiting +for news of the war at England’s door, where the +fleets of the allies threatened her. Privateersmen were +as busy as ever, and as much to be feared, almost, as +the French cruisers themselves; but the formal operations +of the war seemed vaguely postponed. Without +the co-operation of a naval force it was impossible +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[300]</span>for Washington to do anything against Sir Henry +at New York.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus159" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus159.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>CHARLES JAMES FOX</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>While he waited, therefore, he despatched General +Sullivan with five thousand men into the forest country +of the Mohawk and the Susquehanna to make an +end of the cruel mischief wrought upon defenceless +homes by the bitter Tories and their red allies. The +little army, sent forward in divisions, swept through +the country it was bidden clear like men who searched +stream and valley upon a journey of discovery; converged +to meet their hunted foes, but fifteen hundred +strong, where they lay at bay within a bend of the +Chemung,—the full rally of the forest country, British +regulars, Tory rangers, Indian braves, Johnson, the +Butlers, Joseph Brant, every leader they acknowledged, +united to direct them,—and overwhelmed them; +ravaged the seats of Seneca and Cayuga far and near, +till neither village nor any growing thing that they +could find upon which men could subsist was left this +side the Genesee; stopped short only of the final thing +they had been bidden attempt, the capture of the stronghold +at Niagara itself.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[301]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp45" id="illus160" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus160.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JOHN SULLIVAN</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>That was a summer’s reckoning which redmen far +and near were not likely to forget. In April a little +army of frontiersmen under Colonel Evan Shelby, +that stout pioneer out of Maryland who brought hot +Welsh blood to the task, swept suddenly along the +northward reaches of the Tennessee and harried the +country of the Chickamaugas, among whom Tories +and British alike had been stirring war. In August, +Colonel Brodhead, ordered to co-operate with General +Sullivan, had taken six hundred men from his post +at Fort Pitt, whence Clark had made his exit into the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[302]</span>west, and had destroyed the Indian settlements by the +Alleghany and upon French Creek, the old routes of +the French from the lakes to the Ohio. Such work +was never finished. The Indians were for a little dislodged, +disconcerted, and put to sad straits to live; +but they were not conquered. The terror bred a deeper +thirst for vengeance among them, and a short respite +of peace was sure to be followed when a new year came +in with fresh flashes of war on the border, as lurid +and ominous as ever. The danger was lessened, nevertheless. +The final conquest of the Indian country +was at least begun. The backwoodsmen were within +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[303]</span>sight of ultimate mastery when once peace should +bring settlers crowding westward again.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp63" id="illus161" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus161.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>CASIMIR PULASKI</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The fighting at sea that memorable year of doubt +was of a like import,—full of daring and stubborn courage, +planned and carried through with singular initiative +and genius, quick with adventure, bright with +every individual achievement, but of necessity without +permanent consequence. Late in July, 1779, +Captain Paul Jones had sailed from a port of France +in command of a little squadron, half American, half +French, with which the energy of Mr. Franklin had +supplied him. His flag-ship, the <i>Bon Homme Richard</i>, +was a worn-out French East Indiaman, fitted with forty +guns, many of which were unserviceable; his French +consorts were light craft, lightly armed; only one ship +of the squadron was fully fit for the adventures he +promised himself, having come fresh from the stocks +in America, and she was intrusted to the command +of a French captain who obeyed orders or not, as he +pleased. But Jones was a man to work with what +he had, and made even that improvised fleet suffice. +With it he cruised the whole length of the western coast +of Ireland and circled Scotland. Off Flamborough +Head he fell in with the <i>Serapis</i>, 44, and the <i>Countess +of Scarborough</i>, 20, the convoy of a fleet of merchantmen, +and himself took the larger ship almost unassisted +in a desperate fight after sunset, in the first +watch of the night of the 23d of September. Neither +ship survived the encounter forty-eight hours, so completely +had they shot each other to pieces, and no +man who followed the sea was likely to forget what he +heard of that close grapple in the gathering night in +the North Sea. “If I fall in with him again, I will +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[304]</span>make a lord of him,” Jones exclaimed, when he heard +that the King had knighted Captain Pearson, of the +<i>Serapis</i>, for the gallant fight.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus162" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus162.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JOHN PAUL JONES</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[305]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus163" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus163.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>THE FIGHT BETWEEN BON HOMME RICHARD AND SERAPIS</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[306]</span></p> + +<p>For a little, in the autumn, it looked as if the naval +aid for which General Washington waited had come +at last. The Count d’Estaing was in the West Indies +with a strong fleet, from an encounter with which the +English commander in those waters had drawn off to +port again to refit. The count was willing, while his +hands were free, to co-operate in an attack upon the +southern coast at Savannah. A portion of Washington’s +army was sent south to join General Lincoln in +South Carolina for the attempt. Count d’Estaing +put six thousand troops aboard his fleet, and by the +16th of September was within the harbor. But he did +not strike quickly or boldly enough, took the slow way +of siege to reduce the place, suffered the English commander +to make good both the rally of his scattered +force and the fortification of his position, and had done +nothing when it was high time for him to be back in +the Indies to guard the possessions of his own king +against the English. A last assault (October 9th) +failed and he withdrew.</p> + +<p>The next year a like disappointment was added. In +midsummer a French fleet arrived upon the northern +coast, but it proved impossible to use it. On the 10th of +July a French squadron put in at Newport and landed a +force of six thousand men under the Comte de Rochambeau; +but a powerful British fleet presently blockaded +the port, and Rochambeau could not prudently withdraw +while the fleet was threatened. He had been +ordered to put himself at General Washington’s disposal; +but he could not do so till the blockade was +raised. Meanwhile not only Georgia but the entire +South seemed lost and given over to British control. +In the spring, Clinton had concentrated all his forces +once more at New York; and then, leaving that all-important +place strong enough to keep Washington +where he was, he had himself taken eight thousand +men by sea to Charleston. Two thousand more troops, +already in the South, joined him there, and by the +12th of May (1780) he had taken not only the place +itself, but General Lincoln and three thousand men +besides. South Carolina teemed with loyalists. Partisan +bands, some serving one side, some the other, swept +and harried the region from end to end. Wherever the +British moved in force, they moved as they pleased, +and were masters of the country. In June General +Clinton deemed it already safe to take half his force +back to New York, and Cornwallis was left to complete +the work of subjugation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[307]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus164" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus164.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>WASHINGTON AND ROCHAMBEAU IN THE TRENCHES AT YORKTOWN</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[308]</span></p> + +<p>That same month the Congress conferred the chief +command in the South upon General Horatio Gates, +who had been in command of the army to which Burgoyne +had surrendered at Saratoga,—the army which +Schuyler had made ready and which Morgan and Arnold +had victoriously handled. Intriguers had sought, while +Washington lay at Valley Forge, to substitute Gates +for the commander-in-chief; now he was to show how +happy a circumstance it was that that selfish intrigue +had failed. He met Cornwallis at Camden, in South +Carolina, his own force three thousand men, Cornwallis’s +but two thousand, and was utterly, even shamefully, +defeated (August 16, 1780). “We look on America +as at our feet,” said Horace Walpole, complacently, +when the news had made its way over sea.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus165" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus165.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>HORATIO GATES</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>And certainly it seemed as if that dark year brought +nothing but disaster upon the Americans. It was now +more evident than ever that they had no government +worthy of the name. The Congress had no more authority +now than it had had in 1774, when it was admitted +to be nothing but a “Congress of the Committees +of Correspondence”; and it was not now made up, as +it had then been, of the first characters in America, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[309]</span>the men of the greatest force and initiative in the patriotic +party. It could advise, but it could not command; +and the states, making their own expenditures, which +seemed heavy enough, maintaining their own militia, +guarding their own interests in the war, following +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[310]</span>their own leaders, often with open selfishness and indifference +to the common cause, paid less and less heed +to what it asked them to do. It could not raise money +by taxation; it could raise very little by loan, having +no legal power to make good its promises of repayment. +Beaumarchais found to his heavy cost that it was next +to impossible to recover the private moneys advanced +through “Roderigue Hortalez et Cie.” The troops +upon whom Washington and his generals depended +were paid in “continental” paper money, which, by +1780, had grown so worthless that a bushel of wheat +could scarcely be had for a month’s pay. Wholesale +desertion began. Enlisted men by the score quit the +demoralized camps. It was reckoned that as many +as a full hundred a month went over to the enemy, if +only to get food and shelter and clothing. Those +who remained in the depleted ranks took what they +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[311]</span>needed from the farms about them, and grew sullen +and mutinous. Promises of money and supplies +proved as fruitless as promises of reinforcements from +France.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus166" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus166.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BENEDICT ARNOLD’S OATH OF ALLEGIANCE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus167" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus167.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BENEDICT ARNOLD</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus168" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus168.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>JOHN ANDRÉ</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Even deliberate treason was added. Benedict Arnold, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[312]</span>whom every soldier in the continental ranks deemed +a hero because of the gallant things he had done at +Quebec and Saratoga, and whom Washington had +specially loved and trusted, entered into correspondence +with the enemy, and plotted to give West Point and +the posts dependent upon it into the hands of the British. +Congress had been deeply unjust to him, promoting +his juniors and inferiors and passing him over; a thousand +slights had cut him; a thousand subtle forces of +discouragement and of social temptation had been at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[313]</span>work upon him, and he had yielded,—to pique, to bitter +disappointment, to the disorders of a mind unstable, +irritable, without nobility. His treason was discovered +in time to be foiled, but the heart-breaking fact of it +cut Washington to the quick, +like a last and wellnigh fatal +stroke of bitter dismay. Who +could be trusted now? and +where was strength to be got +wherewith to carry the languishing +work to a worthy +finish?</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp58" id="illus169" style="max-width: 17.1875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus169.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>MAJOR ANDRÉ’S WATCH</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>It was the worst of all the +bad signs of the times that no +government could be agreed +upon that would give the +young states a real union, +or assure them of harmony +and co-operation in the exercise of the independence +for which they were struggling. Definitive articles of +confederation had been suggested as of course at the +time the Declaration of Independence was adopted; +and the next year (November 15, 1777) the Congress +had adopted the plan which Mr. Dickinson had drawn +up and which its committee had reported July 12, 1776. +But the states did not all accept it, and without unanimous +adoption it could not go into operation. All except +Delaware and Maryland accepted it before the +close of 1778, and Delaware added her ratification in +1779; but Maryland still held out,—waiting until the +great states, like Virginia, should forego some part of +their too great preponderance and advantage in the +prospective partnership by transferring their claims +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[314]</span>to the great northwestern territories to the proposed +government of the confederation; and her statesmanlike +scruples still kept the country without a government +throughout that all but hopeless year 1780.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp93" id="illus170" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus170.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BENEDICT ARNOLD’S PASS TO MAJOR ANDRÉ</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>But the autumn showed a sudden turning of the +tide. Cornwallis had ventured too far from his base +of operations on the southern coast. He had gone +deep into the country of the Carolinas, north of him, +and was being beset almost as Burgoyne had been when +he sought to cross the forests which lay about the upper +waters of the Hudson. Gates had been promptly superseded +after his disgraceful discomfiture and rout at +Camden, and the most capable officers the long war +had bred were now set to accomplish the task of forcing +Cornwallis to a checkmate: Nathanael Greene, whose +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[315]</span>quality Washington had seen abundantly tested at +Trenton and Princeton, at the Brandywine, at Germantown, +and at Monmouth; the dashing Henry Lee, +whom nature and the hard school of war had made a +master of cavalry; the veteran and systematic Steuben; +Morgan, who had won with Arnold in the fighting +about Saratoga, and had kept his name unstained; +and William Washington, a distant kinsman of the +commander-in-chief, whom English soldiers were to remember +with Lee as a master of light horsemen. The +wide forests were full, too, of partisan bands, under +leaders whom the British had found good reason to +dread.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus171" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus171.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>MAJOR ANDRÉ’S POCKET-BOOK</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus172" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus172.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>VIRGINIA COLONIAL CURRENCY</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The conquest of the back country of the Carolinas +was always doing and to be done. The scattered settlements +and lonely plantations were, indeed, full of men +who cared little for the quarrel with the mother country +and held to their old allegiance as of course, giving +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[316]</span>to the King’s troops ready aid and welcome; and there +were men there, as everywhere, who loved pillage and all +lawless adventure, upon whom the stronger army could +always count to go in its ranks upon an errand of subjugation; +but there were also men who took their spirit +and their principles from the new days that had come +since the passage of the Stamp Act, and, though they +were driven from their homes and left to shift for themselves +for mere subsistence when the King’s forces were +afield, they came back again when the King’s men +were gone, and played the part, albeit without Indian +allies, that the ousted Tories played in the forest country +of New York. The English commanders at Savannah +and Charleston had hit at last, nevertheless, upon +effective means of holding, not their seaports merely, +but the country itself. The forces they sent into the +interior were made up, for the most part, of men recruited +in America, and were under the command of officers +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[317]</span>fitted by school and temperament for their irregular +duty of keeping a whole country-side in fearful discipline +of submission. Many a formidable band of “Whigs” +took the field against them, but were without a base +of supplies, moved among men who spied upon them, +and were no match in the long run for Tarleton and +Ferguson,—Tarleton with his reckless, sudden onset +and savage thoroughness of conquest, and Ferguson +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[318]</span>with his subtile gifts at once of mastery and of quiet +judgment that made him capable of succeeding either +as a soldier who compelled or as a gentleman who won +men to go his way and do his will. South Carolina +seemed once and again to lie almost quiet under these +men.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus173" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus173.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>LORD CORNWALLIS</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus174" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus174.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>WILLIAM WASHINGTON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[319]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp45" id="illus175" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus175.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>BANASTRE TARLETON</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[320]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp63" id="illus176" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus176.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FRANCIS MARION</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>But Ferguson, for all he had the gifts of a soldier +statesman, had gone too far. He had carried his persuasion +of arms to the very foothills of the western mountains, +and had sent his threats forward into the western +country that lay beyond the passes of the mountains, +where hardy frontiersmen of whom he knew almost +nothing had so far kept their homes against the redmen +without thought of turning to the east. His threats +had angered and aroused them. They had put their +riflemen from the back country of Carolina and Virginia +into the saddle hundreds strong, had pushed +league upon league through the passes of the mountains, +from the far-off waters of the Holston, and had +surrounded and utterly overwhelmed him at King’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[321]</span>Mountain (October 7, 1780). There he lost a thousand +men and his own life. “A numerous army appeared +on the frontier,” reported Lord Rawdon, “drawn from +Nolachucky and other settlements beyond the mountains, +whose very names had been unknown to us.” +The hold of the British upon the inland settlements +was of a sudden loosened, and Cornwallis had reason +to know at once what a difference that made to him.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="map3" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/map3.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>ENGLISH COLONIES, 1763-1775.</p> + <p>BORMAY & CO., N. Y.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp59" id="illus177" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus177.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>DANIEL MORGAN</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[322]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus178" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus178.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>COUNT ROCHAMBEAU</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[323]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp45" id="illus179" style="max-width: 26.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus179.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>NATHANAEL GREENE</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[324]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus180" style="max-width: 28.125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus180.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>FACSIMILE OF THE LAST ARTICLE OF CAPITULATION AT YORKTOWN</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[325]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp71" id="illus181" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus181.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>PAROLE OF CORNWALLIS</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Early in December came General Greene to take the +place of Gates, and new difficulties faced the English +commander. Greene kept no single force afield, to +be met and checkmated, but sent one part of his little +army towards the coast to cut Cornwallis’s communications, +and another southward against the inland posts +and settlements where scattered garrisons lay between +the commander-in-chief and his base at Charleston +in the south. With the first detachment went Francis +Marion, a man as formidable in strategy and sudden +action as Ferguson, and the men who had attached +themselves to him as if to a modern Robin Hood. With +the second went Daniel Morgan, a man made after the +fashion of the redoubtable frontiersmen who had brought +Ferguson his day of doom at King’s Mountain. Tarleton +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[326]</span>was sent after Morgan with eleven hundred men, +found him at the Cowpens (January 17, 1781), just +within the border upon which King’s Mountain lay, +and came back a fugitive, with only two hundred and +seventy men. Greene drew his forces together again, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[327]</span>and at Guilford Court House Cornwallis beat him, outnumbered +though he was (March 15th). But to beat +Greene, it seemed, was of no more avail than to beat +General Washington. The country was no safer, the +communications of the army were as seriously threatened, +the defeated army was as steady and as well in +hand after the battle as before; and the English withdrew +to Wilmington, on the coast.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp48" id="illus182" style="max-width: 20.3125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus182.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>ORDER PERMITTING THE ILLUMINATION OF PHILADELPHIA</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="illus183" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus183.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>NELSON HOUSE, CORNWALLIS’S HEADQUARTERS, YORKTOWN</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>It seemed a hazardous thing to take an army thence +southward again, with +supplies, through the +forests where Greene +moved; news came that +General Arnold was in +Virginia with a considerable +body of Clinton’s +troops from New York, +to anticipate what the +southern commander +had planned to do for +the conquest of the Old +Dominion when the Carolinas +should have been +“pacified” from end to end; and Cornwallis determined +to move northward instead of southward, and join +Arnold in Virginia. Greene moved a little way in +his track, and then turned southward again against +the garrisons of the inland posts. Lord Rawdon beat +him at Hobkirk’s Hill (April 25th) and held him off +at Eutaw Springs (September 8th); but both times the +English withdrew to save their communications; and, +though the work was slow in the doing, before winter +came again they were shut within the fortifications +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[328]</span>of Charleston and the country-sides were once more +in American possession, to be purged of loyalist bands +at leisure.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus184" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus184.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>EVOLUTION OF THE AMERICAN FLAG</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>In Virginia, Lord Cornwallis moved for a little while +freely and safely enough; but only for a little while. +Baron Steuben had been busy, winter and spring, raising +recruits there for an army of defence; General +Washington hurried the Marquis de Lafayette southward +with twelve hundred light infantry from his +own command; and by midsummer, 1781, Lafayette +was at the British front with a force strong enough +to make it prudent that Cornwallis should concentrate +his strength and once more make sure of his base of +supplies at the coast. His watchful opponents out-manœuvred +him, caught his forces once and again +in detail, and made his outposts unsafe. By the first +week in August he had withdrawn to the sea and had +taken post behind intrenchments at Yorktown, something +more than seven thousand strong.</p> + +<p>There, upon the peninsula which he deemed his +safest coign of vantage, he was trapped and taken. +At last the French were at hand. The Comte de Grasse, +with twenty-eight ships of the line, six frigates, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[329]</span>twenty thousand men, was in the West Indies. Washington +had begged him to come at once either to New +York or to the Chesapeake. In August he sent word +that he would come to the Chesapeake. Thereupon +Washington once again moved with the sudden directness +he had shown at Trenton and Princeton. +Rochambeau was free now to lend him aid. With +four thousand Frenchmen and two thousand of his +own continentals, Washington marched all the long +four hundred miles straightway to the York River, +in Virginia. There he found Cornwallis, as he had +hoped and expected, already penned between Grasse’s +fleet in the bay and Lafayette’s trenches across the +peninsula. His six thousand men, added to Lafayette’s +five thousand and the three thousand put ashore from +the fleet, made short work enough of the siege, drawn +closer and closer about the British; and by the +19th of October (1781) they accepted the inevitable +and surrendered. The gallant Cornwallis himself could +not withhold an expression of his admiration for the +quick, consummate execution of the plans which had +undone him, and avowed it with manly frankness to +Washington. “But, after all,” he cried, “your Excellency’s +achievements in New Jersey were such that +nothing could surpass them.” He liked the mastery +by which he had been outplayed and taken.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>Here our general <i>authorities</i> are the same as for the period covered +by the last chapter. But to these we now add Edward J. Lowell’s +<i>The United States of America, 1775-1782</i>, in the seventh volume of +Winsor’s <i>Narrative and Critical History of America</i>; John Jay’s +<i>Peace Negotiations, 1782-1783</i>, in the same volume of Winsor; +G. W. Greene’s <i>Historical View of the American Revolution</i>; the +second volume of W. B. Weeden’s <i>Economic and Social History +of New England</i>; P. O. Hutchinson’s <i>Life and Letters of Thomas +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[330]</span>Revolution</i>; Lorenzo Sabine’s <i>Biographical Sketches of Adherents +to the British Crown</i>; George E. Ellis’s <i>The Loyalists and +their Fortunes</i>, in the seventh volume of Winsor; Edward E. Hale’s +<i>Franklin in France</i>; George Ticknor Curtis’s <i>Constitutional +History of the United States</i>; and William H. Trescot’s <i>Diplomacy +of the American Revolution</i>. Abundant references to authorities +on the several campaigns of the revolutionary war may be found +in Albert B. Hart and Edward Channing’s <i>Guide to American +History</i>, an invaluable manual.</p> + +<p>The <i>sources</i> for the period may be found in the contemporary +pamphlets, speeches, and letters published at the time and since, +among which may be mentioned, as of unusual individuality, +Thomas Paine’s celebrated pamphlet entitled <i>Common Sense</i>, the +writings of Joseph Galloway, some of which are reproduced in +Stedman and Hutchinson’s <i>Library of American Literature</i>, and +St. John de Crevecœur’s <i>Letters from an American Farmer</i>. Here +again we rely, too, on the <i>Journals of Congress</i> and the <i>Secret +Journals of Congress</i>; the <i>Debates of Parliament</i>; Peter Force’s +<i>American Archives</i>; Hezekiah Niles’s <i>Principles and Acts of the +Revolution in America</i>; <i>The Annual Register</i>; Jared Sparks’s +<i>Correspondence of the American Revolution</i> and <i>Diplomatic Correspondence +of the American Revolution</i>; Francis Wharton’s <i>The +Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States</i>; +Thomas Anburey’s <i>Travels through the Interior Parts of America +(1776-1781)</i>; the Marquis de Chastellux’s <i>Travels in North +America in the Years 1780, 1781, and 1782</i>; and the <i>Memoirs</i> and +<i>Collections</i> of the Historical Societies of the several original states.</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[331]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX">APPENDIX</h2> + +</div> + +<h3>ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION<br> +<span class="smaller">OF THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES</span></h3> + +<p class="hanging">Betweene the plantations vnder the Gouernment of the +Massachusetts, the Plantacons vnder the Gouernment +of New Plymouth, the Plantacons vnder the Gouernment +of Connectacutt, and the Gouernment of New +Haven with the Plantacons in combinacon therewith</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Whereas</span> wee all came into these parts of America +with one and the same end and ayme, namely, to advaunce +the kingdome of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to +enjoy the liberties of the Gospell in puritie with peace. And +whereas in our settleinge (by a wise Providence of God) +we are further dispersed vpon the Sea Coasts and Riuers +then was at first intended, so that we cannot according +to our desire, with convenience communicate in one Gouernment +and Jurisdiccon. And whereas we live encompassed +with people of seuerall Nations and strang languages which +heareafter may proue injurious to vs or our posteritie. And +forasmuch as the Natives have formerly committed sondry +insolences and outrages vpon seueral Plantacons of the +English and have of late combined themselues against +vs. And seing by reason of those sad Distraccons in England, +which they have heard of, and by which they know +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[332]</span>we are hindred from that humble way of seekinge advise +or reapeing those comfortable fruits of protection which +at other tymes we might well expecte. Wee therefore doe +conceiue it our bounden Dutye without delay to enter into +a present consotiation amongst our selues for mutual help +and strength in all our future concernements: That as +in Nation and Religion, so in other Respects we bee and +continue one according to the tenor and true meaninge +of the ensuing Articles: Wherefore it is fully agreed and +concluded by and betweene the parties or Jurisdiccons +aboue named, and they joyntly and seuerally doe by these +presents agreed and concluded that they all bee, and henceforth +bee called by the Name of the United Colonies of New-England.</p> + +<p>II. The said United Colonies, for themselues and their +posterities, do joyntly and seuerally, hereby enter into +a firme and perpetuall league of friendship and amytie, +for offence and defence, mutuall advise and succour, vpon +all just occations, both for preserueing and propagateing +the truth and liberties of the Gospel, and for their owne +mutuall safety and wellfare.</p> + +<p>III. It is futher agreed That the Plantacons which at +present are or hereafter shalbe settled within the limmetts +of the Massachusetts, shalbe forever vnder the Massachusetts, +and shall have peculiar Jurisdiccon among themselues +in all cases as an entire Body, and that Plymouth, Connecktacutt, +and New Haven shall eich of them haue like +peculier Jurisdiccon and Gouernment within their limmetts +and in referrence to the Plantacons which already are settled +or shall hereafter be erected or shall settle within their +limmetts respectiuely; prouided that no other Jurisdiccon +shall hereafter be taken in as a distinct head or member +of this Confederacon, nor shall any other Plantacon or +Jurisdiccon in present being and not already in combynacon +or vnder the Jurisdiccon of any of these Confederats be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[333]</span>received by any of them, nor shall any two of the Confederats +joyne in one Jurisdiccon without consent of the rest, +which consent to be interpreted as is expressed in the +sixth Article ensuinge.</p> + +<p>IV. It is by these Confederats agreed that the charge +of all just warrs, whether offensiue or defensiue, upon what +part or member of this Confederaccon soever they fall, shall +both in men and provisions, and all other Disbursements, +be borne by all the parts of this Confederacon, in different +proporcons according to their different abilitie, in manner +following, namely, that the Commissioners for eich Jurisdiccon +from tyme to tyme, as there shalbe occation, bring +a true account and number of all the males in every Plantacon, +or any way belonging to, or under their seuerall +Jurisdiccons, of what quality or condicion soeuer they bee, +from sixteene yeares old to threescore, being Inhabitants +there. And That according to the different numbers which +from tyme to tyme shalbe found in eich Jurisdiccon, upon +a true and just account, the service of men and all charges +of the warr be borne by the Poll: Eich Jurisdiccon, or Plantacon, +being left to their owne just course and custome of +rating themselues and people according to their different +estates, with due respects to their qualites and exemptions +among themselues, though the Confederacon take +no notice of any such priviledg: And that according to +their differrent charge of eich Jurisdiccon and Plantacon, +the whole advantage of the warr (if it please God to bless +their Endeavours) whether it be in lands, goods or persons, +shall be proportionably deuided among the said Confederats.</p> + +<p>V. It is further agreed That if any of these Jurisdiccons, +or any Plantacons vnder it, or in any combynacon +with them be envaded by any enemie whomsoeuer, vpon +notice and request of any three majestrats of that Jurisdiccon +so invaded, the rest of the Confederates, without +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[334]</span>any further meeting or expostulacon, shall forthwith send +ayde to the Confederate in danger, but in different proporcons; +namely, the Massachusetts an hundred men sufficiently +armed and provided for such a service and jorney, +and eich of the rest fourty-fiue so armed and provided, or +any lesse number, if lesse be required, according to this +proporcon. But if such Confederate in danger may be +supplyed by their next Confederate, not exceeding the +number hereby agreed, they may craue help there, and +seeke no further for the present. The charge to be borne +as in this Article is exprest: And, at the returne, to be +victualled and supplyed with poder and shott for their +journey (if there be neede) by that Jurisdiccon which employed +or sent for them: But none of the Jurisdiccons to +exceed these numbers till by a meeting of the Commissioners +for this Confederacon a greater ayd appeare necessary. +And this proporcon to continue, till upon knowledge of +greater numbers in eich Jurisdiccon which shalbe brought +to the next meeting some other proporcon be ordered. But +in any such case of sending men for present ayd whether +before or after such order or alteracon, it is agreed that at +the meeting of the Commissioners for this Confederacon, +the cause of such warr or invasion be duly considered: +And if it appeare that the fault lay in the parties so invaded, +that then that Jurisdiccon or Plantacon make just Satisfaccon, +both to the Invaders whom they have injured, and +beare all the charges of the warr themselves without requireing +any allowance from the rest of the Confederats +towards the same. And further, that if any Jurisdiccon +see any danger of any Invasion approaching, and there +be tyme for a meeting, that in such case three majestrats +of that Jurisdiccon may summon a meeting at such convenyent +place as themselues shall think meete, to consider +and provide against the threatned danger, Provided when +they are met they may remoue to what place they please, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[335]</span>Onely whilst any of these foure Confederats have but three +majestrats in their Jurisdiccon, their request or summons +from any two of them shalbe accounted of equall force with +the three mentoned in both the clauses of this Article, till +there be an increase of majestrats there.</p> + +<p>VI. It is also agreed that for the mannaging and concluding +of all affairs proper and concerneing the whole +Confederacon, two Commissioners shalbe chosen by and +out of eich of these foure Jurisdiccons, namely, two for +the Mattachusetts, two for Plymouth, two for Connectacutt +and two for New Haven; being all in Church fellowship +with us, which shall bring full power from their +seuerall generall Courts respectively to heare, examine, +weigh and determine all affaires of our warr or peace, leagues, +ayds, charges and numbers of men for warr, divission of +spoyles and whatsoever is gotten by conquest, receiueing +of more Confederats for plantacons into combinacon with +any of the Confederates, and all thinges of like nature +which are the proper concomitants or consequence of such +a confederacon, for amytie, offence and defence, not intermeddleing +with the gouernment of any of the Jurisdiccons +which by the third Article is preserued entirely to +themselves. But if these eight Commissioners, when +they meete, shall not all agree, yet it is concluded that +any six of the eight agreeing shall have power to settle +and determine the business in question: But if six do not +agree, that then such proposicons with their reasons, so +farr as they have beene debated, be sent and referred to +the foure generall Courts, vizt. the Mattachusetts, Plymouth, +Connectacutt, and New Haven: And if at all the +said Generall Courts the businesse so referred be concluded, +then to bee prosecuted by the Confederates and +all their members. It is further agreed that these eight +Commissioners shall meete once every yeare, besides extraordinary +meetings (according to the fift Article) to consider, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[336]</span>treate and conclude of all affaires belonging to this +Confederacon, which meeting shall ever be the first Thursday +in September. And that the next meeting after the +date of these presents, which shalbe accounted the second +meeting, shalbe at Bostone in the Massachusetts, the third +at Hartford, the fourth at New Haven, the fift at Plymouth, +the sixt and seaventh at Bostone. And then Hartford, +New Haven and Plymouth, and so in course successiuely, +if in the meane tyme some middle place be not found out and +agreed on which may be commodious for all the jurisdiccons.</p> + +<p>VII. It is further agreed that at eich meeting of these +eight Commissioners, whether ordinary or extraordinary, +they, or six of them agreeing, as before, may choose their +President out of themselues, whose office and worke shalbe +to take care and direct for order and a comely carrying on +of all proceedings in the present meeting. But he shalbe +invested with no such power or respect as by which he shall +hinder the propounding or progresse of any businesse, or +any way cast the Scales, otherwise then in the precedent +Article is agreed.</p> + +<p>VIII. It is also agreed that the Commissioners for this +Confederacon hereafter at their meetings, whether ordinary +or extraordinary, as they may have commission or opertunitie, +do endeavoure to frame and establish agreements +and orders in generall cases of a civill nature wherein all +the plantacons are interested for preserving peace among +themselves, and preventing as much as may bee all occations +of warr or difference with others, as about the free and +speedy passage of Justice in every Jurisdiccon, to all the +Confederats equally as their owne, receiving those that +remoue from one plantacon to another without due certefycats; +how all the Jurisdiccons may carry it towards the +Indians, that they neither grow insolent nor be injured +without due satisfaccion, lest warr break in vpon the Confederates +through such miscarryage. It is also agreed that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[337]</span>if any servant runn away from his master into any other +of these confederated Jurisdiccons, That in such Case, +vpon the Certyficate of one Majistrate in the Jurisdiccon out +of which the said servant fled, or upon other due proofe, +the said servant shalbe deliuered either to his Master or any +other that pursues and brings such Certificate or proofe. +And that vpon the escape of any prisoner whatsoever or +fugitiue for any criminal cause, whether breaking prison +or getting from the officer or otherwise escaping, upon the +certificate of two Majistrats of the Jurisdiccon out of which +the escape is made that he was a prisoner or such an offender +at the tyme of the escape. The Majestrates or some +of them of that Jurisdiccon where for the present the said +prisoner or fugitive abideth shall forthwith graunt such +a warrant as the case will beare for the apprehending of +any such person, and the delivery of him into the hands +of the officer or other person that pursues him. And if +there be help required for the safe returneing of any such +offender, then it shalbe graunted to him that craves the +same, he paying the charges thereof.</p> + +<p>IX. And for that the justest warrs may be of dangerous +consequence, espetially to the smaler plantacons in +these vnited Colonies, It is agreed that neither the Massachusetts, +Plymouth, Connectacutt nor New-Haven, nor +any of the members of any of them shall at any tyme hereafter +begin, undertake, or engage themselues or this Confederacon, +or any part thereof in any warr whatsoever +(sudden exegents with the necessary consequents thereof +excepted, which are also to be moderated as much as the +case will permit) without the consent and agreement of +the forenamed eight Commissioners, or at least six of them, +as in the sixt Article is provided: And that no charge +be required of any of the Confederats in case of a defensiue +warr till the said Commissioners haue mett and approued +the justice of the warr, and have agreed vpon the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[338]</span>sum of money to be levyed, which sum is then to be payd +by the severall Confederates in proporcon according to +the fourth Article.</p> + +<p>X. That in extraordinary occations when meetings +are summoned by three Majistrats of any Jurisdiccon, or +two as in the fift Article, If any of the Commissioners come +not, due warneing being given or sent, It is agreed that +foure of the Commissioners shall have power to direct a +warr which cannot be delayed and to send for due proporcons +of men out of eich Jurisdiccon, as well as six might doe if +all mett; but not less than six shall determine the justice +of the warr or allow the demanude of bills of charges or +cause any levies to be made for the same.</p> + +<p>XI. It is further agreed that if any of the Confederates +shall hereafter break any of these present Articles, or be +any other wayes injurious to any one of thother Jurisdiccons, +such breach of Agreement, or injurie, shalbe duly +considered and ordered by the Commissioners for thother +Jurisdiccons, that both peace and this present Confederacon +may be entirely preserued without violation.</p> + +<p>XII. Lastly, this perpetuall Confederacon and the several +Articles and Agreements thereof being read and seriously +considered, both by the Generall Court for the Massachusetts, +and by the Commissioners for Plymouth, Connectacutt +and New Haven, were fully allowed and confirmed by three +of the forenamed Confederates, namely, the Massachusetts, +Connectacutt and New-Haven, Onely the Commissioners +for Plymouth, having no Commission to conclude, desired +respite till they might advise with their Generall Court, +wherevpon it was agreed and concluded by the said court +of the Massachusetts, and the Commissioners for the other +two Confederates, That if Plymouth Consent, then the +whole treaty as it stands in these present articles is and +shall continue firme and stable without alteracon: But +if Plymouth come not in, yet the other three Confederates +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[339]</span>doe by these presents confirme the whole Confederacon +and all the Articles thereof, onely, in September next, when +the second meeting of the Commissioners is to be at Bostone, +new consideracon may be taken of the sixt Article, which +concernes number of Commissioners for meeting and concluding +the affaires of this Confederacon to the satisfaccon +of the court of the Massachusetts, and the Commissioners +for thother two Confederates, but the rest to stand vnquestioned.</p> + +<p>In testymony whereof, the Generall Court of the Massachusetts +by their Secretary, and the Commissioners +for Connectacutt and New-Haven haue subscribed these +presente articles, this xixth of the third month, commonly +called May, Anno Domini, 1643.</p> + +<p>At a Meeting of the Commissioners for the Confederacon, +held at Boston, the Seaventh of September. It appeareing +that the Generall Court of New Plymouth, and the severall +Towneships thereof have read, considered and approoued +these articles of Confederacon, as appeareth by Comission +from their Generall Court beareing Date the xxixth of +August, 1643, to Mr. Edward Winslowe and Mr. Will Collyer, +to ratifye and confirme the same on their behalf, wee therefore, +the Comissioners for the Mattachusetts, Conecktacutt +and New Haven, doe also for our seuerall Gouernments, +subscribe vnto them.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">John Winthrop</span>, Governor of Massachusetts,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Tho. Dudley</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Theoph. Eaton</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Geo. Fenwick</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Edwa. Hopkins</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Thomas Gregson</span>.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[340]</span></p> + +<h3>PENN’S PLAN OF UNION—1697.</h3> + +<h4>MR. PENN’S PLAN FOR A UNION OF THE COLONIES IN AMERICA.</h4> + +<p>A Briefe and Plaine Scheam how the English Colonies +in the North parts of America, viz.: Boston, Connecticut, +Road Island, New York, New Jerseys, Pensilvania, +Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina may be made more +usefull to the Crowne, and one another’s peace and safty +with an universall concurrence.</p> + +<p>1st. That the severall Colonies before mentioned do +meet once a year, and oftener if need be, during the war, +and at least once in two years in times of peace, by their +stated and appointed Deputies, to debate and resolve of +such measures as are most adviseable for their better understanding, +and the public tranquility and safety.</p> + +<p>2d. That in order to it two persons well qualified for +sence, sobriety and substance be appointed by each Province, +as their Representatives or Deputies, which in the +whole make the Congress to consist of twenty persons.</p> + +<p>3d. That the King’s Commissioner for that purpose +specially appointed shall have the chaire and preside in +the said Congresse.</p> + +<p>4th. That they shall meet as near as conveniently may +be to the most centrall Colony for use of the Deputies.</p> + +<p>5th. Since that may in all probability, be New York +both because it is near the Center of the Colonies and for +that it is a Frontier and in the King’s nomination, the Govr. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[341]</span>of that Colony may therefore also be the King’s High +Commissioner during the Session after the manner of +Scotland.</p> + +<p>6th. That their business shall be to hear and adjust +all matters of Complaint or difference between Province +and Province. As, 1st, where persons quit their own Province +and goe to another, that they may avoid their just +debts, tho they be able to pay them, 2nd, where offenders +fly Justice, or Justice cannot well be had upon such offenders +in the Provinces that entertaine them, 3dly, to +prevent or cure injuries in point of Commerce, 4th, to consider +of ways and means to support the union and safety +of these Provinces against the publick enemies. In which +Congresse the Quotas of men and charges will be much +easier, and more equally sett, then it is possible for any establishment +made here to do; for the Provinces, knowing +their own condition and one another’s, can debate that +matter with more freedome and satisfaction and better +adjust and ballance their affairs in all respects for their +common safty.</p> + +<p>7ly. That in times of war the King’s High Commissioner +shall be generall or chief Commander of the severall +Quotas upon service against a common enemy as +he shall be advised, for the good and benefit of the whole.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[342]</span></p> + +<h3>FRANKLIN’S PLAN OF UNION—1754.</h3> + +<p>Plan of a proposed Union of the several Colonies of +Massachusetts-Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode +Island, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, +Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina for their +mutual Defence and Security, and for the extending the +British Settlements in North America.</p> + +<p>That humble application be made for an act of Parliament +of Great Britain, by virtue of which one general government +may be formed in America, including all the said +Colonies, within and under which government each Colony +may retain its present constitution, except in the particulars +wherein a change may be directed by the said act, as hereafter +follows.</p> + +<h4>PRESIDENT-GENERAL AND GRAND COUNCIL.</h4> + +<p>That the said general government be administered by +a President-General, to be appointed and supported by +the crown; and a Grand Council to be chosen by the representatives +of the people of the several Colonies met in +their respective assemblies.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>It was thought that it would be best the President-General should +be supported as well as appointed by the crown, that so all disputes +between him and the Grand-Council concerning his salary might +be prevented; as such disputes have been frequently of mischievous +consequence in particular Colonies, especially in time of public +danger. The quit-rents of crown lands in America might in a +short time be sufficient for this purpose. The choice of members +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[343]</span>for the Grand-Council is placed in the House of Representatives +of each government, in order to give the people a share in this new +general government, as the crown has its share by the appointment +of the President-General.</p> + +<p>But it being proposed by the gentlemen of the Council of New +York, and some other counsellors among the commissioners, to +alter the plan in this particular, and to give the governors and +councils of the several Provinces a share in the choice of the Grand-Council, +or at least a power of approving and confirming, or of +disallowing, the choice made by the House of Representatives, +it was said,—“That the government or constitution, proposed +to be formed by the plan, consists of two branches: a President-General +appointed by the crown, and a Council chosen by the people, +or by the people’s representatives, which is the same thing.</p> + +<p>“That, by a subsequent article, the council chosen by the people +can effect nothing without the consent of the President-General +appointed by the crown; the crown possesses, therefore, full one +half of the power of this constitution.</p> + +<p>“That in the British constitution, the crown is supposed to +possess but one third, the Lords having their share.</p> + +<p>“That the constitution seemed rather more favorable for the +crown.</p> + +<p>“That it is essential to English liberty that the subject should +not be taxed but by his own consent, or the consent of his elected +representatives.</p> + +<p>“That taxes to be laid and levied by this proposed constitution +will be proposed and agreed to by the representatives of the people, +if the plan in this particular be preserved.</p> + +<p>“But if the proposed alteration should take place, it seemed +as if matters may be so managed, as that the crown shall finally +have the appointment, not only of the President-General, but of a +majority of the Grand-Council; for seven out of eleven governors +and councils are appointed by the crown.</p> + +<p>“And so the people in all the Colonies would in effect be taxed +by their governors.</p> + +<p>“It was therefore apprehended, that such alterations of the +plan would give great dissatisfaction, and that the Colonies could +not be easy under such a power in governors, and such an infringement +of what they take to be English liberty.</p> + +<p>“Besides, the giving a share in the choice of the Grand Council +would not be equal with respect to all the Colonies, as their constitutions +differ. In some, both governor and council are appointed +by the crown. In others, they are both appointed by the proprietors. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[344]</span>In some, the people have a share in the choice of the council; in +others, both government and council are wholly chosen by the +people. But the House of Representatives is everywhere chosen +by the people; and, therefore, placing the right of choosing the +Grand Council in the representatives is equal with respect to all.</p> + +<p>“That the Grand Council is intended to represent all the several +Houses of Representatives of the Colonies, as a House of Representatives +doth the several towns or counties of a Colony. Could +all the people of a Colony be consulted and unite in public measures, +a House of Representatives would be needless, and could +all the Assemblies consult and unite in general measures, the +Grand Council would be unnecessary.</p> + +<p>“That a House of Commons or the House of Representatives, +and the Grand Council are alike in their nature and intention. +And, as it would seem improper that the King or House of Lords +should have a power of disallowing or appointing Members of the +House of Commons; so, likewise, that a governor and council +appointed by the crown should have a power of disallowing or +appointing members of the Grand Council, who, in this constitution, +are to be the representatives of the people.</p> + +<p>“If the governor and councils therefore were to have a share +in the choice of any that are to conduct this general government, +it should seem more proper that they should choose the President-General. +But this being an office of great trust and importance +to the nation, it was thought better to be filled by the immediate +appointment of the crown.</p> + +<p>“The power proposed to be given by the plan to the Grand Council +is only a concentration of the powers of the several assemblies in +certain points for the general welfare; as the power of the President-General +is of the several governors in the same point.</p> + +<p>“And as the choice therefore of the Grand Council, by the representatives +of the people, neither gives the people any new powers, +nor diminishes the power of the crown, it was thought and hoped +the crown would not disapprove of it.”</p> + +<p>Upon the whole, the commissioners were of opinion, that the +choice was most properly placed in the representatives of the people.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>ELECTION OF MEMBERS.</h4> + +<p>That within ____ months after the passing such act, +the House of Representatives that happens to be sitting +within that time, or that shall be especially for that purpose +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[345]</span>convened, may and shall choose members for the +Grand Council, in the following proportion, that is to say,</p> + +<table> + <tr> + <td class="nw">Massachusetts Bay</td> + <td class="tdr">7</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>New Hampshire</td> + <td class="tdr">2</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Connecticut</td> + <td class="tdr">5</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Rhode Island</td> + <td class="tdr">2</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>New York</td> + <td class="tdr">4</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>New Jersey</td> + <td class="tdr">3</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Pennsylvania</td> + <td class="tdr">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Maryland</td> + <td class="tdr">4</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Virginia</td> + <td class="tdr">7</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>North Carolina</td> + <td class="tdr">4</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>South Carolina</td> + <td class="tdr">4</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="tdr total">48</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>It was thought, that if the least Colony was allowed two, and +the others in proportion, the number would be very great, and +the expense heavy; and that less than two would not be convenient, +as, a single person being by any accident prevented appearing +at the meeting, the Colony he ought appear for would not be represented. +That, as the choice was not immediately popular, +they would be generally men of good abilities for business, and +men of reputation for integrity, and that forty-eight such men +might be a number sufficient. But, though it was thought reasonable +that each Colony should have a share in the representative +body in some degree according to the proportion it contributed +to the general treasury, yet the proportion of wealth or power of +the Colonies is not to be judged by the proportion here fixed: because +it was at first agreed, that the greatest Colony should not +have more than seven members, nor the least less than two; and +the setting these proportions between these two extremes was +not nicely attended to, as it would find itself, after the first election, +from the sum brought into the treasury by a subsequent article.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>PLACE OF FIRST MEETING.</h4> + +<p>—Who shall meet for the first time at the city of Philadelphia +in Pennsylvania, being called by the President-General +as soon as conveniently may be after his appointment.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[346]</span></p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>Philadelphia was named as being nearer the centre of the Colonies, +where the commissioners would be well and cheaply accommodated. +The high roads, through the whole extent, are for the most part +very good, in which forty or fifty miles a day may very well be, +and frequently are, travelled. Great part of the way may likewise +be gone by water. In summer time, the passages are frequently +performed in a week from Charleston to Philadelphia and New +York, and from Rhode Island to New York through the Sound, +in two or three days, and from New York to Philadelphia, by water +and land, in two days, by stage boats, and street carriages that set +out every other day. The journey from Charleston to Philadelphia +may likewise be facilitated by boats running up Chesapeake Bay +three hundred miles. But if the whole journey be performed on +horseback, the most distant members, viz., the two from New Hampshire +and from South Carolina, may probably render themselves +at Philadelphia in fifteen or twenty days; the majority may be +there in much less time.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>NEW ELECTION.</h4> + +<p>That there shall be a new election of the members of +the Grand Council every three years; and, on the death +or resignation of any member, his place should be supplied +by a new choice at the next sitting of the Assembly +of the Colony he represented.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>Some Colonies have annual assemblies, some continue during +a governor’s pleasure; three years was thought a reasonable medium +as affording a new member time to improve himself in the +business, and to act after such improvement, and yet giving opportunities, +frequently enough, to change him if he has misbehaved.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>PROPORTION OF MEMBERS AFTER THE FIRST THREE YEARS.</h4> + +<p>That after the first three years, when the proportion +of money arising out of each Colony to the general treasury +can be known, the number of members to be chosen +for each Colony shall, from time to time, in all ensuing +elections, be regulated by that proportion, yet so as that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[347]</span>the number to be chosen by any one Province be not more +than seven, nor less than two.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>By a subsequent article, it is proposed that the General Council +shall lay and levy such general duties as to them may appear most +equal and least burdensome, etc. Suppose, for instance, they +lay a small duty or excise on some commodity imported into or +made in the Colonies, and pretty generally and equally used in +all of them, as rum, perhaps, or wine; the yearly produce of this +duty or excise, if fairly collected, would be in some Colonies greater, +in others less, as the Colonies are greater or smaller. When the +collector’s accounts are brought in, the proportions will appear; +and from them it is proposed to regulate the proportion of the representatives +to be chosen at the next general election, within the +limits, however, of seven and two. These numbers may therefore +vary in the course of years, as the Colonies may in the growth +and increase of people. And thus the quota of tax from each +Colony would naturally vary with its circumstances, thereby +preventing all disputes and dissatisfaction about the just proportions +due from each, which might otherwise produce pernicious +consequences, and destroy the harmony and good agreement +that ought to subsist between the several parts of the Union.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>MEETINGS OF THE GRAND COUNCIL AND CALL.</h4> + +<p>That the Grand Council shall meet once in every year, +and oftener if occasion require, at such time and place as +they shall adjourn to at the last preceding meeting, or as +they shall be called to meet at by the President-General +on any emergency; he having first obtained in writing +the consent of seven of the members to such call, and sent +due and timely notice to the whole.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>It was thought, in establishing and governing new Colonies or +settlements, or regulating Indian trade, Indian treaties, etc., there +would, every year, sufficient business arise to require at least one +meeting, and at such meeting many things might be suggested +for the benefit of all the Colonies. This annual meeting may +either be at a time and place certain, to be fixed by the President-General +and Grand Council at their first meeting; or left at liberty, +to be at such time and place as they shall adjourn to, or be called +to meet at, by the President-General.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[348]</span></p> + +<p>In time of war, it seems convenient that the meeting should +be in that colony which is nearest the seat of action.</p> + +<p>The power of calling them on any emergency seemed necessary +to be vested in the President-General; but, that such power might +not be wantonly used to harass the members, and oblige them +to make frequent long journeys to little purpose, the consent of +seven at least to such call was supposed a convenient guard.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>CONTINUANCE.</h4> + +<p>That the Grand Council have power to choose their +speaker; and shall neither be dissolved, prorogued, nor continued +sitting longer than six weeks at one time, without +their own consent or the special command of the crown.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>The speaker should be presented for approbation; it being convenient, +to prevent misunderstandings and disgusts, that the +mouth of the Council should be a person agreeable, if possible, +to the Council and President-General.</p> + +<p>Governors have sometimes wantonly exercised the power of +proroguing or continuing the sessions of assemblies, merely to +harass the members and compel a compliance; and sometimes +dissolve them on slight disgusts. This it was feared might +be done by the President-General, if not provided against; and +the inconvenience and hardship would be greater in the general +government than in particular Colonies, in proportion to the distance +the members must be from home during sittings, and the +long journeys some of them must necessarily take.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>MEMBER’S ALLOWANCE.</h4> + +<p>That the members of the Grand Council shall be allowed +for their service ten shillings per diem, during their session +and journey to and from the place of meeting; twenty miles +to be reckoned a day’s journey.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>It was thought proper to allow some wages, lest the expense +might deter some suitable persons from the service; and not to +allow too great wages, lest unsuitable persons should be tempted +to cabal for the employment, for the sake of gain. Twenty miles +were set down as a day’s journey, to allow for accidental hindrances +on the road, and the greater expenses of travelling than residing +at the place of meeting.</p> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[349]</span></p> + +<h4>ASSENT OF PRESIDENT-GENERAL AND HIS DUTY.</h4> + +<p>That the assent of the President-General be requisite +to all acts of the Grand Council, and that it be his office +and duty to cause them to be carried into execution.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>The assent of the President-General to all acts of the Grand +Council was made necessary in order to give the crown its due +share of influence in this government, and connect it with that of +Great Britain. The President-General, besides one half of the +legislative power, hath in his hands the whole executive power.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>POWER OF PRESIDENT-GENERAL AND GRAND COUNCIL, TREATIES OF PEACE AND WAR.</h4> + +<p>That the President-General, with the advice of the Grand +Council, hold or direct all Indian treaties, in which the +general interest of the Colonies may be concerned, and +make peace or declare war with Indian nations.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>The power of making peace or war with Indian nations is at present +supposed to be in every Colony, and is expressly granted to +some by charter, so that no new power is hereby intended to be +granted to the Colonies. But as, in consequence of this power, +one Colony might make peace with a nation that another was justly +engaged in war with; or make war on slight occasion without +the concurrence or approbation of neighboring Colonies, greatly +endangered by it; or make particular treaties of neutrality in case of +a general war, to their own private advantage in trade, by supplying +the common enemy, of all which there have been instances, +it was thought better to have all treaties of a general nature under +a general direction, that so the good of the whole may be consulted +and provided for.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>INDIAN TRADE.</h4> + +<p>That they make such laws as they judge necessary for +regulating all Indian trade.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>Many quarrels and wars have arisen between the colonies and +Indian nations, through the bad conduct of traders, who cheat +the Indians after making them drunk, etc., to the great expense +of the colonies, both in blood and treasure. Particular colonies +are so interested in the trade, as not to be willing to admit such +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[350]</span>a regulation as might be best for the whole; and therefore it was +thought best under a general direction.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>INDIAN PURCHASES.</h4> + +<p>That they make all purchases from Indians, for the +crown, of lands not now within the bounds of particular +colonies, or that shall not be within their bounds when +some of them are reduced to more convenient dimensions.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>Purchases from the Indians, made by private persons, have +been attended with many inconveniences. They have frequently +interfered and occasioned uncertainty of titles, many disputes +and expensive lawsuits, and hindered the settlement of the land +so disputed. Then the Indians have been cheated by such private +purchases, and discontent and wars have been the consequence. +These would be prevented by public fair purchases.</p> + +<p>Several of the Colony charters in America extend their bounds +to the South Sea, which may perhaps be three or four thousand +miles in length to one or two hundred miles in breadth. It is +supposed they must in time be reduced to dimensions more convenient +for the common purposes of government.</p> + +<p>Very little of the land in these grants is yet purchased of the +Indians.</p> + +<p>It is much cheaper to purchase of them, than to take and maintain +the possession by force; for they are generally very reasonable +in their demands for land; and the expense of guarding a large +frontier against their incursions is vastly great; because all must +be guarded, and always guarded, as we know not where or when +to expect them.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>NEW SETTLEMENTS.</h4> + +<p>That they make new settlements on such purchases by +granting lands in the King’s name, reserving a quit-rent +to the crown for the use of the general treasury.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>It is supposed better that there should be one purchaser than +many; and that the crown should be that purchaser, or the Union +in the name of the crown. By this means the bargains may be +more easily made, the price not enhanced by numerous bidders, +future disputes about private Indian purchases, and monopolies +of vast tracts to particular persons (which are prejudicial to the +settlement and peopling of the country), prevented; and, the land +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">[351]</span>being again granted in small tracts to the settlers, the quit-rents +reserved may in time become a fund for support of government, +for defence of the country, ease of taxes, etc.</p> + +<p>Strong forts on the Lakes, the Ohio, etc., may, at the same time +they secure our present frontiers, serve to defend new colonies +settled under their protection; and such colonies would also mutually +defend and support such forts, and better secure the friendship +of the far Indians.</p> + +<p>A particular colony has scarce strength enough to exert itself +by new settlements, at so great a distance from the old; but the +joint force of the Union might suddenly establish a new colony +or two in those parts, or extend an old colony to particular passes, +greatly to the security of our present frontiers, increase of trade +and people, breaking off the French communication between Canada +and Louisiana, and speedy settlement of the intermediate lands.</p> + +<p>The power of settling new colonies is therefore thought a valuable +part of the plan, and what cannot so well be executed by two unions +as by one.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>LAWS TO GOVERN THEM.</h4> + +<p>That they make laws for regulating and governing such +new settlements, till the crown shall think fit to form them +into particular governments.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>The making of laws suitable for the new colonies, it was thought, +would be properly vested in the president-general and grand council; +under whose protection they must at first necessarily be, and who +would be well acquainted with their circumstances, as having +settled them. When they are become sufficiently populous, they +may by the crown be formed into complete and distinct governments.</p> + +<p>The appointment of a sub-president by the crown, to take place +in case of the death or absence of the president-general, would +perhaps be an improvement of the plan; and if all the governors of +particular provinces were to be formed into a standing council +of state, for the advice and assistance of the president-general, +it might be another considerable improvement.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>RAISE SOLDIERS, AND EQUIP VESSELS, ETC.</h4> + +<p>That they raise and pay soldiers and build forts for the +defence of any of the colonies, and equip vessels of force +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[352]</span>to guard the coasts and protect the trade on the ocean, +lakes, or great rivers; but they shall not impress men in +any colony, without the consent of the legislature.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>It was thought, that quotas of men, to be raised and paid by +the several colonies, and joined for any public service, could not +always be got together with the necessary expedition. For instance, +suppose one thousand men should be wanted in New Hampshire +on any emergency. To fetch them by fifties and hundreds +out of every colony, as far as South Carolina, would be inconvenient, +the transportation chargeable, and the occasion perhaps passed +before they could be assembled; and therefore it would be best to +raise them (by offering bounty money and pay) near the place +where they would be wanted, to be discharged again when the +service should be over.</p> + +<p>Particular colonies are at present backward to build forts at +their own expense, which they say will be equally useful to their +neighboring colonies, who refuse to join, on a presumption that +such forts will be built and kept up, though they contribute nothing. +This unjust conduct weakens the whole; but, the forts being for +the good of the whole, it was thought best they should be built +and maintained by the whole, out of the common treasury.</p> + +<p>In the time of war, small vessels of force are sometimes necessary +in the colonies to scour the coasts of small privateers. These +being provided by the Union will be an advantage in turn to the +colonies which are situated on the sea, and whose frontiers on the +land-side, being covered by other colonies, reap but little immediate +benefit from the advanced forts.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>POWER TO MAKE LAWS, LAY DUTIES, ETC.</h4> + +<p>That for these purposes they have power to make laws +and lay and levy such general duties, imposts or taxes, +as to them shall appear most equal and just (considering +the ability and other circumstances of the inhabitants in +the several colonies), and such as may be collected with +the least inconvenience to the people; rather discouraging +luxury, than loading industry with unnecessary burdens.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>The laws which the president-general and grand council are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[353]</span>empowered to make are such only as shall be necessary for the +government of the settlements; the raising, regulating, and paying +soldiers for the general service; the regulating of Indian trade; +and laying and collecting the general duties and taxes. They +should also have a power to restrain the exportation of provisions +to the enemy from any of the colonies, on particular occasions, in +time of war. But it is not intended that they may interfere with +the constitution or government of the particular colonies, who +are to be left to their own laws, and to lay, levy and apply their +own taxes as before.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>GENERAL TREASURER AND PARTICULAR TREASURER.</h4> + +<p>That they may appoint a General Treasurer, and Particular +Treasurer in government when necessary; and, +from time to time, may order the sums in the treasuries +of each government into the general treasury, or draw +on them for special payments, as they find most convenient.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>The treasurers here meant are only for the general funds and +not for the particular funds of each colony, which remain in the +hands of their own treasurers at their own disposal.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>MONEY, HOW TO ISSUE.</h4> + +<p>Yet no money to issue but by joint orders of the President-General +and Grand Council, except where sums have +been appointed to particular purposes, and the President-General +is previously empowered by an act to draw such +sums.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>To prevent misapplication of the money, or even application +that might be dissatisfactory to the crown or the people, it was +thought necessary to join the president-general and grand council +in all issues of money.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>ACCOUNTS.</h4> + +<p>That the general accounts shall be yearly settled and +reported to the several Assemblies.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[354]</span></p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>By communicating the accounts yearly to each Assembly, +they will be satisfied of the prudent and honest conduct of their +representatives in the grand council.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>QUORUM.</h4> + +<p>That a quorum of the Grand Council, empowered to +act with the President-General, do consist of twenty-five +members; among whom there shall be one or more from +a majority of the Colonies.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>The quorum seems large, but it was thought it would not be +satisfactory to the colonies in general, to have matters of importance +to the whole transacted by a smaller number, or even by this +number of twenty-five, unless there were among them one at least +from a majority of the colonies, because otherwise, the whole quorum +being made up of members from three or four colonies at one end +of the union, something might be done that would not be equal +with respect to the rest, and thence dissatisfaction and discords +might rise to the prejudice of the whole.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>LAWS TO BE TRANSMITTED.</h4> + +<p>That the laws made by them for the purposes aforesaid +shall not be repugnant, but, as near as may be, agreeable +to the laws of England, and shall be transmitted to the +King in Council for approbation, as soon as may be after +their passing; and if not disapproved within three years +after presentation, to remain in force.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>This was thought necessary for the satisfaction of the crown, +to preserve the connection of the parts of the British empire with +the whole, of the members with the head, and to induce greater +care and circumspection in making of the laws, that they be good +in themselves and for the general benefit.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>DEATH OF THE PRESIDENT-GENERAL.</h4> + +<p>That, in case of the death of the President-General, the +Speaker of the Grand Council for the time being shall succeed, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[355]</span>and be vested with the same powers and authorities, +to continue till the King’s pleasure be known.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>It might be better, perhaps, as was said before, if the crown +appointed a vice-president, to take place on the death or absence +of the president-general; for so we should be more sure of a suitable +person at the head of the colonies. On the death or absence of +both, the speaker to take place (or rather the eldest King’s governor) +till his Majesty’s pleasure be known.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>OFFICERS, HOW APPOINTED.</h4> + +<p>That all military commission officers, whether for land +or sea service, to act under this general constitution, shall +be nominated by the President-General; but the approbation +of the Grand Council is to be obtained, before they +receive their commissions. And all civil officers are to +be nominated by the Grand Council, and to receive the +President-General’s approbation before they officiate.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>It was thought it might be very prejudicial to the service, to +have officers appointed unknown to the people or unacceptable, +the generality of Americans serving willingly under officers they +know; and not caring to engage in the service under strangers, or +such as are often appointed by governors through favor or interest. +The service here meant, is not the stated, settled service +in standing troops; but any sudden and short service, either for +defence of our colonies, or invading the enemy’s country (such +as the expedition to Cape Breton in the last war; in which many +substantial farmers and tradesmen engaged as common soldiers, +under officers of their own country, for whom they had an esteem +and affection; who would not have engaged in a standing army, +or under officers from England). It was therefore thought best +to give the Council the power of approving the officers, which the +people will look on as a great security of their being good men. +And without some such provision as this, it was thought the expense +of engaging men in the service on any emergency would be +much greater, and the number who could be induced to engage +much less; and that therefore it would be most for the King’s service +and the general benefit of the nation, that the prerogative should +relax a little in this particular throughout all the colonies in America; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[356]</span>as it had already done much more in the charters of some particular +colonies, viz.: Connecticut and Rhode Island.</p> + +<p>The civil officers will be chiefly treasurers and collectors of taxes; +and the suitable persons are most likely to be known by the council.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>VACANCIES, HOW SUPPLIED.</h4> + +<p>But, in case of vacancy by death or removal of any officer +civil or military, under this constitution, the Governor +of the province in which such vacancy happens, may appoint, +till the pleasure of the President-General and Grand +Council can be known.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>The vacancies were thought best supplied by the governors +in each province, till a new appointment can be regularly made; +otherwise the service might suffer before the meeting of the +president-general and grand council.</p> + +</div> + +<h4>EACH COLONY MAY DEFEND ITSELF IN EMERGENCY, ETC.</h4> + +<p>That the particular military as well as civil establishments +in each colony remain in their present state, the +general constitution notwithstanding; and that on sudden +emergencies any colony may defend itself, and lay +the accounts of expense thence arising before the president-general +and general council, who may allow and +order payment of the same, as far as they judge such accounts +just and reasonable.</p> + +<div class="note"> + +<p>Otherwise the union of the whole would weaken the parts, contrary +to the design of the union. The accounts are to be judged +of by the president-general and grand council, and allowed if found +reasonable. This was thought necessary to encourage colonies +to defend themselves, as the expense would be light when borne +by the whole; and also to check imprudent and lavish expense +in such defences.</p> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[357]</span></p> + +<h3>ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION—1777.</h3> + +<p class="hanging">To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned +Delegates of the States affixed to our Names, +send greeting.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Whereas</span> the Delegates of the United States of America +in Congress assembled did on the fifteenth day of November +in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred +and Seventyseven, and in the Second Year of the Independence +of America agree to certain articles of Confederation +and perpetual Union between the States of Newhampshire, +Massachusetts-bay, Rhode-island and Providence +Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, +Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, +South-Carolina and Georgia in the Words following, viz.</p> + +<p class="hanging">Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between +the States of Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhode-island +and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New-York, +New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, +Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina and Georgia.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article I.</span> The stile of this confederacy shall be “The +United States of America.”</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article II.</span> Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom +and independence, and every power, jurisdiction and +right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated +to the United States, in Congress assembled.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article III.</span> The said States hereby severally enter +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[358]</span>into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their +common defence, the security of their liberties, and their +mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist +each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made +upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, +trade, or any other pretence whatever.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article IV.</span> The better to secure and perpetuate mutual +friendship and intercourse among the people of the +different States in this Union, the free inhabitants of each +of these States, paupers, vagabonds and fugitives from +justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities +of free citizens in the several States; and the +people of each State shall have free ingress and regress +to and from any other State, and shall enjoy therein +all the privileges of trade and commerce, subject to the +same duties, impositions and restrictions as the inhabitants +thereof respectively, provided that such restrictions +shall not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property +imported into any State, to any other State of which +the owner is an inhabitant; provided also that no imposition, +duties or restriction shall be laid by any State, on +the property of the United States, or either of them.</p> + +<p>If any person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony, +or other high misdemeanor in any State, shall flee +from justice, and be found in any of the United States, +he shall upon demand of the Governor or Executive power, +of the State from which he fled, be delivered up and removed +to the State having jurisdiction of his offence.</p> + +<p>Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States +to the records, acts and judicial proceedings of the courts +and magistrates of every other State.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article V.</span> For the more convenient management of +the general interests of the United States, delegates shall +be annually appointed in such manner as the legislature +of each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[359]</span>Monday in November, in every year, with a power reserved +to each State, to recall its delegates, or any of them, at any +time within the year, and to send others in their stead, +for the remainder of the year.</p> + +<p>No State shall be represented in Congress by less than +two, nor by more than seven members; and no person shall +be capable of being a delegate for more than three years +in any term of six years; nor shall any person, being a +delegate, be capable of holding any office under the United +States, for which he, or another for his benefit receives any +salary, fees or emolument of any kind.</p> + +<p>Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting +of the States, and while they act as members of the +committee of the States.</p> + +<p>In determining questions in the United States, in Congress +assembled, each State shall have one vote.</p> + +<p>Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be +impeached or questioned in any court, or place out of Congress, +and the members of Congress shall be protected in +their persons from arrests and imprisonments, during the +time of their going to and from, and attendance on Congress, +except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article VI.</span> No State without the consent of the United +States in Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, +or receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, +agreement, alliance or treaty with any king, prince or state; +nor shall any person holding any office of profit or trust +under the United States, or any of them, accept of any +present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever +from any king, prince or foreign state; nor shall the United +States in Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any +title of nobility.</p> + +<p>No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation +or alliance whatever between them, without +the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[360]</span>specifying accurately the purposes for which the same is +to be entered into, and how long it shall continue.</p> + +<p>No State shall lay any imposts or duties, which may +interfere with any stipulations in treaties, entered into +by the United States in Congress assembled, with any +king, prince or state, in pursuance of any treaties already +proposed by Congress, to the courts of France and Spain.</p> + +<p>No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace by +any State, except such number only, as shall be deemed +necessary by the United States in Congress assembled, +for the defence of such State, or its trade; nor shall any +body of forces be kept up by any State, in time of peace, +except such number only, as in the judgment of the United +States, in Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite +to garrison the forts necessary for the defence of such State; +but every State shall always keep up a well regulated and +disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and accoutred, and +shall provide and constantly have ready for use, in public +stores, a due number of field-pieces and tents, and a proper +quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage.</p> + +<p>No State shall engage in any war without the consent +of the United States in Congress assembled, unless such +State be actually invaded by enemies, or shall have received +certain advice of a resolution being formed by some +nation of Indians to invade such State, and the danger +is so imminent as not to admit of a delay, till the United +States in Congress assembled can be consulted: nor shall +any State grant commissions to any ships or vessels of war, +nor letters of marque or reprisal, except it be after a declaration +of war by the United States in Congress assembled, +and then only against the kingdom or state and the subjects +thereof, against which war has been so declared, and under +such regulations as shall be established by the United +States in Congress assembled, unless such State be infested +by pirates, in which case vessels of war may be fitted out for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">[361]</span>that occasion, and kept so long as the danger shall continue, +or until the United States in Congress assembled +shall determine otherwise.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article VII.</span> When land forces are raised by any +State for the common defence, all officers of or under the +rank of colonel, shall be appointed by the Legislature of +each State respectively by whom such forces shall be raised, +or in such manner as such State shall direct, and all vacancies +shall be filled up by the State which first made the +appointment.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article VIII.</span> All charges of war, and all other expenses +that shall be incurred for the common defence or +general welfare, and allowed by the United States in Congress +assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, +which shall be supplied by the several States, in proportion +to the value of all land within each State, granted +to or surveyed for any person, as such land and the buildings +and improvements thereon shall be estimated according +to such mode as the United States in Congress +assembled, shall from time to time direct and appoint.</p> + +<p>The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and +levied by the authority and direction of the Legislatures +of the several States within the time agreed upon by the +United States in Congress assembled.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article IX.</span> The United States in Congress assembled, +shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of determining +on peace and war, except in the cases mentioned +in the sixth article—of sending and receiving ambassadors—entering +into treaties and alliances, provided that no +treaty of commerce shall be made whereby the legislative +power of the respective States shall be restrained from imposing +such imposts and duties on foreigners, as their +own people are subjected to, or from prohibiting the exportation +or importation of any species of goods or commodities +whatsoever—of establishing rules for deciding +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[362]</span>in all cases, what captures on land or water shall be legal, +and in what manner prizes taken by land or naval forces +in the service of the United States shall be divided or appropriated—of +granting letters of marque and reprisal +in times of peace—appointing courts for the trial of piracies +and felonies committed on the high seas and establishing +courts for receiving and determining finally appeals in all +cases of captures, provided that no member of Congress +shall be appointed a judge of any of the said courts.</p> + +<p>The United States in Congress assembled shall also be +the last resort on appeal in all disputes and differences +now subsisting or that hereafter may arise between two +or more States concerning boundary, jurisdiction or any +other cause whatever; which authority shall always be +exercised in the manner following. Whenever the legislative +or executive authority or lawful agent of any State +in controversy with another shall present a petition to +Congress, stating the matter in question and praying for +a hearing, notice thereof shall be given by order of Congress +to the legislative or executive authority of the other State +in controversy, and a day assigned for the appearance of +the parties by their lawful agents, who shall then be directed +to appoint by joint consent, commissioners or judges to +constitute a court for hearing and determining the matter +in question: but if they cannot agree, Congress shall name +three persons out of each of the United States, and from the +list of such persons each party shall alternately strike out +one, the petitioners beginning, until the number shall be +reduced to thirteen; and from that number not less than +seven, nor more than nine names as Congress shall direct, +shall in the presence of Congress be drawn out by lot, and +the persons whose names shall be so drawn or any five +of them, shall be commissioners or judges, to hear and +finally determine the controversy, so always as a major +part of the judges who shall hear the cause shall agree +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">[363]</span>in the determination: and if either party shall neglect to +attend at the day appointed, without showing reasons, +which Congress shall judge sufficient, or being present shall +refuse to strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate +three persons out of each State, and the Secretary of Congress +shall strike in behalf of such party absent or refusing; +and the judgment and sentence of the court to be appointed, +in the manner before prescribed, shall be final and conclusive; +and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit +to the authority of such court, or to appear or defend their +claim or cause, the court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce +sentence, or judgment, which shall in like manner +be final and decisive, the judgment or sentence and other +proceedings being in either case transmitted to Congress, +and lodged among the acts of Congress for the security +of the parties concerned: provided that every commissioner, +before he sits in judgment, shall take an oath to be administered +by one of the judges of the supreme or superior court +of the State where the cause shall be tried, “well and truly +to hear and determine the matter in question, according +to the best of his judgment, without favour, affection or +hope of reward:” provided also that no State shall be deprived +of territory for the benefit of the United States.</p> + +<p>All controversies concerning the private right of soil +claimed under different grants of two or more States, whose +jurisdiction as they may respect such lands, and the States +which passed such grants are adjusted, the said grants +or either of them being at the same time claimed to have +originated antecedent to such settlement of jurisdiction, +shall on the petition of either party to the Congress of the +United States, be finally determined as near as may be +in the same manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes +respecting territorial jurisdiction between different +States.</p> + +<p>The United States in Congress assembled shall also +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">[364]</span>have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating +the alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, +or by that of the respective States—fixing the +standard of weights and measures throughout the United +States—regulating the trade and managing all affairs +with the Indians, not members of any of the States, provided +that the legislative right of any State within its own +limits be not infringed or violated—establishing and regulating +post-offices from one State to another, throughout +all the United States, and exacting such postage on the +papers passing thro’ the same as may be requisite to defray +the expenses of the said office—appointing all officers of +the land forces, in the service of the United States, excepting +regimental officers—appointing all the officers of the +naval forces, and commissioning all officers whatever in +the service of the United States—making rules for the +government and regulation of the said land and naval forces, +and directing their operations.</p> + +<p>The United States in Congress assembled shall have +authority to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of +Congress, to be denominated “a Committee of the States,” +and to consist of one delegate from each State; and to appoint +such other committees and civil officers as may be +necessary for managing the general affairs of the United +States under their direction—to appoint one of their number +to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve +in the office of president more than one year in any term +of three years; to ascertain the necessary sums of money +to be raised for the service of the United States, and to appropriate +and apply the same for defraying the public expenses—to +borrow money, or emit bills on the credit of +the United States, transmitting every half year to the respective +States an account of the sums of money so borrowed +or emitted,—to build and equip a navy—to agree +upon the number of land forces, and to make requisitions +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[365]</span>from each State for its quota, in proportion to the number +of white inhabitants in such State; which requisition shall +be binding, and thereupon the Legislature of each State +shall appoint the regimental officers, raise the men and +cloath, arm and equip them in a soldier like manner, at +the expense of the United States; and the officers and men +so cloathed, armed and equipped shall march to the place +appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United +States in Congress assembled: but if the United States +in Congress assembled shall, on consideration of circumstances +judge proper that any State should not raise men, +or should raise a smaller number than its quota, and that +any other State should raise a greater number of men than +the quota thereof, such extra number shall be raised, officered, +cloathed, armed and equipped in the same manner +as the quota of such State, unless the legislature of such +State shall judge that such extra number cannot be safely +spared out of the same, in which case they shall raise, officer, +cloath, arm and equip as many of such extra number as +they judge can be safely spared. And the officers and +men so cloathed, armed and equipped, shall march to the +place appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United +States in Congress assembled.</p> + +<p>The United States in Congress assembled shall never +engage in a war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal +in time of peace, nor enter into any treaties or alliances, +nor coin money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain +the sums and expenses necessary for the defence +and welfare of the United States, or any of them, nor emit +bills, nor borrow money on the credit of the United States, +nor appropriate money, nor agree upon the number of vessels +of war, to be built or purchased, or the number of land or +sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a commander-in-chief +of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to the +same: nor shall a question on any other point, except for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">[366]</span>adjourning from day to day be determined, unless by the +votes of a majority of the United States in Congress assembled.</p> + +<p>The Congress of the United States shall have power +to adjourn to any time within the year, and to any place +within the United States, so that no period of adjournment +be for a longer duration than the space of six months, +and shall publish the journal of their proceedings monthly, +except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances +or military operations, as in their judgment require secresy; +and the yeas and nays of the delegates of each State on +any question shall be entered on the journal, when it is +desired by any delegate; and the delegates of a State, or +any of them, at his or their request shall be furnished with +a transcript of the said journal, except such parts as are +above excepted, to lay before the Legislatures of the several +States.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article X.</span> The committee of the States, or any nine +of them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of +Congress, such of the powers of Congress as the United +States in Congress assembled, by the consent of nine States, +shall from time to time think expedient to vest them with; +provided that no power be delegated to the said committee, +for the exercise of which, by the articles of confederation, +the voice of nine States in the Congress of the United States +assembled is requisite.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article XI.</span> Canada acceding to this confederation, +and joining in the measures of the United States, shall +be admitted into, and entitled to all the advantages of this +Union: but no other colony shall be admitted into the same, +unless such admission be agreed to by nine States.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article XII.</span> All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed +and debts contracted by, or under the authority +of Congress, before the assembling of the United States, +in pursuance of the present confederation, shall be deemed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">[367]</span>and considered as a charge against the United States, for +payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States, +and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Article XIII.</span> Every State shall abide by the determinations +of the United States in Congress assembled, +on all questions which by this confederation are submitted +to them. And the articles of this confederation shall be +inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall +be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter +be made in any of them; unless such alteration be +agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards +confirmed by the Legislatures of every State.</p> + +<p>And whereas it has pleased the Great Governor of the +world to incline the hearts of the Legislatures we respectively +represent in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize +us to ratify the said articles of confederation and perpetual +union. Know ye that we the undersigned delegates, by +virtue of the power and authority to us given for that purpose, +do by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our respective +constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm +each and every of the said articles of confederation +and perpetual union, and all and singular the matters and +things therein contained: and we do further solemnly plight +and engage the faith of our respective constituents, that +they shall abide by the determinations of the United States +in Congress assembled, on all questions, which by the said +confederation are submitted to them. And that the articles +thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we re[s]pectively +represent, and that the Union shall be perpetual.</p> + +<p class="hanging">In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. +Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania +the ninth day of July in the year of our Lord one +thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, and in the +third year of the independence of America.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[368]</span></p> + +<p>On the part & behalf of the State of New Hampshire.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Josiah Bartlett</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">John Wentworth</span>, Junr., August 8th, 1778.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>On the part and behalf of the State of Massachusetts Bay.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">John Hancock</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Samuel Adams</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Elbridge Gerry</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Francis Dana</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">James Lovell</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Samuel Holten</span>.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>On the part and behalf of the State of Rhode Island and +Providence Plantations.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">William Ellery</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Henry Marchant</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">John Collins</span>.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>On the part and behalf of the State of Connecticut.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Roger Sherman</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Samuel Huntington</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Oliver Wolcott</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Titus Hosmer</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Andrew Adams</span>.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>On the part and behalf of the State of New York.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Jas. Duane</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Fra. Lewis</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Wm. Duer</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Gouv. Morris</span>.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>On the part and in behalf of the State of New Jersey, +Novr. 26, 1778.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Jno. Witherspoon</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Nath. Scudder</span>.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>On the part and behalf of the State of Pennsylvania.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Robt. Morris</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Daniel Roberdeau</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Jona. Bayard Smith</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">William Clingan</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Joseph Reed</span>, 22d July, 1778.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>On the part & behalf of the State of Delaware.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Tho. M’Kean</span>, Feby. 12, 1779.</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">John Dickinson</span>, May 5th, 1779.</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Nicholas Van Dyke</span>.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>On the part and behalf of the State of Maryland.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">John Hanson</span>, March 1, 1781.</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Daniel Carroll</span>, Mar. 1, 1781.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[369]</span></p> + +<p>On the part and behalf of the State of Virginia.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Richard Henry Lee</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">John Banister</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Thomas Adams</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Jno. Harvie</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Francis Lightfoot Lee</span>.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>On the part and behalf of the State of No. Carolina.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">John Penn</span>, July 21, 1778.</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Corns. Harnett</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Jno. Williams</span>.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>On the part and behalf of the State of South Carolina.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Henry Laurens</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">William Henry Drayton</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Thos. Heyward</span>, Junr.</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Jno. Mathews</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Richd. Hutson</span>.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>On the part and behalf of the State of Georgia.</p> + +<div class="sigblock"> +<div class="signatures"> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Jno. Walton</span>, 24th July, 1778.</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Edwd. Telfair</span>,</div> + <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Edwd. Langworthy</span>.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="titlepage">END OF VOL. II.</p> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78469 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |