Ynle University Library

39002002948488

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Slllujsstratcti Edition

THE CRITICAL PERIOD OF
AMERICAN HISTORY
BT
JOHN FISKE
9

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THE CRITICAL PERIOD
OF AMERICAN HISTORY
1783-1789
BY JOHN FISKE
ILLUSTRATED WITH
PORTRAITS MAPS FACSIMILES
CONTEMPORARY VIEWS PRINTS AND
OTHER HISTORIC
MATERIALS

I am uneasy and apprehensive
more so than during tbe war
Jay to Washington, y««? .?7, 178
H « • I. ,

:iiSS"'"^*'

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
(arte UHbersitre fBrestf, Camiriuut:
MDCCCXCVIII

Copyright, 1888,
Bt JOHN FISKE.
Copyright, 1897,
By HOUGHTON, iEEFFIIN & CO.
All rights reserved.

TO
MY DEAR CLASSMATES,
FRANCIS LEE HIGGINSON
AND
CHARLES CABOT JACKSON,
/ DEDICATE THIS BOOK

PREFACE

The principle of illustration followed in the present work
is the same that was adopted in the case of "The American
Revolution," to which this is in effect a third and concluding
volume. No illustrations have been admitted, save such as
seem to possess real historical value.
For help of various sorts I have especially to thank Mr.
Wilberforce Eames, of the Lenox Library, in New York.
To many ladies and gentlemen who have kindly assisted me
I have made specific acknowledgments in my annotated list
of illustrations.
The text of this edition has been carefully revised, and in
some places important additions or changes have been made.
Cambridge, October 18, 1897.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

This book contains the substance of the course of lec
tures given in the Old South Meeting-House in Boston in
December, 1884, at the Washington University in St. Louis
in May, 1885, and in the theatre of the University Club in
New York in March, 1886. In its present shape it may
serve as a sketch of the political history of the United
States from the end of the Revolutionary War to the
adoption of the Federal Constitution. __ It makes no preten
sions to completeness, either as a summary of the events of
that period or as a discussion of the political questions in
volved in them. I have aimed especially at grouping facts
in such a way as to bring out and emphasize their causal
sequence, and it is accordingly hoped that the book may
prove useful to the student of American history.
My title was suggested by the fact of Thomas Paine's
stopping the publication of the " Crisis," on hearing the
news of the treaty of 1783, with the remark, "The times
that tried men's souls are over." Commenting upon this, on
page 55 of the present work, I observed that so far from
the crisis being over in 1783, the next five years were to be
the most critical time of all. I had not then seen Mr. Tres-
cot's " Diplomatic History of the Administrations of Wash
ington and Adams," on page 9 of which he uses almost the
same words : " It must not be supposed that the treaty of
peace secured the national life. Indeed, it would be more
correct to say that the most critical period of the country's
history embraced the time between 1783 and the adoption
of the Constitution in 1788."
That period was preeminently the turning-point in the

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION ix
development of political society in the western hemisphere.
Though small in their mere dimensions, the events here
summarized were in a remarkable degree germinal events,
fraught with more tremendous alternatives of future welfare
or misery for mankind than it is easy for the imagination to
grasp. As we now stand upon the threshold of that mighty
future, in the light of which all events of the past are
clearly destined to seem dwindled in dimensions and signifi
cant only in the ratio of their potency as causes ; as we dis
cern how large a part of that future must be the outcome of
the creative work, for good or ill, of men of English speech ;
we are put into the proper mood for estimating the signifi
cance of the causes which determined a century ago that
the continent of North America should be dominated by a
single powerful and pacific federal nation instead of being
parcelled out among forty or fifty small communities, wast
ing their strength and lowering their moral tone by per
petual warfare, like the states of ancient Greece, or by per
petual preparation for warfare, like the nations of modern
Europe. In my book entitled " American Political Ideas,
viewed from the Standpoint of Universal History," I have
tried to indicate the pacific influence likely to be exerted
upon the world by the creation and maintenance of such a
political structure as our Federal Union. The present nar
rative may serve as a commentary upon what I had in mind
on page 133 of that book, in speaking of the work of our
Federal Convention as "the finest specimen of construc
tive statesmanship that the world has ever seen." On such
a point it is pleasant to find one's self in accord with a
statesman so wise and noble as Mr. Gladstone, whose opin
ion is here quoted on page 240.
To some persons it may seem as if the years 1861-65
were of more cardinal importance than the years 1783-89.
Our civil war was indeed an event of prodigious magnitude,
as measured by any standard that history affords ; and
1 there can be little doubt as to its decisiveness. The mea
sure of that decisiveness is to be found in the completeness

x PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
of the reconciliation that has already, despite the feeble
wails of unscrupulous place-hunters and unteachable bigots,
cemented the Federal Union so powerfully that all likelihood
of its disruption may be said to have disappeared forever.
When we consider this wonderful harmony which so soon
has followed the deadly struggle, we may well believe it to
be the index of such a stride toward the ultimate pacification
of mankind as was never made before. But it was the work
done in the years 1783-89 that created a federal nation
capable of enduring the storm and stress of the years 1861-
65. It was in the earlier crisis that the pliant twig was
bent ; and as it was bent, so has it ' grown ; until it has
become indeed a goodly and a sturdy tree.
Cambridge, October 10, 1888.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

Fall of Lord North's ministry 
Sympathy between British Whigs and the revolutionary party in
America ...........
It weakened the Whig party in England
Character of Lord Shelburne 
Political instability of the Rockingham ministry
Obstacles in the way of a treaty of peace
Oswald talks with Franklin ....
Grenville has an interview with Vergennes .
Effects of Rodney's victory ....
Misunderstanding between Fox and Shelburne
Fall of the Rockingham ministry
Shelburne becomes prime minister
Defeat of the Spaniards and French at Gibraltar
French policy opposed to American interests
The valley of the Mississippi ; Aranda's prophecy
The Newfoundland fisheries 
Jay detects the schemes of Vergennes
And sends Dr. Vaughan to visit Shelburne .....
John Adams arrives in Paris and joins with Jay in insisting upon
a separate negotiation with England .....
The separate American treaty, as agreed upon :
i. Boundaries .......
2. Fisheries ; commercial intercourse
3. Private debts 
4. Compensation of loyalists .... . . 27
Secret article relating to the Yazoo boundary
Vergennes does not like the way in which it has been done
On the part of the Americans it was a great diplomatic victory .
Which the commissioners won by disregarding the instructions
of Congress and acting on their own responsibility .

PAGE [

I
2
4
6,1 8
9-1 1
12'4
141516171718
2021
21
r-23 2425
26
-31 3i32 3234

xii CONTENTS
The Spanish treaty . ...... 34
The French treaty . .  35
Coalition of Fox with North  36-41
They attack the American treaty in Parliament . . 41
And compel Shelburne to resign . .... 41,42
Which leaves England without a government, while for several
weeks the king is too angry to appoint ministers . . 43
Until at length he succumbs to the coalition, which presently
adopts and ratifies the American treaty  44
The coalition ministry is wrecked upon Fox's India Bill . . 44, 46
Constitutional crisis ends in the overwhelming victory of Pitt in
the elections of May, 1784  46,47
And this, although apparently a triumph for the king, was really
a death-blow to his system of personal government . . 48, 4.9

CHAPTER II
THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS
Cessation of hostilities in America .... 50
Departure of the British troops  52
Washington resigns his command ...... 53
And goes home to Mount Vernon ... .54
His "legacy " to the American people ..... 55
The next five years were the most critical years in American his
tory .... ... . . 56
Absence of a sentiment of union, and consequent danger of an
archy  56. 57
European statesmen, whether hostile or friendly, had little faith
in the stability of the Union . ¦ . • • 58, 59
False historic analogies .... ... 60
Influence of railroad and telegraph upon the perpetuity of the
Union .... . . 62
Difficulty of travelling a hundred years ago .... 63
Local jealousies and antipathies, an inheritance from primeval
savagery  .64
Conservative character of the American Revolution . . 66
State governments remodelled; assemblies continued from colo
nial times .......... .67
Origin of the senates in the governor's council of assistants . 6S
Governors viewed with suspicion .... . . 68
Analogies with British institutions . . . .70
The judiciary ... ¦•..... 71
Restrictions upon suffrage .... . . y

CONTENTS xiii
Abolition of primogeniture, entails, and manorial privileges 73
Steps toward the abolition of slavery and the slave-trade . 74-77
Progress toward religious freedom . . . 78, 79
Church and state in Virginia .... .80
Persecution of dissenters ... . . . 81
Madison and the Religious Freedom Act ... .82
Temporary overthrow of the church ... . . 83
Difficulties in regard to ordination ; the case of Mason Weems . 84
Ordination of Samuel Seabury by non-jurors at Aberdeen . 85
Francis Asbury and the Methodists ,---_..^-^. . . 87
Presbyterians and Congregationalists ,.<;... 88
Roman Catholics . . . . ^=j  JD . 88, 89
Except in the instance of slavery, all the changes described in this
chapter were favourable to the union of the states ... 90
But while the state governments, in all these changes, are seen
working smoothly, we have next to observe, by contrast, the
clumsiness and inefficiency of the federal government . . 90, 91

CHAPTER III
THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP
The several states have never enjoyed complete sovereignty . 92
But in the very act of severing their connection with Great Britain,
they entered into some sort of union .
Anomalous character of the Continental Congress
The articles of confederation ; they sought'to establish a " league
of friendship " between the states 
But failed to create a federal government endowed with
sovereignty ........
Military weakness of the government
Extreme difficulty of obtaining a revenue
Congress, being unable to pay the army, was afraid of it
Supposed scheme for making Washington king
Greene's experience in South Carolina
Gates's staff officers and the Newburgh address .
The danger averted by Washington ....
Congress driven from Philadelphia by mutinous soldiers
The Commutation Act denounced in New England .
Order of the Cincinnati .
Reasons for the dread which it inspired
Congress finds itself unable to carry out the provisions of the
treaty with Great Britain  . 126
Persecution of the loyalists . ... 127,128

94

95

igue

. 96-100

real

101-
-104
104-
-106
108,
109
109
112
"3
114
"Si
116
118
119
120-
-124
125
xiv CONTENTS
It was especially severe in New York .... 128
Trespass Act of 1784 directed against the loyalists . . . 130
Character and early career of Alexander Hamilton . . 130-132
The case of Rutgers v. Waddington  132-134
Wholesale emigration of Tories  135
Congress unable to enforce payment of debts to British creditors 137
England retaliates by refusing to surrender the fortresses on the
northwestern frontier  137

CHAPTER IV
DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY
The barbarous superstitions of the Middle Ages concerning trade
were still rife in the eighteenth century  139
The old theory of the uses of a colony  139
Pitt's unsuccessful attempt to secure free trade between Great
Britain and the United States  r^j
Ship-building in New England  142
British navigation acts and orders in council directed against
American commerce  542
John Adams tried in vain to negotiate a commercial treaty with
Great Britain  , , -, , , ,
 !4j> '44
And could see no escape from the difficulties except in systematic
reprisal  T,-
But any such reprisal was impracticable, for the several states im
posed conflicting duties  t ,6
Attempts to give Congress the power of regulating commerce
were unsuccessful  r ,7 T ,g
And the several states began to make commercial war upon one
another 
Attempts of New York to oppress New Jersey and Connecticut 150
Retaliatory measures of the two latter states ' . . . .1-2
The quarrel between Connecticut and Pennsylvania over the pos
session of the valley of Wyoming . . . j -,_j -g
The quarrel between New York and New Hampshire over the"
possession of the Green Mountains  15-. 1 "S
Failure of American diplomacy because European states could'
not tell whether they were dealing with one nation or with
thirteen . . , ,
„ ., , .  160, 161
Failure of American credit ; John Adams be-srinsr in Holland 161 16-
The Barbary pirates .... ' f
American citizens kidnapped and sold into slavery ' . j6g
Lord Sheffield's outrageous pamphlet 6(-

CONTENTS xv
Tripoli's demand for blackmail  ^7
Congress unable to protect American citizens .... 167
1 68-1 7 1
172
• 174
174
• 177
178-182 . 182185

Financial distress after the Revolutionary War
State of the coinage 
Cost of the war in money ....
Robert Morris and his immense services .
The craze for paper money ....
Agitation in the southern and middle states
Distress in New England ....
Imprisonment for debt ....
Rag-money victorious in Rhode Island; the "Know Ye" mea-
sures  186-190
Rag-money defeated in Massachusetts; the Shays insurrec
tion  190-196
The insurrection suppressed by state troops . . . . 197
Conduct of the neighbouring states  198
The rebels pardoned  200
Timidity of Congress  201, 202
CHAPTER V
GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
Creation of a national domain beyond the Alleghanies . . 203, 204
Conflicting claims to the western territory  204
Claims of Massachusetts and Connecticut  205
Claims of New York  205
Virginia's claims  206
Maryland's novel and beneficent suggestion . . . 206, 207
The several states yield their claims in favour of the United
States  207, 208
Magnanimity of Virginia  209
Jefferson proposes a scheme of government for the northwestern
territory  210
Names of the proposed ten states  212
Jefferson wishes to prohibit slavery in the national domain . .212
North Carolina's cession of western lands  213
John Sevier and the state of Franklin  214, 215
The northwestern territory  216
Origin of the Ohio company  217
The Ordinance of 1787  218-221
Theory of folk-land upon which the ordinance was based . . 222
Spain, hearing of the secret article in the treaty of 1 783, loses her
temper and threatens to shut up the Mississippi River . 223-225

XVI

CONTENTS

Gardoqui and Jay  225
Threats of secession in Kentucky and New England . . 226
Washington's views on the political importance of canals between
east and west  22°
His far-sighted genius and self-devotion  229
Maryland confers with Virginia regarding the navigation of the
Potomac  229
The Madison-Tyler motion in the Virginia legislature . 230,231
Convention at Annapolis, Sept. 11, 1786  232
Hamilton's address calling for a convention at Philadelphia 232, 233
The impost amendment defeated by the action of New York ; last
ounce upon the camel's back  235-237
Sudden changes in popular sentiment  238
The Federal Convention meets at Philadelphia, May, 1787 239, 240
Mr. Gladstone's opinion of the work of the convention . . 240
The men who were assembled there  241-243
Character of James Madison  244, 245
The other leading members  246
Washington chosen president of the convention .... 247

CHAPTER VI
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION
Why the proceedings of the convention were kept secret for so
many years  249
Difficulty of the problem to be solved .... 249, 250
Symptoms of cowardice repressed by Washington's impassioned
speech  250
The root of all the difficulties ; the edicts of the federal govern
ment had operated only upon states, not upon individuals, and
therefore could not be enforced without danger of war . 251-254
The Virginia plan, of which Madison was the chief author, of
fered a radical cure ...... . 254, 255
And was felt to be revolutionary in its character . 256-258
Fundamental features of the Virginia plan .... 258, 260
How it was at first received  260
The House of Representatives must be directly elected by the
people  261, 262
Question as to the representation of states brings out the antag
onism between large and small states  262
William Paterson presents the New Jersey plan; not a radical
cure, but a feeble palliative  263, 264
Struggle between the Virginia and New Jersey plans . 264-267

CONTENTS

xvii

The Connecticut compromise, according to which the national
principle is to prevail in the House of Representatives, and the
federal principle in the Senate, meets at first with fierce oppo
sition  270,271
But" is at length adopted  272
And proves a decisive victory for Madison and his methods . 273
A few irreconcilable members go home in dudgeon . . 273, 274
But the small states, having been propitiated, are suddenly con
verted to Federalism, and make the victory complete . . 274
Vague dread of the future west  275
The struggle between pro-slavery and anti-slavery parties began
in the convention, and was quieted by two compromises . . 276
Should representation be proportioned to wealth or to popula
tion?  276
Were slaves to be reckoned as persons or as chattels ? . • . 277
Attitude of the Virginia statesmen  278
It was absolutely necessary to satisfy South Carolina . 279, 280
The three fifths compromise, suggested by Madison, was a gen
uine English solution, if ever there was one .... 280
There was neither rhyme nor reason in it, but for all that, it was
the best solution attainable at the time . . . . .281
The next compromise was between New England and South
Carolina as to the foreign slave-trade and the power of the fed
eral government over commerce . . .... 282
George Mason calls the slave-trade an " infernal traffic " . 284
And the compromise offends and alarms Virginia . . . 284
Belief in the moribund condition of slavery .... 288
The foundations of the Constitution were laid in compromise . 289
Powers granted to the federal government ..... 290
Use of federal troops in suppressing insurrections . . 290
Various federal powers  292, 293
Provision for a federal city under federal jurisdiction . . . 293
The Federal Congress might compel the attendance of members 293
Powers denied to the several states  294
Should the federal government be allowed to make its promissory
notes a legal tender in payment of debts? powerful speech of
Gouverneur Morris  294
Emphatic and unmistakable condemnation of paper money by all
the leading delegates  295
The convention refused to grant to the federal government the
power of issuing inconvertible paper, but did not think an ex
press prohibition necessary  296
If they could have foreseen some recent judgments of the su
preme court, they would doubtless have made the prohibition
explicit and absolute  . 297

xviii CONTENTS
Debates as to the federal executive  298
Sherman's suggestion as to the true relation of the executive to
the legislature  298
There was to be a single chief magistrate, but how should he be
chosen?  299
Objections to an election by Congress  300
Ellsworth and King suggest the device of an electoral college,
which is at first rejected  300
But afterwards adopted  303
Provisions for an election by Congress in the case of a failure of
choice by the electoral college  303
Provisions for counting the electoral votes .... 304
It was not intended to leave anything to be decided by the presi
dent of the Senate  305
The convention foresaw imaginary dangers, but not the real ones 306
Hamilton's opinion of the electoral scheme . . . 307, 308
How it has actually worked  308
In this part of its work the convention tried to copy from the
British Constitution  310
In which they supposed the legislative and executive departments
to be distinct and separate  310
Here they were misled by Montesquieu and Blackstone . . 311
What our government would be if it were really like that of
Great Britain  312-315
In the British government the executive department is not sepa
rated from the legislative  315
Circumstances which obscured the true aspect of the case a cen
tury ago  316-318
Veto power and independence of the executive . . . 318-320
The American cabinet is analogous, not to the British cabinet,
but to the privy council  320
The federal judiciary, and its remarkable character . 321,322
Provisions for amending the Constitution  323
The document is signed by all but three of the delegates present 324
And the convention breaks up  324
With a pleasant remark from Franklin  325

CONTENTS xix
CHAPTER VII
CROWNING THE WORK
Franklin lays the Constitution before the legislature of Pennsyl
vania  327
It is submitted to Congress, which refers it to the legislatures of
the thirteen states, to be ratified or rejected by the people in
conventions .......... 327
First American parties, Federalists and Antifederalists . . 329
The contest in Pennsylvania  329, 330
How to make a quorum  332
A war of pamphlets and newspaper squibs . . . 332, 333
Ending in the ratification of the Constitution by Delaware, Penn
sylvania, and New Jersey ....... 334
Rejoicings and mutterings . . . . . 335'
Georgia and Connecticut ratify . . 336
The outlook in Massachusetts . . ... 336, 338
The Massachusetts convention meets  339
And overhauls the Constitution clause by- clause . . . . 341
On the subject of an army Mr. Nason waxes eloquent . . 342
The clergymen oppose a religious test  342
And Rev. Samuel West argues on the assumption that all men
are not totally depraved  343
Feeling of distrust in the mountain districts . . . 344
Timely speech of a Berkshire farmer .... 344, 345
Attitude of Samuel Adams  346, 348
Meeting of mechanics at the Green Dragon  348
Charges of bribery  ... 349
Washington's fruitful suggestion  350
Massachusetts ratifies, but proposes amendments . . . 351
The Long Lane has a turning and becomes Federal Street . . 354
New Hampshire hesitates, but Maryland ratifies, and all eyes are
turned upon South Carolina  354, 355
Objections of Rawlins Lowndes answered by Cotesworth Pinck-
ney  356
South Carolina ratifies the Constitution  357
Important effect upon Virginia, where thoughts of a southern
confederacy had been entertained  357, 358
Madison and Marshall prevail in the Virginia convention, and it
ratifies the Constitution  360
New Hampshire had ratified four days before .... 361
Rejoicings at Philadelphia ; riots at Providence and Albany . 362
The struggle in New York ...... . 362

xx CONTENTS
Origin of the " Federalist "  364, 365
Hamilton wins the victory, and New York ratifies . . . 368
All serious anxiety is now at an end ; the laggard states, North
Carolina and Rhode Island . . . . . 369
First presidential election, January 7, 1789; Washington is unani
mously chosen . ... . . . 370
Why Samuel Adams was not selected for vice-president . 371
Selection of John Adams  372
Washington's journey to New York, April 16-23 . . . 373
His inauguration . . . 374

377

Bibliographical Note . . . . .
Members of the Federal Convention .... 383
Presidents of the Continental Congress . . . 386
Index ....  387

NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS.

All the maps, except where otherwise specified, have been made from my drawings
or ztnder my direction.
The abbreviation (Emmet : Lenox) signifies that the illustration is taken from the
collection of Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, which is now in the Lenox Library, New
York.
James Madison (photogravure}  Frontispiece
From the original painting by Gilbert Stuart, at Bowdoin College. Auto
graph from Lenox Library, New York.
Guy Vaux : Overthrow of Lord North's Ministry . . 3
From Caricatures of James Gillray, Political Series, vol. i., one of the
books of my old friend, the late Samuel Jones Tilden, now in Lenox Library.
In the foreground the jackass, George III., sits dozing, crowned with a
dunce-cap, while above him hangs the riband of the Garter, containing a
crown borne on a donkey's back. The sceptre is in a bag lying on the floor,
and under the throne is a keg marked Gunpowder. Charles Fox as Guy
Fawkes (= Vaux = Fox), with vulpine face, is coming through the door,
lantern in hand, while on his right the Duke of Richmond carries a fagot of
sticks, and on his left the Earl of Shelburne brings in another keg of powder.
Between Shelburne and Fox we see the face of Dunning, afterward Lord
Ashburton ; while behind Dunning appears Edmund Burke in spectacles.
The wall of the anteroom is decorated with a figure of Catiline.
Earl of Shelburne . ...  5
From a mezzotint in the Letters of Junius, London, 1801. Autograph
from Correspondence of the Earl of Chatham, vol. iii.
Charles James Fox .  . 7
From National Portraits, vol. v., after an original painting by Sir Joshua
Reynolds, in the possession of Lord Denman. Autograph from MS. collec
tion in Library of Boston Athenaeum.
Thomas Grenville  . . . . 11
From National Portraits, vol. vi., after an original painting by John
Hopner, in the possession of Hon. G. M. Fortescue. Autograph from the
same book.
Rodney Triumphant   13
From the Gillray Caricatures, Lenox Library.
I have never seen any description of this very interesting satirical print.
Wright, in his learned work on the caricature history of the House of Han-

xxii NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
over, makes no mention of it, though he describes others of less importance
relating to the same event. Much history is concentrated in the picture.
The battle of Sainte-Marie-Galante (or of the Saints), April 12, 1782, is
called by Captain Mahan " the greatest naval battle in its results that had
been fought in a century." (Influence of Sea Power on History, p. 485.)
The victor, Sir George Rodney, was a Tory and had been appointed to his
command by Lord North's ministry ; he was personally objectionable to the
Whigs, who condemned him severely (and in my opinion justly) for his high
handed behaviour at St. Eustatius, Feb. 3, 1781. (See my American Revo
lution, illustrated edition, vol. ii. p. 163.) On the other hand, a favourite
Whig admiral was Hon. Augustus Keppel, son of the Earl of Albemarle.
On July 27, 1 778, Admiral Keppel chased a French fleet off Ushant but failed
to bring on a decisive action, though some broadsides were exchanged. A
Tory subordinate, Vice-Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, charged Keppel with neg
lect of duty, and recriminations went on until both Keppel and Palliser were
tried by court-martial and both were honourably acquitted. As the net result,
-Keppel was petted by the Whig statesmen, idolized by the London populace,
ridiculed by the Tories, and furiously hated by the King. He became a
member of Lord Rockingham's cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty, March
30, 1782, and was raised to the peerage as Viscount Keppel, April 27. On
May 1, before the news of Rodney's great victory had reached England, the
ministry sent Admiral Pigot to the West Indies to supersede him, with a
cold and almost insulting letter of recall. On May 18 came the news of the
victory, and Lord North in Parliament said to the ministers : " You have
conquered, but you have conquered with the arms of Philip ! "
In the foreground of the picture Rodney is treading upon the French flag,
while Admiral de Grasse is surrendering his sword. Behind Grasse stand
a party of woe-begone Frenchmen ; behind Rodney are his hilarious jack
tars bringing ashore boxes of louis d'or, etc., while a boat in the near back
ground shows the British ensign floating above the fleurs-de-lis. Over Rod
ney's head a viscount's coronet is descending " from Jove " the giver of vic
tory. A dilapidated building on the left does duty for the Admiralty office,
and on its front is a hatchment, the symbol of mourning, enclosing an in
verted ship and rusty axe, and bearing the inscription " 27th July, Gloria,''
referring to the date when Keppel's glory died off Ushant. Before the build
ing Lord North and the Earl of Sandwich, who had been his First Lord of the
Admiralty, are walking jubilant ; North exclaims, " Ha, ha, ha, behold Augus
tus the 27th I " while Sandwich adds, " Ha, ha, ha, new measures — send a pig
[Pigot] to supersede a Lion ! " In the left foreground stand a very disgusted
trio. Fox exclaims, " Damn the French for coming in his way, say I." and
Keppel responds, " 'T is the last fleet he shall have the opportunity of beat
ing, however ! " The third figure can hardly be any other than the prime
minister, Lord Rockingham, though it does not look much like him. His
comment is, " This is more than we expected, more than we wished."
The discomfited ministers sent an express to prevent Admiral Pigot from
sailing, but he had already started. The viscount's coronet never descended
upon Rodney's head. He was raised to the peerage, but only as a baron,
and was given a pension of £2,000 a year ; the least the ministry could do in
deference to public opinion.
Count Aranda 
From Blason dc Espaiia : Libro de Oro de su Xoblcza, torn. i. Autograph

NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS xxiii
from a MS. in the National Library at Madrid, through the kindness of
Hon. Hannis Taylor, U. S. minister at the Court of Spain.
Boundaries of the United States, Canada, and the Span
ish Possessions, according to the Proposals of the
Court of France in 1782 {coloured map) .... facing 20
From Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice's Life of the Earl of Shelburne.
John Adams .  23
From the portrait by C. W. Peale, in Independence Hall, Philadelphia.
Autograph from the MS. collection of Hon. Mellen Chamberlain.
Boundary Monument on the St. Croix .... ... 25
After a plate in Bouchette's British Dominions in North America, Lon
don, 1832.
John Jay (photogravure) ... . . .... facing 26
From the original portrait by Stuart, in Bedford House, the homestead
of the Jays, at Katonah, N. Y. Autograph from Tuckerman's William Jay.
Benjamin Franklin  29
From Geschichte der Kriege in und ausser Europa, Theil xi. Niirnberg,
1778.
Count Vergennes (photogravure)  facing 30
From the frontispiece to Doniol, Histoire de la Participation de la
France a VEtablissement des Etats-Unis d'Amerique, Paris, 1886, 5 vols.,
4to, vol. i. ; an engraving by Vangelisti, from the original painting by
Antoine Francois Callet. Autograph from the same book.
Robert R. Livingston . . .  33
After a portrait by J. Vanderlyn in the National Portrait Gallery. Auto
graph from the same book.
Edward Gibbon ...  35
From the painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in the possession of the Earl
of Sheffield. Autograph from his Autobiography.
Lord North as Ignavia  37
From Wright's House of Hanover, London, 1842.
The Lord of the Vineyard  39
From the Gillray Caricatures, Lenox Library.
The Duke of Portland is handing the bunch of grapes to Fox and North,
exclaiming, " Take it between ye." But Reynard appears to be getting the
lion's share.
Isaac Barre  4I
From a print published October 31, 1782, by J. Walker, 44 Paternoster
Row, London ; now in Lenox Library. Autograph from Memorial History
of Boston.
The American Peace Commissioners (photogravure) facings
After the unfinished painting by Benjamin West, in the possession of

xxiv NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
Lord Belper; from - photograph bequeathed by Charles Sumner to the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The figures, from the left of the picture to the right, are Jay, Adams,
Franklin, Laurens, and Franklin's grandson, William Temple Franklin, who
looks nearly as old as his grandfather.
Facsimile Signatures of the Treaty of Peace .... 43
From the Magazine of American History, vol. x. p. 3S4, after the original
document in the Department of State at Washington.
George III  • 45
From an engraving in National Portraits, after the original painting by
Sir Thomas Lawrence. Autograph from Lossing's Field-Book of the Revo
lution.
William Pitt ...  . . 47
From an engraving in National Portraits, after the original painting by
Gainsborough. Autograph from MS. collection in Library of Boston Athe
naeum.
Thomas Paine ....  51
From a small octavo print in Lenox Library, marked " Peel pinx., Angus
sculps." Autograph from Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography.
Fraunces's Tavern, New York  -52
From Valentine's New York City Manual, 1854. This house, on the
corner of Broad and Pearl streets, is said to be the oldest now standing in
the city. It was built in 1 700 by Etienne De Lancey, on land given him by
his father-in-law, Stephanus Van Cortlandt. In 1762 it was sold by Oliver
De Lancey to Samuel Fraunces, a French mulatto, commonly called Black
Sam, who used it for a tavern, with the sign " Queen's Head," in honour of
Queen Charlotte. It was an admirably kept tavern, much in vogue for din
ners, soirees, club-meetings, etc. Black Sam was a credit to his profession.
Thomas Mifflin .... . . ... . . . 53
From the original painting by C. W. Peale, in Independence Hall. Auto
graph from Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography.
Mount Vernon . . . .  55
From a photograph. The house was built about 1 740 by Augustine Wash
ington, whose son Lawrence named the estate after Admiral Vernon, under
whom he had served in the expedition against Cartagena. On Lawrence's
death, in 1753, it passed to his brother George.
Washington resigning his Commission at Annapolis (photo
gravure)  facinj*~s6
From the original painting by Trumbull in the Art Gallery of Yale Uni
versity.
Facsimile of the Proclamation by Congress, Jan. 14.
'784 ¦ • •  58,59
Reduced from a broadside in the possession of the Massachusetts His
torical Society.

NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS xxv
Autograph of John Fitch  60
From Watson's Annals of Philadelphia.
Fitch's First Steamboat, Perseverance  61
From Reminiscences of an Old New Yorker (Emmet : Lenox).
Old Stage-Coach  6,
From Basil Hall's Forty Sketches in North America, London, 1829.
Washington's Coach and Four  65
From a photograph (Emmet : Lenox).
Fitch's Steamboat of 1790  -67
From Reminiscences of an Old New Yorker (Emmet : Lenox).
View of North Side of Wall Street, 1785  69
From the same.
Merchants' Exchange, New York, 1752-1799 . . . . 71
From the same.
Edmund Burke . .  .... . . . 73
From an engraving in National Portraits, after the original painting by
John Opie, in the possession of Countess Delaware. Autograph from
Burke's Works, vol. i.
Lord Thurlow  .75
From an engraving by S. W. Reynolds, after the original painting by Sir
Joshua Reynolds. Autograph from the MS. collection of Hon. Mellen
Chamberlain.
George Washington (photogravure)  facing 78
From a painting by C. W. Peale, by the kind permission of its present
owner, Mrs. Joseph Harrison, of Philadelphia. Autograph from Washing
ton's signature to a bill of exchange.
Pohick Parish Church .  83
From a drawing in Virginia State Library
Samuel Seabury, Bishop of Connecticut  85
From an engraving by Ritchie after the original portrait by T. S. Duche.
Autograph from Beardsley's Life and Correspondence of Bishop Seabury.
Francis Asbury   87
From Strickland's Life and Times of Francis Asbury. Autograph from
. the same.
John Carroll, Archbishop of Baltimore  89
From an engraving in O'Shea's Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the
Catholic Church in the United States, after the original painting by Stuart.
Autograph from J. G. Shea's Catholic Church in Colonial Days.
The American Rattlesnake  93
From the Gillray Caricatures, Lenox Library. The original print was
published April 12, 1782. The serpent is exclaiming (observe the rhyme) : —

xxvi NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
" Two British armies I have thus Burgoyned,
And room for more I 've got behind ! "
A placard held up by the tail announces " an apartment to let for military
gentlemen."
John Dickinson ....  9.5
From the original painting by C W. Peale, in Independence Hall. Auto
graph from Winsor's America.
Thomas McKean  97
From an engraving by P. B. Welch, in National Portrait Gallery, after
the original painting by Gilbert Stuart. Autograph from the same book.
John Hanson  99
From the original painting by C W. Peale, in Independence Hall. Auto
graph from the MS. collection of Hon. Mellen Chamberlain.
Elias Boudinot  100
From a steel engraving by St. Memin in 1 798 ; frontispiece to Boudinot's
Life of Elias Boudinot. Autograph from National Portrait Gallery.
Nathaniel Gorham  . . 103
From an etching by Rosenthal, with autograph (Emmet : Lenox).
Cyrus Griffin  105
From a painting in Independence Hall, after an original miniature by Sully
in 1801. Autograph from MS. collection of Hon. Mellen Chamberlain.
Facsimile of Continental Budget for 1786 . ... 107
Photographed from MS. Reports of the Board of Treasury : A (Emmet :
Lenox).
Plan of the City of New York, 1776 . . no, m
From Reminiscences of an Old New Yorker (Emmet : Lenox).
Horatio Gates  115
From a pencil sketch by Trumbull, reproduced in the Mount Vernon edi
tion of Irving's Life of Washington. Autograph from MS. collection in
Library of Boston Athenajum.
George Washington . ... . .  117
From an etching by Rosenthal, after an original painting by Wright, in
1784 (Emmet: Lenox).
Rear View of Independence Hall  119
From a photograph, showing its present appearance.
Old View of Middletown from the Hartford Road . . 121
From Barber's Connecticut Historical Collections.
Badge of the Cincinnati ... . .  I22
From a drawing after a cut in Magazine of American History, vol. x.
p. 190.
Facsimile of Title-page of ./Edanus Burke's Pamphlet . 123
Photographed from the original in the Library of Harvard University.

NCkS ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS

xxvu

Alexander Pulton {photogravure)  facing 126
Photogra^ from tne jjoudon bust, by kind permission of its owner,
Hon. Nichj Y\sk, of New York. Autograph from MS. collection in
Library ofston Athena:um.
Ih^I™^ Bj;GE where Broadway now crosses Canal
^TKlJ^r   . 129
From Reminiscences of an Old New Yorker (Emmet : Lenox).
Lispenard's Meadows from Site of Broadway and Broome
Street  131
From the same.
Alexander Hamilton  133
From the original painting by Trumbull in the New York Chamber of
Commerce, by kind permission of Alexander E. Orr, Esq., its president.
Facsimile of a Continental Lottery Ticket ... 141
(Emmet : Lenox).
Independence Hall and New Theatre, Philadelphia,
1785  '43
After a print in Dr. Emmet's illustrations of the Federal Convention
(Emmet: Lenox).
View from Battery, New York ....  145
After a sketch in Drayton's Tour through the Northern and Eastern
States of America, Charleston, 1794.
The ship in the picture is the French frigate Ambuscade, which had
lately brought Citizen Genet to America.
George Clinton  149
After a miniature by Ramage.
Room in Fraunces's Tavern  147
From Appleton's Journal, vol. xi.
Bird's-Eye View of Wyoming Valley  151
After an engraving kindly lent by Dr. F. C. Johnson, of Wyoming Com
memoration Society, Wilkes-BarrS.
Connecticut Settlements in Pennsylvania  153
Abridged, and slightly modified, from the large map in Hoyt's Brief of a
Title in the Seventeen Townships in the County of Luzerne, Harrisburg,
i879-
John Armstrong  '55
From an engraving, with autograph, in Dr. Emmet's illustrations of the
AnnapoUs Convention (Emmet : Lenox), after an original portrait by J. W.
Jarvis.
Thomas Chittenden  r59
From Walton's Records of the Council of Safety and Governor and
Council of the State of Vermont. Autograph from the same.

xxviii NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
John Adams .  .... 163
From Geschiedenis van het Gcschil tusschen Groot-Britannie ei Amerika,
Amsterdam, 1782.
Facsimile Title-page of the History of the RePn of
Muley Ismail.  '•, • -'•'"'y"
Photographed from the copy in my library.
Autograph of William Grayson  168
From Annapolis Convention (Emmet: Lenox). I have been unable to
find any portrait of Grayson.
Foreign Coins formerly in Circulation in the United
States . .  169
These coins are all represented in "life size." The pistole, pistareen,
guinea, and doubloon are from Taylor's Gold and Silver Coin Examiner,
New York, 1846. The ducat and carolin are from Dye's Coin Chart Man
ual, New York, 1855. The shilling, half joe, crown, moidore, and Spanish
dollar are from The Delineated Coin Chart, Cincinnati, 1857.
Isaiah Thomas  171
From the portrait by Greenwood, in the possession of the American
Antiquarian Society, at Worcester. The autograph is from a MS. kindly
lent by Mr. E. M. Barton, librarian of the Society.
Facsimile Page of the Massachusetts Spy . 173
From the original, in possession of the American Antiquarian Society.
Robert Morris (photogravure)  . . facing 174
From the original portrait by Stuart, through the kind permission of the
owner, C. F. M. Stark, Esq., of Winchester, Mass. Autograph from the
Declaration of Independence.
Specimens of Continental Currency . . 1 75, 176
These and all the following specimens of paper currency are culled from
Dr. Emmet's superb collection in the Lenox Library.
Scales for weighing Coins   177
Photographed from the original, in my library. The box and scales were
used by my great-great-grandfather, Bezaleel Fiske, who was town-clerk of
Middletown, Conn., from 1777 to 1797. My great-grandfather, John Fiske,
who succeeded him as town-clerk, held the office until his death in 1S47. I
have seen him weigh coins with these scales, but no doubt the occasions for
such testing had become infrequent.
Specimen of Massachusetts Currency . . . . 179
Specimen of Connecticut Currency . . 180
Specimens of New York Currency . 183, 184
Specimen of Pennsylvania Currency  187
Specimen of Maryland Currency  188
Facsimile of a "Know Ye" Certificate  191
From a photograph kindly furnished by Amos Perry, Esq., of the Rhode

NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS xxix
Island Historical Society. The extracts are from the United States Chron
icle, August 10, 1786.
Specimen of South Carolina Currency  193
Genuine and Counterfeit Continental Notes ... 194
Old Street View in Worcester  . -195
From Barber's Massachusetts Historical Collections.
House in Petersham where Shays was captured . . . 197
A typical New England farmhouse, spacious and comfortable. For many
years it was the homestead of my venerable friend, Deacon Cephas Willard,
a. descendant of Simon Willard (see my Beginnings of New England, p.
216), and member of a family which has given two presidents to Harvard.
The house has recently been pulled down ; but before that happened it was
photographed by William Simes, Esq., to whose kindness I am indebted for
the opportunity to produce this woodcut.
Governor Bowdoin's Proclamation ... . . . 199
Reduced from a copy in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical
Society.
James Bowdoin  . . . . 201
From an original miniature by Copley, through the kindness of the owner,
Robert C. \Vinthrop, Esq. Autograph from Winsor's America.
Thomas Jefferson (photogravure) . .  facing 204
From an old copy, in my possession, of the original crayon portrait by St.
Me"min. Autograph from the Declaration of Independence.
The Beginnings of Ohio (coloured map)  facing 208
In making this map my chief authority was Whittlesey's Tract bi, West
ern Reserve and Northern Ohio Historical Society.
Jefferson's Proposed States in the Northwest, 1784 . .211
Abridged from the map in Winsor's America, vii. 529. My abridgment
seems to have cut off " Sylvania," west of Lake Superior.
State of Franklin, 1784-88 (coloured map) ... facing 212
I have never seen, nor found any one who has seen, a map of this short
lived state ; and have, therefore, done the best I could, subject to correction.
John Sevier .... ...  215
After an original portrait by C. W. Peale, presented in 1891 by Sevier's
granddaughter, Mrs. Eliza Sevier Donald, to the Tennessee Historical
Society at Nashville. Autograph from Kirke's Rear Guard of the Revolu
tion.
Rufus Putnam .   • ¦ 2I7
From an engraving by S. Hollyer, in Matthews's History of Washington
County, Ohio. Autograph from the same book.
Rufus Putnam's House at Rutland, Mass  218
From a drawing made after a photograph.

xxx NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
Manasseh Cutler  219
From Life, Journals, and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler, Cin
cinnati, 1888. Autograph from the same.
Manasseh Cutler's Birthplace at Killingly, Conn. . . 220
From a photograph kindly lent by Miss Ellen Larned, of Thompson,
Conn.
Wolf Creek Mills, Ohio, 1789  222
From the American Piotieer, March, 1843.
Campus Martius, Marietta, Ohio  223
From the same, March, 1842.
Plan of Campus Martius  225
From Columbian Magazine, November, 1788.
Diego de Gardoqui .  . 227
From Bowen's Washington Centennial, 1889. Autograph from a MS.
in the National Library at Madrid, through the kindness of Hon. Hannis
Taylor.
Spanish Claim in the Southwest (coloured map) . facing 228
John Tyler, the Elder  231
From an original painting by James Worrell, in the Virginia State Library
at Richmond. Autograph from Lossing's Field-Book of the Revolution.
Annapolis State House   233
From Annapolis Convention (Emmet : Lenox).
Nathan Dane ....  234
From an etching by Rosenthal, with autograph, in Annapolis Convention
(Emmet : Lenox).
Facsimile of President Dickinson's Letter to the Gov
ernor of Massachusetts ...  235
From Annapolis Convention (Emmet : Lenox).
Rufus King  237
From the original miniature by Trumbull — painted in 1792 — in the Art
Gallery of Yale University. Autograph from Annapolis Convention (Em
met : Lenox) .
Old Rear View of Independence Hall  239
From Etting's History of Independence Hall.
Jonathan Dayton  ... 241
From Rosenthal's etching, with autograph, in Federal Convention (Em
met : Lenox).

John Lansing .
From the same.

243

NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS xxxi
James Madison  245
From the original painting by C W. Peale, in the possession of the Long
Island Historical Society, at Brooklyn.
William Samuel Johnson  247
From Rosenthal's etching in Federal Convention (Emmet : Lenox), after
the original painting by Stuart. Autograph from the same collection.
James Madison (photogravure)  facing 248
From Reminiscences of an Old New Yorker (Emmet : Lenox), after a
drawing made by James Longacre at Montpelier in 1833, when Madison was
in his eighty-third year. The autograph is from a MS. collection in Library
of Boston Athenaeum.
George Washington, President of the Convention . .251
Photographed from a miniature painted from life by Archibald Robertson
in 1 791. The negative was kindly lent by Clarence Winthrop Bowen, Esq.
William Jackson, Secretary of the Convention .... 253
From Rosenthal's etching in Federal Convention (Emmet : Lenox), after
the original painting by Trumbull. Autograph from the same collection.
Edmund Randolph  255
From a portrait by Fisher, in the Virginia State Library, at Richmond.
Autograph from MS. collection of Hon. Mellen Chamberlain.
George Wythe  257
From the painting by Weir, in Independence Hall, after an original by
Trumbull. Autograph from the Declaration of Independence.
William Livingston  • • 261
From Rosenthal's etching, with autograph, in Federal Convention (Em
met : Lenox).
William Paterson  263
From the same collection.
Arms and Autograph of David Brearley  265
From the same. I have not been able to find any portrait of Brearley.
Gunning Bedford  267
From the same.
Oliver Ellsworth  268
From the engraving by Mackenzie, in National Portrait Gallery, after an
original painting by James Herring. Autograph from the same book.
Abraham Baldwin  269
From an engraving by J. B. Forrest, after an original sketch by Robert
Fulton, the steamboat inventor. Autograph from National Portrait Gallery.
Elbridge Gerry  27i
From an engraving by J. B. Longacre, after an original painting by Van-
derlyn. Autograph from Winsor's America.

xxxii NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
Gerry's House' at Cambridge  273
From an old print. The house was built between 1763 and 1767 by
Thomas Oliver, the last Royal Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, who
left it in 1774, never to return. It was afterwards for many years the home
of Elbridge Gerry, whose successor was Rev. Charles Lowell, father of James
Russell Lowell. In this house the poet was born and died. The beautiful
elms, which have given to the estate the name Elmwood, do not show in this
picture, and most of them have probably grown up within the present cen
tury.
Luther Martin .  . . . . 275
From a painting (after an unknown original) by Tiffany, in Independence
Hall. Autograph from Federal Convention (Emmet : Lenox).
Autograph of Robert Yates  276
From the same collection.
Pierce Butler   278
From Rosenthal's etching, with autograph, in the same collection.
John Rutledge .  . . 279
From an ambrotype of a portrait by Trumbull, kindly lent by Mrs. B. H.
Rutledge, of Charleston. Autograph from National Portrait Gallery.
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney  . . 283
From Rosenthal's etching, after an original painting by Trumbull, in Fed
eral Convention (Emmet : Lenox). Autograph from the same collection.
George Mason (photogravure)  facing 284
From a painting by Herbert Walsh, in Independence Hall, after the origi
nal by Stuart. Autograph from Annapolis Convention (Emmet : Lenox).
Charles Pinckney  .  285
From Rosenthal's etching in Federal Convention (Emmet : Lenox).
Facsimile of a Letter written by Charles Pinckney 286, 287
From the same collection.
Gunston Hall, Virginia : Mason's Home . . ... 289
From Annapolis Convention (Emmet : Lenox).
John Langdon  ... 291
From Rosenthal's etching, after an original painting by Trumbull, in Fed
eral Convention (Emmet : Lenox). Autograph from the same collection.
George Read . . .... . .

From a painting by Sully, in Independence Hall, after the original by
Stuart. Autograph from Federal Convention (Emmet : Lenox).

295

Roger Sherman (photogravure)  facing 298
From a painting by Hicks, in Independence Hall, after the original by
Earle. Autograph from the Declaration of Independence.

NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS xxxiii
Daniel Carroll  301
From Rosenthal's etching in Federal Convention (Emmet : Lenox). Auto
graph from signatures to the Constitution of the United States.
William Blount  ... 303
From Rosenthal's etching, with autograph, in Annapolis Convention
(Emmet: Lenox).
Hugh Williamson . .  305
From an engraving by Thomson — after the original painting by Trum
bull — in Reminiscences of an Old New Yorker (Emmet: Lenox). Auto
graph from signatures to the Constitution.
Gouverneur Morris  .... .... 307
From Rosenthal's etching, after a painting by Sully, in Federal Conven
tion (Emmet : Lenox). Autograph from the same collection.
John Blair ...  309
From Rosenthal's etching, in the same, with autograph.
Caleb Strong   • . . .311
From the same, after an original painting by Stuart.
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer  . 313
From the same, after an original painting by Trumbull.
Autograph of William Pierce  315
From the MS. collection of Hon. Mellen Chamberlain.
Facsimile of Signatures to the Constitution  322
From a photograph of the original document, kindly lent by Andrew H.
Allen, Esq., from the Bureau of Rolls, Department of State, at Washington.
The President's Armchair  325
From Etting's History of Independence Hall.
Benjamin Franklin (photogravure)  facing 328
From an original portrait by C XV. Peale, in the possession of the Penn
sylvania Historical Society. It was painted in 1790, when Franklin was
eighty-four years old. The autograph is from the Declaration of Independ
ence.
George Clymer .  . . 331
After the original painting by C. W. Peale, in the Pennsylvania Academy
of Fine Arts. Autograph from Annapolis Convention (Emmet : Lenox).
James Wilson (photogravure) . .  facing 332
From a painting by Wharton, in Independence Hall, after an original
miniature by James Peale. Autograph from Federal Convention (Emmet :
Lenox).
Boston in 1790   335
Facsimile of a print in Massachusetts Magazine, November, 1790. " The
point of view is in Governor Hancock's grounds ; the Common, with the

xxxiv NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
great elm, is in the middle distance, the south part of the town with the Neck
are beyond, and in the further parts are Dorchester Heights." See Winsor's
America, vii. 328. One is impressed, as in the picture of Elmwood on page
273, with the absence of trees. The host of noble elms, which to-day make
Boston Common as bosky as Kensington Gardens, have apparently all grown
within a century.
John Hancock  337
From An Impartial History of the War in America, London, 1780.
Theophilus Parsons  339
From an engraving by Schiff, in the Memoir by his son, Theophilus Par
sons, after an original painting by Stuart. Autograph from a MS. Register
in the Library of Harvard University.
Fisher Ames  340
From the original miniature painted by Trumbull in 1792, now in the Art
Gallery of Yale University. Autograph from the MS. collection of Hon.
Mellen Chamberlain.
Silhouette of Rev. Samuel West  343
For the silhouette and autograph I am indebted to the kindness of Mrs.
Alice G. West, of Worcester. The portrait undeniably has a matronly ex
pression, like the familiar portrait of Samuel Sewall; but the excellent parson
was masculine enough in theology and politics, and could strike out from the
shoulder with effect.
Tomb of Jonathan Smith, at Lanesborough . . . . 345
From a photograph kindly furnished by J. A. Royce, Esq., of Lanes-
borough. I have been unable to find any portrait of Mr. Smith.
Autograph of Jonathan Smith  3
Facsimile of his signature, as a selectman of Lanesborough, to a document
kindly lent me by his great-granddaughter, Mrs. Jane H. Mills, of Amherst.
Samuel Adams  _ ,47
From An Impartial History of the War in America, London, 17S0.
Sign of Green Dragon Tavern  - ,g
From E. H. Goss's Life of Colonel Paul Revere.
Paul Revere  .' , ,_
 j4y
After an original painting by Stuart. Autograph from MS. collection in
Library of Boston Athenaeum.
Governor Hancock's Letter to the President of Con
gress  „_*„
 ji-» 353
Photographed from the original document in Federal Convention (Em
met : Lenox).
Federal Street Meeting-House, Boston  ~J4
From Gannett's Memorial of the Federal-Street Meeting-House, Boston
i860.

NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS xxxv
Benjamin Harrison  357
From a portrait after Trumbull, in Independence Hall. Autograph.from
the Declaration of Independence.
Edmund Pendleton  359
From a painting by Sully, in the Virginia State Library, copied from a
miniature. Autograph from the MS. collection of Hon. Mellen Chamber
lain.
John Marshall (photogravure)  facing 360
Photographed from a miniature by St. Memin, in the possession of Miss
Anne Harvie, of Richmond, a daughter of the only daughter of Chief Justice
Marshall. The negative was kindly lent by Mrs. Sallie Marshall Hardy, of
Louisville, Ky. Autograph from MS. collection in the Library of the Bos
ton Athenaeum.
The Ninth Pillar erected  361
From the Boston Independent Chronicle, June 26, 1788, in the Library
of the Boston Athenaeum.
George Clinton  363
From an engraving in Bowen's Washington Centennial, after the por
trait by Ames.
An Old View of Poughkeepsie  364
From Reminiscences of an Old New Yorker (Emmet : Lenox).
Alexander Hamilton  365
From an engraving in Bowen's Washington Centennial, after the minia
ture said to have been made for Prince Talleyrand by James Sharpless.
Melancton Smith  367
Photographed from a pencil sketch in Annapolis Convention (Emmet :
Lenox), where no information about it is given. The autograph is from the
same collection.
Parade in New York in honour of the Adoption of the
Constitution  369
From a contemporary print in Federal Convention (Emmet : Lenox).
Washington's Letter to Jabez Bowen, of Rhode Island 370
Photographed from the original document in Federal Convention (Em
met : Lenox).
Washington's Triumphal Journey to New York .... 372
A picture by George Cruikshank, from Reminiscences of an Old New
Yorker (Emmet : Lenox).
Inauguration of Washington  .... 374
A picture by Felix Darley, from the same.

THE CRITICAL PERIOD OF AMERICAN
HISTORY

CHAPTER I
RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

The 20th of March, 1782, the day which witnessed the
fall of Lord North's ministry, was a day of good omen for
men of English race on both sides of the Atlantic. Within
two years from that date, the treaty which established the
independence of the United States was successfully nego
tiated at Paris ; and at the same time, as part of the series of
events which resulted in the treaty, there went on in Eng
land a rapid dissolution and reorganization of parties, which
ended in the overwhelming defeat of the king's attempt to
make the forms of the constitution subservient to his selfish
purposes, and established the liberty of the people upon a
broader and sounder basis than it had ever occupied before.
Great indignation was expressed at the time, and has some
times been echoed by British historians, over the conduct of
those Whigs who never lost an opportunity of expressing
their approval of the American revolt. The Duke of Rich
mond, at the beginning of the contest, expressed a hope that
the Americans might succeed, because they were in the
right. Charles Fox spoke of General Howe's first
victory as "the terrible news from Long Island." between y
Wraxall says that the celebrated buff and blue wings and
colours of the Whig party were adopted by Fox 'he revoiu-
in imitation of the Continental uniform ; but his party in
T, . America
unsupported statement is open to question. It is
certain, however, that in the House of Commons the Whigs

2 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
habitually alluded to Washington's army as " our army,"
and to the American cause as " the cause of liberty ; " and
Burke, with characteristic vehemence, declared that he
would rather be a prisoner in the Tower with Mr. Laurens
than enjoy the blessings of freedom in company with the
men who were seeking to enslave America. Still more, the
Whigs did all in their power to discourage enlistments, and in
various ways so thwarted and vexed the government that the
success of the Americans was by many people ascribed to
their assistance. A few days before Lord North's resignation,
George Onslow, in an able defence of the prime minister,
exclaimed, " Why have we failed so miserably in this war
against America, if not from the support and countenance
given to rebellion in this very House ? "
Now the violence of party leaders like Burke and Fox
owed much of its strength, no doubt, to mere rancorousness
of party spirit. But, after making due allowance for this, we
must admit that it was essentially based upon the intensity
of their conviction that the cause of English liberty was
inseparably bound up with the defeat of the king's attempt
upon the liberties of America. Looking beyond the quar
rels of the moment, they preferred to have freedom guaran
teed, even at the cost of temporary defeat and partial loss of
empire. Time has shown that they were right in this, but
the majority of the people could hardly be expected to com
prehend their attitude. It seemed to many that the great
Whig leaders were forgetting their true character as English
statesmen, and there is no doubt that for many years this
it weak- was the chief source of the weakness of the Whie
Whigs in party. Sir Gilbert Elliot said, with truth, that if
England the Whigs had not thus to a considerable extent
arrayed the national feeling against themselves, Lord North's
ministry would have fallen some years sooner than it did.
The king thoroughly understood the advantage which ac
crued to him from this state of things ; and with that short
sighted shrewdness of the mere political wire-puller, in which
few modern politicians have excelled him, he had from the

4 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
outset preferred to fight his battle on constitutional ques
tions in America rather than in England, in order that the
national feeling of Englishmen might be arrayed on his side.
He was at length thoroughly beaten on his own ground, and
as the fatal day approached he raved and stormed as he had
not stormed since the spring of 1778, when he had been
asked to entrust the government to Lord Chatham. Like
the child who refuses to play when he sees the game going
against him, George threatened to abdicate the throne and go
over to Hanover, leaving his son to get along with the Whig
statesmen. But presently he took heart again, and began
to resort to the same kind of political management which
had served him so well in the earlier years of his reign.
Among the Whig statesmen, the Marquis of Rockingham
had the largest political following. He represented the old
Whig aristocracy, his section of the party had been first to
urge the recognition of American independence, and his
principal followers were Fox and Burke. For all these rea
sons he was especially obnoxious to the king. On the other
character nand.> the Earl of Shelburne was, in a certain sense,
of Lord the political heir of Lord Chatham, and represented
Shelburne .... ,. r
principles far more liberal than those of the Old
Whigs. Shelburne was one of the most enlightened states
men of his time. He was an earnest advocate of parliamen
tary reform and of free trade. He had paid especial atten
tion to political economy, and looked with disgust upon the
whole barbaric system of discriminative duties and commer
cial monopolies which had been so largely instrumental in
bringing about the American Revolution. But being in these
respects in advance of his age, Lord Shelburne had but few
followers. Moreover, although a man of undoubted integ
rity, quite exempt from sordid or selfish ambition, there was
a cynical harshness about him which made him generally
disliked and distrusted. He was so suspicious of other men
that other men were suspicious of him ; so that, in spite of
many admirable qualities, he was extremely ill adapted for
the work of a party manager.

1782

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

It was doubtless for these reasons that the king, when it
became clear that a new government must be formed, made
up his mind that Lord Shelburne would be the safest man
to conduct it. In his hands the Whig power would not be

*SVV*~IS{£^,

likely to grow too strong, and dissensions would be sure to
arise, from which the king might hope to profit. The first
place in the treasury was accordingly offered 'to Shelburne ;
and when he refused it, and the king found himself forced
to appeal to Lord Rockingham, the manner in which the
bitter pill was taken was quite characteristic of George III.
He refused to meet Rockingham in person, but sent all
his communications to him through Shelburne, who, thus

6 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
conspicuously singled out as the object of royal preference,
was certain to incur the distrust of his fellow ministers.
The structure of the new cabinet was unstable enough,
however, to have satisfied even such an enemy as the king.
Beside Rockingham himself, Lord John Cavendish, Charles
Fox, Lord Keppel, and the Duke of Richmond were all Old
Whigs. To offset these five there were five New Whigs, the
Duke of Grafton, Lords Shelburne, Camden, and Ashburton,
and General Conway ; while the eleventh member was none
other than the Tory chancellor, Lord Thurlow, who was
kept over from Lord North's ministry. Burke was made
paymaster of the forces, but had no seat in the,cabinet. In
this curiously constructed cabinet, the prime minister, Lord
Political in- Rockingham, counted for little. Though a good
thabRtyk°f PartY leader, he was below mediocrity ] as a states-
ingham man, and - his health was failing, so that he could
ministry , , . ~, ' . .
not attend to business. The master (spirits were
the two secretaries of state, Fox and Shelburne, and they
wrangled perpetually, while Thurlow carried the news of all
their quarrels to the king, and in cabinet meetings usually
voted with Shelburne. The ministry had not lasted five
weeks when Fox began to predict its downfall. On tlie
great question of parliamentary reform, which was brought
up in May by the young William Pitt, the government was
hopelessly divided. Shelburne' s party was in favor of reform,
and this time Fox was found upon the same side, as well as
the Duke of Richmond, who went so far as to advocate
universal suffrage. On the other hand, the Whig aristocracy,
led by Rockingham, were as bitterly opposed as the king
himself to any change in the method of electing parliaments ;
and, incredible as it may seem, even such a man as Burke
maintained that the old system, rotten boroughs and all, was
a sacred part of the British Constitution, which none could
handle rudely without endangering the country! But in
this moment of reaction against the evil influences which had
brought about the loss of the American colonies, there was
a strong feeling in favour of reform, and Pitt's motion was

1782

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

only lost by a minority of twenty in a total vote of three
hundred. Half a century was to elapse before the reformers
were again to come so near to victory.
But Lord Rockingham's weak and short-lived ministry was
nevertheless remarkable for the amount of good work it did

Zf ^X<

r

in spite of the king's dogged opposition. It contained great
administrative talent, which made itself felt in the most
adverse circumstances. To add to the difficulty, the minis
try came into office at the critical moment of a great agita
tion in Ireland. In less than three months, not only was the
trouble successfully removed, but the important bills for dis
franchising revenue officers and excluding contractors from

8 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, l
the House of Commons were carried, and a tremendous blow
was thus struck at the corrupt influence of the crown upon
elections. Burke's great scheme of economical reform was
also put into operation, cutting down the pension list and
diminishing the secret service fund, and thus destroying
many sources of corruption. At no time, perhaps, since the
expulsion of the Stuarts, had so much been done toward
purifying English political life as during the spring of 1782.
But during the progress of these important measures, the
jealousies and bickerings in the cabinet became more and
more painfully apparent, and as the question of peace with
America came into the foreground, these difficulties hastened
to a crisis.
From the policy which George III. pursued with regard
to Lord Shelburne at this time, one would suppose that in
his secret heart the king wished, by foul means since all
others had failed, to defeat the negotiations for peace and
to prolong the war. Seldom has there been a more oddly
obstacles complicated situation. Peace was to be made with
0.*^ America, France, Spain, and Holland. Of these
of peace powers, America and France were leagued together
by one treaty of alliance, and France and Spain by another,
and these treaties in some respects conflicted with one
another in the duties which they entailed upon the combat
ants. Spain, though at war with England for purposes of
her own, was bitterly hostile to the United States ; and
France, thus leagued with two allies which pulled in opposite
directions, felt bound to satisfy both, while pursuing her own
ends against England. To deal with such a chaotic state of
things, an orderly and harmonious government in England
should have seemed indispensably necessary. Yet on the
part of England the negotiation of a treaty of peace was to
be the work of two secretaries of state who were both politi
cally and personally hostile to each other. Fox, as secretary
of state for foreign affairs, had to superintend the nego
tiations with France, Spain, and Holland. Shelburne was
secretary of state for home and colonial affairs ; and as the

1782 RESULTS OF YORKTOWN 9
United States were still officially regarded as colonies, the
American, negotiations belonged to his department. With
such a complication of conflicting interests, George III.
might well hope that no treaty could be made.
The views of Fox and Shelburne as to the best method of
conceding American independence were very different. Fox
understood that France was really in need of peace, and he
believed that she would not make further demands upon
England if American independence should once be recog
nized. Accordingly, Fox would have made this concession
at once as a preliminary to the negotiation. On the other
hand, Shelburne felt sure that France would insist upon
further concessions, and he thought it best to hold in reserve
the recognition of independence as a consideration to be
bargained for. Informal negotiations began between Shel
burne and Franklin, who for many years had been warm
friends. In view of the impending change of government,
Franklin had in March sent a letter to Shelburne, expressing
a hope that peace might soon be restored. When the letter
reached London the new ministry had already been formed,
and Shelburne, with the consent of the cabinet, answered
it by sending over to Paris an agent, to talk with Franklin
informally, and ascertain the terms upon which the Ameri
cans would make peace. The person chosen for this purpose
was Richard Oswald, a Scotch merchant, who owned large
estates in America, — a man of very frank disposition and
liberal views, and a friend of Adam Smith. In April,
Oswald had several conversations with Franklin. 0swaU
In one of these conversations Franklin suggested talks with
that, in order to make a durable peace, it was desir
able to remove all occasion for future quarrel ; that the line
of frontier between New York and Canada was inhabited by
a lawless set of men, who in time of peace would be likely to
breed trouble between their respective governments; and
that therefore it would be well for England to cede Canada
to the United States. A similar reasoning would apply to
Nova Scotia. By ceding these countries to the United

io THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
States it would be possible, from the sale of unappropriated
lands, to indemnify the Americans for all losses of private
property during the war, and also to make reparation to the
Tories, whose estates had been confiscated. By pursuing
such a policy, England, which had made war on America-
unjustly, and had wantonly done it great injuries, would
achieve not merely peace, but reconciliation, with America ;
and reconciliation, said Franklin, is "a sweet word." No
doubt this was a bold tone for Franklin to take, and perhaps
it was rather cool in him to ask for Canada and Nova Scotia ;
but he knew that almost every member of the Whig ministry
had publicly expressed the opinion that the war against
America was an unjust and wanton war ; and being, more
over, a shrewd hand at a bargain, he began by setting his
terms high. Oswald doubtless looked at the matter very
much from Franklin's point of view, for on the suggestion
of the cession of Canada he expressed neither surprise nor
reluctance. Franklin had written on a sheet of paper the
main points of his conversation, and, at Oswald's request, he
allowed him to take the paper to London to show to Lord
Shelburne, first writing upon it a note expressly declaring
its informal character. Franklin also sent a letter to Shel
burne, describing Oswald as a gentleman with whom he
found it very pleasant to deal. On Oswald's arrival in Lon
don, Shelburne did not show the notes of the conversation
to any of his colleagues, except Lord Ashburton. He kept
the paper over one night, and then returned it to Franklin
without any formal answer. But the letter he showed to the
cabinet, and on the 23d of April it was decided to send
Oswald back to Paris, to represent to Franklin that, on being
restored to the same situation in which she was left by the
treaty of 1763, Great Britain would be willing to recognize
the independence of the United States. Fox was authorized
to make a similar representation to the French government,
and the person whom he sent to Paris for this purpose was
Thomas Grenville, son of the author of the Stamp Act.
As all British subjects were prohibited from entering into

1782

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

negotiations with the revolted colonies, it was impossible for
Oswald to take any decisive step until an enabling act should
be carried through Parliament. But while waiting for this
he might still talk informally with Franklin. Fox thought
that Oswald's presence in Paris indicated a desire on Shel-
burne's part to interfere with the negotiations with the
French government ; and indeed, the king, out of his hatred
of Fox and his inborn love of intrigue, suggested to Shel
burne that Oswald " might be a useful check on that part of
the negotiation which was in other hands." But Shelburne

flw-?i~uS fac^o^^<-^

paid no heed to this crooked advice, and there is nothing to
show that he had the least desire to intrigue against Fox.
If he had, he would certainly have selected some other agent
than Oswald, who was the most straightforward of men, and
scarcely close-mouthed enough for a diplomatist. He told
Oswald to impress it upon Franklin that if America was to

12 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
be independent at all she must be independent of the whole
world, and must not enter into any secret arrangement with
France which might limit her entire freedom of action in
the future. To the private memorandum which desired the
cession of Canada for three reasons, his answers were as fol
lows : "i. By way of reparation. — Answer. No reparation
can be heard of. 2. To prevent future wars. — Answer. It
is to be hoped that some more friendly method will be found.
3. As a fund of indemnification to loyalists. — Answer. No
independence to be acknowledged without their being taken
care of." Besides, added Shelburne, the Americans would
be expected to make some compensation for the surrender of
Charleston, Savannah, and the city of New York, still held
by British troops. From this it appears that Shelburne, as
well as Franklin, knew how to begin by asking more than
he was likely to get.
While Oswald submitted these answers to Franklin, Gren-
ville had his interview with Vergennes, and told him that,
Grenviiie ^ England recognized the independence of the
has an United States, she should expect France to restore
int6rvi6Wwith ver- the islands of the West Indies which she had taken
from England. Why not, since the independence
of the United States was the sole avowed object for which
France had gone to war ? Now this was on the 8th of May,
and the news of the destruction of the French fleet in the
West Indies, nearly four weeks ago, had not yet reached
Europe. Flushed with the victories of Grasse, and exulting
in the prowess of the most formidable naval force that
France had ever sent out, Vergennes not only expected to
keep the islands which he had got, but was waiting eagerly
for the news that he had acquired Jamaica besides. In this
mood he returned a haughty answer to Grenviiie. He re
minded him that nations often went to war for a specified
object, and yet seized twice as much if favoured by for
tune; and, recurring to the instance which rankled most
deeply in the memories of Frenchmen, he cited the events
of the last war. In 1756 England went to war with France

I4 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap. I
over the disputed right to some lands on the Ohio River and
the Maine frontier. After seven years of fighting she not
only kept these lands,, but all of Canada, Louisiana, and
Florida, and ousted the French from India into the bargain.
No, said Vergennes, he would not rest content with the inde
pendence of America. He would not even regard such an
offer as a concession to France in any way, or as a price in
return for which France was to make a treaty favourable to
England. As regards the recognition of independence, Eng
land must treat directly with America.
Grenviiie was disappointed and -¦chagrined by this answer,
and the ministry made up their minds that there would be
no use in trying to get an honourable peace with France
for the present. Accordingly, it seemed better to take Ver
gennes at his word, though not in the sense in which he
meant it, and, by granting all that the Americans could rea
sonably desire, to detach them from the French alliance as
soon as possible. On the 1 8th of May there came the news
of the stupendous victory of Rodney over Grasse,
Rodney's and all England rang with jubilee. Again it had
been shown that " Britannia rules the wave ; " and-
it seemed that, if America could be separately pacified, the
House of Bourbon might be successfully defied. Accord
ingly, on the 23d, five days after the news of victory, the
ministry decided " to propose the independence of America
in the first instance, instead of making it the condition of a
general treaty." Upon this Fox rather hastily maintained
that the United States were put at once into the position of
an independent and foreign power, so that the business of
negotiating with them passed from Shelburne's department
into his own. Shelburne, on the other hand, argued that, as
the recognition of independence could not take effect until
a treaty of peace should be concluded, the negotiation with
America still belonged to him, as secretary for the colonies.
Following Fox's instructions, Grenviiie now claimed the right
of negotiating with Franklin as well as with Vergennes ; but
as his written credentials only authorized him to treat with

1782 RESULTS OF YORKTOWN 15
France, the French minister suspected foul play, and turned
a cold shoulder to Grenviiie. For the same reason, Gren
viiie found Franklin very reserved and indisposed to talk on
the subject of the treaty. While Grenviiie was thus rebuffed
and irritated he had a talk with Oswald, in the course of
which he got from that simple and high-minded gentleman
the story of the private paper relating to the cession of Can
ada, which Franklin had permitted Lord Shelburne to see.
Grenviiie immediately took offence ; he made up his mind
that something underhanded was going on, and that this
was the reason for the coldness of Franklin and Vergennes ;
and he wrote an indignant letter about it to Fox. From the
wording of this letter, Fox got the impression that Frank
lin's proposal was much more serious than it really was. It
naturally puzzled him and made him angry, for the attitude
of America implied in the request for a cession of Canada
was far different from the attitude presumed by the theory
that the mere offer of independence would be enough to
detach her from her alliance with France. The plan of the
ministry seemed imperilled. Fox showed Grenville's letter
to Rockingham, Richmond, and Cavendish ; and they all
inferred that Shelburne was playing a secret part, for pur
poses of his own. This was doubtless unjust to Shelburne.
Perhaps his keeping the matter to himself was simply one
more illustration of his want of confidence in Fox ; or, per
haps he did not think it worth while to stir up the cabinet
over a question which seemed too preposterous ever to come
to anything. Fox, however, cried out against Shelburne's
alleged duplicity, and made up his mind at all events to get
the American negotiations transferred to his own depart
ment. To this end he moved in the cabinet, on the last day
of June, that the independence of the United States should
be unconditionally acknowledged, so that England Fa]1 of the
might treat as with a foreign power. The motion Rocking-
was lost, and Fox announced that he should re- try, July 1,
sign his office. His resignation would probably I? 2
of itself have broken up the ministry, but, by a curious

16 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
coincidence, on the next day Lord Rockingham died; and
so the first British government begotten of Washington's
victory at Yorktown came prematurely to an end.
The Old Whigs now found some difficulty in choosing a
leader. Burke was the greatest statesman in the party, but
he had not the qualities of a party leader, and his connec
tions were not sufficiently aristocratic. Fox was distrusted
by many people for his gross vices, and because of his way
wardness in politics. In the dissipated gambler, who cast
in his lot first with one party and then with the other, and
who had shamefully used his matchless eloquence in defend
ing some of the worst abuses of the time, there seemed as
yet but little promise of the great reformer of later years,
the Charles Fox who came to be loved and idolized by all
enlightened Englishmen. Next to Fox, the ablest leader in
the party was the Duke of Richmond, but his advanced
views on parliamentary reform put him out of sympathy
with the majority of the party. In this embarrassment, the
choice fell upon the Duke of Portland, a man of great wealth
and small talent, concerning whom Horace Walpole ob
served, " It is very entertaining that two or three great fam
ilies should persuade themselves that they have a hereditary
and exclusive right of giving us a head without a tongue ! "
The choice was a weak one, and played directly into the
hands of the king. When urged to make the Duke of Port
land his prime minister, the king replied that he had already
shelburne oriered that position to Lord Shelburne. Here-
prime min- upon Fox and Cavendish resigned, but Richmond
remained in office, thus virtually breaking his con
nection with the Old Whigs. Lord Keppel also remained.
Many members of the party followed Richmond and went
over to Shelburne. William Pitt, now twenty-three years
old, succeeded Cavendish as chancellor of the exchequer ;
Thomas Townshend became secretary of state for home and
colonies, and Lord Grantham became foreign secretary.
The closing days of Parliament were marked by altercations
which showed how wide the breach had grown between the

1782 RESULTS OF YORKTOWN 17
two sections of the Whig party. Fox and Burke believed
that Shelburne was not only playing a false part, but was
really as subservient to the king as Lord North had been.
In a speech ridiculous for its furious invective, Burke com
pared the new prime minister with Borgia and Catiline. And
so Parliament was adjourned on the nth of July, and did
not meet again until December.
The task of making a treaty of peace was simplified both
by this change of ministry and by the total defeat of the
Spaniards and French at Gibraltar in September. Six
months before, England had seemed worsted in every quar
ter. Now England, though defeated in America, was victo
rious as regarded France and Spain. The avowed object for
which France had entered into alliance with the Americans
was to secure the independence of the United States, and
this point was now substantially gained. The chief object
for which Spain had entered into alliance with France was
to drive the English from Gibraltar, and this point was now
decidedly lost. France had bound herself not to desist from
the war until Spain should recover Gibraltar ; but now there
was little hope of accomplishing this, except by some fortu
nate bargain in the treaty, and Vergennes tried to persuade
England to cede the great stronghold in exchange for West
Florida, which Spain had lately conquered, or for Oran or
Guadaloupe. Failing in this, he adopted a plan for satisfy
ing Spain at the expense of the United States ; and he did
this the more willingly as he had no love for _ .
the Americans, and did not wish to see them be- policy op-
come too powerful. France had strictly kept her American
pledges; she had given us valuable and timely aid
in gaining our independence ; and the sympathies of the
French people were entirely with the American cause. But
the object of the French government had been simply to
humiliate England, and this end was sufficiently accom
plished by depriving her of her thirteen colonies.
The immense territory extending from the Alleghany
Mountains to the Mississippi River, and from the border of

18 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
West Florida to the Great Lakes, had passed from the hands
of France into those of England at the peace of 1763 ; and
by the Quebec Act of 1 774 England had declared the south
ern boundary of Canada to be the Ohio River. At present
the whole territory, from Lake Superior down to the south
ern boundary'of what is now Kentucky, belonged to the
state of Virginia, whose backwoodsmen had conquered it
from England in 1779. In December, 1780, Virginia had
provisionally ceded the portion north of the Ohio to the
United States, but the cession was not yet completed. The
region which is now Tennessee belonged to North Carolina,
which had begun to make settlements there as long ago as
1758. The trackless forests included between Tennessee
and West Florida were still in the hands of wild tribes of
Cherokees and Choctaws, Chickasaws and Creeks. Several
Thevaiie thousand pioneers from North Carolina and Vir-
of the Mis- ginia had already settled beyond the mountains,
sissippi ;,,-,. , . ¦ 11 ¦
Aranda's and the white population was rapidly increasing.
prop ecy "This territory the French government was very
unwilling to leave in American hands. The possibility of
enormous expansion which it would afford to the new nation
was distinctly foreseen by sagacious men. Count Aranda,
the representative of Spain in these negotiations, wrote a
letter to his king just after the treaty was concluded, in
which he uttered this notable prophecy : " This federal
republic is born a pygmy. A day will come when it will
be a giant, even a colossus, formidable in these countries.
Liberty of conscience, the facility for establishing a new pop
ulation on immense lands, as well as the advantages of the
new government, will draw thither farmers and artisans from
all the nations. In a few years we shall watch with grief
the tyrannical existence of this same colossus." The letter
went on to predict that the Americans would presently get
possession of Florida and attack Mexico. Similar arguments
were doubtless used by Aranda in his interviews with Ver
gennes, and France, as well as Spain, sought to prevent the
growth of the dreaded colossus. To this end Vergennes

1782

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

l9

maintained that the Americans ought to recognize the Que
bec Act, and give up to England all the territory north of
the Ohio River. The region south of this limit should, he
thought, be made an Indian territory, and placed under the
protection of Spain and the United States. A line was to
be drawn from the mouth of the Cumberland River, follow
ing that stream about as far as the site of Nashville, thence

running southward to the Tennessee, thence curving east
ward nearly to the Alleghanies, and descending through
what is now eastern Alabama to the Florida line. The ter
ritory to the east of this irregular line was to be under the
protection of the United States ; the territory to the west
of it was to be under the protection of Spain. In this divi
sion, the settlers beyond the mountains would retain their
connection with the United States, which would not touch
the Mississippi River at any point. Vergennes held that
this was all the Americans could reasonably demand, and he
agreed with Aranda that they had as yet gained no foothold
upon the eastern bank of the great river, unmindful of the

20 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
fact that at that very moment the fortresses at Cahokia and
Kaskaskia were occupied by Virginian garrisons.
Upon another important point the views of the French
government were directly opposed to American interests.
The right to catch fish on the banks of Newfound-
The New- -r>
foundiand land had been shared by treaty between France
fisheries and England . and the New England fishermen,
as subjects of the king of Great Britain, had participated in
this privilege. The matter was of very great importance.
not only to New England, but to the United States in
general. Not only were the fisheries a source of lucrative
trade to the New England people, but they were the training-
school of a splendid race of seamen, the nursery of naval
heroes whose exploits were by and by to astonish the world.
To deprive the Americans of their share in these fisheries
was to strike a serious blow at the strength and resources
of the new nation. The British government was not inclined
to grant the privilege, and on this point Vergennes took
sides with England, in order to establish a claim upon her
for concessions advantageous to France in some other quar
ter. With these views, Vergennes secretly aimed at delaying
the negotiations ; for as long as hostilities were kept up, he
might hope to extort from his American allies a recognition
of the Spanish claims and a renouncement of the fisheries,
simply by threatening to send them no further assistance
in men or money. In order to retard the proceedings, he
refused to take any steps whatever until the independence of
the United States should first be irrevocably acknowledged
by Great Britain, without reference to the final settlement of
the rest of the treaty. In this Vergennes was supported by
Franklin, as well as by Jay, who had lately arrived in Paris
to take part in the negotiations. But the reasons of the
American commissioners were very different from those of
Vergennes. They feared that, if the)' began to treat before
independence was acknowledged, they would be unfairly dealt
with by France and Spain, and unable to gain from England
the concessions upon which they were determined.

MAP OF NORTH AMERICA,
Showing the Boundaries of the UNITED STATES, CANADA, and the SPANISH POSSES
SIONS according to the proposals of the CouFt of France in I 782.

1782 RESULTS OF YORKTOWN 21
Jay soon began to suspect the designs of the French min
ister. He found that he was sending M. de Rayneval as a
secret emissary to Lord Shelburne under an assumed name ;
he ascertained that the right of the United States to the
Mississippi valley was to be denied ; and he got hold of a
dispatch from Marbois, the French secretary of le .ation at
Philadelphia, to Vergennes, opposing the American jay detects
claim to the Newfoundland fisheries. As soon as ^eVerem?s
Jay learned these facts, he sent his friend Dr. Ben- gennes
jamin Vaughan to Lord Shelburne to put him on his guard,
and while reminding him that it was greatly for the interest
of England to dissolve the alliance between America and
France, he declared himself ready to begin the negotiations
without waiting for the recognition of independence, pro
vided that Oswald's commission should speak of the thirteen
United States of America, instead of calling them colonies
and naming them separately. This decisive step was taken
by Jay on his own responsibility, and without the knowledge
of Franklin, who had been averse to anything like a separate
negotiation with England. It served to set the ball rolling
at once. After meeting the messengers from Jay and Ver
gennes, Lord Shelburne at once perceived the antagonism
that had arisen between the allies,, and promptly took advan
tage of it. A new commission was made out for Oswald, in
which the British government first described our country as
the United States ; and early in October negotiations were
begun and proceeded rapidly. On the part of England, the
affair was conducted by Oswald, assisted by Strachey and
Fitzherbert, who had succeeded Grenviiie. In the course of
the month John Adams arrived in Paris, and a few weeks
later Henry Laurens, who had been exchanged for Lord
Cornwallis and released from the Tower, was added to the
company. Adams had a holy horror of Frenchmen in gen
eral, and of Count Vergennes in particular. He shared that
common but grossly mistaken view of Frenchmen which
regards them as shallow, frivolous, and insincere ; and he
was indignant at the position taken by Vergennes on the

22 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
question of the fisheries. In this, John Adams felt as all
New Eng'landers felt, and he realized the importance of the
question from a national point of view, as became the man
who in later years was to earn lasting renown as one of the
chief founders of the American navy. His behaviour on
reaching Paris was characteristic. It is said that he left
Count Vergennes to learn of his arrival through the news
papers. It was certainly some time before he called upon
him, and he took occasion, besides, to express his opinions
about republics and monarchies in terms which courtly
Frenchmen thought very rude.
The arrival of Adams fully decided the matter as to a
separate negotiation with England. He agreed with Jay
that Vergennes should be kept as far as possible in the dark
until everything was cut and dried, and Franklin was reluc
tantly obliged to yield. The treaty of alliance between
France and the United States had expressly stipulated that
Franklin neither power should ever make peace without the
byefay Ind consent of the other, and in view of this Franklin
Adams was loath to do anything which might seem like
abandoning the ally whose timely interposition had alone
enabled Washington to achieve the crowning triumph of
Yorktown. In justice to Vergennes, it should be borne in
mind that he had kept strict faith with us in regard to every
point that had been expressly stipulated ; and Franklin, who
felt that he understood Frenchmen better than his colleagues,
was naturally unwilling to seem behindhand in this respect.
At the same time, in regard to matters not expressly stipu
lated, Vergennes was clearly playing a sharp game against
us ; and it is undeniable that, without departing technically
from the obligations of the alliance, Jay and Adams — two
men as honourable as ever lived — played a very sharp de
fensive game against him. The traditional French subtlety
was no match for Yankee shrewdness. The treaty with
England was not concluded until the consent of France
had been obtained, and thus the express stipulation was re
spected ; but a thorough and detailed agreement was reached

1782

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

23

as to what the purport of the treaty should be, while our
not too friendly ally was kept in the dark. The annals of
modern diplomacy have afforded few stranger spectacles.
With the indispensable aid of France we had just got the
better of England in fight, and now we proceeded amicably
to divide territory and commercial privileges with the enemy,

q/p-Wvi, (3h*~/VynJ

and to make arrangements in which the ally was virtually
ignored. It ceases to be a paradox, however, when we
remember that with the change of government in England
some essential conditions of the case were changed. The
England against which we had fought was the hostile Eng
land of Lord North ; the England with which we were now
dealing was the friendly England of Shelburne and Pitt.

24 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
For the moment, the English race, on both sides of the
Atlantic, was united in its main purpose and divided only by
questions of detail, while the rival colonizing power, which
sought to work in a direction contrary to the general in
terests of English-speaking people, was in great measure
disregarded. As soon as the problem was thus virtually reduced to a
negotiation between the American commissioners and Lord
Shelburne's ministry, the air was cleared in a moment.
The principal questions had already been discussed between
Franklin and Oswald. Independence being first acknow
ledged, the question of boundaries came up for settlement.
Thesepa- England had little interest in regaining the terri-
rateAmeri- torv between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi,
as agreed' the forts in which were already held by American
Bounda- soldiers, and she relinquished all claim upon it.
nes The Mississippi River thus became the dividing
li i* ' :tv een the United States and the Spanish possessions,
. j navigation was made free alike to British and Amer
ican ups. Franklin's suggestion of a cession of Canada
and Lova Scotia was abandoned without discussion. It was
agreed that the boundary line should start at the mouth of
the rivor St. Croix, and, running to a point near Lake Mada-
waska in the highlands separating the Atlantic watershed
from that of the St. Lawrence, should follow these highlands
to the head of the Connecticut River, and then descend the
middle of the river to the forty-fifth parallel, thence running
westward and through the centre of the water communica
tions of the Great Lakes to the Lake of the Woods, thence
to the source of the Mississippi, which was supposed to be
west of this lake. This line was marked in red ink by
Oswald on one of Mitchell's maps of North America, to
serve as a memorandum establishing the precise meaning of
the words used in the description. It ought to have been
accurately fixed in its details by surveys made upon the
spot ; but no commissioners were appointed for this purpose.
The language relating to the northeastern portion of the

1782

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

25

§§1 m

W

*l. M&MM,

OTnRV»\Rj*ij

BOUNDARY MONUMENT ON THE ST. CROIX

boundary contained some inaccuracies which were revealed
by later surveys, and the map used by Oswald was lost.
Hence a further question arose between Great Britain and
the United States, which was finally settled by the Ashbur-
ton treaty in 1842.
The Americans retained the right of catching fish on the
banks of Newfoundland and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
but lost the right of drying their fish on the New- ?. Fisher-
foundland coast. On the other hand, no permis- meltiT'
sion was given to British subjects to fish on the intercourse
coasts of the United States. As regarded commercial inter-

26 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
course, Jay sought to establish complete reciprocal freedom
between the two countries, and a clause was proposed to
the effect that "all British merchants and merchant ships,
on the one hand, shall enjoy in the United States, and in all
places belonging to them, the same protection and commer
cial privileges, and be liable only to the same charges and
duties as their own merchants and merchant ships ; and, on
the other hand, the merchants and merchant ships of the
United States shall enjoy in all places belonging to his Bri
tannic Majesty the same protection and commercial privi
leges, and be liable only to the same charges and duties as
British merchants and merchant ships, saving always to the
chartered trading companies of Great Britain such exclusive
use and trade, and the respective ports and establishments,
as neither the other subjects of Great Britain nor any the
most favoured nation participate in." Unfortunately for
both countries, this liberal provision was rejected on the
ground that the ministry had no authority to interfere with
the Navigation Act.
Only two questions were now left to be disposed of, — the
question of paying private debts, and that of compensating
the American loyalists for the loss of property and general
rough treatment which they had suffered. There were many
3. Private old debts outstanding from American to British
merchants. These had been for the most part
incurred before 1775, and while many honest debtors, im
poverished during the war, felt unable to pay, there were
doubtless many others who were ready to take advantage of
circumstances and refuse the payment which they were per
fectly able to make. It was scarcely creditable to us that
any such question should have arisen. Franklin, indeed,
argued that these debts were more than fully offset by dam
ages done to private property by British soldiers: as, for
example, in the wanton raids on the coasts of Connecticut
and Virginia in 1779, or in Prevost's buccaneering march
against Charleston. To cite these atrocities, however, as a
reason for the non-payment of debts legitimately owed to

/fffin A

£US<

1782 RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

27

innocent merchants in London and Glasgow was to argue
as if two wrongs could make a right. The strong sense of
John Adams struck at once to the root of the matter. He
declared " he had no notion of cheating anybody. The ques
tions of paying debts and compensating Tories were two."
This terse statement carried the day, and it was finally de
cided that all private debts on either side, whether incurred
before or after 1775, remained still binding, and must be
discharged at their full value in sterling money.
The last question of all was the one most difficult to
settle. There were many loyalists in the United States who
had sacrificed everything in the support of the British cause,
and it was unquestionably the duty of the British govern
ment to make every possible effort to insure them against
further injury, and, if practicable, to make good their losses
already incurred. From Virginia and the New England
states, where they were few in number, they had mostly
fled, and their estates had been confiscated. In New York
and South Carolina, where they remained in great numbers,
they were still waging a desultory war with the patriots,
which far exceeded in cruelty and bitterness the struggle
between the regular armies. In many cases they had, at
the solicitation of the British government, joined the invad
ing army, and been organized into companies and regiments.
The regular troops defeated at King's Mountain,
and those whom Arnold took with him to Virginia, pensation
were nearly all American loyalists. Lord Shel
burne felt that it would be wrong to abandon these unfortu
nate men to the vengeance of their fellow countrymen, and
he insisted that the treaty should contain an amnesty clause
providing for the restoration of the Tories to their civil
rights, with compensation for their confiscated property.
However disagreeable such a course might seem to the vic
torious Americans, there were many precedents for it in
European history. It had indeed come to be customary at
the close of civil wars, and the effect of such a policy had
invariably been good. Cromwell, in his hour of triumph,

28 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
inflicted no disabilities upon his political enemies ; and when
Charles II. was restored to the throne the healing effect of
the amnesty act then passed was so great that historians
sometimes ask what in the world had become of that Puri
tan party which a moment before had seemed supreme in
the land. At the close of the war of the Spanish Succes
sion, the rebellious people of Catalonia were indemnified for
their losses, at the request of England, and with a similar
good effect. In view of such European precedents, Ver
gennes agreed with Shelburne as to the propriety of secur
ing compensation and further immunity for the Tories in
America. John Adams insinuated that the French minister
took this course because he foresaw that the presence of the
Tories in the United States would keep the people perpetu
ally divided into a French party and an English party ; but
such a suspicion was quite uncalled for. There is no reason
to suppose that in this instance Vergennes had anything at
heart but the interests of humanity and justice.
On the other hand, the Americans brought forward very
strong reasons why the Tories should not be indemnified by
Congress. First, as Franklin urged, many of them had, by
their misrepresentations to the British government, helped
to stir up the disputes which led to the war ; and as they
had made their bed, so they must lie in it. Secondly, such
of them as had been concerned in burning and plundering
defenceless villages, and wielding the tomahawk in concert
with bloodthirsty Indians, deserved no compassion. It was
rather for them to make compensation for the misery they
had wrought. Thirdly, the confiscated Tory property had
passed into the hands of purchasers who had bought it in
good faith and could not now be dispossessed, and in many
cases it had been distributed here and there and lost sight
of. An estimate of the gross amount might be made, and
a corresponding sum appropriated for indemnification. But,
fourthly, the country was so impoverished by the war that its
own soldiers, the brave men whose heroic exertions had won
the independence of the United States, were at this moment

1782

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

29

in sore distress for the want of the pay which Congress
could not give them, but to which its honour was sacredly
pledged. The American government was clearly bound to
pay its just debts to the friends who had suffered so much in
its behalf before it should proceed to entertain a chimerical

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

scheme for satisfying its enemies. For, fifthly, any such
scheme was in the present instance clearly chimerical.
The acts under which Tory property had been confiscated
were acts of state legislatures, and Congress had no juris
diction over such a matter. If restitution was to be made,
it must be made by the separate states. The question could
not for a moment be entertained by the general government
or its agents.
Upon these points the American commissioners were
united and inexorable. Various suggestions were offered in

30 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap. I
vain by the British. Their troops still held the city of New
York, and it was doubtful whether the Americans could hope
to capture it in another campaign. It was urged that Eng
land might fairly claim in exchange for New York a round
sum of money wherewith the Tories might be indemnified.
It was further urged that certain unappropriated lands in the
Mississippi valley might be sold for the same purpose. But
the Americans would not hear of buying one of their own
cities, whose independence was already acknowledged by the
first article of the treaty which recognized the independence
of the United States ; and as for the western lands, they
were wanted as a means of paying our own war debts .and
providing for our veteran soldiers. Several times Shelburne
sent word to Paris that he would break off the negotiation
unless the loyalist claims were in some way recognized.
But the Americans were obdurate. They had one advan
tage, and knew it. Parliament was soon to meet, and it was
doubtful whether Lord Shelburne could command a suffi
cient majority to remain long in office. He was, accord
ingly, very anxious to complete the treaty of peace, or at
least to detach America from the French alliance, as soon
as possible. The American commissioners were also eager
to conclude the treaty. They had secured very favourable
terms, and were loath to run any risk of spoiling what had
been done. Accordingly, they made a proposal in the form
of a compromise, which nevertheless settled the point in
their favour. The matter, they said, was beyond the juris
diction of Congress, but they agreed that Congress should
recommend to the several states to desist from further pro
ceedings against the Tories, and to reconsider their laws
on this subject ; it should further recommend that persons
with claims upon confiscated lands might be authorized to
use legal means of recovering them, and to this end might
be allowed to pass to and fro without personal risk for the
term of one year. The British commissioners accepted this
compromise, unsatisfactory as it was, because it was really
impossible to obtain anything better without throwing the

1782 RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

31

whole negotiation overboard. The constitutional difficulty
was a real one indeed. As Adams told Oswald, if the point
were further insisted upon, Congress would be obliged to
refer it to the several states, and no one could tell how long
it might be before any decisive result could be reached in
this way. Meanwhile, the state of war would continue, and
it would be cheaper for England to indemnify the loyalists
herself than to pay the war bills for a single month. Frank
lin added that, if the loyalists were to be indemnified, it
would be necessary also to reckon up the damage they had
done in burning houses and kidnapping slaves, and then
strike a balance between the two accounts ; and he gravely
suggested that a special commission might be appointed for
this purpose. At the prospect of endless discussion which
this suggestion involved, the British commissioners gave
way and accepted the American terms, although they were
frankly told that too much must not be expected from the
recommendation of Congress. The articles were signed on
the 30th of November, six days before the meeting of Parlia
ment. Hostilities in America were to cease at once, and
upon the completion of the treaty the British fleets and
armies were to be immediately withdrawn from every place
which they held within the limits of the United States. A
supplementary and secret article provided that if England,
on making peace with Spain, should recover West Florida,
the northern boundary of that province should be a line
running due east from the mouth of the Yazoo River to
the Chattahoochee.
Thus by skilful diplomacy the Americans had gained all
that could reasonably be asked, while the work of making a
general peace was greatly simplified. It was declared in the
preamble that the articles here signed were provisional, and
that the treaty was not to take effect until terms of peace
should be agreed on between England and France. Without
delay, Franklin laid the whole matter, except the secret arti
cle, before Vergennes, who forthwith accused the Americans
of ingratitude and bad faith. Franklin's reply, that at the

32

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i

worst they could only be charged with want of diplomatic
Ver ennes courtesy, has sometimes been condemned as insin-
doesnot cere, but on inadequate grounds. He had con-
likethe , . , , , • •
way in sented with reluctance to the separate negotiation,
hasbeen because he did not wish to give France any possible
done ground for complaint, whether real or ostensible.
There does not seem, however, to have been sufficient justi
fication for so grave a charge as was made by Vergennes. If
the French negotiations had failed until after the overthrow
of the Shelburne ministry ; if Fox, on coming into power, had
taken advantage of the American treaty to continue the war
against France ; and if under such circumstances the Ameri
cans had abandoned their ally, then undoubtedly they would
have become guilty of ingratitude and treachery. There is
no reason for supposing that they would ever have done so,
had the circumstances arisen. Their preamble made it im
possible for them honourably to abandon France until a full
peace should be made, and more than this France could not
reasonably demand. The Americans had kept to the strict
letter of their contract, as Vergennes had kept to the strict
letter of his, and beyond this they meted out exactly the
same measure of frankness which they received. To say
that our debt of gratitude to France was such as to require
us to acquiesce in her scheme for enriching our enemy Spain
at our expense is simply childish. Franklin was undoubtedly
right. The commissioners may have been guilty of a breach
of diplomatic courtesy, but nothing more. Vergennes might
be sarcastic about it for the moment, but the cordial rela
tions between France and America remained undisturbed.
On the part of the Americans the treaty of Paris was one
a great °^ t^ie most brilliant triumphs in the whole history
diplomatic of modern diplomacy. Had the affair been man-
victory J
aged by men of ordinary ability, some of the great
est results of the Revolutionary War would probably have
been lost ; the new republic would have been cooped up
between the Atlantic Ocean and the Alleghany Mountains ;
our westward expansion would have been impossible without

1782

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

33

further warfare in which European powers would have been
involved ; and the formation of our Federal Union would
•doubtless have been effectively hindered, if not, indeed, alto
gether prevented. To the grand triumph the varied talents
of Franklin, Adams, and Jay alike contributed. To the

latter is due the credit of detecting and baffling the sinister
designs of France ; but without the tact of Franklin this
probably could not have been accomplished without offend
ing France in such wise as to spoil everything. It is, how
ever, to the rare discernment and boldness of Jay, admirably
seconded by the sturdy Adams, that the chief praise is due.
The turning-point of the whole affair was the visit of Dr.
Vaughan to Lord Shelburne. The foundation of success

34

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i

was the separate negotiation with England, and here there
had stood in the way a more formidable obstacle than the
mere reluctance of Franklin. The chevalier Luzerne and his
secretary Marbois had been busy with Congress, and that
body had sent well-meant but silly and pusillanimous instruc
tions to its commissioners at Paris to be guided in all things
by the wishes of the French court. To disregard such in
structions required all the lofty courage for which Jay and
Adams were noted, and for the moment it brought upon
them something like a rebuke from Congress, conveyed in a
letter from Robert Livingston. As Adams said, in his vehe
ment way, " Congress surrendered their own sovereignty
into the hands of a French minister. Blush ! blush ! ye
guilty records ! blush and perish ! It is glory to have broken
such infamous orders." True enough; the commissioners
knew that in diplomacy, as in warfare, to the agent at a
distance from his principal some discretionary power must
be allowed. They assumed great responsibility, and won a
victory of incalculable grandeur.
The course of the Americans produced no effect upon the
terms obtained by France, but it seriously modified the case
The Span- with Spain. Unable to obtain Gibraltar by arms,
ish treaty tnat power hoped to get it by diplomacy ; and with
the support of France she seemed disposed to make the
cession of the great fortress an ultimatum, without which
the war must go on. Shelburne, on his part, was willing to
exchange Gibraltar for an island in the West Indies ; but it
was difficult to get the cabinet to agree on the matter, and
the scheme was violently opposed by the people, for the
heroic defence of the stronghold had invested it with a halo
of romance and endeared it to every one. Nevertheless, so
persistent was Spain, and so great the desire for peace on
the part of the ministry, that they had resolved to exchange
Gibraltar for Guadaloupe, when the news arrived of the
treaty with America. The ministers now took a bold stand,.
and refused to hear another word about giving up Gibraltar.
Spain scolded, and threatened a renewal of hostilities, but

1782

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

35

France was unwilling to give further assistance, and the mat
ter was settled by England's surrendering East Florida, and
allowing the Spaniards to keep West Florida and Minorca,
which were already in their hands.
By the treaty with France, the West India islands of
Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Christopher, Dominica, Nevis, and
Montserrat were restored to England, which in turn
restored St. Lucia and ceded Tobago to France. French
The French were allowed to fortify Dunkirk, and eay
received some slight concessions in India and Africa ; they

retained their .share in the Newfoundland fisheries, and re
covered the little neighbouring islands of St. Pierre and
Miquelon. For the fourteen hundred million francs which
France had expended in the war, she had the satisfaction of
detaching the American colonies from England, thus inflict-

36 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
ing a blow which it was confidently hoped would prove fatal
to the maritime power of her ancient rival ; but beyond this
short-lived satisfaction, the fallaciousness of which events
were soon to show, she^ obtained very little. On the 20th
of January, 1783, the preliminaries of peace were signed
between England, on the one hand, and France and Spain,
on the other. A truce was at the same time concluded with
Holland, which was soon followed by a peace, in which most
of the conquests on either side were restored.
A second English ministry was now about to be wrecked
on the rock of this group of treaties. Lord Shelburne' s
government had at no time been a strong one. He had
made many enemies by his liberal and reforming measures,
and he had alienated most of his colleagues by his reserved
demeanour and seeming want of confidence in them. In
December several of the ministers resigned. The strength
of parties in the House of Commons was thus quaintly reck
oned by Gibbon : "Minister 140; Reynard 90; Boreas 120;
the rest unknown or uncertain." But "Reynard" and
" Boreas " were now about to join forces in one of the stran
gest coalitions ever known in the history of politics.
of Fox No statesman ever attacked another more fero
ciously than Fox had attacked North during the
past ten years. He had showered abuse upon him ; accused
him of "treachery and falsehood," of "public perfidy," and
" breach of a solemn specific promise ; " and had even gone
so far as to declare to his face a hope that he would be called
upon to expiate his abominable crimes upon the scaffold.
Within a twelvemonth he had thus spoken of Lord North
and his colleagues : " From the moment when I shall make
any terms with one-of them, I will rest satisfied to be called
the most infamous of mankind. I would not for an instant
think of a coalition with men who, in every public and pri
vate transaction as ministers, have shown themselves void
of every principle of honour and honesty. In the hands of
such men I would not trust my honour even for a moment."
Still more recently, when at a loss for words strong enough

1783

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

37

to express his belief in the wickedness of . Shelburne, he
declared that he had no better opinion of that man than to
deem him capable of forming an alliance with North. We
may judge, then, of the general amazement when, in the
middle of Febrviary, it turned out that Fox had himself done
this very thing. An "ill-omened marriage," William Pitt
called it in the House of Commons. " If this ill-omened
marriage is not already solemnized, I know a just and lawful
impediment, and in the name of the public safety I here
forbid the banns." Throughout the country the indignation
was great. Many people had blamed Fox for not following
up his charges by actually bringing articles of impeachment
against Lord North. That the two enemies should thus
suddenly become leagued in friendship seemed utterly mon
strous. It injured Fox extremely in
the opinion of the country, and it in
jured North still more, for it seemed
like a betrayal of the king on his part,
and his forgiveness of so many insults
looked mean-spirited. It does not ap
pear, however, that there was really
any strong personal animosity between
North and Fox. They were both men
of very amiable character, and almost
incapable of cherishing resentment.
The language of parliamentary orators
was habitually violent, and the huge
quantities of wine which gentlemen
in those days used to drink may have
helped to make it extravagant. The excessive vehemence
of political invective often deprived it of Jialf its effect. One
day, after Fox had exhausted his vocabulary of abuse upon
Lord George Germain, Lord North said to him, "You were
in very high feather to-day, Charles, and I am glad you did
not fall upon me." On another occasion, it is said that
while Fox was thundering against North's unexampled tur
pitude, the object of his furious tirade cosily dropped off to

LORD NORTH AS IGNAVIA

38 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
sleep. Gibbon, who was the friend of both statesmen, ex
pressly declares that they bore each other no ill-will. But
while thus alike indisposed to harbour bitter thoughts, there
was one man for whom both Fox and North felt an abiding
distrust and dislike ; and that man was Lord Shelburne, the
prime minister.
As a political pupil of Burke, Fox shared that statesman's
distrust of the whole school of Lord Chatham, to which
Shelburne belonged. In many respects these statesmen
were far more advanced than Burke, but they did not suffi
ciently realize the importance of checking- the crown by
means of a united and powerful ministry. Fox thoroughly
understood that much of the mischief of the past twenty
years, including the loss of America, had come from the
system of weak and divided ministries, which gave the king
such great opportunity for wreaking his evil will. He had
himself been a member of such a ministry, which had fallen
seven months ago. When the king singled out Shelburne
for his confidence, Fox naturally concluded that Shelburne
was to be made to play the royal game, as North had been
made to play it for so many years. This was very unjust
to Shelburne, but there is no doubt that Fox was perfectly
honest in his belief. It seemed to him that the present
state of things must be brought to an end, at whatever cost.
A ministry strong enough to curb the king could be formed
only by a coalescence of two out of the three existing par
ties. A coalescence of Old and New Whigs had been tried
last spring, and failed. It only remained now to try the
effect of a coalescence of Old Whigs and Tories.
Such was doubtless the chief motive of Fox in this ex
traordinary move. The conduct of North seems harder to
explain, but it was probably due to a reaction of feeling on
his part. He had done violence to his own convictions out
of weak compassion for George III., and had carried on the
American war for four years after he had been thoroughly
convinced that peace ought to be made. Remorse for this
is said to have haunted him to the end of his life. When in

THE LORD OF THE VINEYARD

40 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, r
his old age he became blind, he bore his misfortune with his
customary lightness of heart ; and one day, meeting the
veteran Barre, who had also lost his eyesight, he exclaimed,
with his unfailing wit, " Well, colonel, in spite of all our dif
ferences, I suppose there are no two men in England who
would be gladder to see each other than you and I." But
while Lord North could jest about his blindness, the memory
of his ill-judged subservience to the king was something that
he could not laugh away, and among his nearest friends he
was sometimes heard to reproach himself bitterly. When,
therefore, in 1783, he told Fox that he fully agreed with him
in thinking that the royal power ought to be curbed, he was
doubtless speaking the truth. No man had a better right to
such an opinion than that which he had gained through sore
experience. In his own ministry, as he said to Fox, he took
the system as he found it, and had not vigour and resolution
enough to put an end to it ; but he was now quite convinced
that in such a country as England, while the king should be
treated with all outward show of respect, he ought on no
account to be allowed to exercise any real power.
Now this was in 1783 the paramount political question in
England, just as much as the question of secession was para
mount in the United States in 1861. Other questions could
be postponed ; the question of curbing the king could not.
Upon this all-important point North had come to agree with
Fox ; and as the principal motive of their coalition may be
thus explained, the historian is not called upon to lay too
much stress upon the lower motives assigned in profusion
by their political enemies. This explanation, however, does
not quite cover the case. The mass of the Tories would
never follow North in an avowed attempt to curb the king,
but they agreed with the followers of Fox, though not with
Fox himself, in holy horror of parliamentary reform, and
were alarmed by a recent declaration of Shelburne that the
suffrage must be extended so as to admit a hundred new
county members. Thus while the two leaders were urged
to coalescence by one motive, their followers were largely

1783

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

41

swayed by another, and this added much to the mystery and
general unintelligibleness of the movement. In taking this
step Fox made the mistake which was characteristic of the
Old Whig party. He gave too little heed to the great
public outside the walls of the House of Commons. The

H

^¦Mi

coalition, once made, was very strong in Parliament, but it
mystified and scandalized the people, and this popular disap
proval by and by made it easy for the king to overthrow it.
It was agreed to choose the treaty as the occasion for the
combined attack upon the Shelburne ministry. North, as
the minister who had conducted the unsuccessful war, was
bound to oppose the treaty, in any case. It would not do
for him to admit that better terms could not have ^ „ ,
Fall of
been made. The treaty was also very unpopular sheibume's
with Fox's party, and with the nation at large. It
was thought that too much territory had been conceded to

42 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
the Americans, and fault was found with the article on the
fisheries. But the point which excited most indignation was
the virtual abandonment of the loyalists, for here the honour
of England was felt to be at stake. On this ground the
treaty was emphatically condemned by Burke, Sheridan, and
Wilberforce, no less than by North, i- was ably defended
in the Commons by Pitt, and in the Lords by Shelburne
himself, who argued that he had but the alternative of ac
cepting the terms as they stood, or continuing the war ; and
since it had come to this, he said, without spilling a drop of
blood, or incurring one fifth of the expense of a year's cam
paign, the comfort and happiness of the American loyalists
could be easily secured. By this he meant that, should
America fail to make good their losses, it was far better for
England to indemnify them herself than to prolong indefi
nitely a bloody and ruinous struggle. As we shall hereafter
see, this liberal and enlightened policy was the one which
England really pursued, so far as practicable, and her honour
was completely saved. That Shelburne and Pitt were quite
right there can now be little doubt. But argument was of no
avail against the resistless power of the coalition. On the
17th of February Lord John Cavendish moved an amend
ment to the ministerial address on the treaty, refusing to
approve it. On the 21st he moved a further amendment
condemning the treaty. Both motions were carried, and
on the 24th Lord Shelburne resigned. He did not dissolve
Parliament and appeal to the country, partly because he
was aware of his personal unpopularity, and partly because,
in spite of the general disgust at the coalition, there was little
doubt that on the particular question of the treaty the pub
lic opinion agreed with the majority in Parliament, and not
with the ministry. For this reason, Pitt, though personally
popular, saw that it was no time for him to take the first
place in the government, and when the king proceeded to
offer it to him he declined.
For more than five weeks, while the treasury was nearly
empty, and the question of peace or war still hung in the

American Peace Commissioners

1783

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

43

balance, England was without a regular government, while
the angry king went hunting for some one who would con
sent to be his prime minister. He was determined not to
submit to the coalition. He was naturally enraged The king's
at Lord North for turning against him. Meeting wrath
one day North's father, Lord Guilford, he went up to him,
tragically wringing his hands, and exclaimed in accents of
woe, " Did I ever think, my Lord Guilford, that your son
would thus have betrayed me into the hands of Mr. Fox?"
He appealed in vain to Lord Gower, and then to Lord
Temple, to form a ministry. Lord Gower suggested that

"9%*^

FACSIMILE SIGNATURES OF THE TREATY OF PEACE

44

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i

perhaps Thomas Pitt, cousin of William, might be willing to
serve. "I desired him," said the king, "to apply to Mr.
Thomas Pitt, or Mr. Thomas anybody." It was of no use.
By the 2d of April Parliament had become furious at the
delay, and George was obliged to yield. The Duke of
Portland was brought in as nominal prime minister, with Fox
as foreign secretary, North as secretary for home and colo
nies, Cavendish as chancellor of the exchequer, and Keppel
as first lord of the admiralty. The only Tory in the cabinet,
excepting North, was Lord Stormont, who became president
of the council. The commissioners, Fitzherbert and Oswald,
were recalled from Paris, and the Duke of Manchester and
David Hartley, son of the great philosopher, were appointed
in their stead. Negotiations continued through the spring
and summer. Attempts were made to change some of the
articles, especially the obnoxious article concerning the
loyalists, but all to no purpose. Hartley's attempt to nego
tiate a mutually advantageous commercial treaty with
America also unfortunately came to nothing. The
is adopted, definitive treaty which was finally signed on the
theecoail-by 3^ °f September, 1783, was an exact transcript of
tion minis- ^g treaty which Shelburne had made, and for
try, which J
presently making which the present ministers had succeeded
in turning him out of office. No more emphatic
justification of Shelburne's conduct of this business could
possibly have been obtained.
The coalition ministry did not long survive the final sign
ing of the treaty. The events of the next few months are
curiously instructive as showing the quiet and stealthy way
in which a political revolution may be consummated in a
thoroughly conservative and constitutional country. Early
in the winter session of Parliament Fox brought in his
famous bill for organizing the government of the great
empire which Give and Hastings had built up in India.
Popular indignation at the ministry had been strengthened
by its adopting the same treaty of peace for the making of
which it had assaulted Shelburne ; and now, on the passage

46 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
of the India Bill by the House of Commons, there was a
great outcry. Many provisions of the bill were exceedingly
unpopular, and its chief object was alleged to be the concen
tration of the immense patronage of India into the hands
of the old Whig families. With the popular feeling thus
warmly enlisted against the ministry, George III. was now
emboldened to make war on it by violent means ; and, ac
cordingly, when the bill came up in the House of Lords, he
caused it to be announced, by Lord Temple, that any peer
who should vote in its favour would be regarded as an enemy
by the king. Four days later the House of Commons, by
a vote of 153 to 80, resolved that "to report any opinion,
or pretended opinion, of his majesty upon any bill or other
proceeding depending in either house of Parliament, with a
view to influence the votes of the members, is a high crime
and misdemeanour, derogatory to the honour of the crown,
a breach of the fundamental privileges of Parliament, and
subversive of the constitution of this country." A more
explicit or emphatic defiance to the king would have been
hard to frame. Two days afterward the Lords rejected
the India Bill, and on the next day, the 18th of December,
George turned the ministers out of office.
In this grave constitutional crisis the king invited William
Pitt to form a government, and this young statesman, who
had consistently opposed the coalition, now saw that his
hour was come. He was more than any one else
tionai crisis, the favourite of the people. Fox's political reputa-
theoifer" tion was eclipsed, and North's was destroyed, by
victory of their unseemly alliance. People were sick of the
Pitt, May, whole state of things which had accompanied the
American war. Pitt, who had only come into
Parliament in 1780, was free from these- unpleasant associa
tions. The unblemished purity of his life, his incorruptible
integrity, his rare disinterestedness, and his transcendent
ability in debate were known to every one. As the worthy
son of Lord Chatham, whose name was associated with the
most glorious moment of English history, he was peculiarly

1783

RESULTS OF YORKTOWN

47

dear to the people. His position, however, on taking
supreme office at the instance of a king who had just com
mitted an outrageous breach of the constitution, was ex
tremely critical, and only the most consummate skill could
have won from the chaos such a victory as he was about to

win. When he became first lord of the treasury and chan
cellor of the exchequer, in December, 1783, he had barely
completed his twenty-fifth year. All his colleagues in the
new cabinet were peers, so that he had to fight single-handed
in the Commons against the united talents of Burke and
Sheridan, Fox and North ; and there was a heavy majority
against him, besides. In view of this adverse majority, it
was Pitt's constitutional duty to dissolve Parliament and
appeal to the country. But Fox, unwilling to imperil his
great majority by a new election, now made the fatal mistake

48 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, i
of opposing a dissolution ; thus showing his distrust of the
people and his dread of their verdict. With consummate
tact, Pitt allowed the debates to go on till March, and then,
when the popular feeling in his favour had grown into wild
enthusiasm, he dissolved Parliament. In the general elec
tion which followed, 160 members of the coalition lost their
seats, and Pitt obtained the greatest majority that has ever
been given to an English minister.
Thus was completed the political revolution in England
which was set on foot by the American victory at York-
town. Its full significance was only gradually realized. For
the moment it might seem that it was the king who had
triumphed. He had shattered the alliance which had been
formed for the purpose of curbing him, and the result of the
election had virtually condoned his breach of the constitution.
This apparent victory, however, had been won only by a
Overthrow direct appeal to the people, and all its advantages
of George accrue(j to the people, and not to George III.
system of j_r js ingenious system of weak and divided minis-
personal & J
government tries, with himself for balance-wheel, was destroyed.
For the next seventeen years the real ruler of England was
not George III., but William Pitt, who, with his great popu
lar following, wielded such a power as no English sovereign
had possessed 'since the days of Elizabeth. The political
atmosphere was cleared of intrigue ; and Fox, in the legiti
mate attitude of leader of the new opposition, entered upon
the glorious part of his career. There was now set in motion
that great work of reform which, hindered for a while by the
reaction against the French revolutionists, won its decisive
victory in 1832. Down to the very moment at which Ameri
can and British history begin to flow in distinct and separate
channels, it is interesting to observe how closely they are
implicated with each other. The victory of the Americans
not only set on foot the British revolution here described, but
it figured most prominently in each of the political changes
that we have witnessed, down to the very eve of the over-

1784 RESULTS OF YORKTOWN 49
throw of the coalition. The system which George III. had
sought to fasten upon America, in order that he might fasten
it upon England, was shaken off and shattered by the good
people of both countries at almost the same moment of
time.

CHAPTER II
THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS
" The times that tried men's souls are over," said Thomas
Paine in the last number of the " Crisis," which he published
after hearing that the negotiations for a treaty of peace had
been concluded. The preliminary articles had been signed
at Paris on the 20th of January, 1783. The news arrived in
America on the 23d of March, in a letter to the president
of Congress from Lafayette, who had returned to France
soon after the victory at Yorktown. A few days later Sir
Guy Carleton received his orders from the ministry to pro
claim a cessation of hostilities by land and sea A similar
proclamation made by Congress was formally communicated
to the army by Washington on the 19th of April, the eighth
anniversary of the first bloodshed on Lexington green.
Since Wayne had driven the British from Georgia, early in
the preceding year, there had been no military operations
between the regular armies. Guerrilla warfare between
Whig and Tory had been kept up in parts of South Caro
lina and on the frontier of New York, where Thayendanegea
was still alert and defiant ; while beyond the mountains the
tomahawk and scalping-knife had been busy, and Washing
ton's old friend and comrade, Colonel Crawford, had been
scorched to death by the firebrands of the red demons ; but
the armies had sat still, awaiting the peace which every one
felt sure must speedily come. After Cornwallis's surrender,
Washington marched his army back to the Hudson, and
established his headquarters at Newburgh. Rochambeau
followed somewhat later, and in September joined the Amer
icans on the Hudson ; but in December the French army
marched to Boston, and there embarked for France. After

1783

THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS

5i

the formal cessation of hostilities on the 19th of April, 1783,
Washington granted furloughs to most of his soldiers ; and
these weather-beaten veterans trudged homeward in all direc
tions, in little groups of four or five, depending largely for
their subsistence on the hospitality of the farm-houses along

^^

ISJ

a/y/yu^

the road. Arrived at home, their muskets were hung over
the chimney-piece as trophies for grandchildren to be proud
of, the stories of their exploits and their sufferings became
household legends, and they turned the furrows and drove
the cattle to pasture just as in the "old colony times."
Their furloughs were equivalent to a full discharge, for on
the 3d of September the definitive treaty was signed, and

52

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

CHAP. II

FRAUNCES'S TAVERN, NEW YORK
the country was at peace. On the 3d of November the
D . army was formally disbanded, and on the 25th of
of the Brit- that month Sir Guy Carleton's army embarked from
Nov. 25, ' New York. Small British garrisons still remained
17 J in the frontier posts of Ogdensburg, Oswego, Niag
ara, Erie, Sandusky, Detroit, and Mackinaw, but it was
understood that these places were to be promptly surren
dered to the United States. On the 4th of December a
barge waited at the South Ferry in New York to carry Gen
eral Washington across the river to Paulus Hook. He was
going to Annapolis, where Congress was in session, in order
to resign his command. At Fraunces's Tavern, near the
ferry, he took leave of the officers who so long had shared
his labours. One after another they embraced their beloved
commander, while there were few dry eyes in the company.

1783

THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS

53

They followed him to the ferry, and watched the departing
boat with hearts too full for words, and then in solemn
silence returned up the street. At Philadelphia he handed
to the comptroller of the treasury a neatly written manu
script, containing an accurate statement of his expenses in
the public service since the day when he took command of

the army. The sums which Washington had thus spent out
of his private fortune amounted to $64,315. For his per
sonal services he declined to take any pay. At noon of the
23d, in the presence of Congress and of a throng of ladies
and gentlemen at Annapolis, the great general gave Washin
up his command, and requested as an "indulgence" ton resigns
to be allowed to retire into private life. General mand°m~
Mifflin, who during the winter of Valley Forge had Dec" 23
conspired with Gates to • undermine the confidence of the

54

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii

people in Washington, was now president of Congress, and it
was for him to make the reply. " You retire," said Mifflin,
" from the theatre of action with the blessings of your fel
low-citizens, but the glory of your virtues will ' not terminate
with your military command; it will continue to animate
remotest ages." The- next morning Washington hurried
away to spend Christmas at his pleasant home at Mount
Vernon, which, save for a few hours in the autumn of 178 1,
he had not set eyes on for more than eight years. His estate
had suffered from his long absence, and his highest ambition
was to devote himself to its simple interests.. To his friends
he offered unpretentious hospitality. " My manner of living
is plain," he said, "and I do not mean to be put out of it.
A glass of wine and a bit of mutton are always ready, and
such as will be content to partake of them are always wel
come. Those who expect more will be disappointed." To
Lafayette he wrote that he was now about to solace himself
with those tranquil enjoyments of which the anxious soldier
and the weary statesman know but little. " I have not only
retired from all public employments, but I am retiring within
myself, and shall be able to view the solitary walk and tread
the paths of private life with heartfelt satisfaction. Envious
of none, I am determined to be pleased with all ; and this,
my dear friend, being the order of my march, I will move
gently down the stream of life until I sleep with my fathers."
In these hopes Washington was to be disappointed. "All
the world is touched by his republican virtues," wrote Lu
zerne to Vergennes, " but it will be useless for him to try
to hide himself and live the life of a private man : he will
always be the first citizen of the United States." It indeed
required no prophet to foretell that the American people
could not long dispense with the services of this greatest of
citizens. Washington had already put himself most expli
citly on record as the leader of the men who were urging the
people of the United States toward the formation of a more
perfect union. The great lesson of the war had not been lost
on him. Bitter experience of the evils attendant upon the

1783

THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS

55

MOUNT VERNON

weak government of the Continental Congress had impressed
upon his mind the urgent necessity of an immediate and
thorough reform. On the 8th of June, in view of the ap
proaching disbandment of the army, he had addressed to the
governors and presidents of the several states a circular
letter, which he wished to have regarded as his legacy to
the American people. In this letter he insisted upon four
things as essential to the very existence of the United States
as an independent power. First, there must be an
indissoluble union- of all the states under a single
federal government, which must possess the power
of enforcing its decrees ; for without such author
ity it would be a government only in name. Sec
ondly, the debts incurred by Congress for the purpose of
carrying on the war and securing independence must be paid
to the uttermost farthing. Thirdly, the militia system must
be organized throughout the thirteen states on uniform prin
ciples. Fourthly, the people must be willing to sacrifice, if
need be, some of their local interests to the common weal ;
they must discard their local prejudices, and regard one

His " leg
acy " to the
American
people,June 8,
1783

1783 THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS 57
men in whose minds fanaticism for the moment usurped the
place of sound judgment. The men of 1783 dwelt in along,
straggling series of republics, fringing the Atlantic coast,
bordered on the north and south and west by two European
powers whose hostility they had some reason to dread. But
nine years had elapsed since, in the first Continental Con
gress, they had begun to act consistently and independently
in common, under the severe pressure of a common fear
and an immediate necessity of action. Even under such cir
cumstances the war had languished and come nigh to failure
simply through the difficulty of insuring concerted action.
Had there been such a government that the whole power of
the thirteen states could have been swiftly and vigorously
wielded as a unit, the British, fighting at such disadvantage
as they did, might have been driven to their ships in less
than a year. The length of the war and its worst hardships
had been chiefly due to want of organization. Congress had
steadily declined in power and in respectability ; it was much
weaker at the end of the war than at the beginning ; and
there was reason to fear that as soon as the common pres
sure was removed the need for concerted action would quite
cease to be felt, and the scarcely formed Union would break
into pieces. There was the greater reason for such a fear
in that, while no strong sentiment had as yet grown up in
favour of union, there was an intensely powerful sentiment
in favour of local self-government. This feeling was scarcely
less strong as between states like Connecticut and Rhode
Island, or Maryland and Virginia, than it was between
Athens and Megara, Argos and Sparta, in the great days of
Grecian history. A most wholesome feeling it was, and one
which needed not so much to be curbed as to be guided in
the right direction. It was a feeling which was shared by
some of the foremost Revolutionary leaders, such as Samuel
Adams and Richard Henry Lee. But unless the most pro
found and delicate statesmanship should be forthcoming,
to take this sentiment under its guidance, there was much
reason to fear that the release from the common adhesion to

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By the UNITED STATES in CONGRESS AiTembled,-
A PROCLAMATI ON.
?E?JrA,_S d*Gn'n'w *«"«'« "f peace and long lake and (he *ater communication between it and the and between the fubicfls of .!,,„„, anA ,t,
fnendlh.p, between tbe tinted StHes of Ame- likr nf th, W«vt. m rh,- l„,rt laUe-nf rhe W.«d.:thenrp -r.L- ... °* »u«y«B Of (he OBe, and th.
Wfiiendrhip, between tbe United Sutes of Ame
rica and his Britannic majefty, were concluded
and figned at Pins, on the 3d day of Septem
ber, 1783, by the plenipotentiaries of the laid United States
and of hit faid Bruaanie Majefty, duly and refpcftively au
thorized for that purpofe , which definitive nuclei are in the
words follow! ng.
In fit Nam/ of tit Mofl H-Aj and Undivided
T a 1 h 1 t v.
I T having pleafed the Divine Providence to difpofe fhe
Hearts of the moft ferene and mod potent Prince Grorgethe
Third, by the Grace of God, King of Great-Britain, France
and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Bronlwick and
Lunenburg, Arch- Trcafurer and Prince Elector of the Holy
Roman Empire, &c. md of (he United States of America,
to forget all paf> mi fonder-flan dings and differences, that have
unhappily micrropted the good correfpondenee and friend
ship which they mutually wifh to reft ore 1 and to efhblifh
fuch a beneficial and fa tufa ftory in tercourfe between the two
countries, upon the ground of reciprocal advantagd and mu
tual convenience, as may promote and fecure to both perpe
tual peace and harmony 1 And having for this defirable end,
already laid the foundation of peace and reconciliation, by
the provifional articles, figned at Paris, on the joth of No
vember, 1781, by the 10m mi IB oner* empowered on each part.
Which article! were agreed 10 be mftrtcd in, and to conflnute
ihe treat* of peace propofed to be concluded between the
crown of Grfat-Britam and the faid United 5iates, but which
treaty was not to be concluded until terms of peace fhould be
agreed upon between Grcii- Britain ao.l France, and his Bri
tannic majefly fhould be ready to conclude fuch trcatf ac
cordingly ; and the treaty between Great-Britain and France,
Hiving fince been concluded, hi) Britannic majefly and the
United Stun of America, In order to carry into full cfTitl
|he proviGoml articles abovementioned, according to the te
nor thereof, have tnnflituted and appointed, thai it to fay,
Nit Briiannic majefly on Impart, David Hartley, efquite,
member of the parliament of Great- Britain, and the laid
United States on their part, John Adami, cfqulre, lai
lake of the Woods,
through the faid lake
and Iromtbencc on a due welt courie to tr
ihence by a line to be drawn along the t
river MifTifippi, until it fhall mterfefl the
ofihethi— • £-"
(o be di
the laid takcof the Woods ; thence
the mofl north-weflcm point thereof, t ^uY' ^"^V' u' h^,l"i'i" Sl_h"^ *>'""*
land fhall from henceforth ceafe > all prifoners on both
fid« fhall be fa. a, liberty, 3„d his firitannic Mayfly
fliall with all convenient fpeed, and without c» tiling
lirft degree of north latitude. Souih by a line any dcftruclion, or carrying away any negroes or other
•^-eaftfrom the determination ot thejiie laft property ofttjc American inhabitants, withdraw ill hit
MifTifippi,
nddle of the faid
uithernmofl part
ioned. in the latitude of thirty-one degrees north or the armies,' garrifons and fleets Irom the faid United Stale,"
equator, 10 the middle of the n«r Apalachicola or Catahouchci and from every pofl place and harbour within th- f,m-
and thence down along .he nuddle of Saint Mary1* river to T* bC ,he"",,J a"d lhal1 al'° ord" >n<* caufc all ar-
ihe Atlantic Ocean. Eaft by a line to be drawn along the J* lv"' ««rds deeds and papert, belonging to any of
middle of the river Saint-Crou, from lis mouth in the bay of '!]c la,d I3'", or their citizens, which ia the courfe of
Fundy to its louree, and from us fource direftly north to ,ne war may have fallen into the hands of hn officers
iforelaid^Highhnds which d^ide^ the ytven th&tiaUinio JO be iotahwith -4eAoMd-itid delivered lo the proper
"3 perfons to whom they belong.
8th. The navigation ofthe river Miffi-
ftales a
'hich di
the Atlantic Ocean from thofe which fall
Lawrence, eoroprehenduigalliflandi within twenty leaguesot Articl^
any part of the (hore»oftne United Staies.and lyingbetween f,DDi fm_ ;.. V™„™ .- .1.. ft i."i7 '
I nes to be drawn due eaB from the points where the atorefaid & f""" '" rour« l» the Ocutl. fhall forever 1B.
boundaries between Nova-Scotia on the one part, and Eaft °.ln ,r«.'0(1 open lo the fubfecls of Gteal-Btium
Flondaontheoiher.fhallrerpeaivelytouchthebayofFiindy, ¦M «« citizens of «hc United States.
and the Atlantic Ocean 1 eKCepting fuch iflands as now are Abticli 9th. In cafe it fliduld fo happen thar any
or heretofore have been within che limns of the faid pro- Placc or territory belonging lo Great-Briliin or to the
vmce of Nova Scotia, _ United State!, fhould have been Ironq tiered by the arms
'¦'"•"!¦)• It it agreedthat the peopleof the United ofcitherfrom iheother, before the arrivalof ihe faid ?
ntinuetoenjnyunmoleftediherighttotakefiihot --''
every kind on ihe Grand Bank, and oh all thcother banks'
Of Newfoundland ; alfo in the gulph of Saint Lawrence, and r[ compEri(ati
at all other placet m the fea, where the inhabitants of both 5 ¦" r ,
coumriM ufed at any time heretofore to fifh i and alfo that . a*ticli' 10th. The folemn ratifications of ihe pre-
the inhabnanti of the United States fhall have libert'y'totake «ni Uealy*, expedned in good and due. form, fliall he
fifh ol every kind on luch 'part of the coafl of Newfoundland "cnanfjea beiween the contracline parties) in the fpace
as Btitifh fimermen fhall ufe, (but not to dry or cure the °r '"'* moniha, or fooner if pofTible, to be computed
fimeonthat Ifland) and alfo on the coalts, bays and creeks from the day of the fig nature of the prefent treaty
pf all other of hii Briunnic Majefiy^dominioni.in.Ameriea, In witneft whereof, we the undcrfigned, their miniflerr
fifhermen fhall Ti a ve liberty lodryanJ plenipotentiary, have in their n  —
fhall be reflored without difliculty, and v
r name and in virtue of our
and that the A
,m m in ,ny of ,h, „„fml,J b.,h h>,bou,. ,nd cmk. of f„M"„Vwm "ni'nrf »i',h ^'k'.'^'.r0 ,V,"S%™. '¦
ib, r.m, ib.n «™i» unmiw, b», r. to ., ,i« a™ „ """¦ •nd' ""rcd ¦l": '•¦'¦ "r -  — - >¦- -»¦¦
if ihcm lb,ll be fectled, it Jbill not Ac lawful for ,h<
-. Iwe deleoiie In congrer, f
Il,ic ofl'rnnrylvini,. prefident ofilie convention of the f,ld '"'',;;!i^,
0«e, andminiflef pl,nipofeiyl»r/f,oni,.hevnltCilSl«e,of "' ' l
00NE .1 P.,!,, tbi,ihi,rld,yor6ePlcmbcr,
In the ye», of our Lotd one thoufand feven
bundled and eifiht>.|bree.
(t_ S.) D. HARTLEY, (L. S.) JOHN ADAMS,
(L.S.) B. FRANKLIN,
(L.S.) JOHN JAY.
?JK
n
n>r
renu,. , ^ c
3"' <->¦ 3 r+ 3 p t/5
^ 5 3* 5 3* p P ¦ -.- .- ---,.T-j-i> -wi . e ¦ , A.ticii eth. It is agreed tbai the Conwef, ftall-etr.
¦^OCUniCP^^. o' Amelia, the court of rajniTokn Jar. efquire 1,« „»,, ,«on„n.nd ii m ,he legilttn»«,«f the refpective ll.re,, A N D « tic United Stale, In Concef, ilT,r»kl.J
TJ 3 ^" I"-* t-f r+ o fn t^ prefidentof congrcfi, and rbiel jufbce of the flare of New- '.„jdc r0r ibe rellituLiorT ot all eltatet ,iRha and ore- ,. ¦ r , lunitea State! in t_ongreis aliembled,
- - ' iniltfrplenipote.ti.r, ton, the faid !U»ite< I See, ^I^^^Z^ <S^a^^ ^mf.^.^M> '".^ ^'.'^"••^
ofM.drid.tobeihe ple.inot.n,,,r,e. for the KbjeclC and .Ub of rh. elUtei right? and propertie, «^r»d, did b^ certain .a under the feal of tho

I J *^ C i— -. ,-. • York, and ...
& P (D [^. 3 auheCourt

rr\ ?"¦• C fl fl S. P - atineceurtoiBi.orio, to oe ,ne pieniuoicnii.rie. ,», ..,= iirMab:^ „d .16 of the elUte* righta and propertiee «™"-". «¦»»»" orpin ia unoer ,ne leal ot IM
[S3?flhJ<!n(B " eo-nelod.ngandliSn.ngtheurcf,ntd,aniii>eircarr, who af- „rfo'„, „„d„, indiAiM, in the polMionof hi, m.iefly'a Untied Slate,, bearing dale thil 14th day of January
Jrt-rBtv refD^C " h""n" ""P"™' ommuriiemd I .hen relpea,. e loll ^ ^ wto tm M imt ,™ .gainlt Ihe faid tinned 1 7»4. approve, ratify and confirm Ihe fame and every
SnrtCtjPh|f-tl|»1' P™'". have agreed upon and confirmed tbe following j^. A||d [hl[ ^jf^o! „, „„„ defcription Iball have pan and claofe thereof, engaging and promiOng that
3 2 ff f» 3 . 3" "^.t'Ioi, ,fl Hi, Briun.ic Maiellv ackno.led.c, ,he to' «"",> t" f!» » anv pan or parti of an, of the Thirteen we would fincerely .nd faithfully perform and obferve ,_,
^ • rt- 3 U M K' t? rf- rhiyXN«-Jerle,.ftm.l,l.amMa»m.M.7l»d ^ S
2. O £¦ ™ rt Et Virgin,.. No„h-c',r.lin..!»u,'h.C.,.lin. and Georgia... be ^^^^^t^^S^M^Z ^ "•^ '^'^^ ^'f- ^«> ^^ M
e S (» tr n o ' ? fr'f°"rr'^^°drAr\fr,;^.ndf;cSr,^'' .l.^i^iS^»r^™rJSdkS».ft !~jr»'».««?rii"gto.i»i.K»....mis,i,.™,r.
B |_3 v3 £• ° 3 C ,''""'¦»,' f"n'i" ^,h?««^^^l^^r!til7'I^" pc-la^amfc.trama»alf^hJLafHe«amd^orrr.Im.»leb »• h.vc lluwrtt proper by thefc pre-fam,!, to £>,,ry Ih. H
I»vJ S, ..flOft? future on "he «=« of tbe bound.™, of the fSd Unned " ¦»• ¦J™1"/ r™i"i"«V;''Sf'r* '"\'b^'h= leS,a,t'^ ""U"'""d,ud"i"''',l>P=rr''"' b"''"8 °f. M
TJ ^ & CTQ E 3- H, >1 0 S"„ ™ |* printed, i. i, herft, .g,eri ^^ >t)
O _, — o 3 S 2 , 7he(oll.»inP|.re.ndMlbe,hei;.tlund,„e^,,,. ' •» ' *« "Jf?"!?*" ,'*g" ftwitl "^ '". and ,11 other, the good cili.cn, tf tiefe Sl.t.s of J
n^^^^rtrtort, ' From. fcrU-rt.ro* cJN....b«*m.r«, r.1* ™»^ H
O 3 » m SITS „„c0.e,n.to.henonh-»cllernmollhe.dotC,nneaicut othermfe, fbaU n«.t .,,h no la.lul .mped.rnen, in the pn> known and acknowledged by the nation, of the wotld. "^
S,Oagtr2&fJ5 ;Cr%h.n"do.n.lo»gihen,iddkof,h,,ri.e,,oib=fbn,. fer» rf *^T £E J... ... . „ and ,v„h that gnod f.i,h which i, tvery m.n', forell ,
rripOn,E-30£D':L nfth deo'ee of not.h l.t'iude ; torn, hence b, . line due well Anrictt titb. That there fhall be no future conRf- guide within their feveral office, iurifdietion, and vo. ' O
rroB33_-I/IOjn> pn faid l.ii.ude. until ,, tlnke, the ri.er Iroquoi, or Cam,, canon, made, nor any ^profecution, cooamenced .g.inft cs.ion,. thcy orrjibn elfict the faid definitive a„ic!c> /-,
u^> O rt- CfC) .2^ rf J^ C ou,iihenreJnngthen.,ddleolf,idriveri.iolakeOor.no. any perfon or perfon, for or by reafon of ihe part which and every claufe and fcnteon thereof, fineerelv. flriflly ~
5 CT* ft ^ ^ —i through the middle of f.id Uke undlir ftnkei the commu- he or they may have taken in the prefent war ; and that and completely. f<
SfD3~ K*^.P^ nicanon by *aier between that l,k,wd lake Erie, thence no perfon lh.ll on tb,t account, fuffer any future lof, G I V E N under the Seal of the United State, 3
3 ,. J t-r- rt- < 3 B"P "'"* :kV™djl°'/;"dfr7°;i':!,',^i,e",'°a, ihe ..,,'; "J" «"¦•¦¦. oth-r n hu pirlbn liberrc. or pnopwrn. .„d Witnef, hi, Excellency THOMAS MIFFLIn! S
Z.&*~S*-rrZ*lr,%.f-* through the middle of f,idl,kc until it ,rri,e, at me water ih.t mofe who may be m confinement on fuch charge,, 0ur PreftdenL at Ann,onli, ,hi. f™,„«n.k a. . i (—,
3^CDI15n),^*i-L'^ eommunlctinn between th,t r.ke ind lake Huron , thence . . f .. l.^fi-,.;,,,, „f .,.. lrcalv :„ Am..f„ «« rreuoent. at Annapolis, this fourteenth day of O
i^niUb^^rt. r-L1"^ clonetbe middle of laid «¦¦« communication into the like """= "me ot lh. rauhcaLonul tile iratv in America, January, m the year of our Lord one thoufand fe- ,-J
3S-"„2^mn,33'r> H»r!nT.henee rtiu.b the middle „, f,id l.ketn , he w,,„ fh-ll he unmedi.tel, fe, „ lihert, and the profccuti- .,„ huud,edand eighty-four.andof the fo.eteign- Z
(r(l2.rfM3B(vB iommuniciion between ,h,il,ke,ndl,ke Superior, ihence on, fo commenced be difconi.nued. ,, and independence of the United Suicof Ame- <!
ar^a^r0^^ ,brouBhl,ke Superior oorthw.nl ol the illci, Rowland Phi. Aaricceyih. There fhall be a firm and perpetual tica the eighth. ss?s* . ^ ^
ri- -- Q_, W IP (0 |ijreau.ioihelone lake, thence throjgh tbemiddleof faid peace beiweeo hitBriiannic Majeityand the laidStUcr, x &%%,£%%,.- ¦ f/r?.Srt 'J W
4 S" S. « ° ^ 2" ^ O  ' ' / ' >

O

. T3 JU A ""N Al'fJLUi rmd ,y JOH N DU tt L, P. trmmrer lb, ILiu^omuiIo Coopcl, inroHa!. " f-1

B'Ogi^.aSC'- H
» 3 P ? § 5' tf l» 3
CtiSpS HaC^B Note. — The above is a greatly reduced facsimile of a broadside contained among the Meshech Weare Papers J^
v; i_> .-* i-L, k. P p O CL, UJ
^ ft> ^ i-^ a »^ P in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
- § g | § ¦" § o »
1—1 /-, >-t O r^ tJ

o

^a "«g

60 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii
united people till the end of time, suspicious and distrustful
of each other, they will be divided and subdivided into little
commonwealths or principalities, according to natural bound
aries, by great bays of the sea, and by vast rivers, lakes,
and ridges of mountains." Such were the views of a liberal-
minded philosopher who bore us no ill-will. George III.
said officially that he hoped the Americans would not suffer
from the evils which in history had always followed the
throwing off of monarchical government : which meant, of
course, that he hoped they would suffer from such evils.
He believed we should get into such a snarl that the several
states, one after another, would repent and beg on their
knees to be taken back into the British empire. Frederick
of Prussia, though friendly to the Americans, argued that
the mere extent of country from Maine to Georgia would
suffice either to break up the Union, or to make a monarchy
necessary. No republic, he said, had ever long existed on
so great a scale. The Roman republic had been
historic transformed into a despotism mainly by the exces
sive enlargement of its area. It was only little
states, like Venice, Switzerland, and Holland, that could
maintain a republican government. Such arguments were
common enough a century ago, but they overlooked three
essential differences between the Roman republic and the
United States. The Roman republic in Caesar's time com
prised peoples dif
fering widely in
blood, in speech,
and in degree of
civilization ; it was
perpetually threat
ened on all its frontiers by powerful enemies ; and repre
sentative assemblies were unknown to it. The only free
government of which the Roman knew anything was that of
the primary assembly or town meeting. On the other hand,
the people of the United States were all English in speech,
and mainly English in blood. The differences in degree of

1783

THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS

61

civilization between such states as Massachusetts and North
Carolina were considerable, but in comparison with such dif
ferences as those between Attika and Lusitania they might
well be called slight. The attacks of savages on the fron
tier were cruel and annoying, but never since the time of
King Philip had they seemed to threaten the existence of the

John

'z trance

the I) e la ware Phi' ' 17S1 Speed J milts an Jumr

white man. A very small military establishment was quite
enough to deal with the Indians. And to crown all, the
American people were thoroughly familiar with the principle
of representation, having practised it on a grand scale for
more than five centuries in England and America. The gov
ernments of the thirteen states were all similar, and the polit
ical ideas of one were perfectly intelligible to all the others.
It was essentially fallacious, therefore, to liken the case of
the United States to that of ancient Rome.
But there was another feature of the case which was quite
hidden from the men of 1783. Just before the assembling of
the first Continental Congress James Watt had completed
his steam-engine ; in the summer of 1787, while the Federal
Convention was sitting at Philadelphia, John Fitch launched
his first steamboat on the Delaware River ; and Stephenson's
invention of the locomotive was to follow in less than half
a century. Even with all other conditions favourable, it is

62 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii
doubtful if the American Union could have been preserved
to the present time without the railroad. But for the mili
tary aid of railroads our government would hardly have suc
ceeded in putting down the rebellion of the southern states.
In the debates on the Oregon Bill in the United
of rafiroad States Senate in 1843, the idea that we could ever
grfphupon have an interest in so remote a country as Oregon
perpetuity was loudly ridiculed by some of the members. It
American would take ten months — said George McDuffie,
the very able senator from South Carolina — for
representatives to get from that territory to the District
of Columbia and back again. Yet since the building of
railroads to the Pacific coast, we can go from Boston to
the capital of Oregon in much less time than it took John
Hancock to make the journey from Boston to Philadelphia.
Railroads and telegraphs have made our vast country, both
for political and for social purposes, more snug and compact
than little Switzerland was in the Middle Ages or New
England a century ago.
At the time of our Revolution the difficulties of travelling
formed an important social obstacle to the union of the states.
In our time the persons who pass in a single day between
New York and Boston by six or seven distinct lines of rail
road and steamboat are numbered by thousands. In 1783
two stage-coaches were enough for all the travellers, and
nearly all the freight besides, that went between these two
cities, except such large freight as went by sea around Cape
Cod. The journey began at three o'clock in the morning.
Horses were changed every twenty miles, and if the roads
were in good condition some forty miles would be made by
Difficulty ten o'clock in the evening. In bad weather, when
a hundred^ tne passengers had to get down and lift the clumsy
years ago wheels out of deep ruts, the progress was much
slower. The loss of life from accidents, in proportion to the
number of travellers, was much greater than it has ever
been on the railway. Broad rivers like the Connecticut and
Housatonic had no bridges. To drive across them in winter,

1 783

THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS

63

when they were solidly frozen over, was easy ; and in pleasant
summer weather to cross in a row-boat was not a dangerous
undertaking. But squalls at some seasons and floating ice at
others were things to be feared. More than one instance is
recorded where boats were crushed and passengers drowned,
or saved only by scrambling upon ice-floes. After a week
or ten days of discomfort and danger the jolted and jaded
traveller reached New York. Such was a journey in the
most highly civilized part of the United States. The case
was still worse in the South, and it was not so very much
better in England and France. In one respect the traveller
in the United States fared better than the traveller in
Europe : there was less danger from highwaymen.

OLD STAGE-COACH

Such being the difficulty of travelling, people never made
long journeys save for very important reasons. Except in
the case of the soldiers, most people lived and died without
ever having seen any state but their own. And as the mails
were irregular and uncertain, and the rates of postage very
high, people heard from one another but seldom. Commer
cial dealings between the different states were inconsider-

64 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii
able. The occupation of the people was chiefly agriculture.
Cities were few and small, and each little district for the
most part supported itself. Under such circumstances the
different parts of the country knew little about each other,
and local prejudices were intense. It was not simply free
Local jeai- Massachusetts and slave-holding South Carolina,
ousies and or English Connecticut and Dutch New York, that
antipathies, ° .
an inherit- misunderstood and ridiculed each the other ; but
primeval even between such neighbouring states as Con-
savagery necticut and Massachusetts, both of them thor
oughly English and Puritan, and in all their social conditions
almost exactly alike, it used often to be said that there was
no love lost. These unspeakably stupid and contemptible
local antipathies are inherited by civilized men from that
far-off time when the clan system prevailed over the face of
the earth, and the hand of every clan was raised against its
neighbours. They are pale and evanescent survivals from
the universal primitive warfare, and the sooner they die out
from human society the better for every one. They should
be stigmatized and frowned down upon every fit occasion,
just as we frown upon swearing as a symbol of anger and
contention. But the only thing which can finally destroy
them is the widespread and unrestrained intercourse of
different groups of people in peaceful social and commercial
relations. The rapidity with which this process is now going
on is the most encouraging of all the symptoms of our
modern civilization. But a century ago the progress made
in this direction had been relatively small, and it was a very
critical moment for the American people.
\ The thirteen states, as already observed, had worked in
concert for only nine years, during which their cooperation
had been feeble and halting. But the several state govern
ments had been in operation since the first settlement of
the country, and were regarded with intense loyalty by the
people of the states. Under the royal governors the local
political life of each state had been vigorous and often
stormy, as befitted communities of the sturdy descendants of

2?

*42£M

X

KM

ijlSrP
P^Er^fflP^'v
ii ,-V ¦.'¦...¦<! ¦ • :

^Ijpfe Jte Willis

WASHINGTON'S COACH AND FOUR

66 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii
English freemen. The legislative assembly of each state
had stoutly defended its liberties against the encroachments
of the governor. In the eyes of the people it was the only
power on earth competent to lay taxes upon them, it was as
supreme in its own sphere as the British Parliament itself,
and in behalf of this rooted conviction the people had gone
to war and won their independence from England. During
the war the people of all the states, except Connecticut and
Rhode Island, had carefully remodelled their governments,
and in the performance of this work had withdrawn many
Conserva- of their ablest statesmen from the Continental
ter\*he °" Congress ; but except for the expulsion of the royal
Revolution ancj proprietary governors, the work had in no
instance been revolutionary in its character. It was not so
much that the American people gained an increase of free
dom by their separation from England, as that they kept
the freedom they had always enjoyed, that freedom which
was the inalienable birthright of Englishmen, but which
George III. had foolishly sought to impair. The American -
Revolution was therefore in no respect destructive. It was
the most conservative revolution known to history, thor
oughly English in conception from beginning to end. It
had no likeness whatever to the terrible popular convulsion
which soon after took place in France. The mischievous
doctrines of Rousseau had found few readers and fewer
admirers among the Americans. The principles upon which
their revolution was conducted were those of Sidney and
Locke. In remodelling the state governments, as in plan
ning the union of the states, the precedents followed and the
principles applied were almost purely English. We must
now pass in review the principal changes wrought in the
several states, and we shall then be ready to consider the
general structure of the Confederation, and to describe
the remarkable series of events which led to the adoption of
our Federal Constitution.
It will be remembered that at the time of the Declaration
of Independence there were three kinds of government in

1783

THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS

67

the colonies. Connecticut and Rhode Island had always
been true republics, with governors and legislative assemblies
elected by the people. Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Mary
land presented the appearance of limited hereditary mon
archies. Their assemblies were chosen by the people, but
the lords proprietary appointed their governors, or in some
instances acted as governors themselves. In Maryland the
office of lord proprietary was hereditary in the stategov.
Calvert family ; in Delaware and Pennsylvania, ernm!n,\sd.
which, though distinct commonwealths with sepa- assemblies
rate legislatures, had the same executive head, it fr0m coio-
was hereditary in the Penn family. The other nialtimes
eight colonies were viceroyalties, with governors appointed
by the king, while in all alike the people elected the legisla
tures. Accordingly, in Connecticut and Rhode Island no

FITCH'S STEAMBOAT OF 1790

change was made necessary by the Revolution, beyond the
mere omission of the king's name from legal documents ;
and their charters, which dated from the middle of the seven
teenth century, continued to do duty as state constitutions
till far into the nineteenth. During the Revolutionary
War all the other states framed new constitutions, but in
most essential respects they took the old colonial charters
for their model. The popular legislative body remained
unchanged even in its name. In North Carolina its supreme
dignity was vindicated in its title of the House of Commons ;

68 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii
in Virginia it was called the House of Burgesses ; in most
of the states the House of Representatives. The members
were chosen each year, except in South Carolina, where
they served for two years. In the New England states they
represented the townships, in other states the counties. In
all the states except Pennsylvania a property qualification
was required of them.
In addition to this House of Representatives all the legis
latures except those of Pennsylvania and Georgia .contained
Origin of a second or upper house known as the Senate.
the senates -p^ orjgjn 0f the senate is to be found in the
governor's council of colonial times, just as the House of
Lords is descended from the Witenagemot or council of
great barons summoned by the Old-English kings. The
Americans had been used to having the acts of their pop
ular assemblies reviewed by a council, and so they retained
this revisory body as an upper house. A higher property
qualification was required than for membership of the lower
house, and, except in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and
South Carolina, the term of service was longer. In Mary
land senators sat for five years, in Virginia and New York
for four years, elsewhere for two years. In some states they
were chosen by the people, in others by the lower house.
In Maryland they were chosen by a college of electors, thus
affording a precedent for the method of electing the chief
magistrate of the Union under the Federal Constitution.
Governors were unpopular in those days. There was too
much flavour of royalty and high prerogative about them.
Except in the two republics of Rhode Island and Connecti
cut, American political history during the eighteenth century
was chiefly the record of interminable squabbles between
governors and legislatures, down to the moment when the
detested agents of royalty were clapped into jail, or took
Governors refuge behind the bulwarks of a British seventy-
witTsus- f°ur- Accordingly, the new constitutions were
picion verv chary of the powers to be exercised by the
governor. In Pennsylvania and Delaware, in New Hamp-

1783

THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS

69

VIEW OF NORTH SIDE OF WALL STREET, NEW YORK, 1 785

shire and Massachusetts, the governor was at first replaced
by an executive council, and the president of this council was
first magistrate and titular ruler of the state. His dignity
was imposing enough, but his authority was merely that
of a chairman. The other states had governors chosen by
the legislatures, except in New York, where the governor
was elected by the people. No one was eligible to the office
of governor who did not possess a specified amount of pro
perty. In most of the states the governor could not be re
elected, he had no veto upon the acts of the legislature, nor
any power of appointing officers. In 1780, in a new consti
tution drawn up by James Bowdoin and the two Adamses,
Massachusetts led the way in the construction of a more
efficient executive department. The president was replaced
by a governor elected annually by the people, and endowed
with the power of appointment and a suspensory veto. The
first governor elected under this constitution was John Han
cock. In 1783 New Hampshire adopted a similar constitu
tion. In 1790 Pennsylvania added an upper house to its
legislature, and vested the executive power in a governor
elected by the people for a term of three years, and twice

70

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii

reeligible. He was intrusted with the power of appointment
to offices, with a suspensory veto, and with the royal pre
rogative of reprieving or pardoning criminals. In 1792 simi
lar changes were made in Delaware. In 1 789 Georgia added
the upper house to its legislature, and about the same time
in several states the governor's powers were enlarged.
Thus the various state governments were repetitions on
a small scale of what was then supposed to be the triplex
government of England, with its King, Lords, and Com
mons. The governor answered to the king with his dignity
curtailed by election for a short period, and by narrowly
limited prerogatives. The senate answered to the House of
Lords, except in being a representative and not a hereditary
body. It was supposed to represent more especially that
part of the community which was possessed of most wealth
and consideration ; and in several states the senators were
apportioned with some reference to the amount of taxes
paid by different parts of the state. The senate of New
York, in direct imitation of the House of Lords, was made
a supreme court of errors. On the other hand, the assembly
answered to the House of Commons, save that its power
was limited by the senate to a much greater degree than the
power of the House of Commons is limited by the House of
Lords. But this peculiarity of the British Constitution was
not well understood a century ago; and the misunderstand
ing, as we shall hereafter see, exerted a serious influence
upon the form of our federal government, as well as upon
the constitutions of the several states.
In all the thirteen states the common law of England
remained in force, as it does to this day save where modified
by statute. British and colonial statutes made prior to the
Revolution continued also in force unless expressly repealed.
The system of civil and criminal courts, the remedies in
common law and equity, the forms of writs, the functions of
justices of the peace, the courts of probate, all remained
substantially unchanged. In Pennsylvania, Delaware, and
New Jersey, the judges held office for a term of seven years ;

1783

THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS

7i

in all the other states they held office for life or during good
behaviour. In all the states save Georgia they Tne
were appointed either by the governor or by the iudiaarv
legislature. It was Georgia that in 1812 first set the per
nicious example of electing judges for short terms by the
people,1 — a practice which is responsible for much of the
degradation that the courts have suffered in many of our
states, and which will have to be abandoned before a proper
administration of justice can ever be secured.

MERCHANTS' EXCHANGE, NEW YORK, 1752-99

In bestowing the suffrage, the new constitutions were as
conservative as in all other respects. The general state of
opinion in America at that time, with regard to universal
suffrage, was far more advanced than the general state of
opinion in England, but it was less advanced than the opin-
1 In recent years Georgia has been one of the first states to abandon
this bad practice.

72

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii

ions of such statesmen as Pitt and Shelburne and the Duke
of Richmond. There was a truly English irregularity in the
provisions which were made on this subject. In New Hamp
shire, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and South Carolina, all resi
dent freemen who paid taxes could vote. In North
The r
limited Carolina all such persons could vote for members
of the lower house, but in order to vote for sena
tors a freehold of fifty acres was required. In Virginia none
could vote save those who possessed such a freehold of fifty
acres. To vote for governor or for senators in New York,
one must possess a freehold of $250, clear of mortgage, and
to vote for assemblymen one must either have a freehold of
$50, or pay a yearly rent of $10. The pettiness of these
sums was in keeping with the time when two daily coaches
sufficed for the traffic between our two greatest commercial
cities. In Rhode Island an unincumbered freehold worth
$ 1 34 was required ; but in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania
the eldest sons of qualified freemen could vote without pay
ment of taxes. In all the other states the possession of a
small amount of property, either real or personal, varying
from $33 to $200, was the necessary qualification for voting.
Thus slowly and irregularly did the states drift toward uni
versal suffrage ; but although the impediments in the way
of voting were more serious than they seem to us in these
days when the community is more prosperous and money
less scarce, they were still not very great, and in the opinion
of conservative people they barely sufficed to exclude from
the suffrage such shiftless persons as had no visible interest
in keeping down the taxes.
At the time of the Revolution the succession to property
was regulated in New York and the southern states by the
English rule of primogeniture. The eldest son took all. In
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the four New Eng
land states, the eldest son took a double share. It was
Georgia that led the way in decreeing the equal distribution
of intestate property, both real and personal ; and between
1 784 and 1 796 the example was followed by all the other

1783 THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS 73
states. At the same time entails were either definitely abol
ished, or the obstacles to cutting them off were
removed. In New York the manorial privileges ^primo"
of the great patroons were swept away. In Ma- fnt^!;nd
ryland the old manorial system had lone; been m*u°™1pnvilefjes
dying a natural death through the encroachments
of the patriarchal system of slavery. The ownership of all

ungranted lands within the limits of the thirteen states
passed from the crown not to the Confederacy, but to the
several state governments. In Pennsylvania and Maryland
such ungranted lands had belonged to the lords proprietary.
They were now forfeited to the state. The Penn family
was indemnified by Pennsylvania to the amount of half a
million dollars ; but Maryland made no compensation to the
Calverts, inasmuch as their claim was presented by an ille
gitimate descendant of the last Lord Baltimore.

74

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii

The success of the American Revolution made it possible
for the different states to take measures for the gradual
abolition of slavery and the immediate abolition of the for
eign slave-trade. On this great question the state of public
opinion in America was more advanced than in England.
So great a thinker as Edmund Burke, who devoted much
thought to the subject, came to the conclusion that slavery
was an incurable evil, and that there was not the
warrfthe slightest hope that the trade in slaves could be
siaveryand stopped. The most that he thought could be done
the slave- Dv judicious legislation was to mitigate the horrors
which the poor negroes endured on board ship, or
to prevent wives from being sold away from their husbands
or children from their parents. Such was the outlook to
one of the greatest political philosophers of modern times
just eighty-two years before the immortal proclamation of
President Lincoln ! But how vast was the distance between
Burke and his contemporary Thurlow, who in 1799 poured
out the vials of his wrath upon "the altogether misera
ble and contemptible" proposal to abolish the slave-trade.
George III. agreed with his chancellor, and resisted the
movement for abolition with all the obstinacy of which his
hard and narrow nature was capable. In 1 769 the Virginia
legislature had enacted that the further importation of
negroes, to be sold into slavery, should be prohibited. But
George III. instructed the governor to veto this ac% and it
was vetoed. In Jefferson's first draft of the Declaration of
Independence, this action of the king was made the occasion
of a fierce denunciation of slavery, but in deference to the
prejudices of South Carolina and Georgia the clause was
struck out by Congress. When George III. and his vetoes
had been eliminated from the case, it became possible for
the states to legislate freely on the subject. In 1776 negro
slaves were held in- all the thirteen states, but in all except
South Carolina and Georgia there was a strong sentiment in
favour of emancipation. In North Carolina, which contained
a large Quaker population, and in which estates were small

1783

THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS

75

and were often cultivated by free labour, the pro-slavery
feeling was never so strong as in the southernmost states.
In Virginia all the foremost statesmen — Washington, Jef
ferson, Lee, Randolph, Henry, Madison, and Mason — were

opposed to the continuance of slavery ; and their opinions
were shared by many of the largest planters. For tobacco
culture slavery did not seem so indispensable as for the
raising of rice and indigo ; and in Virginia the negroes, half-

76 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, n
civilized by kindly treatment, were not regarded with dread
by their masters, like the ill-treated and ferocious blacks of
South Carolina and Georgia. After 1 808 the policy and the
sentiments of Virginia underwent a marked change. The
invention of the cotton-gin, taken in connection with the
sudden and prodigious development of manufactures in Eng
land, greatly stimulated the growth of cotton in the ever-
enlarging area of the Gulf states, and created an immense
demand for slave-labour, just at the time when the importa
tion of negroes from Africa came to an end. The breeding
of slaves, to be sold to the planters of the Gulf states, then
became such a profitable occupation in Virginia as entirely
to change the popular feeling about slavery. But until 1 808
Virginia sympathized with the anti-slavery sentiment which
was growing up in the northern states ; and the same was
true of Maryland. Emancipation was, however, much more
easy to accomplish in the north, because the number of
slaves was small, and economic circumstances distinctly
favoured free labour. In the work of gradual emancipation
the little state of Delaware led the way. In its new consti
tution of 1776 the further introduction of slaves was pro
hibited, all restraints upon emancipation having already been
removed. In the assembly of Virginia in 1778 a bill pro
hibiting the further introduction of slaves was moved and
carried by Thomas Jefferson, and the same measure was
passed in Maryland in 1783, while both these states removed
all restraints upon emancipation. North Carolina was not
ready to go quite so far, but in 1786 she sought to discour
age the slave-trade by putting a duty of ^5 per head on all
negroes thereafter imported. New Jersey followed the ex
ample of Maryland and Virginia. Pennsylvania went farther.
In 1 780 its assembly enacted that no more slaves should be
brought in, and that all children of slaves born after that
date should be free. The same provisions were made by
New Hampshire in its new constitution of 1783, and by the
assemblies of Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1784. New
York went farther still, and in 1785 enacted that all children

1783 THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS 77
of slaves thereafter born should not only be free, but should
be admitted to vote on the same conditions as other free
men. In 1788 Virginia, which contained many free negroes,
enacted that any person convicted of kidnapping or selling
into slavery any free person should suffer death on the gal
lows. Summing up all these facts, we see that within two
years after the independence of the United States had been
acknowledged by England, while the two southernmost
states had done nothing to check the growth of slavery,
North Carolina had discouraged the importation of slaves ;
Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey had stopped
such importation and removed all restraint upon emancipa
tion ; and all the remaining states, except Massachusetts,
had made gradual emancipation compulsory. Massachusetts
had gone still farther. Before the Revolution the anti-sla
very feeling had been very strong there, and cases brought
into court for the purpose of testing the" legality of slavery
had been decided in favour of those who were opposed to
the continuance of that barbarous institution. In 1777 an
American cruiser brought into the port of Salem a captured
British ship with slaves on board, and these slaves were
advertised for sale, but on complaint being made before the
legislature they were set free. The new constitution of 1 780
contained a declaration of rights which asserted that all men
are born free and have an equal and inalienable right to
defend their lives and liberties, to acquire property, and to
seek and obtain safety and happiness. The supreme court
presently decided that this clause worked the abolition of
slavery, and accordingly Massachusetts was the first of
American states, within the limits of the Union, to become
in the full sense of the words a free commonwealth. Of
the negro inhabitants, not more than six thousand in num
ber, a large proportion had already for a long time enjoyed
freedom ; and all were now admitted to the suffrage on the
same terms as other citizens. ^
By the revolutionary legislation of the states some pro
gress was also effected in the direction of a more complete

78 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii
religious freedom. Pennsylvania and Delaware were the
Progress only states in which all Christian sects stood so-
freedomin cially and politically on an equal footing. In
religion Rhode Island all Protestants enjoyed equal privi
leges, but Catholics were debarred from voting.1 In Massa
chusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, the old Puritan
Congregationalism was the established religion. The Con
gregational church was supported by taxes, and the minister,
once chosen, kept his place for life or during good behaviour.
He could not be got rid of unless formally investigated
and dismissed by an ecclesiastical council. Laws against
blasphemy, which were virtually laws against heresy, were
in force in these three states. In Massachusetts, Catholic
priests were liable to imprisonment for life. Any one who
should dare to speculate too freely about the nature of
Christ, or the philosophy of the plan of salvation, or to ex
press a doubt as to the plenary inspiration of every word
between the two covers of the Bible, was subject to fine
and imprisonment. The tithing-man still arrested Sabbath-
breakers and shut them up in the town-cage in the market
place ; he stopped all unnecessary riding or driving on
1 This exclusion of Catholics was contrary to the views of Roger
Williams and to the spirit of the Rhode Island charter, if not to its
letter also. It was effected, nobody knows just how, by the interpola
tion of a disabling clause in the " Act declaring the rights and privi
leges of his Majesty's subjects within this colony," which ends with the
words, " and that all men [professing Christianity and] of competent
estates, and of civil conversation, who acknowledge and are obedient
to the civil magistrate, though of different judgment in religious affairs
[Roman Catholics excepted], shall be admitted freemen, and shall have
liberty to choose and be chosen officers in the colony, both military and
civil." The first interpolation excludes Jews, as the second excludes
Catholics, whereas Williams in his noble scheme of Christian fellow
ship included both Jews and Catholics. These interpolations were
certainly made at some time between 1684 and 1705; probably about
1699. They are undoubtedly a symptom of the anti-Catholic wave of
feeling which followed the accession of William and Mary, when Cath
olic Jacobites were likely to be disloyal. They were repealed in 1783.
See Greene's History of Rhode Island, ii. 490-494.

(Siy-

'sC^C?^?

1783 THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS 79
Sunday, and haled people off to the meeting-house whether
they would or not. Such restraints upon liberty were still
endured by people who had dared and suffered so much for
liberty's sake. The men of Boston strove hard to secure
the repeal of these barbarous laws and the disestablishment
of the Congregational church ; but they were outvoted by
the delegates from the rural towns. The most that could
be accomplished was the provision that dissenters might
escape the church rate by supporting a church of their own.
The nineteenth century was to arrive before church and
state were finally separated in Massachusetts. The new
constitution of New Hampshire was similarly illiberal, and
in Connecticut no change was made. Rhode Island nobly
distinguished herself by contrast when in 1783 she extended
the franchise to Catholics.
In the six states just mentioned the British government
had been hindered by charter, and by the overwhelming
opposition of the people, from seriously trying to establish
the Episcopal church. The sure fate of any such mad
experiment had been well illustrated in the time of Andros.
In the other seven states there were no such insuperable
obstacles. The Church of England was maintained with
languid acquiescence in New York. By the Quakers and
Presbyterians of New Jersey and North Carolina, as well as
in half-Catholic, half-Puritan Maryland, its supremacy was
unwillingly endured ; in the turbulent frontier commonwealth
of Georgia it was accepted with easy contempt. Only in
South Carolina and Virginia had the Church of England
ever possessed any real hold upon the people. The Epis
copal clergy of South Carolina, men of learning and high
character, elected by their own congregations instead of
being appointed to their livings by a patron, were thoroughly
independent, and in the late war their powerful influence
had been mainly exerted in behalf of the patriot cause.
Hence, while they retained their influence after the close of
the war, there was no difficulty in disestablishing the church.
It felt itself able to stand without government support. As

80 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii
soon as the political separation from England was effected,
the Episcopal church was accordingly separated from the
state, not only in South Carolina, but in all the states in
which it had hitherto been upheld by the authority of the
British government ; and in the constitutions of New Jersey,
Georgia, and the two Carolinas, no less than in those of
Delaware and Pennsylvania, it was explicitly provided that
no man should be obliged to pay any church rate or attend
any religious service save according to his own free and
unhampered will.
The case of Virginia was peculiar. At first the Church
of England had taken deep root there because of the consid
erable immigration of members of the Cavalier party after
the downfall of Charles I. Most of the great statesmen of
Virginia in the Revolution — such as Washington, Madison,
Chur h d Mason, Jefferson, Pendleton, Henry, the Lees, and
state in vir- the Randolphs — were descendants of Cavaliers
and members of the Church of England. But for
a long time the Episcopal clergy had been falling into
discredit. Many of them were appointed by the British
government and ordained by the Bishop of London, and
they were affected by the irreligious listlessness and low
moral tone of the English church in the eighteenth century.
The Virginia legislature thought it necessary to pass special
laws prohibiting these clergymen from drunkenness and
riotous living. It was said that they spent more time in
hunting foxes and betting on race-horses than in conduct
ing religious services or visiting the sick ; and according to
Bishop Meade, many dissolute parsons, discarded from the
church in England as unworthy, were yet thought fit to be
presented with livings in Virginia. To this general charac
ter of the clergy there were many exceptions. There were
many excellent clergymen, especially among the native Vir
ginians, whose appointment depended to some extent upon
the repute in which they were held by their neighbours.
But on the whole the system was such as to illustrate all the
worst vices of a church supported by the temporal power.

1783 THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS 81
The Revolution achieved the discomfiture of a clergy already
thus deservedly discredited. The parsons mostly embraced
the cause of the crown, but failed to carry their congrega
tions with them, and thus they found themselves arrayed in
hopeless antagonism to popular sentiment in a state which
contained perhaps fewer Tories in proportion to its popula
tion than any other of the thirteen.
At the same time the Episcopal church itself had gradu
ally come to be a minority in the commonwealth. For more
than half a century Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, German
Lutherans, English Quakers, and Baptists, had been work
ing their way southward from Pennsylvania and New Jersey,
and had settled in the fertile country west of the Blue Ridge.
Daniel Morgan, who had won the most brilliant battle of
the Revolution, was one of these men, and sturdiness was
a chief characteristic of most of them. So long as these
frontier settlers served as a much-needed bulwark against
the Indians, the church saw fit to ignore them and let them
build meeting-houses and carry on religious services as they
pleased. But when the peril of Indian attack had been
thrust westward into the Ohio valley, and these dissenting
communities had waxed strong and prosperous, the ecclesi
astical party in the state undertook to lay taxes on them for
the support of the Church of England, and to compel them
to receive Episcopal clergymen to preach for them, to bless
them in marriage, and to bury their dead. The immediate
consequence was a revolt which not only overthrew the
established church in Virginia, but nearly effected its ruin.
The troubles began in 1768, when the Baptists had made
their way into the centre of the state, and three of their
preachers were arrested by the sheriff of Spottsylvania. As
the indictment was read against these men for " preaching
the gospel contrary to law," a deep and solemn voice inter
rupted the proceedings. Patrick Henry had come on horse
back many a mile over roughest roads to listen to the trial,
and this phrase, which savoured of the religious despotisms
of old, was quite too much for him. " May it please your

82 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii
worships," he exclaimed, "what did I hear read? Did I
hear an expression that these men, whom your worships are
about to try for misdemeanour, are charged with preaching
the gospel of the Son of God ! " The shamefast silence
which ensued was of ill omen for the success of an under
taking so unwelcome to the growing liberalism of the time.
The zeal of the persecuted Baptists was presently reinforced
by the learning and the dialectic skill of the Presbyterian
ministers. Unlike the Puritans of New England, these
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians were in favour of the total sepa
ration of church from state. It was one of their cardinal
principles that the civil magistrate had no right to interfere
in any way with matters of religion. By taking this broad
ground they secured the powerful aid of Thomas Jefferson,
and afterwards of Madison and Mason. The controversy
went on through all the years of the Revolutionary War,
while all Virginia, from the sea to the mountains, rang with
fulminations and arguments. In 1776 Jefferson and Mason
succeeded in carrying a bill which released all dissenters
from parish rates and legalized all forms of worship. At
last in 1785, while Jefferson was in France, Madison won
for him the crowning victory in the passage of his Religious
Jefferson's Freedom Act, by which the Church of England
Freedom was disestablished and all parish rates abolished,
ACV1785 anc[ stiii more, all religious tests were done away
with. In this last respect Virginia came to the front among
all the American states, as Massachusetts had come to the
front in the abolition of negro slavery. Nearly all the states
still imposed religious tests upon civil office-holders, from
simply declaring a general belief in the infallibleness of the
Bible to accepting the doctrine of the Trinity. The Virginia
statute, which declared that " opinion in matters of religion
shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect civil capacities,"
was translated into French and Italian, and was widely read
and commented on in Europe.
It is the historian's unpleasant duty to add that the vic
tory thus happily won was ungenerously followed up. The-

1 785

THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS

S3

ological and political odium combined to overwhelm the
Episcopal church in Virginia. The persecuted became per
secutors. It was contended that the property of the church,
having been largely created by unjustifiable taxation, ought
to be forfeited. In 1802 its parsonages and glebe lands

POHICK PARISH CHURCH

were sold, its parishes wiped out, and its clergy left without
a calling. "A reckless sensualist," said Dr. Hawks, "ad
ministered the morning dram to his guests from the silver
cup " used in the communion service. But in all this there
is a manifest historic lesson. That it should have been pos
sible thus to deal with the Episcopal church in Virginia
shows forcibly the moribund condition into which it had
been brought through dependence upon the extraneous aid
of a political sovereignty from which the people of Virginia
were severing their allegiance. The lesson is most vividly

84 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii
enhanced by the contrast with the church of South Carolina
which, rooted in its own soil, was quite able to stand alone
when government aid was withdrawn. In Virginia the
church in which George Washington was reared had so
nearly vanished by the year 1830 that Chief Justice Mar
shall said it was folly to dream of reviving so dead a thing.
Nevertheless, under the noble ministration of its great
bishop, William Meade, the Episcopal church in Virginia,
no longer relying upon state aid, but trusting in the divine
persuasive power of spiritual truth, was even then entering
upon a new life and beginning to exercise a most wholesome
influence. The separation of the English church in America from
the English crown was the occasion of a curious difficulty
with regard to the ordination of bishops. Until after the
Revolution there were no bishops of that church in America,
and between 1783 and 1785 it was not clear how candidates
M for holy orders could receive the necessary conse-
weems cration. In 1784 a young divinity student from
uei Sea- Virginia, named Mason Weems, who had been
studying for some time in England, applied to
the Bishop of London for admission to holy orders, but
was rudely refused. Weems then had recourse to Watson,
Bishop of Llandaff, author of the famous reply to Gibbon.
Watson treated him kindly and advised him to get a letter
of recommendation from the governor of Maryland, but after
this had been obtained he referred him to the Archbishop
of Canterbury, who said that nothing could be done without
the consent of Parliament. As the law stood, no one could
be admitted into the ranks of the English clergy without
taking the oath of allegiance and acknowledging the king of
England as the head of the church. Weems then wrote
to John Adams at the Hague, and to Franklin at Paris, to
see if there were any Protestant bishops on the Continent
from whom he could obtain consecration. A rather amusing
diplomatic correspondence ensued, and finally the king of
Denmark, after taking theological advice, kindly offered the

1 784

THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS

Ss

services of a Danish bishop, who was to perform the cere
mony in Latin. Weems does not seem to have availed him
self of this permission, probably because the question soon
reached a more satisfactory solution.1 About the same

^df /3/z.. Cc^zy^^cy/--

time the Episcopal church in Connecticut sent one of its
ministers, Samuel Seabury of New London, to England, to
1 It was this same Mason Weems that was afterward known in Vir
ginia as Parson Weems, of Pohick parish, near Mount Vernon. See
Magazine of American History, iii. 465-472; v. 85-90. At first an
eccentric preacher, Parson Weems became an itinerant violin-player and
book-peddler, and author of that edifying work, The Life of George
Washington, with Curious Anecdotes equally Honourable to Himself
and Exemplary to his Young Countrymen. On the title-page the
author describes himself as " formerly rector of Mount Vernon Parish,"
— which Bishop Meade calls preposterous. The book is a farrago of
absurdities, reminding one, alike in its text and its illustrations, of an
overgrown English chap-book of the olden time. It has had an enor
mous sale, and has very likely contributed more than any other single
book toward forming the popular notion of Washington. It seems to
have been this fiddling parson that first gave currency to the everlasting
story of the cherry-tree and the little hatchet.

86 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii
be ordained as bishop. The oaths of allegiance and suprem
acy stood as much in the way of the learned and famous
minister as in that of the young and obscure student. Sea-
November bury accordingly appealed to the non-juring Jaco-
14, 1784 bite bishops of the Episcopal church of Scotland,
and at length was duly ordained at Aberdeen as bishop of
the diocese of Connecticut. While Seabury was in Eng
land, the churches in the various states chose delegates
to a general convention, which framed a constitution for
the " Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of
America." Advowsons were abolished, some parts of the
liturgy were dropped, and the tenure of ministers, even of
bishops, was to be during good behaviour. At the same
time a friendly letter was sent to the bishops of England,
urging them to secure, if possible, an act of Parliament
whereby American clergymen might be ordained without
taking the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. Such an act
was obtained without much difficulty, and three American
bishops were accordingly consecrated in due form. The
peculiar ordination of Seabury was also recognized as valid
by the general convention, and thus the Episcopal church in
America was fairly started on its independent career.
This foundation of a separate episcopacy west of the At
lantic was accompanied by the further separation of the
Methodists as a distinct religious society. Although John
Wesley regarded the notion of an apostolical succession as
superstitious, he had made no attempt to separate his fol
lowers from the national church. He translated the titles
of " bishop " and " priest " from Greek into Latin and Eng
lish, calling them " superintendent " and " elder," but he did
not deny the king's headship. Meanwhile during the long
period of his preaching there had begun to grow up a Metho
dist church in America. George Whitefield had come over
and preached in Georgia in 1737, and in Massachusetts in
1744, where he encountered much opposition "on the part
of the Puritan clergy. But the first Methodist church in
America was founded in the city of New York in 1766. In

1 784

THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS

87

1772 Wesley sent over Francis Asbury, a man of shrewd
sense and deep religious feeling, to act as his Francis
assistant and representative in this country. At ^Metho?
that time there were not more than a thousand ^^
Methodists, with six preachers, and all these were in the
middle and southern colonies ; but within five years, largely
owing to the zeal and eloquence of Asbury, these numbers

>£-» — esS-^-*

had increased sevenfold. At the end of the war, seeing the
American Methodists cut loose from the English establish
ment, Wesley in his own house at Bristol, with the aid of
two presbyters, proceeded to ordain ministers enough to
make a presbytery, and thereupon set apart Thomas Coke
to be " superintendent " or bishop for America. On the
same day of November, 1784, on which Seabury was conse
crated by the non-jurors at Aberdeen, Coke began preach
ing and baptizing in Maryland, in rude chapels built of logs

88 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii
or under the shade of forest trees. On Christmas Eve a
conference assembled at Baltimore, at which Asbury was
chosen bishop by some sixty ministers present, and ordained
by Coke, and the constitution of the Methodist church in
America was organized. Among the poor white people of
the southern states, and among the negroes, the new church
rapidly obtained great sway ; and at a somewhat later date it
began to assume considerable proportions in the north.
Four years after this the Presbyterians, who were most
numerous in the middle states, organized their government
in a general assembly, which was also attended by Congre-
gationalist delegates from New England in the capacity of
simple advisers. The theological difference between these
two sects was so slight that an alliance grew up between
them, and outside of New England their names have come
to be inaccurately used as if synonymous.1 Such a dif
ference seemed to vanish when confronted with the newer
Presby- differences that began to spring up soon after the
Roman close of the Revolution. The revolt against the
Catholics doctrine of eternal punishment was already begin
ning in New England, and among the learned and thought
ful clergy of Massachusetts the seeds of Unitarianism were
germinating. The gloomy intolerance of an older time was
beginning to yield to more enlightened views. In 1789 the
first Roman Catholic church in New England was dedicated
in Boston. So great had been the prejudice against this
sect that in 1784 there were only 600 Catholics in all New
England. In the four southernmost states, on the other
hand, there were 2,500 ; in New York and New Jersey there
were 1,700; in Delaware and Pennsylvania there were 7,700;
in Maryland there were 20,000 ; while among the French
settlements along the eastern bank of the Mississippi there
were supposed to be nearly 12,000. In 1786 John Carroll,
a cousin of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, was selected by
the Pope as his apostolic vicar, and was afterward succes-
1 Even in Connecticut I have heard Congregationalists called Pres
byterians, but never in Massachusetts.

1 784

THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS

89

sively made bishop of Baltimore and archbishop of the
United States. By 1789 all obstacles to the Catholic wor
ship had been done away with in all the states.
In this brief survey of the principal changes wrought in
the several states by the separation from England, one

cannot fail to be struck with their conservative character.
Things proceeded just as they had done from time imme
morial with the English race. Forms of government were
modified just far enough to adapt them to the new situation

90 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, ii
and no farther. The abolition of entails, of primogeniture,
and of such few manorial privileges as existed, were useful
reforms of far less sweeping character than similar changes
would have been in England; and they were accordingly
effected with ease. Even the abolition of slavery in the
northern states, where negroes were few in number and
chiefly employed in domestic service, wrought nothing in
the remotest degree resembling a social revolution. But
nowhere was this constitutionally cautious and precedent-
loving mode of proceeding more thoroughly exemplified than
in the measures just related, whereby the Episcopal and
Methodist churches were separated from the English estab
lishment and placed upon an independent footing in the new
Except world. From another point of view it may be ob-
instance served that all these changes, except in the in-
of slavery, stance of slavery, tended to assimilate the states to
all these . , . ,. . ,
changes one another in their political and social condition.
favourable So far as they went, these changes were favour-
to umon akje t0 un;ori) an(j this was perhaps especially true
in the case of the ecclesiastical bodies, which brought citi
zens of different states into cooperation in pursuit of specific
ends in common.
At the same time this survey most forcibly reminds us
how completely the legislation which immediately affected
the daily domestic life of the citizen was the legislation of
the single state in which he lived. In the various reforms
just passed in review the United States government took
no part, and could not from the nature of the case. Even
to-day our national government has no power over such
matters, and it is to be hoped it never will have. But at the
present day our national government performs many impor
tant functions of common concern, which a century ago were
scarcely performed at all. The organization of the single
state was old in principle and well understood by everybody.
It therefore worked easily, and such changes as those above
described were brought about with little friction. On the
other hand, the principles upon which the various relations

1784 THE THIRTEEN COMMONWEALTHS 91
of the states to each other were to be adjusted were not
well understood. There was wide disagreement upon the
subject, and the attempt to compromise between opposing
views was not at first successful. Hence, in the manage
ment of affairs which concerned the United States as a
nation, we shall not find the central machinery working
smoothly or quietly. We are about to traverse a period of
uncertainty and confusion, in which it required all the politi
cal sagacity and all the good temper of the people to save
the half-built ship of state from going to pieces on the rocks
of civil contention.

CHAPTER III
THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP
That some kind of union existed between the states was
doubted by no one. Ever since the assembling of the first
Continental Congress in 1774 the thirteen commonwealths
had acted in concert, and sometimes most generously, as
when Maryland and South Carolina had joined in the Decla
ration of Independence without any crying grievances of
their own, from a feeling that the cause of one should be the
Hcause of all. It has sometimes been said that the Union
was in its origin a league of sovereign states, each of which
surrendered a specific portion of its sovereignty to the federal
government for the sake of the common welfare. Grave
political arguments had been based upon this alleged fact,
but such an account of the matter is not historically true.
There never was a time when Massachusetts or Virginia
was an absolutely sovereign state like Holland or France.
Sovereign over their own internal affairs they are to-day as
they were at the time of the Revolution, but there was
never a time when they presented themselves before other
nations as sovereign, or were recognized as such. Under
the government of England before the Revolution the thir
teen commonwealths were independent of one another, and
were held together, juxtaposed rather than united,
The sev- —
erai states only through their allegiance to the British crown.
enjoyed™1 Had that allegiance been maintained there is no
s™e?efet te^mig bow long they might have gone on thus
disunited ; and this, it seems, should be one of
our chief reasons for rejoicing that the political connection
with England was dissolved when it was. A permanent re
dress of grievances, and even virtual independence such as

Britons within Yankeean Plains
Mind how ye March & Trench

THE AMERICAN RATTLESNAKE

The Serpent in the Congress reigns
As well as in the French

94 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, hi
Canada now enjoys, we might perhaps have gained had we
listened to Lord North's proposals after the surrender of
Burgoyne ; but the formation of the Federal Union would
certainly have been long postponed, and when we realize the
grandeur of the work which we are now doing in the world
through the simple fact of such a union, we must believe
that such an issue would have been unfortunate. However
this may be, it is clear that until the connection with Eng
land was severed the thirteen commonwealths were not
united, nor were they sovereign. It is also clear that in the
very act of severing their connection with England these
commonwealths entered into some sort of union which was
incompatible with their absolute sovereignty taken severally.
It was not the people of New Hampshire, Massachusetts,
and so on through the list, that declared their independence
of Great Britain, but it was the representatives of the United
States in Congress assembled, and speaking as a single body
in the name of the whole. It was not the segments of the
snake, but the creature in its integrity, that captured two
British armies.
Three weeks before the Declaration of Independence was
adopted, Congress appointed a committee to draw up the
" articles of confederation and perpetual union," by which
the sovereignty of the several states was expressly limited
and curtailed in many important particulars. This com
mittee had finished its work by the 12th of July, but the
articles were not adopted by Congress until the autumn of
1 "jyj, and they were not finally put into operation until the
spring of 1781. During this inchoate period of union the
action of the United States was that of a confederation in
which some portion of the several sovereignties was under
stood to be surrendered to the whole. It was the business
of the articles to define the precise nature and extent of this
surrendered sovereignty which no state by itself ever exer
cised. In the mean time this sovereignty, undefined in
nature and extent, was exercised, as well as circumstances
permitted, by the Continental Congress.

1774-89

THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP

95

A most remarkable body was this Continental Congress.
For the vicissitudes through which it passed, there
is perhaps no other revolutionary body, save the rental
Long Parliament, which can be compared with it. ^"xtaor-
For its origin we must look back to the committees dinary
0 . character
of correspondence devised by Jonathan Mayhew,
Samuel Adams, and Dabney Carr. First assembled in 1774

to meet an emergency which was generally believed to be
only temporary, it continued to sit for nearly seven years
before its powers were ever clearly defined ; and during
those seven years it exercised some of the highest functions

96 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iii
of sovereignty which are possible to any governing body.
It declared the independence of the United States ; it con
tracted an offensive and defensive alliance with France ; it
raised and organized a Continental army ; it borrowed large
sums of money, and pledged what the lenders understood
to be the national credit for their repayment ; it issued an
inconvertible paper currency, granted letters of marque, and
built a navy. All this it did in the exercise of what in later
times would have been called " implied war powers," and its
authority rested upon the general acquiescence in the pur
poses for which it acted and in the measures which it
adopted. Under such circumstances its functions were very
inefficiently performed. But the articles of confederation,
which in 1781 defined its powers, served at the same time to
limit them ; so that for the remaining eight years of its exist
ence the Continental Congress grew weaker and weaker,
until it was swept away to make room for a more efficient
government. John Dickinson is supposed to have been the principal
The arti- autnor of the articles of confederation ; but as the
cies of con- work of the committee was done in secret and has
federation . , ,
never been reported, the point cannot be deter
mined. In November, 1777, Congress sent the articles to
the several state legislatures, with a circular letter recom
mending them as containing the only plan of union at all
likely to be adopted. In the course of the next fifteen
months the articles were ratified by all the states except
Maryland, which refused to sign until the states laying
claim to the northwestern lands, and especially Virginia,
should surrender their claims to the confederation. We
shall by and by see, when we come to explain this point in
detail, that from this action of Maryland there flowed benefi
cent consequences that were little dreamed of. It was first
in the great chain of events which led directly to the forma
tion of the Federal Union. Having carried her point, Mary
land ratified the articles on the first day of March, 1781 ;
and thus in the last and most brilliant period of the war,

1774-89

THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP

97

while Greene was leading Cornwallis on his fatal chase across
North Carolina, the confederation proposed at the time of
the Declaration of Independence was finally consummated.
According to the language of the articles, the states

entered into a firm league of friendship with each other ;
and in order to secure and perpetuate such friendship, the
freemen of each state were entitled to all the privileges and
immunities of freemen in all the other states. Mutual extra
dition of criminals was established, and in each state full
faith and credit was to be given to the records, acts, and
judicial proceedings of every other state. This universal
intercitizenship was what gave reality to the nascent and
feeble Union. In all the common business relations of life,

98 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, hi
the man of New Hampshire could deal with the man of
Georgia on an equal footing before the law. But this was
almost the only effectively cohesive provision in the whole
instrument. Throughout the remainder of the articles its
language was largely devoted to reconciling the theory that
the states were severally sovereign with the visible fact that
they were already merged to some extent in a larger politi
cal body. The sovereignty of this larger body was vested in
the Congress of delegates appointed yearly by the states.
No state was to be represented by less than two or more
than seven members ; no one could be a delegate for more
than three years out of every six ; and no delegate could hold
any salaried office under the United States. As in colonial
times the states had, to preserve their self-government, in
sisted upon paying their governors and judges, instead of
allowing them to be paid out of the royal treasury, so now
the delegates in Congress were paid by their own states.
In determining questions in Congress, each state had one
vote, without regard to population ; but a bare majority was
not enough to carry any important measure. Not only for
such extraordinary matters as wars and treaties, but even for
the regular and ordinary business of raising money to carry
on the government, not a single step could be taken without
the consent of at least nine of the thirteen states ; and this
provision well-nigh sufficed of itself to block the wheels of
federal legislation. The Congress assembled each year on
the first Monday of November, and could not adjourn for a
longer period than six months. During its recess the con
tinuity of government was preserved by an executive com
mittee, consisting of one delegate from each state, and
known as the " committee of the states." Saving such mat
ters of warfare or treaty as the public interest might require
to be kept secret, all the proceedings of Congress were
entered in a journal, to be published monthly ; and the yeas
and nays must be entered should any delegate request it.
The executive departments of war, finance, and so forth were
intrusted at first to committees, until experience soon showed.

1774-89

THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP

99

the necessity of single heads. There was a president of Con
gress, who, as representing the dignity of the United States,
was, in a certain sense, the foremost person in the country,
but he had no more power than any other delegate. Of the
fourteen presidents between 1774 and 1789, perhaps only
Randolph, Hancock, and Laurens are popularly remembered

"'.^

i 1 I w
¦'liii''. iii. ¦li'l.J™

^4^™^f^)

in that capacity ; Jay, St. Clair, Mifflin, and Lee are remem
bered for other things ; Hanson, Griffin, Gorham, and Bou
dinot are scarcely remembered at all, save by the student of
American history.
Between the Congress thus constituted and the several
state governments the attributes of sovereignty were shared
in such a way as to produce a minimum of result with a
maximum of effort. The states were prohibited from keep-

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

CHAP. Ill

ing up any naval or military force, except militia, or from
entering into any treaty or alliance, either with a foreign
power or between themselves, without the consent of Con
gress. No state could engage in war except by way of
defence against a sudden Indian attack. Congress had the
sole right of determining on peace and war, of sending and
receiving ambassadors, of making treaties, of adjudicating
all disputes between the states, of managing Indian affairs,
and of regulating the value of coin and fixing the standard of

weights and measures. Congress took control of the post-
office on condition that no more revenue should be raised
from postage than should suffice to discharge the expenses
of the service. Congress controlled the army, but was pro
vided with no means of raising soldiers save through requi
sitions upon the states, and it could only appoint officers

1774-89 THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP 101
above the rank of colonel ; the organization of regiments
was left entirely in the hands of the states. The traditional
and wholesome dread of a standing army was great, but there
was no such deep-seated jealousy of a navy, and Congress
was accordingly allowed not only to appoint all naval officers,
but also to establish courts of admiralty.
Several essential attributes of sovereignty were thus with
held from the states ; and by assuming all debts contracted
by Congress prior to the adoption of the articles, and sol
emnly pledging the public faith for their payment, it was
implicitly declared that the sovereignty here accorded to
Congress was substantially the same as that which it had
asserted and exercised ever since the severing of the connec
tion with England. The articles simply defined the relations
of the states to the Confederation as they had already shaped
themselves. Indeed, the articles, though not finally ratified
till 1 78 1, had been known to Congress and to the people
ever since 1776 as their expected constitution, and political
action had been shaped in general accordance with the
theory on which they had been drawn up. They show that
political action was at no time based on the view of the states
as absolutely sovereign, but they also show that the share of
sovereignty accorded to Congress was very inadequate even
to the purposes of an effective confederation. The position
in which they left Congress was hardly more than that of
the deliberative head of a league. For the most Thearti-
f undamental of all the attributes of sovereignty — fies faiJed
0 -* . to create a
the power of taxation — was not given to Congress, federal
It could neither raise taxes through an excise nor ment^n-
through custom-house duties ; it could only make re°aTsover-h
requisitions upon the thirteen members of the con- ^s"^
federacy in proportion to the assessed value of their real
estate, and it was not provided with any means of enforcing
these requisitions. On this point the articles contained
nothing beyond the vague promise of the states to obey.
The power of levying taxes was thus retained entirely by
the states. They not only imposed direct taxes, as they do

I02 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap. Ill
to-day, but they laid duties on exports and imports, each
according to its own narrow view of its local interests.
The only restriction upon this was that such state-imposed
duties must not interfere with the stipulations of any for
eign treaties such as Congress might make in pursuance of
treaties already proposed to the courts of France and Spain.
Besides all this, the states shared with Congress the powers
of coining money, of emitting bills of credit, and of making
their promissory notes a legal tender for debts.
Such was the constitution under which the United States
had begun to drift toward anarchy even before the close of
the Revolutionary War, but which could only be amended
by the unanimous consent of all the thirteen states. The
historian cannot but regard this difficulty of amendment as
a fortunate circumstance ; for in the troubles which pre
sently arose it led the distressed people to seek some other
method of relief, and thus prepared the way for the Conven
tion of 1787, which destroyed the whole vicious scheme, and
gave us a form of government under which we have just
completed a century unparalleled for peace and prosperity.
Besides this extreme difficulty of amendment, the fatal de
fects of the Confederation were three in number. The first
defect was the two thirds vote necessary for any important
legislation in Congress ; under this rule any five of the states
— as, for example, the four southernmost states with Mary
land, or the four New England states with New Jersey —
could defeat the most sorely needed measures. The second
defect was the impossibility of presenting a united front to
foreign countries in respect to commerce. The third and
greatest defect was the lack of any means, on the part of
Congress, of enforcing obedience. Not only was there no
federal executive or judiciary worthy of the name, but the
central government operated_^rilyjjjDon_states, and not_up_on
imhy^duals. Congress could call for troops and for money
in strict conformity with the articles ; but should any state
prove delinquent in furnishing its quota, there were no con
stitutional means of compelling it to obey the call. This

1774-89

THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP

I03

defect was seen and deplored at the outset by such men as
Washington and Madison, but the only remedy which at first
occurred to them was one more likely to kill than to cure.
Only six weeks after the ratification of the articles, Madison
proposed an amendment " to give to the United States full

<y^yf^^C^Ciyny

authority to employ their force, as well by sea as by land,
to compel any delinquent state to fulfil its federal engage
ments." Washington approved of this measure, hoping, as
he said, that " a knowledge that this power was lodged in
Congress might be the means to prevent its ever being exer
cised, and the more readily induce obedience. Indeed,"
added Washington, " if Congress were unquestionably pos
sessed of the power, nothing should induce the display of it
but obstinate disobedience and the urgency of the general
welfare." Madison argued that in the very nature of the
Confederation such a right of coercion was necessarily im-

104 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, hi
plied, though not expressed in the articles, and much might
have been said in behalf of this opinion. The Confederation
explicitly declared itself to be perpetual, yet how could it
perpetuate itself for a dozen years without the right to coerce
its refractory members ? Practically, however, the remedy
was one which could never have been applied without break
ing the Confederation into fragments. To use the army or
navy in coercing a state meant nothing less than civil war.
The local yeomanry would have turned out against the Con
tinental army with as high a spirit as that with which they
swarmed about the British enemy at Lexington or King's
Mountain. A government which could not collect the taxes
for its yearly budget without firing upon citizens or blockad
ing two or three harbours would have been the absurdest
political anomaly imaginable. No such idea could have
entered the mind of a statesman save from the hope that if
one state should prove refractory, all the others would imme
diately frown upon it and uphold Congress in overawing it.
In such case the knowledge that Congress had the power
would doubtless have been enough to make its exercise
unnecessary. But in fact this hope was disappointed, for
the delinquency of each state simply set an example of dis
obedience for all the others to follow ; and the amendment,
had it been carried, would merely have armed Congress with
a threat which everybody would have laughed at. So mani
festly hopeless was the case to Pelatiah Webster that, as
early as May, 1781, he published an able pamphlet, urging
the necessity for a federal convention for overhauling the
whole scheme of government from beginning to end.
The military weakness due to this imperfect governmental
Military organization may be illustrated by comparing the
weakness number of regular troops which Congress was able
govern- to keep in the field during the Revolutionary War
with the number maintained by the United States
government during the War of Secession. A rough esti
mate, obtained from averages, will suffice to show the broad
contrast. In 1863, the middle year of the War of Seces-

1774-89 THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP 105
sion, the total population of the loyal states was about
23,491,600, of whom about one fifth, or 4,698,320, were
adult males of military age. Supposing one adult male out
of every five to have been under arms at one time, the num
ber would have been 939,664. Now the total number of
troops enlisted in the northern army during the four years

of the war, reduced to a uniform standard, was 2,320,272, or
an average of 580,068 under arms in any single year. In
point of fact, this average was reached before the middle of
the war, and the numbers went on increasing, until at the end
there were more than a million men under arms, — at least
one out of every five adult males in the northern states. On
the other hand, in 1779, the middle year of the Revolutionary
War, the white population of the United States was about
2,175,000, of whom 435,000 were adult males of military
age. Supposing one out of every five of these to have been

106 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, hi
under arms at once, the number would have been 87,000.
Now in the spring of 1777, when the Continental Congress
was at the highest point of authority which it ever reached,
when France was willing to lend it money freely, when its
paper currency was not yet discredited and it could make
liberal offers of bounties, a demand was made upon the states
for 80,000 men, or nearly one fifth of the adult male popu
lation, to serve for three years or during the war. Only
34,820 were obtained. The total number of men in the field
in that most critical year, including the swarms of militia
who came to the rescue at Ridgefield and Bennington and
Oriskany, and the Pennsylvania militia who turned out while
their state was invaded, was 68,720. In 1781, when the
credit of Congress was greatly impaired, although military
activity again rose to a maximum and it was necessary for
the people to strain every nerve, the total number of men
in the field, militia and all, was only 29,340, of whom only
13,292 were Continentals ; and it was left for the genius of
Washington and Greene, working with desperate, energy and
most pitiful resources, to save the country. A more impres
sive contrast to the readiness with which the demands of
the government were met in the War of Secession can
hardly be imagined. Had the country put forth its strength
in 1 78 1 as it did in 1864, an army of 90,000 men might have
overwhelmed Clinton at the north and Cornwallis at the
south, without asking any favours of the French fleet. Had
it put forth its full strength in 1777, four years of active
warfare might have been spared. Mr. Lecky explains this
difference by his favourite hypothesis that the American
Revolution was the work of a few ultra-radical leaders, with
whom the people were not generally in sympathy ; and he
thinks we could not expect to see great heroism or self-
sacrifice manifested by a people who went to war over what
he calls a " money dispute." 1 But there is no reason for
supposing that the loyalists represented the general senti
ment of the country in the Revolutionary War any more
1 History of England in the Eighteenth Century, iii. 447.

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FACSIMILE OF CONTINENTAL BUDGET FOR 1 7S6.

I08 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, hi
than the peace party represented the general sentiment of
the northern states in the War of Secession. There is no
reason for supposing that the people were less at heart in
1 78 1, in fighting for the priceless treasure of self-government,
than they were in 1864, when they fought for the mainte
nance of the pacific principles underlying our Federal Union.
The differences in the organization of the government, and
in its power of operating directly upon the people, are quite
enough to explain the difference between the languid con
duct of the earlier war and the energetic conduct of the
later. Impossible as Congress found it to fill the quotas of the
army, the task of raising a revenue by requisitions upon the
states was even more discouraging. Every state had its
own war debt, and several were applicants for foreign loans
not easy to obtain, so that none could without the greatest
Extreme difficulty raise a surplus to hand over to Congress.
oWaCininyg°a The Continental rag money had ceased to circu-
revenue iate by the end of 1780, and our foreign credit was
nearly ruined. The French government began to complain
of the heavy demands which the Americans made upon its
exchequer, and Vergennes, in sending over a new loan in
the fall of 1782, warned Franklin that., no more must be
expected. To save American credit from destruction, it
was at least necessary that the interest on the public debt
should be paid. For this purpose Congress in 1781 asked
permission to levy a five per cent, duty on imports. The
modest request was the signal for a year of angry discussion.
Again and again it was asked, If taxes could thus be levied
by any power outside the state, why had we ever opposed
the Stamp Act or the tea duties ? The question was indeed
a serious one, and as an instance of reasoning from analogy
seemed plausible enough. After more than a year Massa
chusetts consented, by a bare majority of two in the House
and one in the Senate, reserving to herself the right of
appointing the collectors. The bill was then vetoed by
Governor Hancock, though one day too late, and so it was

1774-89 THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP 109
saved. But Rhode Island flatly refused her consent, and so
did Virginia, though Madison earnestly pleaded the cause of
the public credit. For the current expenses of the govern
ment in that same year $9,000,000 were needed. It was
calculated that $4,000,000 might be raised by a loan, and
the other $5,000,000 were demanded of the states. At
the end of the year $422,000 had been collected, not a cent
of which came from Georgia, the Carolinas, or Delaware.
Rhode Island, which paid $38,000, did the best of all accord
ing to its resources. Of the Continental taxes assessed in
1783, only one fifth part had been paid by the middle of
1785. And the worst of it was that no one could point to a
remedy for this state of things, or assign any probable end
to it.
Under such circumstances the public credit sank at home
as well as abroad. Foreign creditors — even France, who
had been nothing if not generous with her loans — might be
made to wait ; but there were creditors at home who, should
they prove ugly, could not be so easily put off. The dis-
bandment of the army in the summer of 1783, before the
British troops had evacuated New York, was hastened by
the impossibility of paying the soldiers and the dread of
what they might do under such provocation. Though peace
had been officially announced, Hamilton and Livingston
urged that, for the sake of appearances if for no other rea
son, the army should be kept together so long as the British
remained in New York, if not until they should have sur
rendered the western frontier posts. But Congress could
not pay the army, and was afraid of it, — and not Dread of
without some reason. Discouraged at the length thearmy
of time which had passed since they had received any
money, the soldiers had begun to fear lest, now that their
services were no longer needed, their honest claims would
be set aside. Among the officers, too, there was grave dis
content. In the spring of 1778, after the dreadful winter at
Valley Forge, several officers had thrown up their commis
sions, and others threatened to do likewise. To avert the

IPLAK IW THIHE
ClTVOI Nl'.W-VOHk'
Dnwi W Major Hoiim.d.
,srKvkrY(iRr;i:sKKAi.
1770.

ii2 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iii
danger, Washington had urged Congress to promise half-pay
for life to such officers as should serve to the end of the
war. It was only with great difficulty that he succeeded in
obtaining a promise of half-pay for seven years, and even
this raised an outcry throughout the country, which seemed
to dread its natural defenders only less than its enemies.
In the fall of 1780, however, in the general depression which
followed upon the disasters at Charleston and Camden, the
collapse of the paper money, and the discovery of Arnold's
treason, there was serious danger that the army would fall
to pieces. At this critical moment Washington had ear
nestly appealed to Congress, and against the strenuous oppo
sition of Samuel Adams had at length extorted the promise
of half -pay for life. In the spring of 1782, seeing the utter
inability of Congress to discharge its pecuniary obligations,
many officers began to doubt whether the promise would
ever be kept. It had been made before the articles of con
federation, which required the assent of nine states to any
such measure, had been finally ratified. It was well known
that nine states had never been found to favour the measure,
and it was now feared that it might be repealed or repudi
ated, so loud was the popular clamour against it. All this
comes of republican government, said some of the officers ;
too many cooks spoil the broth ; a dozen heads are as bad
as no head ; you do not know whose promises to trust ; a
monarchy, with a good king whom all men can trust, would
extricate us from these difficulties. In this mood, Colonel
Louis Nicola, of the Pennsylvania line, a foreigner by birth,
addressed a long and well-argued letter to Washington, set-
Supposed ^'mS forth the troubles of the time, and urging
scheme for him to come forward as a saviour of society, and
making J
Washing- accept the crown at the hands of his faithful sol
diers. Nicola was an aged man, of excellent char
acter, and in making this suggestion he seemed to be acting
as spokesman of a certain clique or party among the offi
cers, — how numerous is not known. Washington instantly
replied that Nicola could not have found a person to whom

1783 THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP 113
such a scheme could be more odious, and he was at a loss
to conceive what he had ever done to have it supposed that
he could for one moment listen to a suggestion so fraught
with mischief to his country. Lest the affair, becoming
known, should enhance the popular distrust of the army,
Washington said nothing about it. But as the year went
by, and the outcry against half-pay continued, and Congress
showed symptoms of a willingness to compromise the matter,
the discontent of the army increased. Officers and soldiers
brooded alike over their wrongs. " The army," said General
Macdougall, "is verging to that state which, we are told,
will make a wise man mad." The peril of the situation was
increased by the well-meant but injudicious whisperings of
other public creditors, who believed that if the army would
only take a firm stand and insist upon a grant of permanent
funds to Congress for liquidating all public debts, the states
could probably be prevailed upon to make such a grant.
Robert Morris, the able secretary of finance, held this opin
ion, and did not believe that the states could be brought
to terms in any other way. His namesake and assistant,
Gouverneur Morris, held similar views, and gave expression
to them in February, 1783, in a letter to General Greene,
who was still commanding in South Carolina. When Greene
received the letter, he urged upon the legislature of that
state, in most guarded and moderate language, the para
mount need of granting a revenue to Congress, and hinted
that the army would not be satisfied with anything less.
The assembly straightway flew into a rage, and shouted,
" No dictation by a Cromwell ! " South Carolina had con
sented to the five per cent, impost, but now she revoked
it, to show her independence, and Greene's eyes were
opened at once to the danger of the slightest appearance
of military intervention in civil affairs.
At the same time a violent outbreak in the army at
Newburgh was barely prevented by the unfailing tact of
Washington. A rumour went about the camp that it was
generally expected the army would not disband until the

II4 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, in
question of pay should be settled, and that the public cred
itors looked to them to make some such demonstration as
would overawe the delinquent states. General Gates had
lately emerged from the retirement in which he had been
fain to hide himself after Camden, and had rejoined the
army, where there was now such a field for intrigue. An
odious aroma of impotent malice clings about his memory
on this last occasion on which the historian needs to notice
him. He plotted in secret with officers of the staff and
others. One of his staff, Major Armstrong, wrote an anon
ymous appeal to the troops, and another, Colonel Barber,
caused it to be circulated about the camp. It named the
next day for a meeting to consider grievances. Its language
was inflammatory. "My friends!" it said, "after
gerousan seven long years your suffering courage has con-
fddress"sh ducted the United States of America through a
March n, doubtful and bloody war ; and peace returns to
bless — whom ? A country willing to redress your
wrongs, cherish your worth, and reward your services ? Or
is it rather a country that tramples upon your rights, dis
dains your cries, and insults your distresses ? ... If such
be your treatment while the swords you wear are necessary
for the defence of America, what have you to expect when
those very swords, the instruments and companions of your
glory, shall be taken from your sides, and no mark of mili
tary distinction left but your wants, infirmities, and scars ?
If you have sense enough to discover and spirit to oppose
tyranny, whatever garb it may assume, awake to your situa
tion. If the present moment be lost, your threats hereafter
will be as empty as your entreaties now. Appeal from the
justice to the fears of government, and suspect the man who
would advise to longer forbearance."
Better English has seldom been wasted in a worse cause.
Washington, the man who was aimed at in the last sentence,
got hold of the paper next clay, just in time, as he said, "to
arrest the feet that stood wavering on a precipice." The
memory of the revolt of the Pennsylvania line, which had so

1783 THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP 115
alarmed the people in 1781, was still fresh in men's minds ;
and here was an invitation to more wholesale mutiny, which
could hardly fail to end in bloodshed, and might precipi
tate the perplexed and embarrassed country into civil war.
Washington issued a general order, recognizing the exist
ence of the manifesto, but overruling it so far as to appoint

ts%Z?^zJZ0~&&&

the meeting for a later day, with the senior major-general,
who happened to be Gates, to preside. This order, which
neither discipline nor courtesy could disregard, in a measure
tied Gates's hands, while it gave Washington time to ascer
tain the extent of the disaffection. On the appointed day
he suddenly came into the meeting, and amid profoundest
silence broke forth in a most eloquent and touching speech.
Sympathizing keenly with the sufferings of his hearers, and
fully admitting their claims, he appealed to their better feel-

116 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, m
ings, and reminded them of the terrible difficulties under
which Congress laboured, and of the folly of putting them
selves in the wrong. He still counselled forbearance as the
greatest of victories, and with consummate skill he charac
terized the anonymous appeal as undoubtedly the work of
some crafty emissary of the British, eager to disgrace the
army which they had not been able to vanquish. All were
hushed by that majestic presence and those solemn tones.
The knowledge that he had refused all pay, while enduring
more than any other man in the room, gave added weight
to every word. In proof of the good faith of Congress he
began reading a letter from one of the members, when,
finding his sight dim, he paused and took from his pocket
the new pair of spectacles which the astronomer David Rit-
tenhouse had just sent him. He had never worn spectacles
in public, and as he put them on he said, in his simple man
ner and with his pleasant smile, " I have grown gray in your
service, and now find myself growing blind." While all
hearts were softened he went on reading the letter, and then
withdrew, leaving the meeting to its deliberations. There
was a sudden and mighty revulsion of feeling. A motion
was reported declaring "unshaken confidence in the justice
of Congress ; " and it was added that " the officers of the
American army view with abhorrence and reject with dis
dain the infamous proposals contained in a late anonymous
address to them." The crestfallen Gates, as chairman, had
nothing to do but put the question and report it carried
unanimously ; for if any still remained obdurate they no
longer dared to show it. Washington immediately set forth
the urgency of the case in an earnest letter to Congress, and
one week later the matter was settled by an act commuting
half-pay for life into a gross sum equal to five years' full pay,
to be discharged at once by certificates bearing interest at
six per cent. Such poor paper was all that Congress had to
pay with, but it was all ultimately redeemed ; and while the
commutation was advantageous to the government, it was at
the same time greatly for the interest of the officers, while

1783

THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP

117

they were looking out for new means of livelihood, to have
their claims adjusted at once, and to receive something
which could do duty as a respectable sum of money.
Nothing, however, could prevent the story of the New-
burgh affair from being published all over the country, and

GEORGE WASHINGTON

it greatly added to the distrust with which the army was
regarded on general principles. What might have happened
was forcibly suggested by a miserable occurrence in June,
about two months after the disbanding of the army had
begun. Some eighty soldiers of the Pennsylvania line, mu
tinous from discomfort and want of pay, broke from their
camp at Lancaster and marched down to Philadelphia, led by
a sergeant or two. They drew up in line before the state
house, where Congress was assembled, and after passing the

118 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, in
grog began throwing stones and pointing their muskets at
the windows. They demanded pay, and threat-
drivfnfrom ened, if it were not forthcoming, to seize the mem-
phi'^by1" hers of Congress and hold them as hostages, or
mutinous eise t0 break into the bank where the federal
soldiers,
June 21, deposits were kept. The executive council of
17 3 Pennsylvania sat in the same building, and so the
federal government appealed to the state government for
protection. The appeal was fruitless. President Dickinson
had a few state militia at his disposal, but did not dare to
summon them, for fear they should side with the rioters.
The city government was equally listless, and the townsfolk
went their ways as if it were none of their business ; and so
Congress fled across the river and on to Princeton, where
the college afforded it shelter. Thus in a city of thirty-two
thousand inhabitants, the largest city in the country, the
government of the United States, the body which had just
completed a treaty browbeating England and France, was
ignominiously turned out-of-doors by a handful of drunken
mutineers. The affair was laughed at by many, but sensible
men keenly felt the disgrace, and asked what would be
thought in Europe of a government which could not even
command the services of the police. The army became
more unpopular than ever, and during the summer and fall
many town meetings were held in New England, condemn
ing the Commutation Act. Are we not poor enough already,
cried the farmers, that we must be taxed to support in idle
luxury a riotous rabble of soldiery, or create an aristocracy
of men with gold lace and epaulets, who will presently plot
against our liberties ? The Massachusetts legislature pro
tested ; the people of Connecticut meditated resistance. A
convention was held at Middletown in December, at which
two thirds of the towns in the state were represented, and
the best method of overruling Congress was discussed.
Much high-flown eloquence was wasted, but the convention
broke up without deciding upon any course of action. The
matter had become so serious that wise men changed their

1783

THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP

119

minds, and disapproved of proceedings calculated to throw
Congress into contempt. Samuel Adams, who had almost
violently opposed the grant of half-pay and had been dissat
isfied with the Commutation Act, now came completely over
to the other side. Whatever might be thought of the policy

REAR VIEW OF INDEPENDENCE HALL

of the measures, he said, Congress had an undoubted right
to adopt them. The army had been necessary for the
defence of our liberties, and the public faith had been
pledged to the payment of the soldiers. States were as

120 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, nr
much bound as individuals to fulfil their engagements, and
did not the sacred Scriptures say of an honest man that,
though he sweareth to his own hurt, he changeth not ?
Such plain truths prevailed in the Boston town meeting,
which voted .that " the commutation is wisely blended with
the national debt." The agitation in New England pre
sently came to an end, and in this matter the course of Con
gress was upheld.
In order fully to understand this extravagant distrust of
the army, we have to take into account another incident of
the summer of 1783, which gave rise to a discussion that
sent its reverberation all over the civilized world. Men of
the present generation who in childhood rummaged in their
grandmothers' cosy garrets can hardly fail to have come
across scores of musty and worm-eaten pamphlets, their
yellow pages crowded with italics and exclamation points,
inveighing in passionate language against the wicked and
dangerous society of the Cincinnati. Just before the army
was disbanded, the officers, at the suggestion of General
Knox, formed themselves into a society, for the purpose
of keeping up their friendly intercourse and cherishing the
heroic memories of the struggle in which they had taken
part. With the fondness for classical analogies which char-
„ , , acterized that time, they likened themselves to Cin-
Order of ¦>
the cin- cinnatus, who was taken from the plough to lead
cinnati , ......
an army, and returned to his quiet farm so soon as
his warlike duties were over. They were modern Cincin
nati. A constitution and by-laws were established for the
order, and Washington was unanimously chosen to be its
president. Its branches in the several states were to hold
meetings each Fourth of July, and there was to be a general
meeting of the whole society every year in the month of
May. French officers who had taken part in the war were
admitted to membership, and the order was to be perpetu
ated by descent through the eldest male representatives of
the families of the members. It was further provided that
a limited membership should from time to time be granted,.

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

CHAP. Ill

as a distinguished honour, to able and worthy citizens, with
out regard to the memories of the war. A golden Ameri
can eagle attached to a blue ribbon edged with white was
the sacred badge of the order ; and to this emblem especial
favour was shown at the French court, where the insignia
of foreign states were generally, it is
said, regarded with jealousy. No po
litical purpose was to be subserved by
this order of the Cincinnati, save in
so far as the members pledged to one
another their determination to pro
mote and cherish the union between
the states. In its main intent the
society was to be a kind of masonic
brotherhood, charged with the duty
of aiding the widows and the orphan
children of its members in time of
need. Innocent as all this was, how
ever, the news of the establishment of
such a society was greeted with a howl
of indignation all over the country. It
was thought that its founders were in
spired by a deep-laid political scheme
for centralizing the government and
setting up a hereditary aristocracy.
The press teemed with invective and
ridicule, and the feeling thus expressed
by the penny-a-liners was shared by
able men accustomed to weigh their
words. Franklin dealt with it in a
spirit of banter, and John Adams in a spirit of abhorrence ;
while Samuel Adams pointed out the dangers inherent in the
principle of hereditary transmission of honours, and in the
admission of foreigners into a secret association possessed
of political influence in America. What ! cried the men of
Massachusetts. Have we thrown overboard the effete insti
tutions of Europe, only to have them straightway introduced

BADGE OF THE CINCINNATI

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE
SOCIETY or ORDER
O F
CINCINNATI; LATELY INSTITUTED
By the Major-Generals, Brigadier-Generals, and
Other Officers of the American Army.

PROVING THAT IT CREATES
A RACE of HEREDITARY PATRICIANS,
O R
NOBILITY.
INTERSPERSED WITH REMARKS
On its C O N S E Q, U E N C E S to the Fkeedoh
and Happiness of the Republic.
Addreffed to the PEOPLE of South-
Carohna, and their Representatives.

By

C

A S S I

u s.

Suppofed to
one of the

be written by
Chiet Juftices

^DANUS
of the State

: BURKE,
of"South C

Efquire,
arolina.

Blow /<

i the

Trumpet

in Zion.

The

B[ BLE.

PHILADELPHIA
Printed and Sold by ROBERT BELL, in Third-Street.
Price, tnr.fixth of a Dollar, M,dcc,i.xxxmi

124 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, hi
among us again, after this plausible and surreptitious fashion ?
At Cambridge it was thought that the general sentiment of
the university was in favour of suppressing the order by act
of legislature. One of the members, who was a candidate for
senator in the spring of 1784, found it necessary to resign
in order to save his chances for election. Rhode Island pro
posed to disfranchise such of her citizens as belonged to the
order, albeit her most eminent citizen, Nathanael Greene,
was one of them. yEdanus Burke, a judge of the Supreme
Court of South Carolina, wrote a violent pamphlet against
the society of the Cincinnati under the pseudonym of Cas-
sius, the slayer of tyrants ; and this diatribe, translated and
amplified by Mirabeau, awakened dull echoes among readers
of Rousseau and haters of privilege in all parts of Europe.
A swarm of brochures in rejoinder and rebutter issued from
the press, and the nineteenth century had come in before
the controversy was quite forgotten.
It is easy for us now to smile at this outcry against the
Cincinnati as much ado about nothing, seeing as we do that
in the absence of territorial jurisdiction or especial political
privileges an order of nobility cannot be created by the mere
inheritance of empty titles or badges. For example, since
the great revolution which swept away the landlordship and'
fiscal exemptions of the French nobility, a marquisate or a
dukedom in France is of scarcely more political importance
than a doctorate of laws in a New England university.
Men were nevertheless not to be blamed in 1783 for their
hostility toward that ghost of the hereditary principle which
the Cincinnati sought to introduce. In a free industrial
society like that of America it had no proper place or mean
ing ; and the attempt to set up such a form might well have
been cited in illustration of the partial reversion toward
militancy which eight years of warfare had effected. The
absurdity of the situation was quickly realized by Washing
ton, and he prevailed upon the society, in its first annual
meeting of May, 1784, to abandon the principle of hereditary
membership. The agitation was thus allayed, and in the

1783 THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP 125
presence of graver questions the much-dreaded brotherhood
gradually ceased to occupy popular attention.
The opposition to the Cincinnati is not fully explained
unless we consider it in connection with Nicola's letter, the
Newburgh address, and the flight of Congress to Princeton. .
The members of the Cincinnati were pledged to do whatever
they could to promote the union between the states ; the
object of the Newburgh address was to enlist the army in
behalf of the public creditors, and in some vaguely-imagined
fashion to force a stronger government upon the country ;
the letter of Nicola shows that at least some of the officers
had harboured the notion of a monarchy ; and the weakness
of Congress had been revealed in the most startling manner
by its flight before a squad of mutineers. It is one of the
lessons of history that, in the virtual absence of a central
government for which a need is felt, the want is apt to be
supplied by the strongest organization in the country, what
ever that may happen to be. It was in this way that the
French army, a few years later, got control of the govern
ment of France and made its general emperor. In 1783, if
the impotence of Congress were to be as explicitly acknow
ledged as it was implicitly felt, the only national organization
left in the country was the army, and when this was dis
banded it seemed nevertheless to prolong its life under a
new and dangerous form in the brotherhood of the Cincin
nati. The cession of western lands to the confederacy was,
moreover, completed at about this time, and one of the uses
to which the new territory was to be put was the payment
of claims due to the soldiers. It was distinctly feared, as is
shown in a letter from Samuel Adams to Elbridge Gerry,
that the members of the Cincinnati would acquire large
tracts of western land under this arrangement, and, import
ing peasants from Germany, would grant farms to them on
terms of military service and fealty, thus introducing into
America a kind of feudal system. In order to forestall
any such movement, it was provided by Congress that in
any new states formed out of the western territory no

126 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, hi
person holding a hereditary title should be admitted to citi
zenship. From the weakness of Congress as illustrated in its
inability to raise money to pay the public debt and meet the
current expenses of government, and from the popular dread
of military usurpation which went along with the uneasy
consciousness of that weakness, we have now to turn to
another group of affairs in which the same point is still
further illustrated and emphasized. We have seen how the
commissioners of the United States in Paris had succeeded
in making a treaty of peace with Great Britain on extremely
favourable terms. So unpopular was the treaty in England,
on account of the great concessions made to the Americans,
that, as we have seen, the fall of Lord Shelburne' s ministry
Congress was occasioned thereby. As an offset to these
finds itself liberal concessions, of which the most considerable
unable to
carry out was the acknowledgment of the American claim
sionfof'1" to the northwestern territory, our confederate
the treaty g0vernment was pledged to do all in its power to
effect certain concessions which were demanded by England.
That the American loyalists, whose property had been con
fiscated by various state governments, should be indemni
fied for their losses was a claim which, whatever Americans
might think of it, England felt bound in honour to urge.
That private debts, due from American to British creditors,
should be faithfully discharged was the plainest dictate of
common honesty. Congress, as we have seen, was bound
by the treaty to recommend to the several states to desist
from the persecution of Tories, and to give them an
opportunity of recovering their estates ; and it had been
further agreed that all private debts should be discharged at
their full value in sterling money. It now turned out that
Congress was powerless to carry out the provisions of the
treaty upon either of these points. The recommendations
concerning the Tories were greeted with a storm of popular
indignation. Since the beginning of the war these unfortu
nate persons had been treated with severity both by the

^^^^z^»^^^_

1783 THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP 127
legislatures and by the people. Many had been banished ;
others had fled the country, and against these persecution
refugees various harsh laws had been enacted. of Tones
Their estates had been confiscated, and their return pro
hibited under penalty of imprisonment or death. Many
others, who had remained in the country, were objects of
suspicion and dislike in states where they had not, as in
New York and the Carolinas, openly aided the enemy or
taken part in Indian atrocities. Now, on the conclusion
of peace, in utter disregard of Congress, fresh measures of
vengeance were taken against these " fawning spaniels," as
they were called, these "tools and minions of Britain." An
article in the " Massachusetts Chronicle " expressed the
common feeling : " As Hannibal swore never to be at peace
with the Romans, so let every Whig swear, by his abhor
rence of slavery, by liberty and religion, by the shades of
departed friends who have fallen in battle, by the ghosts of
those of our brethren who have been destroyed on board of
prison-ships and in loathsome dungeons, never to be at peace
with those fiends the refugees, whose thefts, murders, and
treasons have filled the cup of woe." Tons of pamphlets,
issued under the customary Latin pseudonyms, were filled
with this truculent bombast ; and like sentiments were
thundered from the pulpit by men who had quite forgotten
for the moment their Christian duty of preaching recon
ciliation and forgiveness of injuries. Why should not these
wretches, it was sarcastically asked, be driven at once from
the country? Of course they could not desire to live under
a free government which they had been at such pains to
destroy. Let them go forthwith to his majesty's dominions,
and live under the government they preferred. It would
never do to let them stay here, to plot treason at their lei
sure ; in a few years they would get control of all the states,
and either hand them over to Great Britain again, or set up
a Tory despotism on American soil. Such was the rubbish
that passed current as argument with the majority of the
people. A small party of moderate Whigs saw its absurdity,

J28 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iii
and urged that the Tories had much better remain at home,
where they had lost all political influence, than go and
found unfriendly colonies to the northward. The moderate
Whigs were in favour of heeding the recommendation of
Congress, and acting in accordance with the spirit of the
treaty ; and these humane and sensible views were shared
by Gadsden and Marion in South Carolina, by Theodore
Sedgwick in Massachusetts, and by Greene, Hamilton, and
Jay. But any man who held such opinions, no matter how
conspicuous his services had been, ran the risk of being
accused of Tory sympathies. " Time-serving Whigs " and
"trimmers" were the strangely inappropriate epithets
hurled at men who, had they been in the slightest degree
time-servers, would have shrunk from the thankless task of
upholding good sense and humanity in the teeth of popular
prejudice. In none of the states did the loyalists receive severer
treatment than in New York, and for obvious reasons.
Throughout the war the frontier had been the scene of atro
cities such as no other state, save perhaps South Carolina,
had witnessed. Cherry Valley and Minisink were names of
horror not easily forgotten, and the fate of Lieutenant Boyd
and countless other victims called loudly for vengeance.
The sins of the Butlers and their bloodthirsty followers were
visited in robbery and insult upon unoffending men, who
were like them in nothing but in being labelled with the
epithet "Tory." During the seven years that the city of
New York had been occupied by the British arm)', many of
these loyalists had found shelter there. The Whig citizens,
on the other hand, had been driven off the island, to shift
as best they might in New Jersey, while their comfortable
homes were seized and assigned by military orders to these
very Tories. For seven years the refugee Whigs from
across the Hudson had looked upon New York with feelings
like those with which the mediaeval exile from Florence or
Pisa was wont to regard his native city. They saw in it the
home of enemies who had robbed them, the prison-house of

1783

THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP

129

gallant friends penned up to die of ,wanton ill-usage in foul
ships' holds in the harbour. When at last the king's troops
left the city, it was felt that a great day of reckoning had
arrived. In September, 1783, two months before the evacu
ation, more than twelve thousand men, women, and children
embarked for the Bahamas or for Nova Scotia, rather than
stay and face the troubles that were coming. Many of these
were refined and cultivated persons, and not all had been
actively hostile to the American cause ; many had simply
accepted British protection. Against those who remained

5fc£*S^

STONE BRIDGE WHERE BROADWAY NOW CROSSES CANAL STREET

in the city the returning Whigs now proceeded with great
severity. The violent party was dominant in the legislature,
and George Clinton, the governor, put himself conspicuously
at its head. A bill was passed disfranchising all such per
sons as had voluntarily stayed in neighbourhoods occupied
by the British troops ; their offence was called misprision of
treason. But the council vetoed this bill as too wholesale
in its operation, for it would have left some districts without
voters enough to hold an election. An "iron-clad oath "
was adopted instead, and no one was allowed to vote unless
he could swear that he had never in anywise abetted the
enemy. It was voted that no Tory who had left the state

130 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, hi
should be permitted to return ; and a bill was passed known
The Tres- as the Trespass Act, whereby all persons who had
New Yorif clmt their homes by reason of the enemy's pres-
J784 ence might recover damages in an action of tres
pass against such persons as had since taken possession of
the premises. Defendants in such cases were expressly
barred from pleading a military order in justification of their
possession. As there was scarcely a building on the island
of New York that had not thus changed hands during the
British occupation, it was easy to foresee what confusion
must ensue. Everybody whose house had once been, for
ever so few days, in the hands of a Tory now rushed into
court with his action of trespass. Damages were rated at
most exorbitant figures, and it became clear that the mis
deeds of the enemy were about to be made the excuse for
a carnival of spoliation, when all at once the test case of
Rutgers v. Waddington brought upon the scene a sturdy
defender of order, an advocate who was soon to become one
of the foremost personages in Americ ii history.
Of all the young men of that day, save perhaps William
Pitt, the most precocious was Alexander Hamilton. He
had already given promise of a great career before the
Alexander breaking out of the war. He was born on the
Hamilton igland rf ^^ jn thg Wggt IndieS) m 7757. His
father belonged to" that famous Scottish clan from which
have come one of the most learned metaphysicians and one
of the most original mathematicians of modern times. His
mother was a French lady, of Huguenot descent, and bio
graphers have been fond of tracing in his character the
various qualities of his parents. To the shrewdness and per
sistence, the administrative ability, and the taste for abstract
reasoning which we are wont to find associated in -the highest
type of Scottish mind he joined a truly French vivacity and
grace. His earnestness, sincerity, and moral courage were
characteristic alike of Puritan and of Huguenot. In the
course of his short life he exhibited a remarkable many-
sidedness. So great was his genius for organization that in

1783

THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP

131

n

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:

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LISPENARD'S MEADOWS FROM SITE OF BROADWAY AND BROOME STREET
many essential respects the American government is moving
to-day along the lines which he was the first to mark out.
As an economist he shared to some extent in the short
comings of the age which preceded Adam Smith, but in the
special department of finance he has been equalled by no
other American statesman save Albert Gallatin. He was a
convincing orator and brilliant writer, an excellent lawyer,
and a clear-headed and industrious student of political his
tory. He was also eminent as a political leader, although he
lacked faith in democratic government, and a generous impa
tience of temperament sometimes led him to prefer short and
arbitrary by-paths toward desirable ends, which can never
be securely reached save along the broad but steep and
arduous road of popular conviction. But with all Hamilton's
splendid qualities, nothing about him is more remarkable
than the early age at which these were developed. At the
age of fifteen an able newspaper article brought him into
such repute in the little island of Nevis that he was sent to
New York to avail himself of the best advantages afforded
by the King's College, now tnown as Columbia. He had at
first no definite intention of becoming an American citizen,
but the thrilling events of the time appealed strongly to the
earnest heart and powerful intelligence of this wonderful

132 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, hi
boy. At a gathering of the people of New York in July,
1774, his generous blood warmed, till a resistless impulse
brought him on his feet to speak to the assembled multitude.
It was no company of half -drunken idlers that thronged
about him, but an assemblage of grave and responsible citi
zens, who looked with some astonishment upon this boy
of seventeen years, short and slight in stature, yet erect
and Caasar-like in bearing, with firm set mouth and great,
dark, earnest eyes. His strong and clean-cut speech, full of
sense and without a syllable of bombast, held his hearers
entranced, and from that day Alexander Hamilton was a
marked man. He began publishing anonymous pamphlets,
which at first were attributed by some to Jay, and by others
to Livingston. When their authorship was discovered, the
loyalist party tried in vain to buy off the formidable youth.
He kept up the pamphlet war, in the course of which he woe
fully defeated Dr. Cooper, the Tory president of the college ;
but shortly afterward he defended the doctor's house against
an angry mob, until that unpopular gentleman had succeeded
in making his escape to a British ship. Hamilton served in
the army throughout the war, for the most part as aid and
secretary to Washington ; but in 1781 he was a colonel in
the line, and. stormed a redoubt at Yorktown with distin
guished skill and bravery. He married a daughter of Philip
Schuyler, began the practice of law, and in 1782, at the age
of twenty-five, was chosen a delegate to Congress.
In 1784, when the Trespass Act threw New York into
confusion, Hamilton had come to be' regarded as one of the
most powerful advocates- i% the pountry. In the test case
which now came "before the|obvlrts he played a bold and
manly part. Elizabeth RuteHL^s a widow, who had fled
from NewTork after itsJ|uilU General Howe. Her
The case or confiscated estat^l DUted into the hands of
Rutgers i ... . ,. ^^H^k^l ¦ ^B n
Wadding- josnuavv^knii.;! ncBfrTory merchant, a»md
its recovery. It w&gj K ^ivhitft popular sympathy was
ftaturally and ^ongryenUfteoYin beHalf of the poor widow.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

134 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iii
That she should have been turned out of house and home
was one of the many gross instances of wickedness wrought
by the war. On the other hand, the disturbance wrought
by the enforcement of the Trespass Act was already creat
ing fresh wrongs much faster than it was righting old ones ;
and it is for such reasons as this that both in the common
law and in the law of nations the principle has been firmly
established that "the fruits of immovables belong to the
captor as long as he remains in actual possession of them."
The Trespass Act contravened this principle, and it also
contravened the treaty. It moreover placed the state of
New York in an attitude of defiance toward Congress,
which had made the treaty and expressly urged upon the
states to suspend their legislation against the Tories. On
large grounds of public policy, therefore, the Trespass Act
deserved to be set aside by the courts, and when Hamilton
was asked to serve as counsel for the defendant he accepted
the odious task without hesitation. There can be no better
proof of his forensic ability than his winning a verdict, in
such a case as this, from a hostile court that was largely
influenced by the popular excitement. The decision nulli
fied the Trespass Act, and forthwith mass meetings of the
people and an extra session of the legislature condemned
this action of the court. Hamilton was roundly abused, and
his conduct was attributed to unworthy motives. But he
faced the people as boldly as he had faced the court, and
published a letter, under the signature of Phocion, setting
forth in the clearest light the injustice and impolicy of
extreme measures against the Tories. The popular wrath
and disgust at Hamilton's course found expression in a
letter from one Isaac Ledyard, a hot-headed pot-house poli
tician, who signed himself Mentor. A war of pamphlets
ensued between Mentor and Phocion. It was genius pitted
against dulness, reason against passion ; and reason wielded
by genius won the day. The more intelligent and respect
able citizens reluctantly admitted that Hamilton's arguments
were unanswerable. A club of boon companions, to which

1784 THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP 135
Ledyard belonged, made the same admission by the peculiar
manner in which it undertook to silence him. It was gravely
proposed that the members of the club should pledge them
selves one after another to challenge Hamilton to mortal
combat, until some one of them should have the good
fortune to kill him ! The scheme met with general favour,
but was defeated by the exertions of Ledyard himself, whose
zeal was not ardent enough to condone treachery and mur
der. The incident well illustrates the intense bitterness of
political passion at the time, as Hamilton's conduct shows
him in the light of a courageous and powerful defender of
the central government. For nothing was more significant
in the verdict which he had obtained than its implicit asser
tion of the rights of the United States as against the legis
lature of a single state.
In spite of the efforts of such men as Hamilton, life was
made very uncomfortable for the Tories. In some states
they were subjected to mob violence. Instances of tarring
and feathering were not uncommon. The legislature of
South Carolina was honourably distinguished for the good
faith with which it endeavoured to enforce the recommen
dation of Congress ; but the people, unable to forget the
smoking ruins of plundered homes, were less lenient.
Notices were posted ordering prominent loyalists to leave
the country ; the newspapers teemed with savage warnings ;
and finally, of those who tarried beyond a certain time,
many were shot or hanged to trees. This extremity of
bitterness, however, did not long continue. The instances
of physical violence were mostly confined to the first two or
three years after the close of the war. In most of the states
the confiscating acts were after a while repealed, and many
of the loyalists were restored to their estates. Emigration
But the emigration which took place between 1783 of Tones
and 1785 was very large. It has been estimated that
100,000 persons, or nearly three per cent, of the total white
population, quit the country. Those from the southern
states went mostly to the Bahamas and Florida ; while those

I36 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, hi
from the north laid the foundation of new British states in
New Brunswick and' Upper Canada. Many of these refugees
appealed to the British government for indemnification for
their losses, and their claims received prompt attention. A
parliamentary commission was appointed to inquire into the
matter, and by the year 1790 some #16,000,000 had been
distributed among about 4,000 sufferers, while many others
received grants of crown-lands, or half-pay as military offi
cers, or special annuities, or appointments in the civil ser
vice. On the whole, the compensation which the refugees
received from Parliament seems to have been much more
ample than that which the ragged soldiers of our Revolu
tionary army ever received from Congress.
While the political passions resulting in this forced
emigration of loyalists were such as naturally arise in the
course of a civil war, the historian cannot but regret that
the United States should have been deprived of the services
of so many excellent citizens. In nearly all such cases of
wholesale popular vengeance, it is the wrong individuals who
suffer. We could well afford to dispense with the border
ruffians who abetted the Indians in their carnival of burning
and scalping, but the refugees of 1784 were for the most
part peaceful and unoffending families, above the average in
education and refinement. The vicarious suffering inflicted
upon them set nothing right, but simply increased the mass
of wrong, while to the general interests of the country the
loss of such people was in every way damaging. The
immediate political detriment wrought at the time, though
it is that which most nearly concerns this moment of our
story, was probably the least important. Since Congress
was manifestly unable to carry out the treaty, an excuse was
furnished to England for declining to fulfil . some of its pro
visions. In regard to the loyalists, indeed, the treaty had
recognized that Congress possessed but an advisory power ;
but in the other provision concerning the payment of private
debts, which in the popular mind was very much mixed up
with the question of justice to the loyalists, the faith of the

1784 THE LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP 137
United States was distinctly pledged. On this point, also,
Congress was powerless to enforce the treaty. Massachu
setts, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and
South Carolina had all enacted laws obstructing Congress
the collection of British debts : and in flat defiance is ™?ble
r , , , . to enforce
ot the treaty these statutes remained in force payment
until after the downfall of the Confederation. The British8 10
states were aware that such conduct needed an Engi^S"
excuse, and one was soon forthcoming. Many retaliates
, -i i r . y by refusing
negroes had left the country with the British tosun-en-
fleet : some doubtless had sought their freedom ; western
others, perhaps, had been kidnapped as booty, and posts
sold to planters in the West Indies. The number of these
black men carried away by the fleet had been magnified
tenfold by popular rumour. Complaints had been made to
Sir Guy Carleton, but he had replied that any negro who
came within his lines was presumably a freeman, and he
could not lend his aid in remanding such persons to slavery.
Jay, as one of the treaty commissioners, gave it as his
opinion that Carleton was quite right in this, but he thought
that where a loss of slaves could be proved, Great Britain
was bound to make pecuniary compensation to the owners.
The matter was wrangled over for years in the state legis
latures, in town and county meetings, at dinner-tables, and
in taverns, with the general result that, until such compen
sation should be made, the statutes hindering the collection
of debts would not be repealed. In retaliation for this,
Great Britain refused to withdraw her garrisons from the
northwestern fortresses,1 which the treaty had surrendered
to the United States. This measure was very keenly felt
by the people. As an assertion of superior strength, it was
peculiarly galling to our weak and divided confederacy, and
it also wrought us direct practical injury. It encouraged
the Indian tribes in their depredations on the frontier, and
it deprived American merchants of a lucrative trade in furs.
1 These were Ogdensburgh, Oswego, Niagara, Detroit, and Macki
naw, with a few others of less importance.

138 THE CRITICAL PERICO chap, in
In the spring of 1787 there were advertised for sale in Lon
don more than 360,000 skins, worth $1,200,000 at the lowest
estimate ; and had the posts been surrendered according to
the treaty, all this would probably have passed through
the hands of American merchants. The London fur traders
were naturally unwilling to lose their control over this busi
ness, and in the language of modern politics they brought
" pressure " to bear on government to retain the fortresses
as long as possible. The American refusal to pay British
creditors furnished a plausible excuse, while the weakness
of Congress made any kind of reprisal impossible ; and it
was not until Washington's second term as president, after
our national credit had been restored and the strength of
our new government made manifest, that Great Britain sur
rendered this chain of strongholds commanding the woods
and waters of our northwestern frontier.

CHAPTER IV
DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY
At the close of the eighteenth century the barbarous
superstitions of the Middle Ages concerning trade between
nations still flourished with scarcely diminished vitality.
The epoch-making work of Adam Smith had been published
in the same year in which the United States declared their
independence. The one was the great scientific event, as
the other was the great political event of the age ; but of
neither the one nor the other were the scope and purport
fathomed at the time. Among the foremost statesmen,
those who, like Shelburne and Gallatin, understood the prin
ciples of the " Wealth of Nations " were few indeed. The
simple principle that when two parties trade both Barbarous
must be gainers, or one would soon stop trading, tions^about
was generally lost sight of ; and most commercial trade
legislation proceeded upon the theory that in trade, as in
gambling or betting, what the one party gains the other
must lose. Hence towns, districts, and nations surrounded
themselves with walls of legislative restrictions intended to
keep out the monster Trade, or to admit him only on strict
est proof that he could do no harm. On this barbarous
theory, the use of a colony consisted in its being a customer
which you could compel to trade with yourself, while you
could prevent it from trading with anybody else ; and having
secured this point, you could cunningly arrange things by
legislation so as to throw all the loss upon this enforced
customer, and keep all the gain to yourself. In the seven
teenth and eighteenth centuries all the commercial legisla
tion of the great colonizing states was based upon this theory
of the use of a colony. For effectiveness, it shared to some

1 40 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
extent the characteristic features of legislation for making
water run up hill. It retarded commercial development all
over the world, fostered monopolies, made the rich richer
and the poor poorer, hindered the interchange of ideas and
the refinement of manners, and sacrificed millions of human
lives in misdirected warfare ; but what it was intended to do
it did not do. The sturdy race of smugglers — those de
spised pioneers of a higher civilization — thrived in defiance
of kings and parliaments ; and as it was impossible to carry
out such legislation thoroughly without stopping trade alto
gether, colonies and mother countries contrived to increase
their wealth in spite of it. The colonies, however, under
wood the animus of the theory in so far as it was directed
against them, and the revolutionary sentiment in America
had gained much of its strength from the protest against
this one-sided justice. In one of its most important aspects,
the Revolution was a deadly blow aimed at the old system of
trade restrictions. It was to a certain extent a step in real
ization of the noble doctrines of Adam Smith. But where
the scientific thinker grasped the whole principle involved
in the matter, the practical statesmen saw only the special
application which seemed to concern them for the moment.
They all understood that the Revolution had set them free
to trade with other countries than England, but very few of
them understood that, whatever countries trade together, the
one cannot hope to benefit by impoverishing the other.
This point is much better understood in England to-day
than in the United States ; but a century ago there was
little to choose between the two countries in ignorance of
political economy. England had gained great wealth and
power through trade with her rapidly growing American
colonies. One of her chief fears, in the event of American
independence, had been the possible loss of that trade.
English merchants feared that American commerce, when
no longer confined to its old paths by legislation, would
somehow find its way to France and Holland and Spain and
other countries, until nothing would be left for England.

1783 DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY 141
The Revolution worked no such change, however. The
principal trade of the United "States was with England, as
before, because England could best supply the goods that
Americans wanted ; and it is such considerations, and not
acts of Parliament, that determine trade in its natural and
proper channels. In 1783 Pitt introduced into Parliament
a bill which would have secured mutual unconditional free
trade between the two countries ; and this was what such
men as Franklin, Jefferson, and Madison desired. Could
this bill have passed, the hard feelings occasioned by the war
would soon have died out, the commercial progress of both
countries would have been promoted, and the stupid mea
sures which led to a second war within thirty years might

CLASS tiie • F I S. S "T^
_ HIS TICKET entitles the Bearer to receive §
T '< fuch Prize as may be drawn againft it» Num- %¦¦
'vw"/"' ber- ^cording Lo & Refolution of CONGRESS, >|
iffed at' Philadelphia, November 18, *Jj6&t^k#i*£/j
_ N 'WmWK^BnWHM

FACSIMILE OF A CONTINENTAL LOTTERY TICKET
have been prevented. But the wisdom of Pitt found less
favour in Parliament than the dense stupidity of Lord Shef
field, who thought that to admit Americans to the carrying
trade would undermine the naval power of Great Britain.
Pitt's measure was defeated, and the regulation of commerce
with America was left to the king in council. Orders were
forthwith passed as if upon the theory that America poor
would be a better customer than America rich.
The carrying trade to the West Indies had been one of
the most important branches of American industry. The
men of New England were famous for seamanship, and
better and cheaper ships could be built in the seaports of

142 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
Massachusetts than anywhere in Great Britain. An oak
vessel could be built at Gloucester or Salem for
Shipbmld-
ing in New twenty-f our dollars per ton ; a ship ot live-oak or
ngan American cedar cost not more than thirty-eight
dollars per ton. On the other hand, fir vessels built on the
Baltic cost thirty-five dollars per ton, and nowhere in Eng
land, France, or Holland could a ship be made of oak for
less than fifty dollars per ton. Often the cost was as high
as sixty dollars. It was not strange, therefore, that before
the war more than one third of the tonnage afloat under the
British flag was launched from American dock-yards. The
war had violently deprived England of this enormous advan
tage, and now she sought to make the privation perpetual, in
the delusive hope of confining British trade to British keels,
and in the belief that it was the height of wisdom to impov
erish the nation which she regarded as her best customer.
In July, 1783, an order in council proclaimed that hence
forth all trade between the United States and the British
West Indies must be carried on in British-built ships, owned
and navigated by British subjects. A serious blow was thus
dealt not only at American shipping, but also at the inter
change of commodities between the states and the islands,
which was greatly hampered by this restriction. During the
British whole of the eighteenth century the West India
acatVsgand0n sugar trade with the North American colonies and
orders in with Great Britain had been of immense value to all
councildirected parties, and all had been seriously damaged by the
American curtailment of it due to the war. Now that the
commerce artiflcia.1 state of things created by the war was to
be perpetuated by legislation, the prospect of repairing the
loss seemed indefinitely postponed. Moreover, even in trad
ing directly with Great Britain, American ships were only
allowed to bring in articles produced in the particular states
of which their owners were citizens, — an enactment which
seemed to add insult to injury, inasmuch as it directed espe
cial attention to the want of union among the thirteen
states. Great indignation was aroused in America, and re-

1 785

DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY

'43

¦'wtf-yA

&s  1

INDEPENDENCE HALL AND NEW THEATRE, PHILADELPHIA, 1785

prisals were talked of, but efforts were first made to obtain
a commercial treaty.
In 1785 Franklin returned from France, and Jefferson
was sent as minister in his stead, while John Adams became
the first representative of the United States at the British
court. Adams was at first very courteously received by
George III., and presently set to work to convince Lord
Carmarthen, the foreign secretary, of the desirableness of
unrestricted intercourse between the two countries. But
popular opinion in England was obstinately set
against him. But for the Navigation Act and the A°da^ns
orders in council, it was said, all ships would by J"^^™1,."
and by come to be built in America, and every ^"™r"
time a frigate was wanted for the navy the Lords
of Admiralty would have to send over to Boston or Phila
delphia and order one. Rather than do such a thing as
this, it was thought that the British navy should content
itself with vessels of inferior workmanship and higher cost,

144

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap. IV

built in British dock-yards. Thirty years after, England
gathered an unexpected fruit of this narrow policy, when,
to her intense bewilderment, she saw frigate after frigate
outsailed and defeated in single combat with American an
tagonists. Owing to her exclusive measures, the rapid
improvement in American shipbuilding had gone on quite
beyond her ken, until she was thus rudely awakened to it.
With similar short-sighted jealousy, it was argued that the
American share in the whale-fishery and in the Newfound
land fishery should be curtailed as much as possible. Sper
maceti oil was much needed in England : complaints were
rife of robbery and murder in the dimly lighted streets of
London and other great cities. But it was thought that if
American ships could carry oil to England and salt fish to
Jamaica, the supply of seamen for the British navy would
be diminished ; and accordingly such privileges must not
be granted the Americans unless valuable privileges could
be granted in return. But the government of the United
States could grant no privileges because it could impose no
restrictions. British manufactured goods were needed in
America, and Congress, which could levy no duties, had
no power to keep them out. British merchants and manu
facturers, it was argued, already enjoyed all needful privi
leges in American ports, and accordingly they asked no
favours and granted none.
Such were the arguments to which Adams was obliged to
listen. The popular feeling was so strong that Pitt could
not have stemmed it if he would. It was in vain that Adams
threatened reprisals, and urged that the British measures
would defeat their own purpose. " The end of the Naviga
tion Act," said he, " as expressed in its own preamble, is to
confine the commerce of the colonies to the mother country ;
but now we are become independent states, instead of con
fining our trade to Great Britain, it will drive it to other
countries : " and he suggested that the Americans might
make a navigation act in their turn, admitting to American
ports none but American-built ships, owned and commanded

1785

DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY

145

VIEW FROM BATTERY, NEW YORK
by Americans. But under the articles of confederation such
a threat was idle, and the British government knew it to be
so. Thirteen separate state governments could never be
made«to adopt any such measure in concert. The weakness
of Congress had been fatally revealed in its inability to
protect the loyalists or to enforce the payment of debts,
and in its failure to raise a revenue for meeting its current
expenses. A government thus slighted at home was natu
rally despised abroad. Great Britain neglected to send a
minister to Philadelphia, and while Adams was treated
politely, his arguments were unheeded. Whether in this
behaviour Pitt's government was influenced or not by politi
cal as well as economical reasons, it was certain that a
political purpose was entertained by the king and approved
by many people. There was an intention of humiliating
the Americans, and it was commonly said that under a suffi
cient weight of commercial distress the states would break
up their feeble union and come straggling back, one after
another, to their old allegiance. The fiery spirit of Adams
could ill brook this contemptuous treatment of the nation

146 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
which he represented. Though he favoured very liberal
commercial relations with the whole world, he could see no
escape from the present difficulties save in systematic re
taliation. " I should be sorry," he said, " to adopt a monop
oly, but, driven to the necessity of it, I would not do things
by halves. ... If monopolies and exclusions are the only
arms of defence against monopolies and exclusions, I would
venture upon them without fear of offending Dean Tucker
or the ghost of Dr. Quesnay." That is to say, certain com
mercial privileges must be withheld from Great Britain, in
order to be offered to her in return for reciprocal privileges.
It was a miserable policy to be forced to adopt, for such
restrictions upon trade inevitably cut both ways. Like the
non-importation agreement of 1768 and the embargo of 1808,
such a policy was open to the objections familiarly urged
against biting off one's own nose. It was injuring one's self
in the hope of injuring somebody else. It was perpetuating
in time of peace the obstacles to commerce generated by a
state of war. In a certain sense, it was keeping up warfare
commercial instead of military methods, and there was
|ger that it might lead to a renewal of armed conflict.
it 'Nevertheless, the conduct of the British government seemed
to Adams to leave no other course open. But such " means
of preserving ourselves," he said, " can never be secured until
Congress shall be made supreme in foreign commerce."
It was obvious enough that the separate action of the
states upon such a question was only adding to the general
Reprisal uncertainty and confusion. In 1785 New York
b™P-°the 'a'd a dourjle duty on all goods whatever imported
states im- in British ships. In the same year Pennsylvania
pose con- , J J
flicting passed the first of the infamous series of American
tariff acts, designed to tax the whole community
for the benefit of a few greedy manufacturers. Massachu
setts sought to establish committees of correspondence for
the purpose of entering into a new non-importation agree
ment, and its legislature resolved that " the present powers
of the Congress of the United States, as contained in the

i785

DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY

H7
articles of confederation, are not fully adequate to the great
purposes they were originally designed to effect." The
Massachusetts delegates in Congress — Gerry, Holton, and
King — were instructed to recommend a general convention
of the states for the purpose of revising and amending the
articles of confederation ; but the delegates refused to com
ply with their instructions, and set forth their reasons in a
paper which was approved by Samuel Adams, and caused

ROOM IN FRAUNCES'S TAVERN

the legislature to reconsider its action. It was feared that
a call for a convention might seem too much like an open
expression of a want of confidence in Congress, and might
thereby weaken it still further without accomplishing any
good result. For the present, as a temporary expedient,
Massachusetts took counsel with New Hampshire, and the
two states passed navigation acts, prohibiting British ships
from carrying goods out of their harbours, and imposing a
fourfold duty upon all such goods as they should bring in.
A discriminating tonnage duty was also laid upon all foreign
vessels. Rhode Island soon after adopted similar measures.
In Congress a scheme for a uniform navigation act, to be
concurred in and passed by all the thirteen states, was sug
gested by one of the Maryland delegates ; but it was opposed
by Richard Henry Lee and most of the delegates from the
far south. The southern states, having no ships or seamen

I48 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
of their own, feared that the exclusion of British competi
tion might enable northern ship-owners to charge exorbitant
rates for carrying their rice and tobacco, thus subjecting
them to a ruinous monopoly ; but the gallant Moultrie, then
governor of South Carolina, taking a broader view of the
case, wrote to Bowdoin, governor of Massachusetts, assert
ing the paramount need of harmonious and united action.
In the Virginia assembly, a hot-headed member, Rev.
Charles Thruston, known as " the warrior parson," declared
himself in doubt " whether it would not be better to encour
age the British rather than the eastern marine ; " but the
remark was greeted with hisses and groans. Amid such
mutual jealousies and misgivings, during the year 1785 acts
were passed by ten states granting to Congress the power
of regulating commerce for the ensuing thirteen years.
The three states which refrained from acting were Georgia,
South Carolina, and Delaware. The acts of the other ten
were, as might have been expected, a jumble of incongrui
ties. North Carolina granted all the power that was asked,
but stipulated that when all the states should have done
likewise their acts should be summed up in a new article of
confederation. Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Maryland
had fixed the date at which the grant was to take effect,
while Rhode Island provided that it should not expire
until after the lapse of twenty-five years. The grant by
New Hampshire allowed the power to be used only in one
specified way, — by restricting the duties imposable by the
several states. The grants of Massachusetts, New York,
New Jersey, and Virginia were not to take effect until all
the others should go into operation. The only thing which
Congress could do with these acts was to refer them back to
the several legislatures, with a polite request to try to reduce
them to something like uniformity.
Meanwhile, the different states, with their different tariff
and tonnage acts, began to make commercial war upon
one another. No sooner had the other three New England
states virtually closed their ports to British shipping than

1785

DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY

149

Connecticut threw hers wide open, an act which she fol
lowed up by laying duties upon imports from commercial
Massachusetts. Pennsylvania discriminated against dfffe'rent66'1
Delaware, and New Jersey, pillaged at once by both states
her greater neighbours, was compared to a cask tapped at
both ends. The conduct of New York became especially

C%>/- toAfadvi^

selfish and blameworthy. That rapid growth which was so
soon to carry the city and the state to a position of primacy
in the Union had already begun. After the departure of
the British the revival of business went on with leaps and
bounds. The feeling of local patriotism waxed strong, and
in no one was it more fully manifested than in George Clin
ton, the Revolutionary general, whom the people elected
governor for six successive terms. He was a kinsman of
Sir Henry Clinton, the British general ; both were descended
from Earls of Lincoln. By dint of shrewdness and untiring

150 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
push, George Clinton had come to be for the moment the
most powerful man in the state of New York. He had
come to look upon the state almost as if it were his own
private manor, and his life was devoted to furthering its
interests as he understood them. It was his first article
of faith that New York must be the greatest state in the
Union. But his conceptions of statesmanship were ex
tremely narrow. In his mind, the welfare of New York
meant the pulling down and thrusting aside of all her neigh
bours and rivals. He was the vigorous and steadfast
advocate of every illiberal and exclusive measure, and the
most uncompromising enemy to a closer union of the states.
His great popular strength and the commercial importance
of the community in which he held sway made him at this
time the most dangerous man in America. The political
victories presently to be won by Hamilton, Schuyler, and
Livingston, without which our grand and pacific federal
union could not have been brought into being, were victories
won by most desperate fighting against the dogged opposi
tion of Clinton. Under his guidance, the history of New
York, during the five years following the peace of 1783, was
a shameful story of greedy monopoly and sectional hate.
Of all the thirteen states, none behaved worse except Rhode
Island. A single instance, which occurred early in 1787, may
serve as an illustration. The city of New York, with its
population of 30,000 souls, had long been supplied with fire
wood from Connecticut, and with butter and ¦ cheese,
chickens and garden vegetables, from the thrifty farms of
New Jersey. This trade, it was observed, carried thousands
of dollars out of the city and into the pockets of detested
Yankees and despised Jerseymen. It was ruinous to
domestic industry, said the men of New York. It must be
stopped by those effective remedies of the Sangrado school
of economic doctors, a navigation act and a protective tariff.
Acts were accordingly passed, obliging every Yankee sloop
which came down through Hell Gate, and every Jersey

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF WYOMING VALLEY

I52

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv

market boat which was rowed across from Paulus Hook to
Cortlandt Street, to pay entrance fees and obtain clearances
at the custom-house, just as was done by ships from London
or Hamburg; and not a cart-load of Connecticut firewood
could be delivered at the back-door of a country-house in
Beekman Street until it should have paid a heavy duty.
Great and just was the wrath of the farmers and lumbermen.
The New Jersey legislature made up its mind to retaliate.
The city of New York had lately bought a small patch of
ground on Sandy Hook, and had built a light-house there.
This light-house was the one weak spot in the heel of
Achilles where a hostile arrow could strike, and New Jersey
gave vent to her indignation by laying a tax of $1,800 a year
on it. Connecticut was equally prompt. At a great meet
ing of business men, held at New London, it was unani
mously agreed to suspend all commercial intercourse with
New York. Every merchant signed an agreement, under
penalty of $250 for the first offence, not to send any goods
whatever into the hated state for a period of twelve months.
By such retaliatory measures, it was hoped that New York
might be compelled to rescind her odious enactment. But
such meetings and such resolves bore an ominous likeness
to the meetings and resolves which in the years before 1775
had heralded a state of war ; and but for the good work
done by the federal convention another five years would
scarcely have elapsed before shots would have been fired
and seeds of perennial hatred sown on the shores that look
toward Manhattan Island.
To these commercial disputes there were added disputes
about territory. The chronic quarrel between Connecticut
and Pennsylvania over the valley of Wyoming was decided
Disputes m tne autumn of. 1782 by a special federal court,
tor°ut dis-' aPPomted in accordance with the articles of con-
asters in federation. The prize was adjudged to Pennsylva-
the valley of . n, r . _ J & . , {
Wyoming, nia, and the government of Connecticut submitted
174 as gracefully as possible. But new troubles were
in store for the inhabitants of that beautiful region. The

IHE M.-N. CO.

154 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
traces of the massacre of 1778 had disappeared, the houses
had been rebuilt, new settlers had come in, and the pretty
villages had taken on their old look of contentment and
thrift, when in the spring of 1 784 there came an accumula
tion of disasters. During a very cold winter great quantities
of snow had fallen, and lay piled in huge masses on the
mountain sides, until in March a sudden thaw set in. The
Susquehanna rose, and overflowed the valley, and great
blocks of ice drifted here and there, carrying death and
destruction with them. Houses, barns, and fences were
swept away, the cattle were drowned, the fruit trees broken
down, the stores of food destroyed, and over the whole
valley there lay a stratum of gravel and pebbles. The
people were starving with cold and hunger, and President
Dickinson urged the legislature to send prompt relief to the
sufferers. But the hearts of the members were as flint, and
their talk was incredibly wicked. Not a penny would they
give to help the accursed Yankees. It served them right.
If they had stayed in Connecticut, where they belonged,
they would have kept out of harm's way. And with a
blasphemy thinly veiled in phrases of pious unction, the
desolation of the valley was said to have been contrived
by the Deity with the express object of punishing these
trespassers. But the cruelty of the Pennsylvania legislature
was not confined to words. A scheme was devised for
driving out the settlers and partitioning their lands among a
company of speculators. A force of militia was sent to Wyo
ming, commanded by a truculent creature named Patterson.
The ostensible purpose was to assist in restoring order in
the valley, but the behaviour of the soldiers was such as
would have disgraced a horde of barbarians. They stole
what they could find, dealt out blows to the men and insults
to the women, until their violence was met with violence in
return. Then Patterson sent a letter to President Dickin
son, accusing the farmers of sedition, and hinting that
extreme measures were necessary. Having thus, as he
thought, prepared the way, he attacked the settlement,

1 784

DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY

155

turned some five hundred people out-of-doors, and burned
their houses to the ground. The wretched victims, many of
them tender women, or infirm old men, or little children,
were driven into the wilderness at the point of the bayonet,
and told to find their way to Connecticut without further
delay. Heartrending scenes ensued. Many died of exhaus
tion, or furnished food for wolves. But this was more than
the Pennsylvania legislature had intended. Patterson's zeal
f,-yM^^ ^
'^sai ¦¦«•&¦ - "HI

had carried him too far. He was recalled, and the sheriff
of Northumberland County was sent, with a posse of men,
to protect the settlers. Patterson disobeyed, however, and
withdrawing his men to a fortified lair in the mountains,
kept up a guerilla warfare. All the Connecticut men in the
neighbouring country flew to arms. Men were killed on
both sides, and presently Patterson was besieged. A regi-

156 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
ment of soldiers was then sent from Philadelphia, under
Colonel Armstrong, who had formerly been on Gates's staff,
the author of the incendiary Newburgh address. On arriv
ing in the valley, Armstrong held a parley with the Con
necticut men, and persuaded them to lay down their arms ;
assuring them on his honour that they should meet with
no ill treatment, and that their enemy, Patterson, should
be disarmed also. Having thus fallen into this soldier's
clutches, they were forthwith treated as prisoners. Seventy-
six of them were handcuffed and sent under guard, some
to Easton and some to Northumberland, where they were
thrown into jail.1
Great was the indignation in New England when these
deeds were heard of. The matter had become very serious.
A war between Connecticut and Pennsylvania might easily
grow out of it. But the danger was averted through a
singular feature in the Pennsylvania constitution. In order
to hold its legislature in check, Pennsylvania had a council
of censors, which was assembled once in seven years in
order to inquire whether the state had been properly gov
erned during the interval. Soon after the troubles in
Wyoming the regular meeting of the censors was held, and
the conduct of Armstrong and Patterson was unreservedly
condemned. A hot controversy ensued between the legisla
ture and the censors, and as the people set great store by
the latter peculiar institution, public sympathy was gradually
awakened for the sufferers. The wickedness of the affair
began to dawn upon people's minds, and they were ashamed
of what had been done. Patterson and Armstrong were
frowned down, the legislature disavowed their acts, and it
was ordered that full reparation should be made to the
persecuted settlers of Wyoming.
In the Green Mountains and on the upper waters of the
1 See Chapman's History of Wyoming, Wilkes-Barre", 1830; Miner's
History of Wyoming, Philadelphia, 1845 i Stone's Poetry and History
of Wyoming, New York, 1844; Hoyt's Seventeen Townships in the
County of Luzerne, Harrisburg, 1879.

1777-84 DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY 157
Connecticut there had been trouble for many years. In the
course of the Revolutionary War, the fierce dispute between
New York and New Hampshire for the possession of the
Green Mountains came in from time to time to influence
most curiously the course of events. It was closely con
nected with the intrigues against General Schuyler, and thus
more remotely with the Conway cabal and the treason of
Arnold. About the time of Burgoyne's invasion the asso
ciation of Green Mountain Boys endeavoured to cut the
Gordian knot by declaring Vermont an independent state,
and applying to the Continental Congress for ad- Troubies
mission into the Union. The New York delegates j? the
in Congress succeeded in defeating this scheme, Mountains,
but the Vermont people went on and framed their
constitution. Thomas Chittenden, a man of little education
but very considerable . ability, a farmer and innkeeper,1 like
Israel Putnam, was chosen governor, and held that position
for many years. New Hampshire thus far had not actively
opposed these measures, but fresh grounds of quarrel were
soon at hand. Several towns on the east bank of the Con
necticut River wished to escape from' the jurisdiction of
New Hampshire. They preferred to belong to Vermont,
because it was not within the Union, and accordingly not
liable to requisitions of taxes from the Continental Con
gress. It was conveniently remembered that by the original
grant, in the reign of Charles II., New Hampshire extended
only sixty miles from the coast. Vermont was at first
inclined to assent, but finding the scheme unpopular in Con
gress, and not wishing to offend that body, she changed her
mind. The towns on both banks of the river then tried to
organize themselves into a middle state, — a sort of Lotha-
ringia on the banks of this New World Rhine, — to be
called New Connecticut. By this time New Hampshire
1 I have noticed that to readers unfamiliar with the early history of
New England, the mention of these occupations is misleading. Both.
Putnam and Chittenden were gentlemen of eminently respectable an
cestry.

158 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
was aroused, and she called attention to the fact that she
still believed herself entitled to dominion over the whole of
Vermont. Massachusetts now began to suspect that the
upshot of the matter would be the partition of the whole
disputed territory between New Hampshire and New York,
and, ransacking her ancient grants and charters, she decided
to set up a claim on her own part to the southernmost towns
in Vermont. Thus goaded on all sides, Vermont adopted
an aggressive policy. She not only annexed the towns east
of the Connecticut River, but also asserted sovereignty over
the towns in New York as far as the Hudson. New York
sent troops to the threatened frontier, New Hampshire pre
pared to do likewise, and for a moment war seemed -inevita
ble. But here, as in so many other instances, Washington
appeared as peacemaker, and prevailed upon Governor Chit
tenden to use his influence in getting the dangerous claims
withdrawn.1 After the spring of 1784 the outlook was less
stormy in the Green Mountains. The conflicting claims
were allowed to lie dormant, but the possibilities of mischief
remained, and the Vermont question was not finally settled
until after the adoption of the Federal Constitution. Mean
while, on the debatable frontier between Vermont and New
York the embers of hatred smouldered. Barns and houses
were set on fire, and belated wayfarers were found mysteri
ously murdered in the depths of the forest.
Incidents like these of Wyoming and Vermont seem
trivial, perhaps, when contrasted with the lurid tales of
border warfare in older times between half-civilized peoples
of mediaeval Europe, as we read them in the pages of Frois-
sart and Sir Walter Scott. But their historic lesson is none
the less clear. Though they lift the curtain but a little way,
they show us a glimpse of the untold dangers and horrors
from which the adoption of our Federal Constitution has so
1 The story of the Vermont difficulties has been well summed up by
Hildreth, History of the United States, vol. iii. pp. 407-410. See, also,
Benton, The Vermont Settlers and the New York Land Speculators,
Minneapolis, 1894.

1784

DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY

'59

thoroughly freed us that we can only with some effort realize
how narrowly we have escaped them. It is fit that they
should be borne in mind, that we may duly appreciate the
significance of the reign of law and order which has been
established on this continent during the greater part of a
century. When reported in Europe, such incidents were

held to confirm the opinion that the American confederacy
was going to pieces. With quarrels about trade and quarrels
about boundaries, we seemed to be treading the old-fashioned
paths of anarchy, even as they had been trodden in other
ages and other parts of the world. It was natural that
people in Europe should think so, because there was no his
toric precedent to help'them in forming a different opinion.
No one could possibly foresee that within five years a num
ber of gentlemen at Philadelphia, containing among them
selves an amount of political sagacity such as has seldom

160 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
been brought together within the walls of a single room,
would amicably discuss the situation and agree upon a new
system of government whereby the dangers might be once
for all averted. Still less could any one foresee that these
gentlemen would not only agree upon a scheme among them
selves, but would actually succeed, without serious civil
dissension, in making the people of thirteen states adopt,
defend, and cherish it. History afforded no example of so
large an act of constructive statesmanship. It was, more
over, a strange and apparently fortuitous combination of cir
cumstances that were now preparing the way for it and
making its accomplishment possible. No one could forecast
the future. When our ministers and agents in Europe raised
the question as to making commercial treaties, they were
disdainfully asked whether European powers were
One nation J r r
or thir- expected to deal with thirteen governments or with
one. If it was answered that the United States
constituted a single government so far as their relations with
foreign powers were concerned, then we were forthwith
twitted with our failure to keep our engagements with Eng
land with regard to the loyalists and the collection of private
debts. Yes, we see, said the European diplomats ; the
United States are one nation to-day and thirteen to-morrow,
according as may seem to subserve their selfish interests.
Jefferson, at Paris, was told again and again that it was use
less for the French government to enter into any agreement
with the United States, as there was no certainty that it
would be fulfilled on our part ; and the same things were
said all over Europe. Toward the close of the war most of
the European nations had seemed ready to enter into com
mercial arrangements with the United States, but all save
Holland speedily lost interest in the subject. John Adams
had succeeded in making a treaty with Holland in 1782.
Frederick the Great treated us more civilly than other sov
ereigns. One of the last acts of his life was to conclude a
treaty for ten years with the United States ; asserting the
principle that free ships make free goods, taking arms and

1784 DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY 161
military stores out of the class of contraband, agreeing to
refrain from privateering even in case of war between the
two countries, and in other respects showing a liberal and
enlightened spirit.
This treaty was concluded in 1786. It scarcely touched
the subject of international trade in time of peace, but it
was valuable as regarded the matters it covered, and in the
midst of the general failure of American diplomacy in Eu
rope it fell pleasantly upon our ears. Our diplomacy had
failed because our weakness had been proclaimed to the
world. We were bullied by England, insulted by France
and Spain, and looked askance at in Holland. The humili
ating position in which our ministers were placed by the
beggarly poverty of Congress was something almost beyond
credence. It was by no means unusual for the superin
tendent of finance, when hard pushed for money, to draw
upon our foreign ministers, and then sell the drafts for cash.
This was not only not unusual ; it was an established cus
tom. It was done again and again, when there was not the
smallest ground for supposing that the minister upon whom
the draft was made would have any funds wherewith to meet
it. He must go and beg the money. That was part of
his duty as envoy, — to solicit loans without security for a
government that could not raise enough money by Fai)ure of
taxation to defray its current expenses. It was American
sickening work. Just before John Adams had John '
been appointed minister to England, and while he beggingin
was visiting in London, he suddenly learned that Holland,
•drafts upon him had been presented to his bankers
in Amsterdam to the amount of more than a million florins.
Less than half a million florins were on hand to meet these
demands, and unless something were done at once the
greater part of this paper would go back to America pro
tested. Adams lost not a moment in starting for Holland.
In these modern days of precision in travel, when we can
translate space into time, the distance between London and
Amsterdam is eleven hours. It was accomplished by Adams,

1 62 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
after innumerable delays and vexations and no little danger,
in three weeks. The bankers had contrived, by ingenious
excuses, to keep the drafts from going to protest until the
minister's arrival, but the gazettes were full of the troubles
of Congress and the bickerings of the states, and everybody
was suspicious. Adams applied in vain to the regency of
Amsterdam. The promise of the American government
was not regarded as valid security for a sum equivalent to
about three hundred thousand dollars. The members of
the regency were polite, but inexorable. They could not
make a loan on such terms ; it was unbusinesslike and con
trary to precedent. Finding them immovable, Adams was
forced to apply to professional usurers and Jew brokers,
from whom, after three weeks of perplexity and humiliation,
he obtained a loan at exorbitant interest, and succeeded in
meeting the drafts. It was only too plain, as he mournfully
confessed, that American credit was dead.1 Such were the
trials of our American ministers in Europe in the dark days
of the League of Friendship. It was not a solitary, but a
typical, instance. John Jay's experience at the unfriendly
court of Spain was perhaps even more trying.
European governments might treat us with cold disdain,
and European bankers might pronounce our securities
worthless, but there was one quarter of the world from which
even worse measure was meted out to us. Of all the bar
barous communities with which the civilized world has had
to deal in modern times, perhaps none have made so much
trouble as the Mussulman states on the southern shore of
1 The story is told in John Adams's Works, vol. viii. pp. 1 53-1 91.
In a letter called forth by the -affair, Franklin thus hits the nail on the
head : " I hope these mischievous events will at length convince our
people of the truth of what I long since wrote to them, that the founda
tion of credit abroad must be laid at home. When the States have not
faith enough in a Congress of their own choosing to trust it with money
for the payment of their common debt, how can they expect that that
Congress should meet with credit when it wants to borrow more money
for their use from strangers." Franklin to John Adams, Passy, 5
Feb., 1784.

1784

DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY

163

the Mediterranean. After the breaking up of the great
Moorish kingdoms of the Middle Ages, this region had fallen
under the nominal control of the Turkish sultans as lords
paramount of the orthodox Mohammedan world. Its miser-

JOHN ADAMS

able populations became the prey of banditti. Swarms of
half -savage chieftains settled down upon the land The Bar
like locusts, and out of such a pandemonium of baryp,rates
robbery and murder as has scarcely been equalled in historic
times the pirate states of Morocco and Algiers, Tunis and
Tripoli, gradually emerged. Of these communities history
has not one good word to say. In these fair lands, once
illustrious for the genius and virtues of a Hannibal and the
profound philosophy of St. Augustine, there grew up some
of the most terrible despotisms ever known to the world.
The things done daily by the robber sovereigns were such
as to make a civilized imagination recoil with horror. One

t64 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
of these cheerful creatures, who reigned at the beginning
of the eighteenth century, and was called Muley Ismail,
especially prided himself on his peculiar skill in mounting a
horse. Resting his left hand upon the horse's neck, as he
sprang into the saddle he simultaneously swung the sharp
scimiter in his right hand so deftly as to cut off the head
of the groom who held the bridle.1 From his behaviour in
these sportive moods one may judge what he was capable
of on serious occasions. He was a fair sample of the Bar-
bary monarchs. The foreign policy of these wretches was
summed up in piracy and blackmail. Their corsairs swept
the Mediterranean and ventured far out upon the ocean, cap
turing merchant vessels, and murdering or enslaving their
crews. Of the rich booty, a fixed proportion was paid over
to the robber sovereign, and the rest was divided among
the gang. So lucrative was this business that it attracted
hardy ruffians from all parts of Europe, and the misery
they inflicted upon mankind during four centuries was be
yond calculation. One of their favourite practices was the
kidnapping of eminent or wealthy persons, in the hope of
extorting ransom. Cervantes and Vincent de Paul were
among the celebrated men who thus tasted the horrors of
Moorish slavery ; but it was a calamity that might fall to
the lot of any man or woman, and it was but rarely that the
victims ever regained their freedom.
Against these pirates the governments of Europe con
tended in vain. Swift cruisers frequently captured their
ships, and from the days of Joan of Arc down to the days of
Napoleon their skeletons swung from long rows of gibbets
on all the coasts of Europe, as a terror and a warning. But
their losses were easily repaired, and sometimes they cruised
in fleets of seventy or eighty sail, defying the navies of
England and France. It was not until after England, in
Nelson's time, had acquired supremacy in the Mediterra
nean that this dreadful scourge was destroyed. Americans,
1 See Busnot, History of the Reign of Muley Ismail, London, 171 5,
P- 35-

HISTORY OF THE
Reign oiMukylfmaeJ, THE
Prefent King of Morocco,
Fe%, Tafilet, Sousy &c.
Of the Revolt and Tragical End of feveral of
his Sons, and of . his Wives.
Of the horrid Executions of many of his Offi
cers and Subje&s.
Of his Genius, Policy, and Arbitrary Govern
ment.
Of the cruel Perfecution of the Chriftian Slaves
in his Dominions : With an Account of
three Voyages to Miquenrz, and Ceuta, in
order to Ranfom them.
By F. Dominick Busnot, one of
the Cbmmiflaries for the Redemption of
Captives in the Dominions of Morocco.
Tra-aflated1 from[tht Original French noft, firft
Printed , at, Roan, this prefent Year, 17 14.
*LONDO N: Printed for J.BEL L, at the Croft
Keys and Bible in Cornbill; and f.BAKERt at
the Black Boy in Pafer-NoJter'Row. 1 71 j.
FACSIMILE TITLE-PAGE OF THE HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF MULEY ISMAEL

166 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
however, have just ground for pride in recollecting that their
government was foremost in chastising these pirates in their
own harbours. The exploits of our little navy in the Medi
terranean at the beginning of the present century form an
interesting episode in American history, but in the weak days
of the Confederation our commerce was plundered
American
citizens with impunity, and American citizens were seized
1 nappe ^^ ^^ .^^ slavery in the markets of Algiers
and Tripoli. One reason for the long survival of this
villainy was the low state of humanity among European
nations. An Englishman's sympathy was but feebly aroused
by the plunder of Frenchmen, and the bigoted Spaniard
looked on with approval so long as it was Protestants that
were kidnapped and bastinadoed. In 1783 Lord Sheffield
published a pamphlet on the commerce of the United States,
in which he shamelessly declared that the Barbary pirates
were really useful to the great maritime powers, because
they tended to keep the weaker nations out of their share in
the carrying trade. This, he thought, was a valuable offset
to the Empress Catherine's device of the armed neutrality,
whereby small nations were protected ; and on this wicked
theory, as Franklin tells us, London merchants had been
heard to say that "if there were no Algiers, it would be
worth England's while to build one." It was largely because
of such feelings that the great states of Europe so long
persisted in the craven policy of paying blackmail to the
robbers, instead of joining in a crusade and destroying them.
In 1786 Congress felt it necessary to take measures for
protecting the lives and liberties of American citizens.
The person who was grotesquely called " Emperor " of
Morocco at that time was different from most of his kind.
He had a taste for reading, and had thus caught a glimmer
ing of the enlightened liberalism which French philosophers
were preaching. He wished to be thought a benevolent
despot, and with Morocco, accordingly, Congress succeeded
in making a treaty. But nothing could be done with the
other pirate states without paying blackmail. Few scenes

1786 DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY 167
in our history are more amusing, or more irritating, than
the interview of John Adams with an envoy from Tripoli
in London. The oily-tongued barbarian, with his soft voice
and his bland smile, asseverating that his only interest in
life was to do good and make other people happy, stands out
in fine contrast with the blunt, straightforward, and truthful
New Englander ; and their conversation reminds one of the
old story of Cceur-de-Lion with his curtal-axe and Saladin
with the blade that cut the silken cushion. Adams felt
sure that the fellow was either saint or devil, but Tripoli
could not quite tell which. The envoy's love for b™krnan
mankind was so great that he could not bear the Feb- r786
thought of hostility between the Americans and the Barbary
States, and he suggested that everything might be happily
arranged for a million dollars or so. Adams, thought it
better to fight than to pay tribute. It would be cheaper in
the end, as well as more manly. At the same time, it was
better economy to pay a million dollars at once than waste
many times that sum in war risks and loss of trade. But
Congress could do neither one thing nor the other. It was
too poor to build a navy, and too poor to buy off the pirates ;
and so for several years to come American ships were
burned and American sailors enslaved with impunity. With
the memory of such wrongs deeply graven in his heart, it
was natural that John Adams, on becoming President of the
United States, should bend his energies toward founding a
strong American navy.
A government touches the lowest point of ignominy when
it confesses its inability to protect the lives and property
of its citizens. A government which has come to Congress
this has failed in discharging the primary function u"0at^'cett0
of government, and forthwith ceases to have any American
reason for existing. In March, 1786, Grayson
wrote to Madison that several members of Congress thought
seriously of recommending a general convention for remod
elling the government. " I have not made up my mind,"
says Grayson, " whether it would not be better to bear the

168 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
ills we have than fly to those we know not of. I am, how
ever, in no doubt about the weakness of the federal gov
ernment. If it remains much longer in its present state
of imbecility, we shall be one of the most contemptible
nations on the face of the earth." "It is clear to me as

Ostu^ >5Ge_ >€^^>- €%~ £*_ /^r^

A, B, C," said Washington, " that an extension of federal
powers would make us one of the most happy, wealthy,
respectable, and powerful nations that ever inhabited the
terrestrial globe. Without them we shall soon be every-
*• thing which is the direct reverse. I predict the worst con
sequences from a half-starved, limping government, always
. moving upon crutches and tottering at every step."
y" There is no telling how long the wretched state of things
.which followed the Revolution might have continued, had
* not the crisis been precipitated by the wild attempts of the
several states to remedy the distress of the people by
legislation. That financial distress was widespread
Financial ° r
distress and deep-seated was not to be denied. At the
the political beginning of the war the amount of accumulated
capital in the country had been very small. The
great majority of the people did little more than get from
the annual yield of their farms or plantations enough to
meet the current expenses of the year. Outside of agricul
ture the chief resources were the carrying trade, the ex
change of commodities with England and the West Indies,
and the cod and whale fisheries ; and in these occupations
many people had grown rich. The war had destroyed all
these sources of revenue. Imports and exports had alike
been stopped, so that there was a distressing scarcity of
some of the commonest household articles. The enemy's

DOUULOON SPANISH DOLLAR
£15.90 £1.00
FOREIGN COINS FORMERLY IN CIRCULATION IN THE UNITED STATES

170 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
navy had kept us from the fisheries. Before the war, the
dock-yards of Nantucket were ringing with the busy sound
of adze and hammer, rope-walks covered the island, and
two hundred keels sailed yearly in quest of spermaceti. At
the return of peace, the docks were silent and grass grew
in the streets. The carrying trade and the fisheries began
soon to revive, but it was some years before the old pro
sperity was restored. The war had also wrought serious
damage to agriculture, and in some parts of the country the
direct destruction of property by the enemy's troops had
been very great. To all these causes of poverty there was
added the hopeless confusion due to an inconvertible paper
currency. The worst feature of this financial device is that
it not only impoverishes people, but bemuddles their brains
by creating a false and fleeting show of prosperity. By
violently disturbing apparent values, it always brings on an
era of wild speculation and extravagance in living, followed
by sudden collapse and protracted suffering. In such crises
the poorest people, those who earn their bread by the sweat
of their brows and have no margin of accumulated capital,
always suffer the most. Above all men, it is the labouring
man who needs sound money and steady values. We have
seen all these points amply illustrated since the War of
Secession. After the War of Independence, when the mar
gin of accumulated capital was so much smaller, the misery
was much greater. While the paper money lasted there was
marked extravagance in living, and complaints were loud
against the speculators, especially those who operated in
bread-stuffs. Washington said he would like to hang them
all on a gallows higher than that of Haman ; but they were,
after all, but tbe inevitable products of this abnormal state of
things, and the more guilty criminals were the demagogues
who went about preaching the doctrine that the poor man
needs cheap money. After the collapse of this continental
currency in 1780, it seemed as if there were no money in
the country, and at the peace the renewal of trade with
England seemed at first to make matters worse. The brisk

1786 DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY 171
importation of sorely needed manufactured goods, which
then began, would naturally have been paid for in the south
by indigo, rice, and tobacco, in the middle states by exports
of wheat and furs, and in New England by the profits of the
fisheries, the shipping, and the West India trade. But in

the southern and middle states the necessary revival of
agriculture could not be effected in a moment, and British
legislation against American shipping and the West India
trade fell with crippling force upon New England. Conse
quently, we had little else but specie with which to pay for
imports, and the country was soon drained of what little
specie there was. In the absence of a circulating medium
there was a reversion to the practice of barter, and the
revival of business was thus further impeded. Whiskey in
North Carolina, tobacco in Virginia, did duty as measures

172

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv

of value ; and Isaiah Thomas, editor of the Worcester " Spy,"
announced that he would receive subscriptions for his paper
^in salt pork.
It is worth while, in this connection, to observe what this
specie was, the scarcity of which created so much embarrass
ment. Until 1785 no national coinage was established, and
none was issued until 1793. English, French, Spanish, and
German coins, of various and uncertain value, passed from
state of the nancl to hand. Beside the ninepences and four-
coinage pence-ha' -pennies, there were bits and half-bits,
pistareens, picayunes, and fips. Of gold pieces there were
the Johannes, or joe, the doubloon, the moidore, and pistole,
with English and French guineas, carolins, ducats, and
chequins. Of coppers there were English pence and half
pence and French sous ; and pennies were issued at local
mints in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey,
and Pennsylvania. The English shilling had everywhere
degenerated in value, but differently in different localities ;
and among silver pieces the Spanish dollar, from Louisiana
and Cuba, had begun to supersede it as a measure of value.
In New England the shilling had sunk from nearly one
fourth to one sixth of a dollar ; in New York to one eighth ;
in North Carolina to one tenth. It was partly for this
reason that in devising a national coinage the more uniform
dollar was adopted as the unit. At the same time the decimal
system of division was adopted instead of the cumbrous
English system, and the result was our present admirably
simple currency, which we owe to Gouverneur Morris, aided
as to some points by Thomas Jefferson. During the period
of the Confederation, the chaotic state of the currency was a
serious obstacle to trade, and it afforded endless opportuni
ties for fraud and extortion. Clipping and counterfeiting
were carried to such lengths that every moderately cautious
person, in taking payment in hard cash, felt it necessary to
keep a small pair of scales beside him and carefully weigh
each coin, after narrowly scrutinizing its stamp and decipher
ing its legend.

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FACSIMILE PAGE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS SPY
174 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
In view of all these complicated impediments to business
on the morrow of a long and costly war, it was not strange
that the whole country was in some measure pauperized.
cost of the The cost of the war, estimated in cash, had been
TruJiorri's" about $170,000,000 — a huge sum if we consider
and Ws ^he circumstances of the country at that time.
immense J
services To meet this crushing indebtedness Mr. Hildreth
reckons the total amount raised by the states, whether by
means of repudiated paper or of taxes, down to 1784, as not
more than $30,000,000. No wonder if the issue of such
a struggle seemed quite hopeless. In many parts of the
country, by the year 1786, the payment of taxes had come
to be regarded as an amiable eccentricity. At one moment,
early in 1782, there was not a single dollar in the treasury.
That the government had in any way been able to finish the
war, after the downfall of its paper money, was due to the
gigantic efforts of one great man, — Robert Morris of Penn
sylvania. This statesman was born in England, but he had
come to Philadelphia in his boyhood, and had amassed a
large fortune, which he devoted without stint to the service
of his adopted country. Though opposed to the Declaration
of Independence as rash and premature, he had, neverthe
less, signed his name to that document, and scarcely any
one had contributed more to the success of the war.1 It
was he who raised the money which enabled Washington
to complete the great campaign of Trenton and Princeton.
In 1 78 1 he was made superintendent of finance, and by dint
of every imaginable device of hard-pressed ingenuity he
contrived to support the brilliant work which began at the
Cowpens and ended at Yorktown. He established the Bank
of North America as an instrument by which government
loans might be negotiated. Sometimes his methods were
such as doctors call heroic, as when he made sudden drafts
1 Probably the winning of independence was due more to Morris than
to any other man except Washington. Copious data for studying his
career are collected in Sumner's The Financier and Finances of the
American Revolution, New York, 1891, 2 vols.

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SPECIMEN OF CONTINENTAL CURRENCY

1786

DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY

177

upon our ministers in Europe after the manner already de
scribed. In every dire emergency he was Washington's
chief reliance. It was of ill omen for the fortunes of the
weak and disorderly Confederation that in 1784, after three
years of herculean struggle with
impossibilities, this stout heart and
sagacious head could no longer
weather the storm. The task of
creating wealth out of nothing
had become too arduous and too
thankless to be endured. Robert
Morris resigned his place, and it
was taken by a congressional com
mittee of finance, under whose
management the disorders only
hurried to a crisis.
By 1 786, under the universal de
pression and want of confidence,
all trade had well-nigh stopped,
and political quackery, with its
cheap and dirty remedies, had full
control of the field. In the very
face of miseries so plainly traceable
to the deadly paper currency, it may seem strange that
people should now have begun to clamour for a renewal of
the experiment which had worked so much evil. Yet so it
was. As starving men are said to dream of dainty ban
quets, so now a craze for fictitious wealth in the The craze
shape of paper money ran like an epidemic through n^,™61
the country. There was a Barmecide feast of v^6
economic vagaries ; only now it was the several states that
sought to apply the remedy, each in its own way. And
when we have threaded the maze of this rash legislation, we
shall the better, understand that clause in our federal con
stitution which forbids the making of laws impairing the
obligation of contracts. The events of 1786 impressed
upon men's minds more forcibly than ever the wretched and

SCALES FOR WEIGHING COINS

i78 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
disorderly condition of the country, and went far toward call
ing into existence the needful popular sentiment in favour of
an overruling central government.
The disorders assumed very different forms in the differ
ent states, and brought out a great diversity of opinion as to
the causes of the distress and the efficacy of the proposed
remedies. Only two states out of the thirteen — Connecti
cut and Delaware — escaped the infection, but, on the other
hand, it was only in seven states that the paper money party
prevailed in the legislatures. North Carolina issued a large
amount of paper, and, in order to get it into circulation as
quickly as possible, the state government proceeded to buy
tobacco with it, paying double the specie value of the to
bacco. As a natural consequence, the paper dollar instantly
fell to seventy cents, and went on declining. In South
Agitation Carolina an issue was tried somewhat more cau-
a"d°middie tiously, but the planters soon refused to take the
states papei y its face value. Coercive measures were
then attempt :d. l-ianl-rs ana merr" ants were urged to
sign a pledge no'. wi-> di orinvr.ate between paper and gold,
and if any on* darec1 refuse the fanatics forthwith attempted
to maV .. it hot for him. A ki'id of "Kuklux" society was
organized at Charleston, kno,vn as tbe " Hint Club." Its
purpose was to hint to such people that they had better look
out. If they did not mend their ways, it was unnecessary
to inform them more explicitly what they might expect.
Houses were combustible then as now, and the use of fire
arms was well understood. In Georgia the legislature itself
attempted coercion. Paper money was made a legal tender
in spite of strong opposition, and a law was passed prohibit
ing any planter or merchant from exporting any produce
without taking affidavit that he had never refused to receive
this scrip at its full face value. But somehow people found
that the more it was sought to keep up the paper by dint of
threats and forcing acts, the faster its value fell. Virginia
had issued bills of credit during the campaign of 1781, but
it was enacted at the same time that they should not be a

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SPECIMEN OF CONNECTICUT CURRENCY

1786 DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY 181
legal tender after the next January. The influence of Wash
ington, Madison, and Mason was effectively brought to bear
in favour of .sound currency, and the people of Virginia were
but slightly affected by the craze of 1786. In the autumn
of that year a proposition from two counties for an issue of
paper was defeated in the legislature by a vote of eighty-five
to seventeen, and no more was heard of the matter. In
Maryland, after a very obstinate fight, a rag money bill was
carried in the house of representatives, but the senate threw
it out ; and the measure was thus postponed until the dis
cussion over the federal constitution superseded it in popular
interest. Pennsylvania had warily begun in May, 1785,10
issue a million dollars in bills of credit, which were not made
a legal tender for the payment of private debts. They were
mainly loaned to farmers on mortgage, and were received by
the state as an equivalent for specie in the payment of taxes.
By August, 1786, even this carefully guarded paper had
fallen some twelve cents below par, — not a bad showing
for such a year as that. New York moved somewhat less
cautiously. A million dollars were issued in bills of credit
receivable for the custom-house duties, which were then
paid into the state treasury ; and these bills were made a
legal tender for all money received in lawsuits. At the
same time the New Jersey legislature passed a bill for issu
ing half a million paper dollars, to be a legal tender in all
business transactions. The bill was vetoed by the governor
in council. The aged Governor Livingston was greatly re
spected by the people ; and so the mob at Elizabethtown,
which had duly planted a stake and dragged his effigy up
to it, refrained from inflicting the last indignities upon the
image, and burned that of one of the members of the council
instead. At the next session the governor yielded, and the
rag money was issued. But an unforeseen difficulty arose.
Most of the dealings of New Jersey people were in the cities
of New York and Philadelphia, and in both cities the mer
chants refused their paper, so that it speedily became worth
less.

182 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
The business of exchange was thus fast getting into hope
less confusion. It has been said of Bradshaw's Railway
Guide, the indispensable companion of the traveller in Eng
land, that no man can study it for an hour without qualifying
himself for a lunatic asylum. But Bradshaw" is pellucid
clearness compared with the American tables of exchange
in 1786, with their medley of dollars and shillings, moidores,
and pistareens. The addition of half a dozen different
kinds of paper created such a labyrinth as no human intel
lect could explore. No wonder that men were counted wise
who preferred to take whiskey and pork instead. Nobody
who had a yard of cloth to sell could tell how much it was
worth. But even worse than all this was the swift and
certain renewal of bankruptcy which so many states were
preparing for themselves.
Nowhere did the warning come so quickly or so sharply as
in New England. Connecticut, indeed, as already observed,
came off scot-free. She had issued a little paper money
soon after the battle of Lexington, but had stopped it about
the time of the surrender of Burgoyne. In 1780 she had
wisely and summarily adjusted all relations between debtor
and creditor, and the crisis of 1786 found her people poor
enough, no doubt, but able to wait for better times and
indisposed to adopt violent remedies. It was far otherwise
_,. , in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. These were
Distress *
in New preeminently the maritime states of the Union,
and upon them the blows aimed by England at
American commerce had fallen most severely. It was these
two maritime states that suffered most from the cutting
down of the carrying trade and the restriction of intercourse
with the West Indies. These things worked injury to ship
building, to tbe exports of lumber and oil and salted fish,
even to the manufacture of Medford rum. Nowhere had
the normal machinery of business been thrown out of gear
so extensively as in these two states, and in Rhode Island
there was the added disturbance due to a prolonged occupa
tion by the enemy's troops. Nowhere, perhaps, was there a

" 8||'- ryrh H '¦ s -u - L L lha-'! i,ai'5
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FIVE DOLLARS.

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H Printed by Samcel Loudo.v, in the Visit
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SPECIMEN OF NEW YORK CURRENCY

III ONE EIGHTH of a DOLLAR. N^'3/^
X '¦-r* HIS BILL iliali paf. ^current ™$gmSS$frW <: '
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S r i L L I N
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SPECIMEN OF NEW YORK CURRENCY

1786 DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY 185
larger proportion of the population in debt, and in these
preeminently commercial communities private debts were a
heavier burden and involved more personal suffering than in
the somewhat patriarchal system of life in Virginia or South
Carolina. In the time of which we are now treating, impris
onment for debt was common. High-minded but unfortu
nate men were carried to jail, and herded with thieves and
ruffians in loathsome dungeons, for the crime of owing a
hundred dollars which they could not promptly pay. Under
such circumstances, a commercial disturbance, involving
widespread debt, entailed an amount of personal suffering
and humiliation of which, in these kinder days, we can form
no adequate conception. It tended to make the debtor an
outlaw, ready to entertain schemes for the subversion of
society. In the crisis of 1786, the agitation in Rhode
Island and Massachusetts reached white heat, and things
were done which alarmed the whole country. But the
course of events was different in the two states. In Rhode
Island the agitators obtained control of the government, and
the result was a paroxysm of tyranny. In Massachusetts
the agitators failed to secure control of the government, and
the result was a paroxysm of rebellion.
The debates over paper money in the Rhode Island legis
lature began in 1785, but the advocates of a sound currency
were victorious. These men were roundly abused in the
newspapers, and in the next spring election most of them
lost their seats. The legislature of 1786 showed an over
whelming majority in favour of paper money. The farmers
from the inland towns were unanimous in supporting the
measure. They could not see the difference between the
state making a dollar out of paper and a dollar out of gold.
The idea that the value did not lie in the government stamp
they dismissed as an idle crotchet, a wire-drawn theory,
' worthy only of "literary fellows." What they could see
was the glaring fact that they had no money, hard or soft ;
and they wanted something that would satisfy their credit
ors and buy new gowns for their wives, whose raiment was

1 86 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
t
unquestionably the worse for wear. On the other hand,
the merchants from seaports like Providence, Newport, and
Bristol understood the difference between real money and
the promissory notes of a bankrupt government, but they
were in a hopeless minority. Half a million dollars were
issued in scrip, to be loaned to the farmers on a mortgage
of their real estate. No one could obtain the scrip without
giving a mortgage for twice the amount, and it was thought
that this security would make it as good as gold. But the
depreciation began instantly. When the worthy farmers
went to the store for dry goods or sugar, and found the
prices rising with dreadful rapidity, they were at first aston
ished, and then enraged. The trouble, as they truly said,
was with the wicked merchants, who would not
money vie- take the paper dollars at their face value. These
Rhode!" men were tnus thwarting the government, and
land; the must be punished. An act was accordingly hur-
Ye " mea- ried through the legislature, commanding every
one to take paper as an equivalent for gold, under
penalty of five hundred dollars fine and loss of the right of
suffrage. The merchants in the cities thereupon shut up
their shops. During the summer of 1786 all business was
at a standstill in Newport and Providence, except in the bar
rooms. There and about the market-places men spent their
time angrily discussing politics, and scarcely a day passed
without street-fights, which at times grew into riots. In the
country, too, no less than in the cities, the goddess of dis
cord reigned. The farmers determined to starve the city
people into submission, and they entered into an agreement
not to send any produce into the cities until the merchants
should open their shops and begin selling their goods for
paper at its face value. Not wishing to lose their pigs and
butter and grain, they tried to dispose of them in Boston
and New York, and in the coast towns of Connecticut. But
in all these places their proceedings had awakened such
lively disgust that placards were posted in the taverns warn
ing purchasers against farm produce from Rhode Island.

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SPECIMEN OF PENNSYLVANIA CURRENCY
Ei.!Krwj)ouXllgr

No.

EIGHT DOLLARS.
^TpHIS Bill of EIGHT DOLLARS, fc

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Silver, at tk« Rat
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SPECIMEN OF MARYLAND CURRENCY

1786 DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY 189
Disappointed in these quarters, the farmers threw away their
milk, used their corn for fuel, and let their apples rot on the
ground, rather than supply the detested merchants. Food
grew scarce in Providence and Newport, and in the latter
city a mob of sailors attempted unsuccessfully to storm the
provision stores. The farmers were threatened with armed
violence. Town meetings were held all over the state, to
discuss the situation, and how long they might have talked
to no purpose none can say, when all at once the matter was
brought into court. A cabinet-maker in Newport named
Trevett went into a meat -market kept by one John Weeden,
and selecting a joint of meat, offered paper in payment.
Weeden refused to take the paper except at a heavy dis
count. Trevett went to bed supperless, and next morning
informed against the obstinate butcher for disobedience to
the forcing act. Should the court find him guilty, it would
be a good speculation for Trevett, for half of the five hun
dred dollars fine was to go to the informer. Hard-money
men feared lest the court might prove subservient to the
legislature, since that body possessed the power of removing
the five judges. The case was tried in September amid
furious excitement. Huge crowds gathered about the court
house and far down the street, screaming and cheering like
a crowd on the night of a presidential election. The judges
were clear-headed men, not to be browbeaten. They de
clared the forcing act unconstitutional, and dismissed the
complaint. Popular wrath then turned upon them. A spe
cial session of the legislature was convened, four of the
judges were removed, and a new forcing act was prepared.
This act provided that no man could vote at elections or hold
any office without taking a test oath promising to receive
paper money at par. But this was going too far. Many
soft-money men were not wild enough to support such a
measure ; among the farmers there were some who had
grown tired of seeing their produce spoiled on their hands ;
and many of the richest merchants had announced their
intention of moving out of the state. The new forcing act

i qo

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv

accordingly failed to pass, and presently the old one was
repealed. The paper dollar had been issued in May ; in
November it passed for sixteen cents.
These outrageous proceedings awakened disgust and
alarm among sensible people everywhere, and Rhode Island
was ruthlessly reviled and made fun of. One clause of the
forcing act had provided that if a debtor should offer paper
to his creditor and the creditor should refuse to take it at
par, the debtor might carry his rag money to court and de
posit it with the judge; and the judge must thereupon
issue a certificate discharging the debt. The form of cer
tificate began with the words " Know Ye," and forthwith
the unhappy little state was nicknamed Rogues'- Island, the
home of Know Ye men and Know Ye measures.
While scorn was thus poured out upon Rhode Island,
much sympathy was felt for the government of Massachu
setts, which was called upon thus early to put down armed
rebellion. The pressure of debt was keenly felt in the
rural districts of Massachusetts. It is estimated that the
private debts in the state amounted to some
Rag money x
defeatedin $7,ooo,ooo, and the state's arrears to the federal
setts ; the government amounted to some $7,000,000 more.
smTection Adding to these sums the arrears of bounties due
Aug. 1786- t0 ^he soldiers, and the annual cost of the state,
Feb. 1787 '
, county, and town governments, there was reached
an aggregate equivalent to a tax of more than S50 on every
man, woman, and child in this population of 379,000 souls.
Upon every head of a family the average burden was some
$200 at a time when most farmers would have thought such
a sum yearly a princely income. In those days of scarcity
most of them did not set eyes on so much as S50 in the
course of a year, and happy was he who had tucked away
two or three golden guineas or moidores in an old stocking,
and sewed up the treasure in his straw mattress or hidden
it behind the bricks of the chimney-piece. Under such cir
cumstances the payment of debts and taxes was out of the
question ; and as the same state of things made creditors

1786

DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY

191

clamorous and ugly, the courts were crowded with lawsuits.
The lawyers usually contrived to get their money by exact
ing retainers in advance, and the practice of champerty was
common, whereby the lawyer did his work in consideration
of a percentage on the sum which was at last forcibly col
lected. Homesteads were sold for the payment of fore
closed mortgages, cattle were seized in distrainer, and the

State of Rbode-IJland, tff.
K w ¦ , '¦' That -!ames Arnold, Efq-, of
Ha iS ' 1 u • fa,JudS«>cnt of Court, with Co«,
had and obtamed aga.nit the faid lame Arnold '
by Andrew Comtrock, of Crantton, inTe Counfv
of Providence, Yeoman, at the Inferior Cou t o^
fa^That r^V^V' Pr°VidcnCe in D^" !
Wv\ r I, faU, ^ames Arnold h«« in all Re-
fpe|S comphed with the Law refprf ing the Paper- :
LtuZ7\™t< thatrke faid Andrei Comftock
hath been legally and duIy notified thereof-_As
Wunefs my Hand at Warwick, the Sth of Auguft, >
l7hb- William Greene, J. C. Pleas.
, ygr ' • ~- ', State of Rhode- Ifland, lie.
W <* To all whom it may concern.
KNOW YE; That Samuel BiiTel, of Exeter,
in the County of Washington, on the Fifth
Day of July, at my DwelHng-Houfe at North.
Kingftown, lodged with me the Sum of Twenty.
two Pounds Fhe Shillings and Bive Pence, lawful
Mr—

FACSIMILE OF A " KNOW YE ' CERTIFICATE

i92 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
farmer himself was sent to jail. The smouldering fires of
wrath thus kindled found expression in curses aimed at
lawyers, judges, and merchants. The wicked merchants
bought foreign goods and drained the state of specie to pay
for them, while they drank Madeira wine and dressed their
wives in fine velvets and laces. So said the farmers ; and
city ladies, far kinder than these railers deemed them,
formed clubs, of which the members pledged themselves to
wear homespun, — a poor palliative for the deep-seated ills
of the time. In such mood were many of the villagers when
in the summer of 1786 they were overtaken by the craze
for paper money. At the meeting of the legislature in May,
a petition came in from Bristol County, praying for an issue
of paper. The petitioners admitted that such money was
sure to deteriorate in value, and they doubted the wisdom
of trying to keep it up by forcing acts. Instead of this
they would have the rate of its deterioration regulated by
law, so that a dollar might be worth ninety cents to-day, and
presently seventy cents, and by and by fifty cents, and so
on till it should go down to zero and be thrown overboard.
People would thus know what to expect, and it would be all
right. The delicious naivete' of this argument did not pre
vail with the legislature of Massachusetts, and soft money
was frowned down by a vote of ninety-nine to nineteen.
Then a bill was brought in seeking to reestablish in legisla
tion the ancient practice of barter, and make horses and
cows legal tender for debts ; and this bill was crushed by
eighty-nine votes against thirty-five. At the same time this
legislature passed a bill to strengthen the federal govern
ment by a grant of supplementary funds to Congress, and
thus laid a further burden of taxes upon the people.
There was an outburst of popular wrath. A convention
at Hatfield in August decided that the court of common
pleas ought to be abolished, that no funds should be granted
to Congress, and that paper money should be issued at
once. Another convention at Lenox denounced such incen
diary measures, approved of supporting the federal govern-

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1786

DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY

r95

OLD STREET VIEW IN .WORCESTER

ment, and declared that no good could come from the issue
pf paper money. But meanwhile the angry farmers had
resorted to violence. The legislature, they said, had its sit
tings in Boston, under the influence of wicked lawyers and
merchants, and thus could not be expected to do the will of
the people. A cry went up that henceforth the law-makers
must sit in some small inland town, where jealous eyes
might watch , their proceedings. Meanwhile the lawyers
must be dealt with ; and at Northampton, Worcester, Great
Barrington, and Concord the courts were broken up by
armed mobs. At Concord one Job Shattuck brought sev
eral hundred armed men into the town and surrounded the
court-house, while in a fierce harangue he declared that the
time had come for wiping out all debts. " Yes," squeaked a
nasal voice from the crowd, — " yes, Job, we know all about
them two farms you can't never pay for ! " But this repar
tee did not save the j udges, who thought it best to flee from
the town. At first the legislature deemed it wise to take a
lenient view of these proceedings, and it even went so far as
to promise to hold its next session out of Boston. But the
agitation had reached a point where it could not be stayed.
In September the supreme court was to sit at Springfield,
and Governor Bowdoin sent a force of 600 militia under

196 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
General Shepard to protect it. They were confronted by
some 600 insurgents, under the leadership of Daniel Shays.
This man had been a captain in the Continental army, and
in his force were many of the penniless veterans whom
Gates would fain have incited to rebellion at Newburgh.
Shays seems to have done what he could to restrain his
men from violence, but he was a poor creature, wanting
alike in courage and good faith. On the other hand, the
militia were lacking in spirit. After a disorderly parley,
with much cursing and swearing, they beat a retreat, and the
court was prevented from sitting. Fresh riots followed at
Worcester and Concord. A regiment of cavalry, sent out
by the governor, scoured Middlesex County, and, after a
short fight in the woods near Groton, captured Job Shat-
tuck and dispersed his men. But this only exasperated the
insurgents. They assembled in Worcester to the number
of 1,200 or more, where they lived for two months at free
quarters, while Shays organized and drilled them.
Meanwhile the habeas corpus - "t was suspended for eight
months, and Governor Bowdoin called out an army of 4,400
men, who were placed under command of General Lincoln.
As the state treasury was nearly empty, some wealthy
gentlemen in Boston subscribed the money needed for equip
ping these troops, and about the middle of January, 1787,
they were collected at Worcester. The rebels had behaved
shamefully, burning barns and seizing all the plunder they
could lay hands on. As their numbers increased they found
their military stores inadequate, and accordingly they
marched upon Springfield, with the intent to capture the
federal arsenal there, and provide themselves with muskets
and cannon. General Shepard held Springfield with 1,200
men, and on the 25th of January Shays attacked him with a
force of somewhat more than 2,000, hoping to crush him and
seize the arsenal before Lincoln could come to the rescue.
But his plan of attack was faulty, and as soon as his men
began falling under Shepard's fire a panic seized them, and
they retreated in disorder to Ludlow, and then to Amherst,

1 787

DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY

197
setting fire to houses and robbing the inhabitants. On the
approach of Lincoln's army, three days later, Shays Theinsur-
retreated to Pelham, and planted his forces on two r«s™dSbf
steep hills protected at the bottom by huge snow- state troops
drifts. Lincoln advanced to Hadley and sought to open
negotiations with the rebels. They were reminded that a
contest with the state government was hopeless, and that
they had already incurred the penalty of death ; but if they

7

ffr»-

HOUSE IN PETERSHAM WHERE SHAYS WAS CAPTURED

would now lay down their arms and go home, a free pardon
could be obtained for them. Shays seemed willing to yield,
and Saturday, the 3d of February, was appointed for a con
ference between some of the leading rebels and some of the
officers. But this was only a stratagem. During the confer
ence Shays decamped and marched his men through Prescott
and North Dana to Petersham. Toward nightfall the trick
was discovered, and Lincoln set his whole force in motion
over the mountain ridges of Shutesbury and New Salem.
The day had been mild, but during the night the thermome
ter dropped below zero and an icy, cutting snow began to
fall. There was great suffering during the last ten miles,

I98 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
•
and indeed the whole march of thirty miles in thirteen hours
over steep and snow-covered roads was a worthy exploit for
these veterans of the Revolution. Shays and his men had
not looked for such a display of energy, and as they were
getting their breakfast on Sunday morning at Petersham
they were taken by surprise. A few minutes sufficed to
scatter them in flight. A hundred and fifty, including Shays
himself, were taken prisoners. The rest fled in all direc
tions, most of them to Athol and Northfield, whence they
made their way into Vermont. General Lincoln then
marched his troops into the mountains of Berkshire, where
disturbances still continued. On the 26th of February one
Captain Hamlin, with several hundred insurgents, plundered
the town of Stockbridge and carried off the leading citizens
as hostages. He was pursued as far as Sheffield, defeated
there in a sharp skirmish, with a loss of some thirty in killed
and wounded, and his troops scattered. This put an end to
the insurrection in Massachusetts.
During the autumn similar disturbances had occurred in
the states to the northward. At Exeter in New Hampshire
and at Windsor and Rutland in Vermont the courts had
been broken up by armed mobs, and at Rutland there had
Conduct of keen bloodshed. When the Shays rebellion was
neighbour- put down, Governor Bowdoin requested the neigh
ing states . . ..........
bourmg states to lend their aid in bringing the
insurgents to justice, and all complied with the request
except Vermont and Rhode Island. The legislature of
Rhode Island sympathized with the rebels, and refused to
allow the governor to issue a warrant for their arrest. On
the other hand, the governor of Vermont issued a proclama
tion out of courtesy toward Massachusetts, but he caused it
to be understood that this was but an empty form, as the
state of Vermont could not afford to discourage immigration !
A feeling of compassion for the insurgents was widely
spread in Massachusetts. In March the leaders were tried,
and fourteen were convicted of treason and sentenced to
death ; but Governor Bowdoin, whose term was about to

Commonwealth of Maflachufetts.
By His EXCELLENCY
JamesBowdoin,Eiq. GOVERNOUR of theCOMMONWE A L T H of
MASSACHUSETTS.
A Proclamation.
W.HER EAS by an Aft, pafled the fifteenth ofFebruary inftant.
entitled, " An Aft defcribing the difqualifications, to 'which peribcs
(hall befubjefted, which have been, or may be guilty of Treafon,or giv
ing aid or fupport to the prefent Rebellion, and towhom a pardon may be ex
tended." the General Court have eftabliihed and made known the conditions
and difqualifications, upon which pardon and indemnity to certain offenders,
defcribed in the laid Aft, fhall be offered and given ; and have authorized and
empowered the Governour, in the name of the General Cqurt,' to promifeto
fuch offenders fuch conditional pardon and indemnity : '
I HAVE thought fit, by virtue of the authority veiled
in me by the faid Aft, to iiTue this Proclamation, hereby prcmifing pardon
arid indemnity to all offenders within the defcription alorefaid, who are citizens
of this State ; under fuch reftriftions, conditions and difqualificationsr as are
mentioned in the faid Aft . provided they comply with the terms and condi
tions thereof, on or before the twenty-rirft day of March next/
C IV E N al the Council Chamber in Bofton, this Seventeenth Day' of February, in thiYtar
bf our LORD One T/ioufind Seven Hundred and Eighty Seven, and in tbe Eleventh Tear
of the Independence of the United Slatei oj AMERICA.
JAMES BOWDOIN.
By His Excellency's Command, JOHN AVER Y, jun. Secretary.
BOSTON : Printed by ADAMS & NOURSE. Printers lo tho GENERAL COURT

200 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
expire, granted a reprieve for a few weeks. At the annual
election in April the candidates for the governorship were
Bowdoin and Hancock, and it was generally believed that
the latter would be more likely than the former to pardon
the convicted men. So strong was this feeling that, although
much gratitude was felt toward Bowdoin, to whose energetic
measures the prompt suppression of the rebellion was due,
Hancock obtained a large majority. When the question of
a pardon came up for discussion, Samuel Adams, who was
then president of the senate, was strongly opposed to it, and
one of his arguments was very characteristic. " In mon
archies," he said, "the crime of treason and rebellion may
admit of being pardoned or lightly punished ; but the man
who dares to rebel against the laws of a republic ought to
suffer death." This was Adams's sensitive point. He
wanted the whole world to realize that the rule of a republic
is a rule of law and order, and that liberty does not mean
license. But iri" spite of this iyjgw, for which there was
much to be said, the clemency of the American tempera
ment .-prevailed, and Governor Hancock pardoned all the
fprjso.ners. - ''• \- _- X. ;•>,..-',-
"STothing 'jhrtfie- h^stc|ryV-Qf\ these; disturbances is more
instructive than fhe light* incidentally thrown upon the rela
tions between Congress and the state government. Just
before the news of the rout at Petersham, Samuel Adams had
proposed in the senate that the governor should be requested
to write to Congress and inform that body of what was
going on in Massachusetts, stating that " although the legis
lature are firmly persuaded that ... in all probability they
will be able speedily and effectively to suppress the rebellion,
yet, if any unforeseen event should take place which may
frustrate the measures of government, they rely upon such
support from the United States as is expressly and solemnly
stipulated by the articles of confederation." A resolution
to this effect was carried in the senate, but defeated in the
house through the influence of western county members in
sympathy with the insurgents ; and incredible as it may

1787

DRIFTING TOWARD ANARCHY

seem, the argument was freely used that it was incompatible
with the dignity of Massachusetts to allow United States
troops to set foot upon her soil. When we reflect that the
arsenal at Springfield, where the most considerable disturb
ance occurred, was itself federal property, the climax of
absurdity might seem to have been reached.

CAi7o~uy~zCrfn

n^

It was left for Congress itself, however, to cap that cli
max. The progress of the insurrection in the autumn in
Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, as well as
the troubles in Rhode Island, had alarmed the whole coun
try. It was feared that the insurgents in these states might
join forces, and in some way kindle a flame that _
.. , _, Congress
would run through the land. Accordingly Con- afraid to
gress in October called upon the states for a con
tinental force, but did not dare to declare openly what it was
to be used for. It was thought necessary to say that the

202 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, iv
troops were wanted for an expedition against the northwest
ern Indians ! National humiliation could go no further
than such a confession, on the part of our central govern
ment, that it dared not use force in defence of those very
articles of confederation to which it owed its existence.
Things had come to such a pass that people of all shades of
opinion were beginning to agree upon one thing, — that
something must be done, and done quickly.

CHAPTER V
GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
While the events we have heretofore contemplated
seemed to prophesy the speedy dissolution and downfall of
the half-formed American Union, a series of causes, obscure
enough at first, but emerging gradually into distinctness
and then into prominence, were preparing the way for the
foundation of a national sovereignty. The growth of this
sovereignty proceeded stealthily along such ancient
lines of precedent as to take ready hold of people's anatfonai°
minds, although few, if any, understood the full beyond the
purport of what they were doing. Ever since the AUegha-
days when our English forefathers dwelt in village
communities in the forests of northern Germany, the idea
of a common land or folkland — a territory belonging to
the whole community, and upon which new communities
might be organized by a process analogous to what physiolo
gists call cell-multiplication — • had been perfectly familiar to
everybody. Townships budded from village or parish folk-
land in Maryland and Massachusetts in the seventeenth cen
tury, just as they had done in England before the time of
Alfred. The critical period of the Revolution witnessed the
repetition of this process on a gigantic scale. It witnessed
the creation of a national territory beyond the Alleghanies,
— an enormous folkland in which all the thirteen old states
had a common interest, and upon which new and derivative
communities were already beginning to organize themselves.
Questions about public lands are often regarded as the driest
of historical deadwood. Discussions about them in news
papers and magazines belong to the class of articles which
the general reader usually skips. Yet there is a great deal

204 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
of the philosophy of history wrapped up in this subject, and
it now comes to confront us at a most interesting moment ;
for without studying this creation of a national domain
between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi, we cannot
understand how our Federal Union came to be formed.
When England began to contend with France and Spain
for the possession of North America, she made royal grants
of land upon this continent, in royal ignorance of its extent
and configuration. But until the Seven Years' War the
eastward and westward partitioning of these grants was
of little practical consequence; for English dominion was
bounded by the Alleghanies, and everything beyond was in
the hands of the French. In that most momentous war
the genius of the elder Pitt won the region east of the Mis
sissippi for men of English race, while the vast territory
of Louisiana, beyond, passed under the control of Spain.
During the Revolutionary War, in a series of romantic expe
ditions, the state of Virginia took military possession of a
great part of the wilderness east of the Mississippi, founding
towns in the Ohio and Cumberland valleys, and occupying
with garrisons of her state militia the posts at Cahokia,
Kaskaskia, and Vincennes. We have seen how, through the
skill of our commissioners at Paris, this noble country was
Conflicting secured for the Americans in the treaty of 1783,
thewestem m spite °f tne reluctance of France and the hos-
territory tility of Spain. Throughout the Revolutionary
War the Americans claimed the territory as part of the
United States ; but when once it passed from under the
control of Great Britain, into whose hands did it go ? To
whom did it belong ? To this question there were various
and conflicting answers. North Carolina, indeed, had already
taken possession of what was afterward called Tennessee,
and at the beginning of the war Virginia had annexed Ken
tucky. As to these points there could be little or no dis
pute. But with the territory north of the Ohio River it was
very different. Four states laid claim either to the whole or
to parts of this territory, and these claims were not simply
conflicting, but irreconcilable.

1777-85 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 205
The charters of Massachusetts and Connecticut were
framed at a time when people had not got over the notion
that this part of the continent was scarcely wider than
Mexico, and accordingly those colonies had received the
royal permission to extend from sea to sea. The existence
of a foreign colony of Dutchmen in the neigh- cl im f
bourhood was a trifle about which these documents Massachu-
did not trouble themselves ; but when Charles II. Connecti-
conquered this colony and bestowed it upon his
brother, the province of New York became a stubborn fact,
which could not be disregarded. Massachusetts and Con
necticut peaceably settled their boundary line with New
York, and laid no claims to land within the limits of that
state ; but they still continued to claim what lay beyond it,
as far as the Mississippi River, where the Spanish dominion
now began. The regions claimed by Massachusetts have
since become the southern halves of the states of Michigan
and Wisconsin. The region claimed by Connecticut was a
narrow strip running over the northern portions of Pennsyl
vania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois ; and we have seen how
much trouble was occasioned in Pennsylvania by this cir
cumstance. But New York laughed to scorn these claims of Connec
ticut. In the seventeenth century all the Algon- claims of
quin tribes between Lake Erie and the Cumber- NewYork
land Mountains had become tributary to the Iroquois ; and
during the hundred years' struggle between France and
England for the supremacy of this continent the Iroquois
had put themselves under the protection of England, which
thenceforth always treated them as an appurtenance to New
York. For a hundred years before the Revolution, said
New York, she had borne the expense of protecting the
Iroquois against the French, and by various treaties she had
become lawful suzerain over the Six Nations and their lands
and the lands of their Algonquin vassals. On such grounds
New York claimed pretty much everything north of the
Ohio and east of the Miami

206 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
But, according to Virginia, it made little difference what
Massachusetts and Connecticut and New York thought
about the matter, for every acre of land, from the Ohio
Virginia's River up to Lake Superior, belonged to her. Was
claims not she the i'orciiy " Old Dominion," out of which
every one of the states had been carved ? Even Cape Cod
and Cape Ann were said to be in " North Virginia " until, in
1614, Captain John Smith invented the name "New Eng
land." It was a fair presumption that any uncarved terri
tory belonged to Virginia ; and it was further held that the
original charter of 1609 used language which implicitly cov
ered the northwestern territory, though, as Thomas Paine
showed, in a pamphlet entitled "Public Good," this was very
doubtful. But besides all this, it was Virginia that had
actually conquered the disputed territory, and held every
military post in it except those which the British had not yet
surrendered ; and who could doubt that possession was nine
points in the law ?
Of these conflicting claims, those of New York and Vir
ginia were the most grasping and the most formidable,
because they concerned a region into which immigration was
beginning rapidly to pour. They were regarded with strong
disfavour by the small states, Rhode Island, New Jersey,
Delaware, and Maryland, which were so situated that they
never could expand in any direction. They looked forward
with dread to a future in which New York and
novel and Virginia might wax powerful enough to tyrannize
suggestion over their smaller neighbours. But of these pro-
0ct- »5> testing states it was only Maryland that fairly
rose to the occasion, and suggested an idea which
seemed startling at first, but from which mighty and unfore
seen consequences were soon to follow.1 It was on the 15th
1 This subject has been treated in a masterly manner bv Mr. H. B.
Adams, in an essay on " Maryland's Influence upon Land Cessions to
the United States," published in the Third Series of the admirable
fohns Hopkins University Studies in History, and Politics. I am
indebted to Mr. Adams for many valuable suggestions.

1777-85 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 207
of October, 1777, just two days before Burgoyne's surren
der, that this path-breaking idea first found expression in
Congress. The articles of confederation were then just
about to be presented to the several states to be ratified,
and the question arose as to how the conflicting western
claims should be settled. A motion was then made that
" the United States in Congress assembled shall have the
sole and exclusive right and power to ascertain and fix the
western boundary of such states as claim to the Mississippi,
. . . and lay out the land beyond the boundary so ascer
tained into separate and independent states, from time to
time, as the numbers and circumstances of the people may
require." To carry out such a motion, it would be neces
sary for the four claimant states to surrender their claims
into the hands of the United States, and thus create a
domain which should be owned by the confederacy in com
mon. So bold a step towards centralization found no favour
at the time. No other state but Maryland voted for it.
But Maryland's course was well considered : she pursued
it resolutely, and was rewarded with complete success. By
February, 1779, all the other states had ratified the articles
of confederation. In the following May, Maryland declared
that she would not ratify the articles until she should
receive some definite assurance that the northwestern terri
tory should become the common property of the United
States, "subject to be parcelled out by Congress into free,
convenient, and independent governments." The question,
thus boldly brought into the foreground, was earnestly dis
cussed in Congress and in the state legislatures, until in
February, 1780, partly through the influence of General
Schuyler, New York decided to cede all her claims
to the western lands. This act of New York set end states
things in motion, so that in September Congress claims in'
recommended to all states having western claims (^"united
to cede them to the United States. In October, St|tes> 1780-85
Congress, still pursuing the Maryland idea, went
farther, and declared that all such lands as might be ceded

208 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
should be sold in lots to immigrants and the money used for
federal purposes, and that in due season distinct states
should be formed there, to be admitted into the Union,
with the same rights of sovereignty as the original thirteen
states. As an inducement to Virginia, it was further pro
vided that any state which had incurred expense during the
war in defending its western possessions should receive com
pensation. To this general invitation Connecticut immedi
ately responded by offering to cede everything to which she
laid claim, except 3,250,000 acres on the southern shore of
Lake Erie, which she wished to reserve for educational pur
poses. Washington disapproved of this reservation, but it
was accepted by Congress, though the business was not
completed until 1786. This part of the state of Ohio is
still commonly spoken of as the " Connecticut Reserve," or
"Western Reserve." Half a million acres, known as " Fire
Lands," were given to citizens of Connecticut whose pro
perty had been destroyed in the British raids that set fire
to her coast towns, and the rest were afterward sold for
$1,200,000, in aid of schools and colleges.
In January, 1781, Virginia offered to surrender all the
territory northwest of the Ohio, provided that Congress
would guarantee her in the possession of Kentucky. This
gave rise to a discussion which lasted nearly three years,
until Virginia withdrew her proviso and made the cession
absolute. It was accepted by Congress on the 1 st of March,
1784, and on the 19th of April, in the following year, — the
tenth anniversary of Lexington, — Massachusetts surren
dered her claims ; and the whole northwestern territory —
the area of the great states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois,
Indiana, and Ohio (excepting the Connecticut Reserve) 1 —
thus became the common property of the half-formed nation.
Maryland, however, did not wait for this. As soon as New
York and Virginia had become thoroughy committed to the
movement, she ratified the articles of confederation, which
thus went into operation on the 1st of March, 1781.
1 This was surrendered to the United States in 1800.

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1777-85 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 209
This acquisition of a common territory speedily led to
results not at all contemplated in the theory of union upon
which the articles of confederation were based. It led to
" the exercise of national sovereignty in the sense of eminent
domain," as shown in the ordinances of 1784 and 1787, and
prepared men's minds for the work of the Federal Conven
tion. Great credit is due to Maryland for her resolute
course in setting in motion this train of events. It aroused
fierce indignation at the time, as to many people it looked
unfriendly to the Union. Some hot-heads were even heard
to say that if Maryland should persist any longer in her
refusal to join the confederation, she ought to be summarily
divided up between the neighbouring states, and her name
erased from the map. But the brave little state had earned
a better fate than that of Poland. When we have come to
trace out the results of her action, we shall see that just as
it was Massachusetts that took the decisive step in bringing
on the Revolutionary War when she threw the tea into
Boston harbour, so it was Maryland that, by leading the
way toward the creation of a national domain, laid the corner
stone of our Federal Union. Equal credit must be given to
Virginia for her magnanimity in making the desired surren
der. It was New York, indeed, that set the praiseworthy
example ; but New York, after all, surrendered only a
shadowy claim, whereas Virginia gave up a magnificent and
princely territory of which she was actually in pos- Magnan.
session. She might have held back and made imityof
.... . ,, Virginia
endless trouble, just as, at the beginning of the
Revolution, she might have refused to make common cause
with Massachusetts ; but in both instances her leading
statesmen showed a far-sighted wisdom and a breadth of
patriotism for which no words of praise can be too strong.
In the later instance, as in the earlier, Thomas Jefferson
played an important part. He, who in after years, as presi
dent of the United States, was destined, by the purchase
of Louisiana and the exploration of Oregon, to carry our
western frontier beyond the Rocky Mountains, had, in 1779,

210 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
done more than any one else to support the romantic cam
paign in which General Clark had taken possession of the
country between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi. He
had much to do with the generous policy which gave up the
greater part of that country for a national domain, and on
the very day on which the act of cession was completed
he presented to Congress a remarkable plan for the govern
ment of the new territory, which was only partially success
ful because it attempted too much, but the results of which
were in many ways notable.
In this plan, known as the Ordinance of 1784, Jefferson
proposed to divide the northwestern territory into ten states,
or just twice as many as have actually grown out of it. In
each of these states the settlers might establish a local
government, under the authority of Congress ; and
Jefferson . J .
proposes a when in any one of them the population should
government come to equal that of the least populous of the
northwest- original states, it might be admitted into the Union
em terrf- by the consent of nine states in Congress. The
tory, 1784 J &
new states were to have universal suffrage ; they
must have republican forms of government ; they must pay
their shares of the federal debt ; they must forever remain a
part of the United States ; and after the year 1 800 negro
slavery must be prohibited within their limits. The names
of these ten states have afforded much amusement to Jef
ferson's biographers. In those days the schoolmaster was
abroad in the land after a peculiar fashion. Just as we are
now in the full tide of that Gothic revival which goes back
for its beginnings to Sir Walter Scott ; as we admire mediae
val things, and try to build our houses after old English
models, and prefer words of what people call "Saxon"
origin, and name our children Roland and Herbert, or Edith
and Winifred, so our great-grandfathers lived in a time of
classical revival. They were always looking for precedents
in Greek and Roman history ; they were just beginning to
try to make their wooden houses look like temples, with
Doric columns ; they preferred words of Latin origin ; they

1784 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 211

JEFFERSON'S PROPOSED STATES IN THE NORTHWEST, 1 784

signed their pamphlets "Brutus" and " Lycurgus," and in
sober earnest baptized their children as Cassar, or Marcellus,
or Darius. The map of the United States was just about to
bloom forth with towns named Ithaca and Syracuse, Corinth
and Sparta ; and on the Ohio River, opposite the mouth of
Licking Creek, a city had lately been founded, the name of
which was truly portentous. " Losantiville " was this won-

212 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
derful compound, in which the initial L stood for " Licking,"
while os signified "mouth," anti "opposite," and ville
"town; " and the whole read neatly backwards as "Town-
opposite-mouth-of-Licking." In 1790 General St. Clair, then
governor of the northwest territory, changed this name to
Cincinnati, in honor of the military order to which he
belonged. With such examples in mind, we may see that
the names of the proposed ten states, from which the failure
of Jefferson's ordinance has delivered us, illustrated the
prevalent taste of the time rather than any idiosyncrasy of
the man. The proposed names were Sylvania, Michigania,
Chersonesus, Assenisipia, Metropotamia, Illinoia, Saratoga,
Washington, Polypotamia, and Pelisipia.
It was not the nomenclature that stood in the way of
Jefferson's scheme, but the wholesale way in which he tried
to deal with the slavery question. He wished to hem in the
probable extension of slavery by an impassable barrier, and
accordingly he not only provided that it should be
t0eProhibft extinguished in the northwestern territory after
i?nathey trie Year I8oo, but at the same time his anti-slav-
nationai erv ardour led him to try to extend the national
domain J J 9
dominion southward. He did his best to persuade
the legislature of Virginia to crown its work by giving up
Kentucky to the United States, and he urged that North
Carolina and Georgia should also cede their western terri
tories. As for South Carolina, she was shut in between
the two neighbouring states in such wise that her western
claims were vague and barren. Jefferson would thus have
drawn a north-and-south line from Lake Erie down to the
Spanish border of the Floridas, and west of this line he
would have had all negro slavery end with the eighteenth
century. The policy of restricting slavery, so as to let it die
a natural death within a narrowly confined area, — the policy
to sustain which Lincoln was elected president in i860, —
was thus first definitely outlined by Jefferson in 1784. It
was the policy of forbidding slavery in the national territory.
Had this policy succeeded then, it would have been an

1784 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 213
ounce of prevention worth many a pound of cure. But it
failed because of its largeness, because it had too many ele
ments to deal with. For the moment, the proposal to exclude
slavery from the northwestern territory was defeated. It
got only six states in its favour, where it needed seven.1
This defeat, however, was retrieved three years later, when
the famous Ordinance of 1787 prohibited slavery forever
from the national territory north of the Ohio River. But
Jefferson's scheme had not only to deal with the national
domain as it was, but also to extend that domain south
ward to Florida ; and in this it failed. Virginia could not
be persuaded to give up Kentucky until too late. When
Kentucky came into the Union, after the adoption of the
Federal Constitution, she came as a sovereign state, with
all her domestic institutions in her own hands. With the
western districts of North Carolina the case was somewhat
different, and the story of this region throws a curious light
upon the affairs of that disorderly time.
In surrendering her western territory, North Carolina
showed praiseworthy generosity. But the frontier settlers
were too numerous to be handed about from one dominion
to another, without saying something about it themselves;
and their action complicated the matter, until it was too late
for Jefferson's scheme to operate upon them. In June,
1784, North Carolina ceded the region since known as Ten
nessee, and allowed Congress two years in which to accept
the grant. Meanwhile, her own authority was to remain
supreme there. But the settlers grumbled and protested.
Some of them were sturdy pioneers of the finest type, but
along with these there was a lawless population of "white
trash," ancestors of the peculiar race of men we find to-day
1 " Ten states were present. The 4 Eastern states, N. York, and
Penns., were for the clause. Jersey would have been for it, but there
were but two members, one of whom was sick in his chambers. South
Carolina, Maryland, and ! Virginia ! voted against it. N. Carolina
was divided, as would have been Virginia, had not one of its delegates
been sick in bed." fefferson to Madison, April 25, 1784.

214 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap..v
in rural districts of Missouri and Arkansas. They were
the refuse of North Carolina, gradually pushed westward
by the advance of an orderly civilization. Crime was rife in
the settlements, and, in the absence of courts, a rough-and-
ready justice was administered by vigilance committees.
The Cherokees, moreover, were troublesome neighbours,
and people lived in dread of their tomahawks. Petitions had •
again and again gone up to the legislature, urging the estab
lishment of courts and a militia, but had passed unheeded,
and now it seemed that the state had withdrawn her pro
tection entirely. The settlers did not wish to have their
country made a national domain. If their own state could
not protect them, it was quite clear to them that Congress
could not. What was Congress, any way, but a roomful of
men whom nobody heeded ? So these backwoodsmen held
a convention in a log-cabin at Jonesborough, and seceded
from North Carolina. They declared that the counties
between the Bald Mountains and the Clinch River consti
tuted an independent state, to which they gave the name of
Tohn se- Franklin ; 1 and they went on to frame a constitu-
vier, and tion and elect a legislature with two chambers.
the state of °
Franklin, b or governor they chose John Sevier, one of the
17 4~ heroes of King's Mountain, a man of Huguenot
ancestry, and such dauntless nature that he has been some
times called the "lion of the border." Having done all this,
the seceders, in spite of their small respect for Congress,
sent a delegate to that body, requesting that the new state
of Franklin might be admitted into the Union. Before this
business had been completed, North Carolina repealed her
act of cession, and warned the backwoodsmen to return to
their allegiance. This at once split the new state into two
factions : one party wished to keep on as they had now
started, the other wished for reunion with North Carolina.
1 The name was given in honour of Benjamin Franklin. An attempt
was made to modify it to Frankland (i. e. " land of the free "), but this
was voted down. It is often referred to, however, as the state of
Frankland.

1786

GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY

215

In 1 786 the one party in each county elected members to
represent them in the North Carolina legislature, while the
other party elected members of the legislature of Franklin.
Everywhere two sets of officers claimed authority, civil
dudgeon grew very high, and pistols were freely used.
The agitation extended into the neighbouring counties of

¦ V-

y

tysi^

Virginia, where some discontented people wished to secede
and join the state of Franklin. For the next two years
there was something like civil war, until the North Carolina
party grew so strong that Sevier fled, and the state of Frank
lin ceased to exist. Sevier was arrested on a warrant for
high treason, but he effected an escape, and after men's pas
sions had cooled down his great services and strong charac
ter brought him again to the front. He sat in the senate
of North Carolina, and in 1796, when Tennessee became a
state in the Union, Sevier was her first governor.

216 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
These troubles show how impracticable was the attempt
to create a national domain in any part of the country which
contained a considerable population. The instinct of self-
government was too strong to allow it. Any such population
would have refused to submit to ordinances of Congress.
To obey the parent state or to set up for one's self, — these
were the only alternatives which ordinary men at that time
could understand. Experience had not yet ripened their
minds for comprehending a temporary condition of semi-
independence, such as exists to-day under our territorial
governments. The behaviour of these Tennessee back
woodsmen was just what might have been expected. The
land on which they were living was not common land : it
had been appropriated ; it belonged to them, and it was for
them to make laws for it. Such is the lesson of the short
lived state of Franklin. It was because she perceived that
similar feelings were at work in Kentucky that Virginia did
not venture to loosen her grasp upon that state until it was
fully organized and ready for admission 'into the Union. It
was in no such partly settled country that Congress could
do such a thing as carve out boundaries and prohibit slavery
by an act of national sovereignty. There remained the
magnificent territory north of the Ohio, — an empire in
itself, as large as the German Empire, with the Netherlands
thrown in, — in which the collective wisdom of the Ameri
can people, as represented in Congress, might autocratically
shape the future ; for it was still a wilderness, watched by
frontier garrisons, and save for the Indians and the trappers
and a few sleepy old French towns on the eastern bank of
the Mississippi, there were no signs of human life in all its
vast solitude. Here, where there was nobody to grumble or
secede, Congress, in 1787, proceeded to carry out the work
which Jefferson had outlined three years before.
It is interesting to trace the immediate origin of the
famous Ordinance of 1787. At the close of the war General
Rufus Putnam, from the mountain village of Rutland in
Massachusetts, sent to Congress an outline of a plan for

1787 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 217
colonizing the region between Lake Erie and the Ohio with
veterans of the army, who were well fitted to protect the
border against Indian attacks. The land was to be laid out
in townships six miles square, " with large reserva- - .
tions for the ministry and schools ; " and by selling the Ohio
it to the soldiers at a merely nominal price, the company
penniless Congress might obtain an income, and at the
same time recognize their services in the only substantial

^huAtc (PcxrfnJWvLy

way that seemed practicable. Washington strongly favoured
the scheme, but, in order to carry it out, it was necessary to
wait until the cession of the territory by the various claimant
states should be completed. After this had been done, a
series of treaties were made with the Six Nations, as over
lords, and their vassal tribes, the Wyandots, Chippewas,
Ottawas, Delawares, and Shawnees, whereby all Indian
claims to the lands in question were forever renounced.
The matter was then formally taken up by Holden Parsons

2l8

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

CHAP. V

of Connecticut, and Rufus Putnam, Manasseh Cutler, Win
throp Sargent, and others, of Massachusetts, and a joint-
stock company was formed for the purchase of lands on the
Ohio River. A large number of settlers • — old soldiers of
excellent character, whom the war had impoverished — were
ready to go and take possession at once ; and in its petition
the Ohio company asked for nothing better than that its

RUFtJS PUTNAM'S HOUSE AT RUTLAND, MASS.

settlers should be "under the immediate government of
Congress in such mode and for such time as Congress shall
judge proper." Such a proposal, affording a means at once
of replenishing the treasury and satisfying the soldiers, could
not but be accepted ; and thus were laid the foundations of
a state destined within a century to equal in population and
far surpass in wealth the whole Union as it was at that time.
It became necessary at once to lay down certain general
principles of government applicable to the northwestern
territory ; and the result was the Ordinance of 1787, which
was chiefly the work of Edward Carrington and Richard
Henry Lee of Virginia, and Nathan Dane of Massachusetts,
in committee, following the outlines of a draft which is sup
posed to have been made by Manasseh Cutler. Jefferson
was no longer on the ground, having gone on his mission

1787 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 219
to Paris, but some of the principles of his proposed Ordi
nance of 1784 were adopted.'
It was provided that the northwestern territory should
ultimately be carved into states, not exceeding five in num
ber, and any one of these might be admitted into the Union
as soon as its population should reach 60,000. In the mean
time, the whole territory was to be governed by
officers appointed by Congress, and required to nance of
take an oath of allegiance to the United States. I? 7
Under this government there was to be unqualified freedom

of religious worship, and no religious tests should be required
of any public official. Intestate property should descend in
equal shares to children of both sexes. Public schools were
to be established. Suffrage was not yet made universal, as
a freehold in fifty acres was required. No law was ever to
be made which should impair the obligation of contracts,
and it was thoroughly agreed that this provision especially

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

CHAP. V

covered and prohibited the issue of paper money. The
future states to be formed from this territory must make
their laws conform to these fundamental principles, and
under no circumstances could any one of them ever be
separated from the Union. In such wise, the theory of
peaceful secession was condemned in advance, so far as it
was possible for the federal government to do so. Jefferson's
principle, that slavery should not be permitted in the national

MANASSEH CUTLER'S BIRTHPLACE IN CONNECTICUT

domain, was also adopted so far as the northwest was con
cerned ; and it is interesting to observe the names of the
states which were present in Congress when this clause was
added to the ordinance. They were Georgia, the two
Carolinas, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and
Massachusetts ; and the vote was unanimous. No one was

1787 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 221
more active in bringing about this result than William
Grayson of Virginia, who was earnestly supported by Lee.
The action of Virginia and North Carolinia at that time
need not surprise us. But the movements in favour of
emancipation in these two states, and the emancipation actu
ally effected or going on at the north, had already made
Georgia and South Carolina extremely sensitive about
slavery ; and their action on this occasion can be explained
only by supposing that they were willing to yield a point in
this remote territory, in order by and by to be able to insist
upon an equivalent in the case of the territory lying west
of Georgia. Nor would they have yielded at all had not a
fugitive slave law been enacted, providing that slaves escap
ing beyond the Ohio should be arrested and returned to
their owners. Tb.ese arrangements having been made,
General St. Clair was appointed governor of the territory ;
surveys were made ; land was put up for sale at sixty cents
per acre, payable in certificates of the public debt ; and
settlers rapidly came in. The westward exodus from New
England and Pennsylvania now began, and only fourteen
years elapsed before Ohio, the first of the five states, was
admitted into the Union.
"I doubt," says Daniel Webster, "whether one single
law of any law-giver, ancient or modern, has produced effects
of more distinct, marked, and lasting character than the
Ordinance of 1787." Nothing could have been more emphat
ically an exercise of national sovereignty ; yet, as Madison
said, while warmly commending the act, Congress did it
"without the least colour of constitutional authority." The
ordinance was never submitted to the states for ratification.
The articles of confederation had never contemplated an
occasion for such a peculiar assertion of sovereignty. " A
great and independent fund of revenue," said Madison, " is
passing into the hands of a single body of men, who can
raise troops to an indefinite number, and appropriate money
to their support for an indefinite period of time. . . . Yet
no blame has been whispered, no alarm has been sounded,"

222 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
even by men most zealous for state rights and mOst suspi
cious of Congress. Within a few months this argument was
to be cited with telling effect against those who hesitated to
accept the Federal Constitution because of the great powers
which it conferred upon the general government. Unless
you give a government specific powers, commensurate with
its objects, it is liable on occasions of public necessity to
exercise powers which have not been granted. Avoid the
dreadful dilemma between dissolution and usurpation, urged
Madison, by clothing the government with powers that are
ample but clearly defined. In a certain sense, the action of
Congress in 1787 was a usurpation of authority to meet an
emergency which no one had foreseen, as in the cases of
Jefferson's purchase of Louisiana and Lincoln's emancipation
Theory of of the slaves. Each of these instances marked, in
upo^which one way or another, a brilliant epoch in American
nanretas history, and in eacn case the public interest was
based s0 unmistakable that the people consented and
applauded. The theory upon which the Ordinance of 1787
was based was one which nobody could fail to understand,

WOLF CREEK MILLS, OHIO, 1 789

1787

GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY

223

CAMPUS MARTIUS, MARIETTA, OHIO

though perhaps no one would then have known just how to
put it into words. It was simply the thirteen states, through
their delegates in Congress, dealing with the unoccupied
national domain as if it were the common land or folkland
of a stupendous township.
The vast importance of the lands between the Alleghanies
and the Mississippi was becoming more apparent every year,
as the westward movement of population went on. But at
this time their value was much more clearly seen by the
southern than by the northern states. In the north the
westward emigration was only just beginning to pass the
Alleghanies ; in the south, as we have seen, it had gone
beyond them several years before. The southern states,
accordingly, took a much sounder view than the northern
states of the importance to the Union of the free navigation
of the Mississippi River. The difference was forcibly illus
trated in the dispute with Spain, which came to a crisis in
the summer of 1786. It will be remembered that by the
treaties which closed the Revolutionary War the provinces
of East and West Florida were ceded by England to Spain.
West Florida was the region lying between the Appalachi-
cola and the Mississippi rivers, including the southernmost
portions of the present states of Alabama and Mississippi,

224 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chaf. v
with a bit of Louisiana. By the treaty between Great Brit-
Spain ain anci ^he United States, the northern boundary
hearing of 0f this province was described by the thirty-first
the secret * ...
article in parallel of latitude ; but Spam denied the right of
of%8^, y these powers to place the boundary so low. Her
tempe^and troops still held Natchez, and she maintained that
threatens the boundary must be placed a hundred miles far-
to shut up J t A
the Missis- ther north, starting from the Mississippi at the
mouth of the Yazoo River, near the present site of
Vicksburg. Now the treaty between Great Britain and the
United States contained a secret article, wherein it was
provided that if England could contrive to keep West
Florida, instead of surrendering it to Spain, then the boun
dary should start at the Yazoo. This showed that both Eng
land and the United States were willing to yield the one to
the other a strip of territory which both agreed in withhold
ing from Spain. Presently the Spanish court got hold of
the secret article, and there was great indignation. Here
was England giving to the Americans a piece of land which
she knew, and the Americans knew, was lately a part of
West Florida, and therefore belonged to Spain ! Castilian
grandees went to bed and dreamed of invincible armadas.
Congress was promptly informed that, until this affair should
be set right, the Americans need not expect the Spanish
government to make any treaty of commerce with them;
and furthermore, let no American sloop or barge dare to
show itself on the Mississippi below the Yazoo, under
penalty of confiscation. When these threats were heard in
America, there was great excitement everywhere, but it
assumed opposite phases in the north and in the south.
The merchants of New York and Boston cared little more
about the Mississippi River than about Timbuctoo, but they
were extremely anxious to see a commercial treaty concluded
with Spain. On the other hand, the backwoodsmen of
Kentucky and the state of Franklin cared nothing for the
trade on the ocean, but they would not sit still while their
corn and their pork were confiscated on the way to New

1784 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 225

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Orleans. The people of Virginia sympathized with the
backwoodsmen, but her great statesmen realized the impor
tance of both interests and the danger of a conflict between
them. The Spanish envoy, Gardoqui, arrived in the summer of
1784, and had many interviews with Jay, who was then
secretary for foreign affairs. Gardoqui set forth Gardoqui
that his royal master was graciously pleased to deal and Jay
leniently with the Americans, and would confer one favour
upon them, but could not confer two. He was ready to

226 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
enter .into a treaty of commerce with us, but not until we
should have renounced all claim to the navigation of the
Mississippi River below the Yazoo. Here the Spaniard was
inexorable. A year of weary argument passed by, and he
had not budged an inch. At last, in despair, Jay advised
Congress, for the sake of the commercial treaty, to consent
to the closing of the Mississippi, but only for twenty-five
years. As the rumour of this went abroad among the set
tlements south of the Ohio, there was an outburst of wrath,
to which an incident that now occurred gave added viru
lence. A North Carolinian trader, named Amis, sailed
down the Mississippi with a cargo of pots and kettles and
barrels of flour. At Natchez his boat and his goods were
seized by the Spanish officers, and he was left to make his
way home afoot through several hundred miles of wilder
ness. The story of his wrongs flew from one log-cabin to
another, until it reached the distant northwestern territory.
In the neighbourhood of Vincennes there were Spanish
traders, and one of them kept a shop in the town. The
shop was sacked by a band of American soldiers, and an
attempt was made to incite the Indians to attack the Span
iards. Indignation meetings were held in Kentucky. The
people threatened to send a force of militia down the river
and capture Natchez and New Orleans ; and a more danger
ous threat was made. Should the northeastern states desert
them and adopt Jay's suggestion, they vowed they would
secede, and throw themselves upon Great Britain for protec-
Threats of tion. On the other hand, there was great agitation
secession in t^g seaboard towns of Massachusetts. They
in Ken- J
tucky and were disgusted with the backwoodsmen for making
England, such a fuss about nothing, and with the people of
the southern states for aiding and abetting them ;
and during the turbulent summer of 1786, many persons
were heard to declare that, in case Jay's suggestion should
not be adopted, it would be high time for the New England
states to secede from the Union, and form a confederation by
themselves. The situation was dangerous in the extreme.

1786 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 227
Had the question been forced to an issue, the southern
states would never have seen their western territories go and
offer themselves to Great Britain. Sooner than that, they
would have broken away from the northern states. But

New Jersey and Pennsylvania now came over to the south
ern side, and Rhode Island, moving in her eccentric orbit,
presently joined them ; and thus the treaty was postponed
for the present, and the danger averted.
This lamentable dispute was watched by Washington
with feelings of gravest concern. From an early age he
had indulged in prophetic dreams of the grandeur of the
coming civilization in America, and had looked to the coun-

228 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
try beyond the mountains as the field in which the next
generation was to find room for expansion. Few had been
more efficient than he in aiding the great scheme of Pitt for
overthrowing the French power in America, and he under
stood better than most men of his time how much that
scheme implied. In his early journeys in the wilderness he
had given especial attention to the possibilities of water con
nection between the east and west, and he had bought for
himself and surveyed many extensive tracts of land beyond
the mountains. The subject was a favourite one with him,
and he looked at it from both a commercial and a political
point of view. What we most needed, he said in 1 770, were
washing- easy transit lines between east and west, as " the
ton's views channel of conveyance of the extensive and valu-
on the im- J
portanceof able trade of a rising empire." Just before re-
C3.n3.ls DG~
tweeneast signing his commission in 1783, Washington had
and west expiore(j the route through the Mohawk Valley,
afterward taken first by the Erie Canal, and then by the
New York Central Railroad, and had prophesied its commer
cial importance in the present century. Soon after reaching
his home at Mount Vernon, he turned his attention to the
improvement of intercourse with the west through the val
ley of the Potomac. The east and west, he said, must be
cemented together by interests in common ; otherwise they
will break asunder. Without commercial intercourse they
will cease to understand each other, and will thus be ripe
for disagreement. It is easy for mental habits, as well as
merchandise, to glide down stream, and the connections of
the settlers beyond the mountains all centre in New Or
leans, which is in the hands of a foreign and hostile power.
No one can tell what complications may arise from this,
argued Washington ; " let us bind these people to us by a
chain that can never be broken ; " and with characteristic
energy he set to work at once to establish that line of com
munication that has since grown into the Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal, and into the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
During the three years preceding the meeting of the Fed-

THE l|. -N. 60.

1785 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 229
eral Convention he was largely occupied with this work. In
1785 he became president of a company for extending the
navigation of the Potomac and James rivers, and the legisla
ture of Virginia passed an act vesting him with one hundred
and fifty shares in the stock of the company, in order to
testify their "sense of his unexampled merits." But Wash
ington refused the testimonial, and declined to take His f
any pay for his services, because he wished to sighted
1 , .,..,. genius and
arouse the people to the political importance of the seif-devo-
undertaking, and felt that his words would have tlon
more weight if he were known to have no selfish interest
in it. His sole purpose, as he repeatedly said, was to
strengthen the spirit of union by cementing the eastern and
western regions together. At this time he could ill afford
to give his services without pay, for his long absence in war
time had sadly impaired his estate. But such was Wash
ington. In order to carry out the enterprise of extending the
navigation of the Potomac, it became necessary for the two
states Virginia and Maryland to act in concert ; Maryland
and early in 1785 a joint commission of the two ^"kyir.
states met for consultation at Washington's house giniare-
• • 1 • gardingthe
at Mount Vernon. A compact insuring harmoni- navigation
.... . , . , of the Po-
ous cooperation was prepared by the commission- tomac,
ers ; and then, as Washington's scheme involved I?8s
the connection of the head waters of the Potomac with
those of the Ohio, it was found necessary to invite Pennsyl
vania to become a party to the compact. Then Washington
took the occasion to suggest that Maryland and Virginia,
while they were about it, should agree upon a uniform sys
tem of duties and other commercial regulations, and upon
a uniform currency ; and these suggestions were sent, to
gether with the compact, to the legislatures of the two
states. Great things were destined to come from these
modest beginnings. Just as in the Yorktown campaign,
there had come into existence a multifarious assemblage of
events, apparently unconnected with one another, and all

230

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v

that was needed was the impulse given by Washington's far-
sighted genius to set them all at work, surging, swelling,
and hurrying straight forward to a decisive result.
Late in 1785, when the Virginia legislature had wrangled
itself into imbecility over the question of clothing Congress
Madison's with power over trade, Madison hit upon an expe-
stepinLd- dient. He prepared a motion to the effect that
vance, 17S5 commissioners from all the states should hold a
meeting, and discuss the best method of securing a uniform
treatment of commercial questions ; but as he was most con
spicuous among the advocates of a more perfect union, he
was careful not to present the motion himself. It was made
by another member — John Tyler, father of the president
of that name, a sturdy champion of state rights, but on this
particular question agreeing with Madison.1 The plan, how
ever, was " so little acceptable that it was not then persisted
in," and the motion was laid on the table. But after some
weeks it was announced that Maryland had adopted the
compact made at Mount Vernon concerning jurisdiction
over the Potomac. Virginia instantly replied by adopting it
also. Then it was suggested, in the report from Maryland,
that Delaware, as well as Pennsylvania, ought to be coif
suited, since the scheme should rightly include a canal
between the Delaware River and the Chesapeake Bay.
And why not also consult with these states about a uniform
system of duties ? If two states can agree upon these mat
ters, why not four ? And still further, said the Maryland
message, — dropping the weightiest part of 'the proposal
into a subordinate clause, just as women are said to put the
quintessence of their letters into the postscript, — might it
not be well enough, if we are going to have such a confer
ence, to invite commissioners from all the thirteen states to
attend it ? An informal discussion can hurt nobody. The
conference of itself can settle nothing ; and if four states
can take part in it, why not thirteen ? Here was the golden
1 See L. G. Tyler, Letters and Times of the Tylers, Richmond, 1SS4.
i. 125-134.

1786

GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY

231

opportunity. The Madison-Tyler motion was taken up from
the table and carried. Commissioners from all the states
were invited to meet on the first Monday of September,
1 786, at Annapolis, — a safe place, far removed from the
influence of that dread tyrant, the Congress, and from

iniEiri'rj ipiiiii'i 1 iii,|arirv^w,ii¥npniinuiiiii!iiBiii^,Mi,.i'V^ P|' ¦ ot

wicked centres of trade, such as New York and Boston.
It was the governor of Virginia who sent the invitations. It
may not amount to much, wrote Madison to Monroe, but
" the expedient is better than nothing ; and, as the recom-

232 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
mendation of additional powers to Congress is within the
purview of the commission, it may possibly lead to better
consequences than at first occur."
The seed dropped by Washington had fallen on fruitful
soil. At first it was to be just a little meeting of two or
three states to talk about the Potomac River and some pro
jected canals, and already it had come to be a meeting of all
the states to discuss some uniform system of legislation on
Convention the subject of trade. This looked like progress,
Hs'septpo" yet when the convention was gathered in the
n, 1786 State House at Annapolis, on the nth of Septem
ber, the outlook was most discouraging. Commissioners
from Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and
New York were present. Massachusetts and New Hamp
shire, Rhode Island and North Carolina, had duly appointed
commissioners, but they were not there. It is curious to
observe that Maryland, which had been so earnest in the
matter, had nevertheless now neglected to appoint commis
sioners ; and. no action had been taken by Georgia, South
Carolina, or Connecticut. With only five states represented,
the commissioners did not think it worth while to go on
with their work. But before adjourning they adopted an
address, written by Alexander Hamilton, and sent it to all
the states. All the commissioners present had been em
powered to Consider bow far a uniform commercial system
might be essential to the permanent harmony of the states.
But New Jersey had taken a step in advance, and instructed
her delegates " to consider how far a uniform system in their
commercial regulations and otJicr important matters might
be necessary to the common interest and permanent har
mony of the several states." And otJicr important matters,
— thus again was the weightiest part of the business rele
gated to a subordinate clause. So gingerly was the great
question — so dreaded, yet so inevitable — approached !
This reference to " other matters " was pronounced by the
commissioners to be a vast improvement on the original
plan; and Hamilton's address now urged that commissioners

1786

GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY

233

ANNAPOLIS STATE HOUSE

be appointed by all the states, to meet in convention at
Philadelphia on the second Monday of the follow- Hamilton,s
ing May, " to devise such further provisions as address ;
shall appear to them necessary to render the con- step in
stitution of the federal government adequate to the advance
exigencies of the Union, and to report to Congress such
an act as, when agreed to by them, and confirmed by the
legislatures of every state, would effectually provide for
the same." The report of the commissioners was brought
before Congress in October, in the hope that Congress
would earnestly recommend to the several states the course
of action therein suggested. But Nathan Dane and Rufus
King of Massachusetts, intent upon technicalities, succeeded
in preventing this. According to King, a convention was
an irregular body, which had no right to propose changes in

234

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

CHAP. V

the organic law of the land, and the state legislatures could
not properly confirm the acts of such a body, or take notice
of them. Congress was the only source from which such
proposals could properly emanate. These arguments were
pleasing to the self-love of Congress, and it refused to sanc
tion the plan of the Annapolis commissioners.
In an ordinary season this would perhaps have ended the

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matter, but the winter of 1786-87 was not an ordinary
season. All the troubles above described seemed to cul
minate just at this moment. The paper money craze in so
many of the states, the shameful deeds of Rhode Island, the
riots in Vermont and New Hamsphire, the Shays rebellion in
Massachusetts, the dispute with Spain, and the consequent
imminent danger of separation between north and south had
all come together ; and the feeling of thoughtful men and
women throughout the country was one of real consternation.
The last ounce was now to be put upon the camel's back in

1786 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 233

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PRESIDENT DICKINSON'S LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS
the failure of the impost amendment. In 1783, when the
cessions of western lands were creating a national New York
domain, a promising plan had been devised for impost
relieving the country of its load of debt, and fur- amendment
nishing Congress with money for its current expenses. All
the money coming from sales of the western folkland was to
be applied to reducing and wiping out the principal of the

236 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
public debt. Then the interest of this debt must be pro
vided for ; and to that end Congress had recommended an
impost, or system of custom-house duties, upon liquors,
sugars, teas, coffees, cocoa, molasses, and pepper. This
impost was to be kept up for twenty-five years only, and the
collectors were to be appointed by the several states, each
for its own ports. Then for the current expenses of the
government, supplementary funds were needed ; and these
were to be assessed upon the several states, each of which
might raise its quota as it saw fit. Such was the original
plan ; but it soon turned out that the only available source
of revenue was the national domain, which had thus been
nothing less than the principal thread which had held the
Union together. As for the impost, it had never been
possible to get a sufficient number of states to agree upon
it, and of the quotas for current expenses, as we have seen,
very little had found its way to the federal treasury. Under
these difficulties, it had been proposed that an amendment
to the articles of confederation should endow Congress with
the power of levying customs-duties and appointing the
collectors ; and by the summer of 1786, after endless wran
gling, twelve states had consented to the amendment. But,
in order that an amendment should be adopted, unanimous
consent was necessary. The one delinquent state, which
thus blocked the wheels of the confederacy, was New York.
She had her little system of duties all nicely arranged for
what seemed to be her own interests, and she would not
surrender this system to Congress. Upon the neighbouring
states her tariff system bore hard, and especially upon New
Jersey. In 1786 this state flatly refused to pay her quota
until New York should stop discriminating against her trade.
Nothing which occurred in that troubled year caused more
alarm than this, for it could not be denied that such a decla
ration seemed little less than an act of secession on the part
of New Jersey. The arguments of a congressional com
mittee at last prevailed upon the state to rescind her decla
ration. At the same time there came the final struggle in

1787 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 237
New York over the impost amendment, against which Gov
ernor Clinton had firmly set his face. There was a fierce
fight, in which Hamilton's most strenuous efforts succeeded
in carrying the amendment in part, but not until it had been

clogged with a condition that made it useless. Congress, it
was declared, might have the revenue, but New York must
appoint the collectors ; she was not going to have federal
officials rummaging about her docks. The legislature well
knew that to grant the amendment in such wise was not
to grant it at all, but simply to reopen the whole question.
Such was the result. Congress expostulated in vain. On
the 15th of February, 1787, the matter was reconsidered in
the New York legislature, and the impost amendment was
defeated.

238 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
Thus, only three months before the Federal Convention
was to meet, if indeed it was ever to meet, Congress was
decisively informed that it would not be allowed to take any
effectual measures for raising a revenue. There now
seemed nothing left for Congress to do but adopt the recom
mendation of the Annapolis commissioners, and give its
sanction to the proposed convention. Madison, however,
had not waited for this, but had prevailed upon the Virginia
legislature to go on and appoint its delegates to the conven
tion. The events of the year had worked a change in the
popular sentiment in Virginia ; people were more afraid of
anarchy, and not quite so much afraid of centralization ; and
now, under Madison's lead, Virginia played her trump card
and chose George Washington as one of her delegates. As
Sudden soon as this was known, there was an outburst of
popXsin i°y throughout the land. All at once the people
sentiment began everywhere to feel an interest in the pro
posed convention, and presently Massachusetts changed her
attitude. Up to this time Massachusetts had been as obsti
nate in her assertion of local independence, and as unwilling
to strengthen the hands of Congress, as any of the thirteen
states, except New York and Rhode Island. But the Shays
rebellion had served as a useful object-lesson. Part of the
distress in Massachusetts could be traced to the inability of
Congress to pay debts which it owed to her citizens. It was
felt that the time had come when the question of a national
revenue must be seriously considered. Every week saw
fresh converts to the party which called for a stronger gov
ernment. Then came the news that Virginia had chosen
delegates, and that Washington was one of them ; then that
New Jersey had followed the example ; then that Pennsyl
vania, North Carolina, Delaware, had chosen delegates. It
was time for Massachusetts to act, and Rufus King now
brought the matter up in Congress. His scruples as to the
legality of the proceeding had not changed, and accordingly
he moved that Congress should of itself propose a conven
tion at Philadelphia, identical with the one which the Annap-

1787 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 239
olis commissioners had already recommended. The motion
was carried, and in this way Congress formally approved
and adopted what was going on. Massachusetts immedi
ately chose delegates, and was followed by New York. In
April, Georgia and South Carolina followed suit. Connecti
cut and Maryland came on in May, and New Hampshire,

OLD REAR VIEW OF INDEPENDENCE HALL

somewhat tardily, in June. Of the thirteen states, Rhode
Island alone refused to take any part in the proceedings.
The convention held its meetings in that plain brick
building in Philadelphia already immortalized as the place
from which the Declaration of Independence was published
to the world. The work which these men were TheFed.
undertaking was to determine whether that Decla- eral Con-
0 vention
ration had been for the blessing or the injury of meets at
America and of mankind. That they had sue- Phia, May
ceeded in assembling here at all was somewhat I4~25, I7&7
remarkable, when we think of the curious medley of inci-

240 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
dents that led to it. At no time in this distressed period
would a frank and abrupt proposal for a convention to
remodel the government have found favour. Such pro
posals, indeed, had been made, beginning with that of
Pelatiah Webster in 1781, and they had all failed to break
through the crust of a truly English conservatism and dread
of centralized power. Now, through what some might have
called a strange chapter of accidents, before the element of
causal sequence in it all had become so manifest as it is to
us to-day, this remarkable group of men had been brought
together in a single room, while even yet but few of them
realized how thoroughly and exhaustively reconstructive
their work was to be. To most of them it was not clear
whether they were going merely to patch up the articles of
confederation, or to strike out into a new and very different
path. There were a few who entertained far-reaching pur
poses ; the rest were intelligent critics rather than construc
tive thinkers ; the result was surprising to all. It is worth
our while to pause for a moment, and observe the character
and composition of one of the most memorable assemblies
the world has ever seen. Mr. Gladstone has said that just
"as the British Constitution is the most subtle organism
which has proceeded from progressive history, so the Ameri
can Constitution is the most wonderful work ever struck off
at a given time by the brain and purpose of man." It would
be in the highest degree erroneous, however, to suppose
that the Constitution of the United States is not, as much
as any other, an instance of evolution from precedents. It
is in that very fact that its excellence largely consists.
Let us now see who the men were who did this wonder
ful work, — this Iliad, or Parthenon, or Fifth Symphony,
of statesmanship. We shall not find that they were all
great geniuses. Such is never the case in such an assembly.
There are not enough great geniuses to go around ; and
if there were, it is questionable if the result would be satis
factory. In such discussions the points which impress the
more ordinary and less far-sighted members are sure to have

1 787

GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY

241

great value ; especially when we bear in mind that the
obj eet of such an assembly is not merely to elaborate a plan,
but to get the great mass of people, including the brick
layers and hod-carriers, to understand it well enough to vote
for it. An ideally perfect assembly of law-makers will there
fore . contain two or three men of original constructive
genius, two or three leading spirits eminent for shrewdness

and tact, a dozen or more excellent critics representing vari
ous conflicting interests, and a rank and file of thoroughly
respectable, commonplace men, unfitted for shining in the
work of the meeting, but admirably competent to proclaim
its results and get their friends and neighbours to adopt
them. And in such an assembly, even if it be such as we
call ideally perfect, we must allow something for the pre-

242

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v

sence of a few hot-headed and irreconcilable members, —
men of inflexible mind, who cannot adapt themselves to cir
cumstances, and will refuse to play when they see the game
going against them.
All these points are well illustrated in the assemblage of
men that framed our Federal Constitution. In its composi
tion, this group of men left nothing to be desired. In its
strength and in its weakness, it was an ideally perfect assem
bly. There were fifty -five men, all of them respect-
who were able for family and for personal qualities, — men
who had been well educated, and had done some
thing whereby to earn recognition in those troubled times.
Twenty-nine were university men, graduates of Harvard,
Yale, Columbia, Princeton, William and Mary, Oxford,
Glasgow, and Edinburgh. Twenty-six were not university
men, and among these were Washington and Franklin. Of
the illustrious citizens who, for their public services, would
naturally have been here, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
were in Europe ; Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and Rich
ard Henry Lee disapprove of the convention, and remained
at home ; and the greatest .. 1 of Rhode Island, Nathanael
JrefTie, /ho — one likes to think — might have succeeded
in bringing his state into the convention, had lately died of
a sun-stroke, at the early age of forty-four.
Of the two most famous men present little need be said.
The names of Washington and ¦ Franklin stood for supreme
intelligence and consummate tact. Franklin had returned
to this country two years before, and was now president of
Pennsylvania. He was eighty-one years of age, the oldest
man in the convention, as Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey,
aged twenty-six, was the youngest. The two most profound
and original thinkers in the company were but little older
than Dayton. Alexander Hamilton was thirty, James Madi
son thirty-six. Among political writers, these two men may
be ranked in the same order with Aristotle, Montesquieu,
and Locke ; and the " Federalist," their joint production, is
one of the greatest treatises on government ever written.

1787 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 243
John Jay, who contributed a few pages to this immortal
volume, had not been sent to the convention, because New
York did not wish to have it succeed. Along with Hamilton,
New York sent two commonplace men, Robert Yates and
John Lansing, who were extreme and obstinate Antifederal-
ists ; and the action of Hamilton, who was thus prevented

from carrying the vote of his own state for any measure
which he might propose, was in this way sadly embarrassed.
For another reason, Hamilton failed to exert as much influ
ence in the convention as one would have expected from his
profound thought and his brilliant eloquence. Scarcely any
of these men entertained what we should now call extreme
democratic views. Scarcely any, perhaps, had that intense
faith in the ultimate good sense of the people which was the
most powerful characteristic of Jefferson. But Hamilton

244 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
went to the other extreme, and expressed his distrust of
popular government too plainly. His views were too aristo
cratic and his preference for centralization was too pro
nounced to carry conviction to his hearers.
The leading part in the convention fell, therefore, to
James Madison, a young man somewhat less brilliant than
James Hamilton, but superior to him in sobriety and
Madison balance of powers. Madison used to be called the
" Father of the Constitution," and it is true that the govern
ment under which we live is more his work than that of any
other one man. From early youth his life had been devoted
to the study of history and the practice of statesmanship.
He was a graduate of Princeton College, an earnest student,
familiar with all the best literature of political science from
Aristotle down to his own time, and he had given especial
attention to the history of federal government in ancient
Greece, and in Switzerland and Holland. At the age of
twenty-five he had taken part in the Virginia convention
^vbich instructed the delegates from that state in Congress
to bring forward the Declaration of Independence. During
the Xst part of the war he was an active and influential
member of Congress, where no one equalled or approached
him for knowledge of English histo y and constitutional
law. In 1784 he had returned to the Virginia legislature,
and been foremost in securing the passage of the great act
which gave complete religious freedom to the people of that
state. No man understood better than he the causes of the
alarming weakness of the federal government, and of the
commercial disturbances and popular discontent of the time ;
nor had any one worked more zealously or more adroitly in
bringing about the meeting of this convention. As he stood
here now, a leader in the debate, there was nothing grand or
imposing in his appearance. He was small of stature and
slight in frame, like Hamilton, but he had none of Hamilton's
personal magnetism. His manner was shy and prim, and
blushes came often to his cheeks. At the same time, he
had that rare dignity of unconscious simplicity which charac-

1787 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 245
terizes the earnest and disinterested scholar. He was
exceedingly sweet-tempered, generous, and kind, but very
hard to move from a path which, after long reflection, he
had decided to be the right one. He looked at politics
judicially, and was so little of a party man that on several
occasions he was accused quite wrongfully of gross inconsist
ency. The position of leadership, which he won so early

JAMES MADISON

and kept so long, he held by sheer force of giant intelli
gence, sleepless industry, and an integrity which no man
ever doubted. But he was above all things a man of
peace. When in after years, as president of the United
States, he was called upon to manage a great war, he was
out of place, and his reputation for supreme ability was tem-

246 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
porarily lowered. Here in the Federal Convention we are
introduced to him at the noblest and most useful moment of
his life.
Of the fifty-five men here assembled, Washington, Frank
lin, Hamilton, and Madison were of the first order of ability.
Many others in the room were gentlemen of more than
ordinary talent and culture. There was John
leading Dickinson, who had moved from Pennsylvania into
Delaware, and now came to defend the equal rights
of the smaller states. There was James Wilson of Pennsyl
vania, born and educated in Scotland, one of the most
learned jurists this country has ever seen. Beside him sat
the financier, Robert Morris, and his namesake Gouverneur
Morris of Morrisania, near the city of New York, the origi
nator of our decimal currency, and one of the far-sighted
projectors of the Erie Canal. Then there was John Rutledge
of South Carolina, who ever since the Stamp Act Congress
had been the mainstay of his state ; and with him were the
two able and gallant Pinckneys. Caleb Strong, afterward
ten times governor of Massachusetts, was a typical Puri
tan, hard-headed and sensible ; his colleague, Rufus King,
already distinguished for his opposition to negro slaver)', was
a man of brilliant attainments. And there were George
Wythe, the learned chancellor of Virginia, and Daniel Car
roll of Maryland, who had played a prominent part in the
events which led to the creation of a national domain.
Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut, afterward chief justice of
the United States, was one of the ablest lawyers of his time ;
with him were Roger Sherman and William Johnson, the
latter a Fellow of the Royal Society, and afterward president
of Columbia College. The New Jersey delegation, consist
ing of William Livingston, David Brearley, William Paterson,
and Jonathan Dayton, was a strong one ; and as to New
Hampshire, it is enough to mention the name of John
Langdon. Besides all these there were some twenty of less
mark, men who said little, but listened and voted. And
then there were .the irreconcilables, Yates and Lansing, the

1787 GERMS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY 247
two Antifederalists from New York ; and four men of much
greater ability, who took an important part in the proceed
ings, but could not be induced to accept the result. These
four were Luther Martin of Maryland ; George Mason and
Edmund Randolph of Virginia; and Elbridge Gerry of
Massachusetts. When these men had assembled in Independence Hall,
they chose George Washington president of the convention.

^f^w^^^

The doors were locked, and an injunction of strict secrecy
was put upon every one. The results of their work were
known in the following September, when the draft of the
Federal Constitution was published. But just what was
said and done in this secret conclave was not revealed until
fifty years had passed, and the aged James Madison, the last

24S THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, v
survivor of those who sat there, had been gathered to his
fathers. He kept a journal of the proceedings, which was
published after his death, and upon the interesting story told
in that journal we have now to enter.

y-&tsn*-<^t

CHAPTER VI
THE FEDERAL CONVENTION
The Federal Convention did wisely in withholding its
debates from the knowledge of the people. It was felt that
discussion would be more untrammelled, and that its result
ought to go before the country as the collective and unani
mous voice of the convention. There was likely to be
wrangling enough among themselves ; but should their
scheme be unfolded, bit by bit, before its parts could be
viewed in their mutual relations, popular excitement would
become intense, there might be riots, and an end would be
put to that attitude of mental repose so necessary for the
constructive work that was to be done. It was thought best
. that the scheme should be put forth as a completed whole,
and that for several years, even, until the new system of gov
ernment should have had a fair trial, the traces of the indi
vidual theories and preferences concerned in its formation
should not be revealed. For it was generally as- Difficult
sumed that a system of government new in some befonfthe
important respects would be proposed by the con- convention
vention, and while the people awaited the result the wildest
speculations and rumours were current. A few hoped, and
many feared, that some scheme of monarchy would be estab
lished. Such surmises found their way across the ocean,
and hopes were expressed in England that, should a king
be chosen, it might be a younger son of George III. It
was even hinted, with alarm, that, through gratitude to our
recent allies, we might be persuaded to offer the crown to
some member of the royal family of France. No such
thoughts were entertained, however, by any person present
in the convention. Some of the delegates came with the

250

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi

design of simply amending the articles of confederation by
taking away from the states the power of regulating com
merce, and intrusting this power to Congress. Others felt
that if the work were not done thoroughly now another
chance might never be offered ; and these men thought it
necessary to abolish the confederation, and establish a fed
eral republic, in which the general government should act
directly upon the people. The difficult problem was how
to frame a plan of this sort which people could be made to
understand and adopt. At the outset, before the conven
tion had been called to order, some of the delegates began
to exhibit symptoms of that peculiar kind of moral coward
ice which is wont to afflict free governments, and of which
American history furnishes so many instructive examples.
In an informal discussion it was suggested that palliatives
and half measures would be far more likely to find favour
with the people than any thorough-going reform, when
Washington suddenly interposed with a brief but immortal
speech, which ought to be blazoned in letters of gold, and
posted on the wall of every American assembly that shall
meet to nominate a candidate, or declare a policy, or pass a
law, so long as the weakness of human nature shall endure.
Washing- In tones unwontedly solemn he exclaimed, " It is
solemn too probable that no plan we propose will be
appeal adopted. Perhaps another dreadful conflict is to
be sustained. If, to please the people, we offer what we
ourselves disapprove, how can we afterward defend our
work ? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the
honest can repair ; the event is in the hand of God."
This noble outburst carried conviction to every one, and
henceforth we do not hear that any attempt was avowedly
made to avoid the issues as they came up. It was a whole
some tonic. It braced up the convention to high resolves,
and impressed upon all the delegates that they were in a
situation where faltering or trifling was both wicked and
dangerous. From that moment the mood in which they
worked caught something from the glorious spirit of Wash-

1 787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

251

ington. There was need of such high purpose, for two
plans were presently laid before the meeting, which, for a
moment, brought out one of the chief elements of antago
nism existing between the states, and which at first seemed
irreconcilable. It was the happy compromise which united
and harmonized these two plans that smoothed the further
work of the convention, and made it possible for a stable
and powerful government to be constructed.
The first of these plans was known as the Virginia plan.

GEORGE WASHINGTON

It was agreed upon in a committee of the delegates of that
state, and was brought forward by Edmund Randolph, gov
ernor of Virginia, in the name of the state, but its chief
author was Madison. It struck instantly at the root of the
difficulties under which the country had been staggering
ever since the Declaration of Independence. The federal
government had possessed no means of enforcing
obedience to its laws. Its edicts were without a of ail the
sanction ; and this was because they operated c" ies
upon states, and not upon individuals. When an individual

252

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi

defies the law, you can lock him up in jail, or levy an execu
tion upon his property. The immense force of the commu
nity is arrayed against him, and he is as helpless as a straw
on the billows of the ocean. He cannot raise a militia to
protect himself. But when the law is defied by a state, it is
quite otherwise. You cannot put a state into jail, nor seize
its goods ; you can only make war on it, and if you try that
expedient you find that the state is not helpless. Its local
pride and prejudices are aroused against you, and its militia
will turn out in full force to uphold the infraction of law.
Against this obstinate and exasperated military force what
superior force can you bring ? Under some rare combina
tion of circumstances you might get the military force of
several of the other states ; but ordinarily, when what you
are trying to do is simply to enforce every-day laws, and
when you simply represent a distrusted general government
in conflict with a local government, you cannot do this.
The other states will sympathize with the delinquent states ;
they will feel that the very same condition of things which
leads you to attack that state to-day will lead you to attack
some other state to-morrow. Hence you cannot get any
military help, and you are powerless.
Such was the case with the Continental Congress. A
novel and distrusted institution, it was called upon to enforce
its laws upon long-established communities, full of sturdy
independence and obstinate local prejudices. It was able to
act, though with clumsy slowness, as long as there was an
enemy in the field who was even more dreaded. But as
soon as this enemy had been beaten out of sight it could
not act at all. This had been because it did not represent
the American people, but only the American states. The
vital force which moved it was not the resistless force of a
whole people, but only a shadowy semblance of force, de
rived from a theoretical consent of thirteen corporate bodies,
which in their corporate capacity could never be compelled
to agree about anything under the sun ; and unless com
pelled they would not agree. Four years of disturbance in

1787 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 253
every part of the country, in the course of which troops had
been called out in several states, and civil war had been nar
rowly averted at least half a dozen times, had proved this
beyond all cavil. With almost any other people than the
Americans civil war would have come already. With all

V£

the vast future interests that were involved in these quarrels
looming up before their keen, sagacious minds, it was a
wonder that they had been kept from coming to blows.
Such self-restraint had been greatly to their credit. It was
the blessed fruit of more than a century of government by
free discussion, while yet these states were colonies, peopled
by the very cream of English freemen who had fought the
decisive battle of civil and religious freedom for mankind
in that long crisis when the Invincible Armada was over
whelmed and the Long Parliament won its triumphs. Such
self-restraint had this people shown in days of trial, under a

254 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
vicious government adopted in a time of hurry and sore dis
tress. But late events had gone far to show that it could
not endure.
The words of Randolph's opening speech are worth quot
ing in this connection. "The confederation," he said, "was
made in the infancy of the science of constitutions, when
the inefficiency of requisitions was unknown ; when no com
mercial discord had arisen among states ; when no rebellion
like that in Massachusetts had broken out ; when foreign
debts were not urgent ; when the havoc of paper money
had not been foreseen; when treaties had not been vio
lated ; and when nothing better could have been conceded
by states jealous of their sovereignty. But it offered no
security against foreign invasion, for Congress could neither
prevent nor conduct a war, nor punish infractions of treaties
or of the law of nations, nor control particular states from
provoking war. The federal government has no constitu
tional power to check a quarrel between separate states ;
nor to suppress a rebellion in any one of them ; nor to
establish a productive impost ; nor to counteract the com
mercial regulations of other nations ; nor to defend itself
against the encroachments of the states. From the manner
in which it has been ratified in many of the states, it cannot
be claimed to be paramount to the state constitutions ; so
that there is a prospect of anarchy from the inherent laxity
of the government. As the remedy, the government to be
established must have for its basis the republican principle."
Having thus tersely stated the whole problem, Randolph
went on to present the Virginia plan. To make the federal
government operate directly upon individuals, one provision
TheVir- was absolutely necessary. It did not solve the
fradicai" ' whole problem, but it was an indispensable begin-
cure ning. This was the proposal that there should be
a national legislature, in which the American people instead
of the American states should be represented. For the
purposes of federal legislation, there must be an assembly
elected directly by the people, and with its members appor-

1 787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

255

tioned according to population. There must be such an
assembly as our present House of Representatives, standing
in the same immediate relation to the people of the whole
country as was sustained by the assembly of each separate

^Xv'fLjLnp

state to the people of that state. Without such direct re
presentation of the whole people in the Federal Congress, it
would be impossible to achieve one secure step toward the
radical reform of the weaknesses and vices of the confedera
tion. It was the only way in which the vexed question of
one nation or thirteen could be made to yield a satisfactory
answer. At the same time it could not be denied that such
a proposal was revolutionary in character. It paved the way
for a national consolidation which might go further than any

256 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
one could foresee, and much further than was desirable.
The moribund Congress of the Confederation, with its dele
gates chosen by the state assemblies, and casting its vote
simply by states, had utterly failed to serve as a national
legislature. There was a good deal of truth in what John
Adams once said of it, that it was more a diplomatic than
a legislative body. It was, indeed, because of this con
sciously felt diplomatic character that it was called a Con
gress, and not a Parliament. In its lack of coercive power
it resembled the international congresses of Europe rather
than the supreme legislature of any country. To substitute
abruptly for such a body a truly national legislature, based
not upon states but upon population, was quietly to inaugu
rate a revolution of no less magnitude than that which had
lately severed us from Great Britain. So bold a step, while
all-essential in order to complete that revolution, and make
its victorious issue fortunate instead of disastrous to the
American people, was sufficiently revolutionary to awaken
the fears of many members of the Federal Convention. To
the familiar state governments which had so long possessed
their love and allegiance, it was superadding a new and
untried government, which it was feared would swallow up
the states and everywhere extinguish local independence.
Nor can it be said that such fears were unreasonable. Our
federal government has indeed shown a strong tendency to
encroach upon the province of the state governments, espe
cially since our late Civil War. Too much centralization is
our danger to-day, as the weakness of the federal tie was
our danger a century ago. The rule of the Federalist party
was needed in 1 789 as the rule of the Republican party was
needed in 1861, to put a curb upon the centrifugal tenden
cies. But after Federalism had fairly done its great work,
at the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was well that
the administration of our national affairs should pass into
the hands of the party to which Thomas Jefferson and
Samuel Adams belonged, and which Madison, in his calm
statesmanlike wisdom, had come to join. And now that

i787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

257

in our own day, the disruptive forces have been even more
thoroughly and effectually overcome, it is time for the prin
ciples of that party to be reasserted with fresh emphasis.
If the day should ever arrive (which God forbid !) when
the people of the different parts of our country shall allow
their local affairs to be administered by prefects sent from
Washington, and when the self-government of the states

shall have been so far lost as that of the departments of
France, or even so closely limited as that of the counties
of England, — on that day the political career of the Ameri
can people will have been robbed of its most interesting and
valuable features, and the usefulness of this nation will be
lamentably impaired.
I do not think that the historian writing at the present
day need fear any such direful calamity, for the past century
has shown most instructively how, in such a society as ours,
the sense of political dangers slowly makes its way through

258 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
the whole mass of the people, until movements at length are
made to avert them, and the pendulum swings in the opposite
direction. The history of political parties in the United
States is especially rich in lessons of this sort. Compared
with the statesmen of the Federal Convention, we are at a
great advantage in studying this question of national consoli
dation ; and we have no excuse for failing to comprehend the
attitude of the men who dreaded the creation of a national
legislature as the entering wedge which would by and by rend
asunder the structure of our liberties. The great mind of
Madison was one of the first to entertain distinctly the noble
conception of two kinds of government operating at one and
the same time upon the same individuals, harmonious with
each other, but each supreme in its own sphere. Such is the
fundamental conception of our partly federal, partly national,
government, which appears throughout the Virginia plan as
well as in the Constitution which grew out of it. It was a
political conception of a higher order than had ever before
been entertained ; it took a great deal of discussion to make
it clear to the minds of the delegates generally ; and the
struggle over this initial measure of a national legislature
was so bitter as to come near breaking up the convention.
In its original shape the Virginia plan went much further
toward national consolidation than the Constitution as
adopted. The reaction against the evils of the loose-jointed
confederation, which Randolph so ably summed up, was
extreme. According to the Virginia plan, the national legis
lature was to be composed of two houses, like the legisla
tures of the several states. The members of the lower house
should be chosen directly by the people ; members of the
upper house, or Senate, should be elected* by the lower
house out of persons nominated by the state legislatures.
In both the lower and the upper branches of this national
legislature the votes were to be the votes of individuals, and
no longer the votes of states, as in the Continental Con
gress. Under the articles of confederation each state had
an equal vote, and two thirds were required for many of the

1787 . THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 259
most important measures. Under the proposed Constitution
each state was to have a number of representatives propor
tionate either to its wealth or to the number of its free in
habitants, and a bare majority of votes was to suffice to pass
all measures in the ordinary course of business ; and these
rules were to apply both to the lower house and to the
Senate. To adopt such a plan would overthrow the equality
of the states altogether. It would give Virginia, the great
est state, sixteen representatives, where Georgia, the smallest
state, had but one ; and besides, as the votes were no longer
to be taken by states, individual members could combine in
any way they pleased, quite irrespective of state lines. It
was not strange that to many delegates in the convention
such a beginning should have seemed revolutionary. This
impression was deepened when it was further proposed not
only to clothe this national legislature with original powers
of legislation in all cases to which the several states are
incompetent, but -also to allow it to set aside at discretion
such state laws as it might deem unconstitutional. It is
interesting to find Madison, whose Federalism afterward
came to be so moderate, now appearing as the earnest de
fender of this extreme provision, so incompatible with state
rights. But in Madison's mind at this moment, in the actual
presence of the anarchy of the confederation, the only alter
native which seemed to present itself was that of armed
coercion. "A negative on state laws," he said, "is the mild
est expedient that can be devised for enforcing a national
decree. Should no such precaution be engrafted, the only
remedy would be coercion. The negative would render the
use of force unnecessary. This prerogative of the general
government is the great pervading principle that must con
trol the centrifugal tendency of the states, which, without it,
will continually fly out of their proper orbits, and destroy the
order and harmony of the political system." But these views
were not destined to find favour with the convention, which
finally left the matter to be much more satisfactorily ad
justed through the medium of the federal judiciary.

260 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
Such were the fundamental provisions of the Virginia plan
with regard to the national legislature. To carry out the
laws, it was proposed that there should be a national execu
tive, to be chosen by the national legislature for a short
term, and ineligible a second time. Whether the executive
power should be invested in a single person or in several was
not specified. As will be seen hereafter, this was regarded
as an extremely delicate point, with which it was thought
best not to embarrass the Virginia plan at the outset. Pass
ing lightly over this, it was urged that, in order to complete
the action of the government upon individuals, there must
be a national judiciary to determine cases arising under the
Constitution, cases in admiralty, and cases in which different
states or their citizens appear as parties. The judges were
to be chosen by the national legislature, to hold office during
good behaviour.
Such, in its main outlines, was the plan which Randolph
First recep- laid before the convention, in the name of the
v!rgi°niahe Virginia delegation. An audacious scheme ! ex-
Plan claimed some of the delegates ; it was enough to
take your breath away. If they were going to begin like
this, they might as well go home, for all discussion would
be time wasted. They were not sent there to set on foot a
revolution, but to amend and strengthen the articles of con
federation. But this audacious plan simply abolished the
Confederation in order to substitute for it a consolidated
national government. Foremost in urging this objection
were Yates and Lansing of New York, with Luther Martin
of Maryland. Dickinson said it was pushing things alto
gether too far, and his colleague, George Read, hinted that
the delegation from Delaware might feel obliged to withdraw
from the convention if the election of representatives accord
ing to population should be adopted. By the tact of Madi
son and Gouverneur Morris this question was postponed
for a few clays. After some animated discussion, the issues
became so narrowed and defined that they could be taken
up one by one. It was first decided that the national

i7S7

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

261

legislature should consist of two branches. Then came a
warm discussion as to whether the members of the lower
house should be elected directly by the people. Curiously
enough, in a country where the principle of popular election
had long since taken such deep root, where the assemblies
of the several states had been chosen by the people from

^i/' Q^C^V^

the very beginning, there was some doubt as to whether the
same principle could safely be applied to the national House
of Representatives. Gerry, with his head full of the Shays
rebellion and the " Know Ye " measures of the neighbour
ing state, thought the people could not be trusted. "The
people do not want virtue," said he, "but are the dupes
of pretended patriots." Roger Sherman took a similar view,
and was supported by Martin, Rutledge, and both the
Pinckneys ; but the sounder opinion prevailed. On this
point Hamilton was at one with Mason, Wilson, and Dickin
son. The proposed assembly, said Mason, was to be, so

262 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
to speak, our House of Commons, and ought to know and
sympathize with every part of the community. It ought to
have at heart the rights and interests of every class of the
people, and in no other way could this end be so completely
attained as by popular election. " Yes," added Wilson,
"without the confidence of the people no government, least
of all a republican government, can long subsist. . . . The
election of the first branch by the people is not the cor
ner-stone only, but the foundation of the fabric." "It is
essential to the democratic rights of the community," said
Hamilton, " that the first branch be directly elected by the
people." Madison argued powerfully on the same side, and
the question was finally decided in favour of popular elec
tion. It was now the 4th of June, when the great question came
up which nearly wrecked the convention before it was
settled, after a whole month of stormy debate. This was
the question as to how the states should be represented in
Antag. the new Congress. On the Virginia plan, the
onismbe- smaller states would be virtually swamped. Unless
tween large J ^
states and they could have equal votes, without regard to
small states . . , .
wealth or population, they would be at the mercy
of the great states. In the division which ensued, the four
most populous states — Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsyl
vania, and North Carolina — favoured the Virginia plan ;
and they succeeded in carrying South Carolina with them.
Georgia, too, which, though weak at that moment, possessed
considerable room for expansion, voted upon the same side.
On the other hand, the states of Connecticut, New Jersey,
Delaware, and Maryland — which were not only small in area,
but were cut off from further expansion by their geographi
cal situation — were not inclined to give up their equal vote
in either branch of the national legislature. At this stage
of the proceedings the delegation from New Hampshire had
not yet arrived upon the scene. On several occasions the
majority of the Maryland delegation weiit with the larger
states, but Luther Martin, always opposed to the Virginia

1 787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

263

plan, usually succeeded in dividing the vote of the delegation.
Of the New York members, Yates and Lansing, here as
always, thwarted Hamilton by voting with the smaller states.
Their policy throughout was one of obstruction. The mem
bers from Connecticut were disposed to be conciliatory ; but
New Jersey was obstinate and implacable. She knew what
it was to be tyrannized over by powerful neighbours. The
wrongs she had suffered from New York and Pennsylvania
rankled in the minds of her delegates.
Accordingly, in the name of the smaller states, William

Paterson laid before the convention the so-called "New
Jersey plan " for the amendment of the articles of The New
confederation. This scheme admitted a federal ^y
legislature, consisting of a single house, an execu- a feeble
. . , , r -,i 1 i. n palliative
tive in the form of a council to be chosen by Con
gress, and likewise a federal judiciary, with powers less
extensive than those contemplated by the Virginia plan.

264 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
It gave to Congress the power to regulate foreign and do
mestic commerce, to levy duties on imports, and even to
raise internal revenue by means of a Stamp Act. But with
all this apparent liberality on the surface, the New Jersey
plan was vicious at bottom. It did not really give Congress
the power to act immediately upon individuals. The federal
legislature which it proposed was to represent states, and
not individuals, and the states were to vote equally, without
regard to wealth or population. If things were to be left in
this shape, there was no security that the powers granted
to Congress could ever be really exercised. Nay, it was
almost certain that they could not be put into operation.
It was easy enough on paper to give Congress the permis
sion to levy duties and regulate commerce, but such a per
mission would amount to nothing unless Congress were
armed with the power of enforcing its decrees upon indi
viduals. And it could in no wise acquire such power unless
as the creature of the people, and not of the states. The
New Jersey plan, therefore, furnished no real remedy for
the evils which afflicted the country. It was vigorously
—opposed by Hamilton, Madison, Wilson, and King. Hamil
ton, indeed, took this occasion to offer a plan of his own,
which, in addition to Madison's scheme of a purely national
legislature, contained the features of a tenure for life or
good behaviour, for the executive and the members of the
upper house. But to most of the delegates this scheme
seemed too little removed from a monarchy, and Hamilton's
brilliant speech in its favour, while applauded by many, was
supported by none. The weighty arguments of Wilson,
King, and Madison prevailed, and the New Jersey plan lost
its original shape when it was decided that Congress should
consist of two houses. The principle of equal state repre
sentation, however, remained as a stumbling-block. Pater-
son, supported by his able colleague Brearley, as well as by
Martin and the two irreconcilables from New York, stoutly
maintained that to depart from this principle would be to
exceed the powers of the convention, which assuredly was

1787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

265

not intended to remodel the government from beginning to
end. But Randolph answered, " When the salvation of the
republic is at stake, it would be treason to our trust not
to propose what we find necessary ; " and Hamilton pithily
reminded the delegates that as they were there only for the
purpose of recommending a scheme which would have to
be submitted to the states for acceptance, they need not be
deterred by any false scruples from using their wits to the
best possible advantage.
The debate on the merits of the question was an angry
one. According to the Vir
ginia plan, said Brearley, the
three states of Virginia, Mas
sachusetts, and Pennsylvania
will carry everything before
them. "It was known to him,
from facts within New Jersey,
that where large and small
counties were united into a
district for electing represen
tatives for the district, the
large counties always carried
their point, and consequently
the large states would do so.
. . . Was it fair, on the
other hand, that Georgia
should have an equal vote
with Virginia ? He would not say it was. What remedy,
then ? One only : that a map of the United States be
spread out, that all the existing boundaries be erased, and
that a new partition of the whole be made into thirteen
equal parts." "Yes," said Paterson, "a confederacy sup
poses sovereignty in the members composing it, and sover
eignty supposes equality. If we are to be considered as a
nation, all state distinctions must be abolished, the whole
must be thrown into hotchpot, and when an equal division is
made then there may be fairly an equality of representa-

J)&OU)ts /dze<&l&y-

266 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
tion." This argument was repeated with a triumphant air,
as seeming to reduce the Virginia plan to absurdity. Pater-
son went on to say that " there was no more reason that a
great individual state, contributing much, should have more
votes than a small one, contributing little, than that a rich
individual citizen should have more votes than an indigent
one. If the ratable property of A was to that of B as forty
to one, ought A, for that reason, to have forty times as many
votes as B ? . . . Give the large states an influence in pro
portion to their magnitude, and what will be the conse
quence ? Their ambition will be proportionally increased,
and the small states will have everything to fear. It was
once proposed by Galloway [in the first Continental Con
gress] that America should be represented in the British
Parliament, and then be bound by its laws. America could
not have been entitled to more than one third of the repre
sentatives which would fall to the share of Great Britain :
would American rights and interests have been safe under
an authority thus constituted ? " Then, warming with the
subject, he exclaimed, If the great states wish to unite on
such a plan, "let them unite if they please, but let them
remember that they have no authority to compel the others
to unite. . . . Shall I submit the welfare of New Jersey
with five votes in a council where Virginia has sixteen ? . .
I will never consent to the proposed plan. I will not only
oppose it here, but on my return home will do everything
in my power to defeat it there. Neither my state nor myself
will ever submit to tyranny."
Paterson was ably answered by James Wilson of Penn
sylvania, who pointed out the absurdity of giving 180,000
men in one part of the country as much weight in the
national legislature as 750,000 in another part. It is unjust,
he said. " The gentleman from New Jersey is candid. He
declares his opinions boldly. I commend him for it. I will
be equally candid. ... I never will confederate on his
principles." The convention grew nervous and excited over
this seemingly irreconcilable antagonism. The discussion

1787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

267

was kept up with much learning and acuteness by Madison,
Ellsworth, and Martin, and history was ransacked for testi
mony from the Amphiktyonic Council to Old Sarum, and
back again to the Lykian League. Madison, rightly reading
the future, declared that if once the proposed union should
be formed, the real danger would come not from the rivalry
between large and small states, but from the antagonistic
interests of the slaveholding and non-slaveholding states.

Hamilton pointed out that in the state of New York five
counties had a majority of the representatives, and yet the
citizens of the other counties were in no danger of tyranny,
as the laws have an equal operation upon all. Rufus King
called attention to the fact that the rights of Scotland were
secure from encroachments, although her representation in
Parliament was necessarily smaller than that of England.

268

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

CHAP. VI

But New Jersey and Delaware, mindful of recent grievances,
were not to be argued down or soothed. Gunning Bedford
of Delaware was especially violent. " Pretences to support
ambition," said he, " are never wanting. The cry is, Where

IHc<j WcAJvrWs

is the danger ? and it is insisted that although the powers of
the general government will be increased, yet it will be for
the good of the whole ; and although the three great states
form nearly a majority of the people of America, they never
will injure the lesser states. Gentlemen, I do not trust
you. If you possess the power, the abuse of it could not
be checked ; and what then would prevent you from exer
cising it to our destruction ? . . . Sooner than be ruined,
there are foreign poivers who will take us by the hand. I
say this not to threaten or intimidate, but that we should
reflect seriously before we act." This language called forth

1787

-THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

2C9

a rebuke from Rufus King. " I am concerned," said he,
" for what fell from the gentleman from Delaware, — take a
foreign power by the hand! I am sorry he mentioned it,
and I hope he is able to excuse it to himself on the score
of passion."
The situation had become dangerous. " The convention,"
said Martin, " was on the verge of dissolution, scarce held
together by the strength of a hair." When things were

looking darkest, Oliver Ellsworth and Roger Sherman sug
gested a compromise. " Yes," said Franklin, "when a joiner
wishes to fit two boards, he sometimes pares off a bit from
both." The famous Connecticut compromise led the way

270 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
to the arrangement which was ultimately adopted, according
to which the national principle was to prevail in the
The Con- r . L , V.
necticut House of Representatives, and the federal pnn-
compromise cjpje jn ^ genate j}ut at first the compromise
met with little favour. Neither party was willing to give
way. " No compromise for us," said Luther Martin. "You
must give each state an equal suffrage, or our business is at
an end." " Then we are come to a full stop," said Roger
Sherman. " I suppose it was never meant that we should
break up without doing something." When the question as
to allowing equality of suffrage to the states in the Federal
Senate was put to vote, the result was a tie. Connecticut,
New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland — five
states — voted in the affirmative ; Massachusetts, Pennsylva
nia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina — five
states — voted in the negative ; the vote of Georgia was
divided and lost. It was Abraham Baldwin, a native of
Connecticut and lately a tutor in Yale College, a recent
emigrant to Georgia, who thus divided the vote of that state,
and prevented a decision which would in all probability have
broken up the convention. His state was the last to vote,
and the house was hushed in anxious expectation, when this
brave and wise young man yielded his private conviction to
what he saw to be the paramount necessity of keeping the
convention together. All honour to his memory !
The moral effect of the tie vote was in favour of the Con
necticut compromise ; for no one could doubt that the little
states, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, had they been
represented in the division, would have voted upon that side.
The matter was referred to a committee as impartially con
stituted as possible, with Elbridge Gerry as chairman ; and
on the 5th of July, after a recess of three days, the com
mittee reported in favour of the compromise. Fresh objec
tions on the part of the large states were now offered by
Wilson and Gouverneur Morris, and gloom again overhung
the convention. Gerry said that, while he did not fully
approve of the compromise, he had nevertheless supported

i787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

271

it, because he felt sure that if nothing were done war and
confusion must ensue, the old confederation being already
virtually at an end. George Mason observed that "it could
not be more inconvenient for any gentleman to remain

absent from his private affairs than it was for him ; but he
would bury his bones in that city rather than expose his
country to the consequences of a dissolution of the conven
tion." Mason's subsequent course was not quite in keeping
with the promise of this brave speech, and in Gerry we shall
observe a similar divergence. At present a timely speech
from Madison soothed the troubled waters ; but it was only

272 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
after eleven days of somewhat more tranquil debate that the
compromise was adopted on the 16th of July. Even then
it was but narrowly secured. The ayes were Connecticut,
New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and North Carolina, — five
states ; the noes were Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Caro
lina, and Georgia, — four states ; Gerry and Strong against
King and Gorham divided the vote of Massachusetts, which
was thus lost. New York, for reasons presently to be
stated, was absent. It is accordingly to Elbridge Gerry and
Caleb Strong that posterity are indebted for here prevent
ing a tie, and thus bringing the vexed question to a happy
issue. According to the compromise secured with so much diffi
culty, it was arranged that in the lower house population was
to be represented, and in the upper house the states, each of
which, without regard to size, was forever to be entitled
to two senators. In the lower house there was to be one
representative for every 40,000 inhabitants, but at Washing
ton's suggestion the number was changed to 30,000, so as
to increase the house, which then seemed likely to be too
small in numbers. Some one suggested that with the growth
of population that rate would make an unwieldy house within
a hundred and fifty years from that time, whereat Gorham of
Massachusetts laughed to scorn the idea that any system of
government they could devise in that room could possibly
last a hundred and fifty years. The difficulty has been sur
mounted by enlarging from time to time the basis of repre
sentation. It now seemed inadvisable that the senators
should be chosen by the lower house out of persons nomi
nated by the state legislatures ; and it was accordingly
decided that they should be not merely nominated, but
elected, by the state legislatures. Thus the Senate was
made quite independent of the lower house. At the same
time, the senators were to vote as individuals, and thus the
old practice of voting by states, except in certain peculiar
emergencies, was finally done away with.
It is seldom, if ever, that a political compromise leaves

1787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

273

things evenly balanced. Almost every such arrangement,
when once set working, weighs down the scales decidedly
to the one side or the other. The Connecticut compromise
was really a decisive victory for Madison and his party,
although it modified the Virginia plan so considerably.
They could well afford to defer to the fears and prejudices
of the smaller states in the structure of the Sen- ,,It was a
ate, for by securing a lower house, which repre- decisive
sented the American people, and not the American Madison's
states, they won the whole battle in so far as the sc eme
question of radically reforming the government was con
cerned. As soon as the foundation was thus laid for a

,y»
GERRY'S HOUSE AT CAMBRIDGE

government which should act directly upon individuals, it
obviously became necessary to abandon the articles of con
federation, and work out a new constitution in all its details.
The plan, as now reported, omitted the obnoxious adjective
"national," and spoke of the federal legislature and federal
courts. But to the men' who were still blindly wedded to
the old confederation this soothing change of phraseology
did not conceal their defeat. On the very day that the
compromise was favourably reported by the committee,
Yates and Lansing quit the convention in disgust, and went
home to New York. After the departure of these uncon-

274 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
genial colleagues, Hamilton might have acted with power,
had he not known too well that the sentiment of his state
did not support him. As a mere individual he could do but
little, and accordingly he went home for a while to attend
to pressing business, returning just in time to take part in
the closing scenes. His share in the work of
Irreconcila- °
bies go framing the Federal Constitution was very small.
About the time that Hamilton returned, Luther
Martin, whose wrath had waxed hotter every day, as he saw
power after power extended to the federal government, at
length gave way and went back to Maryland, vowing that
he would have nothing more to do with such high-handed
proceedings. While the Connecticut compromise thus scattered a few
scintillations of discontent, and relieved the convention of
some of its most discordant elements, its general effect was
wonderfully harmonizing. The men who had opposed the
Virginia plan only through their dread of the larger states
were now more than conciliated. The concession of equal
representation in the Senate turned out to have been a mas
ter stroke of diplomacy. As soon as the little states were
assured of an equal share in the control of one of the two
central legislative bodies, they suddenly forgot their scruples
about thoroughly overhauling the government, and none
were readier than they to intrust extensive powers to the
new Congress. Paterson of New Jersey, the fiercest oppo
nent of the Virginia plan, became from that time forth to
the end of his life the most devoted of Federalists.
That first step which proverbially gives the most trouble
had now been fairly taken. But other compromises were
needed before the work of construction could pro-
tagonisms ; perly be carried out. As the antagonism between
dread of great and small states disappeared from the scene,
westUture °tner antagonisms appeared. It is worth noting
that just for a moment there was revealed a glim
mering of jealousy and dread on the part of the eastern
states toward those of which the foundations were laid in

1 787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

275

the northwestern territory. Many people in New England
feared that their children would be drawn westward in such
numbers as to create immense states beyond the Ohio ; and
thus it was foreseen that the relative political weight of New.
England in the future would be diminished. To a certain

•^Ui^uXZr

extent this prediction has been justified by events, but
Roger Sherman rightly maintained that it afforded no just
grounds for dread. King and Gerry introduced a most
illiberal and mischievous motion, that the total number of
representatives from new states must never be allowed to
exceed the total number from the original thirteen. Such

276 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
an arrangement, which would surely have been enough to
create that antagonism between east and west which it
sought to forestall and avoid, was supported by Massachu
setts and Connecticut, with Delaware and Maryland ; but it
was defeated by the combination of New Jersey with the four
states south of Maryland. The ground was thus cleared for
a very different kind of sectional, antagonism, — that which,
as Madison truly said, would prove the most deep-seated and
enduring of all, — the antagonism between north and south.
The first great struggle between the pro-slavery and anti-
, slavery parties began in the Federal Convention,
nism be- and it resulted in the first two of the long series
twecn stave
states and of compromises by which their repressible conflict
was postponed until the north had waxed strong
enough to confront the dreaded spectre of secession, and,
summoning all its energies in one stupendous effort, exor
cise it forever. From
this moment down to
1865 we shall continu
ally be made to realize
how the American peo
ple had entered into the
shadow of the coming
Civil War before they had fairly emerged from that of the
Revolution ; and as we pass from scene to scene of the
solemn story, we shall learn how to be forever grateful for
the sudden and final clearing of the air wrought by that
frightful storm which men not yet old can still so well
remember. The first compromise related to the distribution of repre
sentatives between north and south. Was representation in
the lower house of Congress to be proportioned to wealth, or
to population ; and if the latter, were all the inhabitants, or
only all the free inhabitants, to be counted? It was soon
agreed that wealth was difficult to reckon and population
easy to count ; and to an extent sufficient for all ordinary
purposes, population might serve as an index of wealth. A

1787 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 277
state with 500,000 inhabitants would be in most cases richer
than one with 400,000. In those days, when cities were
few and small, this was approximately true. In our day it is
not at all true. A state with large commercial and manu
facturing cities is sure to be much richer than a state in
which the population is chiefly rural. The population of
Massachusetts is somewhat smaller than that of Indiana;
but her aggregate wealth is more than double that of Indi
ana. Disparities like this, which do not trouble us to-day,
would have troubled the Federal Convention. We no longer
think it desirable to give political representation to wealth,
or to anything but persons. We have become thoroughly
democratic, but our great-grandfathers had not. To them it
seemed quite essential that wealth should be represented as
well as persons ; but they got over the main difficulty easily,
because under the economic conditions of that time popula
tion could serve roughly as an index to wealth, and it was
much easier to count noses than to assess the value of farms
and stock.
But now there was in all the southern states, and in most
of the northern, a peculiar species of collective existence,
which might be described either as wealth or as ,„
0 # Were slaves
population. As human beings the slaves might be to be reek-
described as population, but in the eye of the law sons or as
they were chattels. In the northern states slavery chattels ?
was rapidly disappearing, and the property in negroes wasi
so small as to be hardly worth considering ; while south of
Mason and Dixon's line this peculiar kind of property was
the chief wealth of the states. But clearly, in apportioning
representation, in sharing political power in the federal
assembly, the same rule should have been applied impartially
to all the states. At this point, Pierce Butler and Cotes-
worth Pinckney of South Carolina insisted that slaves were
part of the population, and as such must be counted in
ascertaining the basis of representation. A fierce and com
plicated dispute ensued. The South Carolina proposal sug
gested a uniform rule, but it was one that would scarcely

278

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

CHAP. VI

alter the political weight of the north, while it would vastly
increase the weight of the south ; and it would increase it
most in just the quarter where slavery was most deeply
rooted. The power of South Carolina, as a member of the
Union, would be doubled by such a measure. Hence the
northern delegates main
tained that slaves, as
chattels, ought no more
to be reckoned as part
of the population than
houses or ships. "Has
a man in Virginia," ex
claimed Paterson, " a
number of votes in pro
portion to the number of
his slaves ? And if ne
groes are not represented
in the states to which
they belong, why should
they be represented in
the general government ?
... If a meeting of the
people were to take place
in a slave state, would the
Why then should they
be represented in a federal government ? " " I can never
agree," said Gouverneur Morris, "to give such encourage
ment to the slave-trade as would be given by allowing the
southern states a representation for their negroes. ... I
would sooner submit myself to a tax for paying for all the
negroes in the United States than saddle posterity with such
a constitution." The attitude taken by Virginia was that of peacemaker.
On the one hand, such men as Washington, Madison, and
Mason, who were earnestly hoping to see their own state
soon freed from the curse of slavery, could not fail to per
ceive that if Virginia were to gain an increase of political

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1787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

279

weight from the existence of that institution, the difficulty of
getting the state legislature to abolish it would be enhanced.
But, on the other hand, they saw that South Carolina was
inexorable, and that her refusal to adopt the Constitution
for this reason would certainly carry Georgia with her, and
probably North Carolina, also. Even had South Carolina
alone been involved, it was not simply a question of forming

J^teAt?

a Union which should either include her or leave her out in
the cold. The case was much more complicated than that.
It was really doubtful if, without the cordial assistance of
South Carolina, a Union could be formed at all. A Federal
Constitution had not only to be framed, but it had to be
presented to the thirteen states for adoption. It was by no

280 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
means clear that enough states would ratify it to enable the
experiment of the new government to go into operation.
New York and Rhode Island were known to be bitterly
opposed to it ; Massachusetts could not be counted on as
sure ; to add South Carolina to this list would be to endan
ger everything. The event justified this caution. We shall
hereafter see that it was absolutely necessary to satisfy
South Carolina, and that but for her ratification, coming just
at the moment when it did, the work of the Federal Conven
tion would probably have been done in vain. It was a clear
perception of the wonderful complication of interests involved
in the final appeal to the people that induced the Virginia
statesmen to take the lead in a compromise. Four years
before, in 1783, when Congress was endeavouring to appor
tion the quotas of revenue to be required of the several
states, a similar dispute had arisen. If taxation were to be
distributed according to population, it made a great difference
whether slaves were to be counted as population or not. If
slaves were to be counted, the southern states would have
to pay more than their equitable share into the federal
treasury ; if slaves were not to be counted, it was argued at
the north that they would be paying less than their equitable
share. Consequently, at that time the north had been
inclined to maintain that the slaves were population, while
the south had preferred to regard them as chattels. Thus
we see that in politics, as well as in algebra, it makes all the
difference in the world 'whether you start with plus or with
minus. On that occasion Madison had offered a successful
The three comPromise, in which a slave figured as three fifths
fifths com- of a freeman ; and Rutledge of South Carolina, who
promise ; .
a genuine was now present in the convention, had supported
foiution.if the measure. Madison now proposed the same
waesronere method of getting over the difficulty about repre
sentation, and his compromise was adopted. It was
agreed that in counting population, whether for direct taxa
tion or for representation in the lower house of Congress,
five slaves should be reckoned as three individuals.

1787 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 281
All this was thoroughly illogical, of course ; it left the
question whether slaves are population or chattels for theo-
rizers to wrangle over, and for future events to decide. It
was easy for James Wilson to show that there was neither
rhyme nor reason in it : but he subscribed to it, neverthe
less, just as the northern abolitionists, Rufus King and
Gouverneur Morris, joined with Washington and Madison,
and with the pro-slavery Pinckneys, in subscribing to it,
because they all believed that without such a compromise
the Constitution would not be adopted; and in this there
can be little doubt that they were right. The evil conse
quences were unquestionably very serious indeed. Hence
forth, so long as slavery lasted, the vote of a southerner
counted for more than the vote of a northerner ; and just
where negroes were most numerous the power of their
masters became greatest. In South Carolina there soon
came to be more blacks than whites, and the application of
the rule therefore went far toward doubling the vote of
South Carolina in the House of Representatives and in the
electoral college. Every five slaveholders down there were
equal in political weight to not less than eight farmers or
merchants in the north ; and thus this troublesome state
acquired a power of working mischief out of all proportion
to her real size. At a later date the operation of the rule in
Mississippi was similar; and in general it was just the most
backward and barbarous parts of the Union that were thus
favoured at the expense of the most civilized parts. Admit
ting all this, however, it remains undeniable that
the Constitution saved us from anarchy ; and there words, it
can be little doubt that slavery and every other be^tsoL-
remnant of barbarism in American society would ^1" under"
have thriven far more lustily under a state of thecircum-
chronic anarchy than was possible under the Con
stitution. Four years of concentrated warfare, animated by
an intense and lofty moral purpose, could not hurt the char
acter or mar the fortunes of the people, like a century of
aimless and miscellaneous squabbling over a host of petty

2g2 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
local interests. The War of Secession was a terrible ordeal
to pass through ; but when one tries to picture what might
have happened in this fair land without the work of the
Federal Convention, the imagination stands aghast.
The second great compromise between northern and
compro- southern interests related to the abolition of the
mise be- foreign slave-trade and the power of the federal
tween New &
England o-overnment over commerce. All the states ex-
c"rolna cept South Carolina and Georgia wished to stop
teeign6 the importation of slaves; but the physical con-
siave-trade Virions of rice and indigo culture exhausted the
negroes so fast that these two states felt that their indus
tries would be dried up at the very source if the importation
of fresh negroes were to be stopped. Cotesworth Pinckney
accordingly declared that South Carolina would consider a
vote to abolish the slave-trade as simply a polite way of tell
ing her that she was not wanted in the Union. On the
other hand, the three New England states present in the
convention had made up their minds that it would not do
to allow the several states any longer to regulate commerce
each according to its own whim. It was of vital importance
that this power should be taken from the states and lodged
in Congress ; otherwise, the Union would soon be rent in
pieces by commercial disputes. The policy of New York
had thoroughly impressed this lesson upon all the neigh
bouring states. But none of the southern states were in
favour of granting this power unreservedly to Congress. If
a navigation act could be passed by a simple majority in Con
gress, it was feared that the New Englanders would get all
the carrying trade into their own hands, and then charge
ruinous freights for carrying rice, indigo, and tobacco to
the north and to Europe. On this point, accordingly, the
southern delegates acted as a unit in insisting that Congress
should not be empowered to regulate commerce, except by
a two thirds vote of both houses. The New Englanders
insisted that such a restriction would tie the hands of the
federal government most unfortunately. But if a tariff act

1787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

283

-TjZ^-ur^gr /^WC-to-;

could be passed by a simple majority, it was feared that we
should come to see — well, just what we have come to see ;
the shameful system of wholesale robbery upon which Con
gress had entered by 1828, and which during the last thirty
years has been growing ever more cynical, ruthless, and
base. Here were the materials ready for a compromise, or,
as the stout abolitionist, Gouverneur Morris, truly called it, a
"bargain " between New England and the far south. New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut consented to
the prolonging of the foreign slave-trade for twenty years,
or until 1808 ; and in return South Carolina and Georgia
consented to the clause empowering Congress to pass navi-

284 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
gation acts and otherwise regulate commerce by a simple
majority of votes. At the same time, as a concession to
rice and indigo, the New Englanders agreed that Congress
should be forever prohibited from taxing exports ; and thus
one remnant of mediaeval political economy was neatly
swept away.
This compromise was carried against the sturdy opposition
of Virginia. The language of George Mason of Virginia is
worth quoting, for it was such as Theodore Parker might
have used. He called the slave-trade " this infernal traffic."
" Slavery," said he, "discourages arts and manufac-
ComproS tures. The poor despise labour when performed
to'make"13 by slaves- They prevent the immigration of
theadhe- whites, who really strengthen and enrich a coun-
virginia try. They produce the most pernicious effect on
manners. Every master of slaves is born a petty
tyrant. They bring the judgment of Heaven on a country.
As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next
world, they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of
causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins by
national calamities." But these prophetic words were pow
erless against the combination of New England with the far
south. One thing was now made certain, — that the vast
influence of Rutledge and the Pinckneys would be thrown
unreservedly in behalf of the new Constitution. " I will
confess," said Cotesworth Pinckney, "that I had prejudices
against the eastern states before I came here, but I have
found them as liberal and candid as any men whatever."
But this compromise, which finally secured South Carolina
and Georgia, made Virginia for the moment doubtful; for
Mason and Randolph were so disgusted at the absolute
power over commerce conceded to Congress that, when the
Constitution was finished and engrossed on paper, they
refused to sign it.
It is difficult to read this or any other episode in our
history whereby negro slavery was extended and fostered
without burning indignation. But this is not the proper

49rt^^

1787 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 285
mood for the historian, whose aim is to interpret men's
actions by the circumstances of their time, in order to j udge
their motives correctly. In 1787 slavery was the cloud like
unto a man's hand which portended a deluge, but those who
could truly read the signs were few. From north to south,
slavery had been slowly dying out for nearly fifty years. It
had become extinct in Massachusetts, it was nearly so in all

CHARLES PINCKNEY

the other northern states, and it had just been forever pro
hibited in the national domain. In Maryland and Virginia
there was a strong and growing party in favour of abolition.
The movement had even gathered strength in North Caro
lina. Only the rice-swamps of the far south remained
wedded to their idols. It was quite generally believed
that slavery was destined speedily to expire, to give place
to a better system of labour, without any great danger or

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288 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
disturbance ; and this opinion was distinctly set forth by
many delegates in the convention.1 Even Charles Pinckney
went so far as to express a hope that South Carolina, if not
too much meddled with, would by and by voluntarily rank
herself among the emancipating states ; but his older cousin
declared himself bound in candour to acknowledge that there
was very little likelihood indeed of so desirable an event.
Not even these South Carolinians ventured to defend slavery
on principle. This belief in the moribund condition of
slavery prevented the convention from realizing the actual
effect of the concessions which were made. Very little
cotton was grown at that time, and none was sent to Eng
land. The industrial revolution about to be wrought by the
inventions of Arkwright and Hargreaves, Cartwright and
Watt and Whitney, could not be foreseen. Nor could it be
foreseen that presently, when there should thus arise a great
demand for slaves from Virginia as a breeding-ground, the
abolitionist party in that state would disappear, leaving her
to join in the odious struggle for introducing slavery into the
national domain. Though these things were so soon to hap
pen, the wisest man in 1787 could not foresee them. The
convention hoped that twenty years would see not only the
end of the foreign slave-trade, but the restriction and dim
inution of slavery itself. It was in such a mood that they
completed the compromise by recommending a tariff of ten
dollars a head upon all negroes imported, while at the same
time a clause was added for insuring the recovery of fugitive
1 The slave-population of the United States, according to the census
of 1790, was thus distributed among the states : —
North South
New Hampshire
Vermont 
Massachusetts 
Rhode Island . . .

.58

Delaware . .

 8,887

17

Maryland . .

 i°3>°36

Virginia . . .

 293,427

952

North Carolina .

. 100,572

2,759

South Carolina .

¦ ¦ i°7,094

2I,324

Georgia . . .

29,264

",423

Kentucky .

11,830

3,737

Tennessee . .

• • • 3,4'7

Connecticut  2,759
New York
New Jersey ....
Pennsylvania  3^
40,370 657,527
Total  697,897

\

1787 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 289
x.,
slaves, quite similar to the clause in the ordinance, for the
government of the northwestern territory.
It was the three great compromises here described that
laid the foundations of our Federal Constitution. The.grst
compromise, by conceding equal representation to the statt^
in the Senate, enlisted the small states in favour of The foun. '"
the new scheme, and by establishing a national sys- dations of
» ..,-,, J the Consti-
tem 01 representation in the lower house, prepared tution were
the way for a government that could endure. This compro-d '"
was Madison's great victory, secured by the aid of mise
Sherman and Ellsworth, without which nothing could have

GUNSTON HALL, VIRGINIA: MASON'S HOME

been effected. The second compromise, at the cost of giv
ing disproportionate weight to the slave states, gained their
support for the more perfect union that was about to be
formed. The third compromise, at the cost of postponing
for twenty years the abolition of the foreign slave-trade,

z9° /THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
secured abso/^ free.tracie between the states, with the sur
render ot/^jj controi over commerce into the hands of the
' ra/government. After these steps had been taken, the

m0Jt difficult and dangerous part of the road had been
Jfavelled ; the remainder, though extremely important, was
/ accomplished far more easily. It was mainly the. task of
building on the foundations already laid.
In the grants to the federal government of powers hitherto
reserved to the several states, the diversity of opinion among
the members of the convention was but slight compared to
the profound antagonism which had been allayed by the
three initial compromises. It was admitted, as a matter of
course, that the federal government alone could coin money,
Powers fix the standard of weights and measures, establish
fhe^ederai post-offices and post-roads, and grant patents and
government copyrights. To it alone was naturally intrusted
the whole business of war and of international relations. It
could define and punish felonies committed on the high seas ;
it could maintain a navy and issue letters of marque and
reprisal; it could support an army and provide for calling
forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, to sup
press insurrections, and to repel invasions. But in relation
to this question of the army and the militia there was some
characteristic discussion. It was at first proposed that Con
gress should have the power " to subdue a rebellion in any
state on the application of its legislature." The Shays
rebellion was then fresh in the memory of all the delegates,
and their arguments simply reflected the impression which
that unpleasant affair had left upon them. Charles Pinck
ney, Gouverneur Morris, and John Langdon wished to have
the power given to Congress unconditionally, without waiting
for an application from the legislature. But Gerry, who had
been on the ground, spoke sturdily against such a needless
infraction of state rights. He was utterly opposed, he said,
to "letting loose the myrmidons of the United States on a
state without its own consent. The states will be the best
judges in such cases. More blood would have been spilt in

•v

1787 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION \ 291
Massachusetts in the late insurrection if the general \author-
ity had intermeddled." Ellsworth suggested that Congress
should use its discretion only in cases where the legislattire
of the state could not meet ; but Randolph forcibly replied
that if Congress is to judge whether, a state legislature can
or cannot meet, the difficulty is in no wise surmounted.

Gerry's view at last prevailed, and in accordance therewith
it was decided that the federal power should guarantee to
every state a republican form of government, and should pro
tect each of them against invasion ; and on application of
the legislature, or of the executive (if the legislature could
not be convened), it should protect them against domestic
violence. This arrangement did not fully provide against
such an emergency as that of rival and hostile executives in
the same state, as under the so-called " carpet-bag " govern-

292 / THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
ments 'Miich followed after the War of Secession, but it was
doujstiess as sound, a provision as any general constitution
cpnld make.
The 'federal government was further empowered to bor
row money on the credit of the United States ; and it was
declared that all debts contracted and engagements entered
into before the adoption of this constitution should be as
valid against the United States under this constitution as
under the confederation. There was to be no repudiation
or readjustment of debts on the ground of inability to pay.
Congress was further empowered to establish a uniform rule
of naturalization and a uniform law of bankruptcy. But it
was prohibited from passing bills of attainder or ex post facto
laws, or suspending the writ of habeas corpus, except under
the stress of rebellion or invasion. It was provided that
all duties, imposts, or excises should be uniform throughout
the United States. The federal government could not give
preference to one state over another in its commercial regu
lations. It could not tax exports. It could not draw money
from the treasury save by due process of appropriation, and
all bills relating to the raising of revenue must originate
in the lower house, which directly represented the people.
Congress was empowered to admit new states into the
Union, but it was not allowed to interfere with the territo
rial areas of states already existing without the express con
sent of the local legislatures. To insure the independence
of the federal government, it was provided that senators and
representatives should be paid out of the federal treasury,
and not by their respective states, as had been the case
under the confederation. Except for such offences as trea
son, felony, or breach of the peace, they should be " privi
leged from arrest during their attendance at the session of
their respective houses, and in going to or returning from
the same; and for any speech or debate in either house"
they were not to be " questioned in any other place." It
was further provided that a territory not exceeding ten
miles square should be ceded to the United States, and set

1787 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 293
apart as the site of a federal city, in which the general gov
ernment should ever after hold its meetings, erect its build
ings, and exercise exclusive jurisdiction. During the past
four years the Continental Congress had skipped about
from Philadelphia to Princeton, to Annapolis, to Trenton, to
New York, until it had become a laughing-stock, and the
newspapers were full of squibs about it. Verily, said one
facetious editor, the Lord shall make this government like
unto a wheel, and keep it rolling back and forth betwixt
Dan and Beersheba, and grant it no rest this side of Jordan.
This inconvenience was now to be remedied. Congress
was hereafter to have a federal police force at its disposal,
and was never more to be reduced to the humiliation of a
fruitless appeal to the protecting arm of a state government,
as at Philadelphia in the summer of 1783. Furthermore,
the Continental Congress had of late years commanded so
little respect, and had offered so few temptations to able
men in quest of political distinction, that its meetings were
often attended by no more than eight or ten members. It
was actually on the point of dying a natural death through
sheer lack of public interest in it. To prevent any possible
continuance of such a disgraceful state of things, it was
agreed that the Federal Congress should be " authorized to
compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner
and under such penalties as each house may provide." Had
the political life of the country continued to go on as under
the confederation, it is very doubtful whether such a provi
sion as this would have remedied the evil. But the new
Federal Congress, drawing its life directly from the people,
was destined to afford far greater opportunities for a politi
cal career than were afforded by the feeble -body of dele
gates which preceded it; and a penal clause, compelling
members to attend its meetings, was hardly needed under
the new circumstances which arose.
While the powers of the federal government were thus
carefully defined, at the same time several powers were ex
pressly denied to the states. No state was allowed, without

294

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi

explicit authority from Congress, to lay any tonnage or cus
tom-house duties, " keep troops or ships of war in
Powers ' . r r "
denied to time of peace, enter into any agreement or com
pact with another state or with a foreign power,
or engage in war unless actually invaded, or in such immi
nent danger as will not admit of delays." The following
clause provided against a recurrence of some of the worst
evils which had been felt under the " league of friendship : "
" No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confeder
ation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ;
emit bills of credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin
a tender in payment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex
post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts ;
or grant any title of nobility." Henceforth there was to be
no repetition of such disgraceful scenes as had lately been
witnessed in Rhode Island. So far as the state legislatures
were concerned, paper money was to be ruled out forever.
But how was it with the federal government ? By the arti
cles of confederation the United States were allowed to
issue bills of credit, and make them a tender in payment of
debts. In the Federal Convention the committee of detail
suggested that this permission might remain under the new
constitution; but the suggestion was almost unanimously
condemned. All the ablest men in the convention spoke
emphatically against it. Gouverneur Morris urged that the
Emphatic federal government, no less than the state govern-
tion^f™" ments> snould be expressly prohibited from issuing
paper bills of credit, or in any wise making its promis-
money , . , , „ ° x
sory notes a legal tender. He went over the
history of the past ten years ; he called attention to the
obstinacy with which the wretched device had been resorted
to again and again, after its evils had been thrust before
everybody's eyes ; and he proved himself a true prophet
when he said that if the United States should ever again
have a great war to conduct, people would have forgotten
all about these things, and would call for fresh issues of
inconvertible paper, with similar disastrous results. Now

i787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

295

was the time to stop it once for all. "Yes," echoed Roger
Sherman, "this is the favourable crisis for crushing paper
money." " This is the time," said his colleague, Ellsworth,
"to shut and bar the door against paper money, which can
in no case be necessary. Give the government credit, and
other resources will offer. The power may do harm, never
good." There was no
way, he added, in which
powerful friends could so
soon be gained for the
new constitution as by
withholding this power
from the government.
James Wilson took the
same view. " It will have
the most salutary influ
ence on the credit of the
United States," said he,
"to remove the possi
bility of paper money."
" Rather than grant the
power to Congress," said
John Langdon, " I would
reject the whole plan."
" The words which grant
this power," said George
Read of Delaware, " if not
struck out, will be as alarming as the mark of the Beast in
the Apocalypse." On none of the subjects that came up
for discussion during that summer was the convention more
nearly unanimous than in its condemnation of paper money.
The only delegate who ventured to speak in its favour was
Mercer of Maryland. What Hamilton would have said, if
he had been present that day, we may judge from his vig
orous words published some time before. The power to
emit an inconvertible paper as a sign of value ought never
hereafter to be used ; for in its very nature, said he, it is

296 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
"pregnant with abuses, and liable to be made the engine of
imposition and fraud, holding out temptations equally per
nicious to the integrity of government and to the morals
of the people." Paterson called it " sanctifying iniquity by
law." The same views were entertained by Washington
and Madison. There were a few delegates, however, who
thought it unsafe to fetter Congress absolutely. To use
Luther Martin's expression, they did not set themselves up
to be "wise beyond every event." George Mason said he
" had a mortal hatred to paper money, yet, as he could not
foresee all emergencies, he was unwilling to tie the hands of
the legislature. The late war," he thought, "could not have
been carried on had such a prohibition existed." Randolph
spoke to the same effect. Such opinions were common
then, and are common now ; though to any one who has
carefully studied our financial history it is quite clear that
both in the War of Independence and.in the War of Seces
sion legal-tender notes were not a help but a most baneful
encumbrance. It was finally decided, by the vote of nine states against
New Jersey and Maryland, that the power to issue incon
vertible paper should not be granted to the federal govern
ment. An express prohibition, such as had been adopted
for the separate states, was thought unnecessary. It was
supposed that it was enough to withhold the power, since
the federal government would not venture to exercise it
unless expressly permitted in the Constitution. "Thus,"
says Madison, in his narrative of the proceedings, " the pre
text for a paper currency, and particularly for making the
bills a tender, either for public or private debts, was cut
off." Nothing could be more clearly expressed than this.
As Mr. Justice Field observes, in his able dissenting opinion
in the recent case of Juilliard vs. Greenman, "if there be
anything in the history of the Constitution which can be
established with moral certainty, it is that the framers of
that instrument intended to prohibit the issue of legal-tender
notes both by the general government and by the states,

1787 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 297
and thus prevent interference with the contracts of private
parties." Such has been the opinion of our ablest constitu
tional jurists, Marshall, Webster, Story, Curtis, and Nelson.
There can be little doubt that, according to all sound prin
ciples of interpretation, the Legal Tender Act of 1862 was
passed in flagrant violation of the Constitution. Could Ells
worth and Morris, Langdon and Madison, have foreseen the
possibility of such extraordinary judgments as have lately
emanated from the Supreme Court of the United States,
they would doubtless have insisted upon the express pro
hibition, instead of leaving it to posterity to root out the
plague, as it will apparently some time have to do, by the
cumbrous process of an amendment to the Constitution.
The work of the convention, as thus far considered,
related to the legislative department of the new government.
While these discussions were going on, much attention had
been paid, from time to time, to the characteristics of the
proposed federal executive. The debates on this question,
though long kept up, were far less acrimonious than the
debates on representation and the power of Congress over
trade, because here there was no obvious clashing of local
interests. But for this very reason the convention had no
longer so clear a chart to steer by. On the question of the
slave-trade, the Pinckneys knew accurately just what South
Carolina wanted, how much it would do to claim, and how
far it would be necessary to yield. As to the regulation of
commerce by a bare majority of votes in Congress, King and
Sherman on the one hand, Mason and Randolph on the
other, were able to pursue a thoroughly definite course of
action in behalf of what were supposed to be the special
interests of New England or of Virginia. Consequently, the
debates kept close to the point ; the controversy was keen,
and sometimes, as we have seen, angry.
It was very different with the question as to the federal
executive. Upon this point the discussions were guided
rather by general speculations as to what would be most
likely to work well, and accordingly they wandered far and

298 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
wide. Some of the delegates seemed to think we should
sooner or later come to adopt a hereditary monarchy, and
that the chief thing to be done was to postpone the event
as long as possible. Many wild ideas were broached : such,
for example, as a triple-headed executive, to represent the
Debates as eastern, middle, and southern states, somewhat as
eraUxlcu- associated Roman dmperors at times administered
tive affairs in the different portions of an undivided
empire. The Virginia plan had not stated whether its pro
posed executive was to be single or plural, because the Vir
ginia delegates could not agree. Madison wished it to be
single, to insure greater efficiency, but to Randolph and
Mason a tyranny seemed to lurk in such an arrangement.
When James Wilson and Charles Pinckney suggested that
the executive power should be intrusted into the hands of
one man, a profound silence fell upon the convention. No
one spoke for several minutes, until Washington, from the
chair, asked if he should put the question. Franklin then
got up, and said it was an interesting subject, and he should
like to hear what the members had to say ; and so the ball
was set rolling. Rutledge said there was no need of their
being so shy. A man might frankly express his opinions,
and afterwards change them if he saw good reason for so
doing. For his part, he was in favour of vesting the execu
tive power in a single person, to secure efficiency of admin
istration and concentration of responsibility ; but he would
not give him the power to declare war and make peace.
Sherman then made the far-reaching suggestion, that the
executive magistracy was really " nothing more than an
institution for carrying the will of the legislature into effect ;
that the person or persons ought to be appointed by and
accountable to the legislature only, which was the depository
of the supreme will of the society. As they were the best
judges of the business which ought to be done by the execu
tive department, ... he wished the number might not be
fixed, but that the legislature should be at liberty to appoint
one or more, as experience might dictate." It would greatly

,.it.

t/C^fCAy <y/usr*7f, gyn

1787 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 299
have astonished the convention had they been told that this
suggestion of Sherman's was a move in the very same line
of development which the British government had been
following for more than half a century ; yet such, as we shall
presently see, was the case. Had this point been understood
then as we understand it now, the proceedings of the con
vention could not have failed to be profoundly affected by
it. As it was, the suggestion did not receive due attention,
and the stream of discussion was turned into a very different
channel. Wilson argued powerfully in favour of a single
chief magistrate, and this view finally prevailed.
After it had been decided that there should be one man
set in so high a position, there was endless discussion as to
whether he should be elected by the people or by Congress,
and whether he should serve for one, or two, or three, or
four, or ten, or fifteen years. "Better call it There
twenty," said Rufus King, sarcastically; "it is the should be a
average reign of princes." Hamilton and Gouver- bufhow''
neur Morris would have had him chosen for life, should he
' be elected
subject to removal for misbehaviour ; but the pre
ference for a short term of service was soon manifest. As
to the method of election, opinions oscillated back and forth
for several weeks. Wilson said "he was almost unwilling
to declare the mode which he wished to take place, being
apprehensive that it might appear chimerical. He would
say, however, at least, that in theory he was for an election
by the people. Experience, particularly in New York and
Massachusetts, showed that an election of the first magis
trate by the people at large was both a convenient and a
successful mode. The objects of choice in such cases must
be persons whose merits have general notoriety." Mason,
Rutledge, and Strong agreed with Sherman that the execu
tive should be chosen by the legislature ; but Washington,
Madison, Gerry, and Gouverneur Morris strongly disap
proved of this. Morris argued that an election by the
national legislature would be the work of intrigue and cor
ruption, like the election of the king of Poland by a diet of

300 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
nobles ; but Mason -declared, on the other hand, that " to
refer the choice of a proper character for a chief magistrate
to the people would be as unnatural as to refer a trial of
colours to a blind man." A decision was first reached
against an election by Congress, because it was thought that
if the chief magistrate should prove himself thoroughly com
petent he ought to be reeligible ; but if reeligible he would
be exposed to the temptation of truckling to the most power
ful party or cabal in Congress, in order to secure his reelec
tion. It did not occur to any one to suggest that under
ordinary circumstances the executive ought to follow the
policy of the most powerful party in Congress, and that he
might at the same time preserve all needful independence
by being clothed with the power of dissolving Congress and
making an appeal to the people in a new election. It is
interesting to consider what might have come of such a sug
gestion, following upon the heels of that made by Roger
Sherman. As we shall presently see, it might have gone
far toward assimilating the machinery of our government to
that of Great Britain by making the executive the arm of
the legislature, instead of a separate and coordinate power.
Upon this point the minds of nearly all the members were
so far under the sway of an incorrect theory of the British
constitution that such an idea occurred to none of them. It
was decided that the chief magistrate ought to be reeligible,
and therefore should not be elected by Congress.
An immediate choice by the people, however, did not
Suggestion meet with general favour. To obviate the diffi-
taaUo'i-0" culty» Ellsworth and King suggested the device of
Iese an electoral college, in which the electors should
be chosen by the state legislatures, and should hold a meet
ing at the federal city for the sole purpose of deciding upon
a chief magistrate. It was then objected that it would be
difficult to find competent men who would be willing to
undertake a long journey simply for such a purpose. The
obj ection was felt to be a very grave one, and so the conven
tion returned to the plan of an election by Congress, and

1 787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

301

-SW^^^^

again confronted the diffi
culty of the chief magis
trate's intriguing to secure
his reelection. Wilson
thought to do away with
this difficulty by introdu
cing the element of blind
chance, as in some of the
states of ancient Greece,
and choosing the executive
by a board of electors taken
from Congress by lot ;
but the suggestion found
little support. Dickinson
thought it would be well
if the people of each state
were to choose its best
citizen, — in modern par
lance, its " favourite son ; "
then out of these thirteen names a chief magistrate might
be chosen, either by Congress or by a special board of elec
tors. At length, on the 26th of July, at the motion of
Mason, the convention resolved that there should be a
national executive, to consist of a single person, to be chosen
by the national legislature for the term of seven years, and
to be ineligible for a second term. He was to be styled
President of the United States of America.
This decision remained until the very end of August,
when the whole question was reopened by a motion of Rut
ledge that the two houses of Congress, in electing the presi
dent, should proceed by "joint ballot." The object of this
motion was to prevent either house from exerting a negative
on the choice of the other. It was carried in spite of the
opposition of some of the smaller states, which might hope
to exercise a greater relative influence upon the choice of
presidents, if the Senate were to vote separately. At this
point the fears of Gouverneur Morris, that an election by

302 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
Congress would result in boundless intrigue, were revived ;
and in a powerful speech he persuaded the convention to
return to the device of the electoral college, which might
be made equal in number and similar in composition to the
two houses of Congress sitting together. It need not be
required of the electors, after all, that they should make a
long journey to the seat of the federal government. They
might meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for
two persons, one of whom must be an inhabitant of a differ
ent state. By this provision it was hoped to diminish the
chances for extreme sectional partiality. A list of these
votes might be sent under seal to the presiding officer of the
Senate, to be counted. Should no candidate turn out to
have a majority of the votes, the Senate might choose a
president from the five highest candidates on the list. The
candidate having the next highest number of votes might be
declared vice-president, and preserve the visible continuity
of the government in case of the death of the president
during his term of office. By these changes the method of
electing the president, as finally decided upon, was nearly
completed. But Mason, Randolph, Gerry, King, and Wil
son were not satisfied with the provision that the Senate
might choose the president in case of a failure of choice on
the part of the electoral college : they preferred to give this
power to the House of Representatives. It was thought
that the Senate would be likely to prove an aristocratic
body, somewhat removed from the people in its sympathies,
and there was a dread of intrusting to it too many impor
tant functions. Mason thought that the sway of an aristo
cracy would be worse than an absolute monarchy ; and if
the Senate might every now and then elect the president,
there would be a risk that the dignity of his office might
degenerate, until he should become a mere creature of the
Senate. On the other hand, the small states, in order to
have an equal voice with the large ones, in such an emer
gency as the failure of choice by the electoral college,
wished to keep the eventual choice in the hands of the

1787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

303

Senate. Among the delegates from the small states, only
Langdon and Dickinson at first supported the change, and
only New Hampshire voted for it. At length Sherman pro
posed a compromise, which was carried. It was agreed that
the eventual choice should be given to the House of Repre
sentatives, and not to the Senate, but that in exercising this
function the vote in the House of Representatives should be
taken by states. Thus the humours of the delegates from

the small states, and of those who dreaded the accumulation
of powers into the hands of an oligarchy, were alike grati
fied. This arrangement was finally adopted by the votes of
ten states against Delaware.
But in spite of all the minute and anxious care that was
taken in guarding this point, the contingency of an election

3°4

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi

being thus thrown into the hands of the national legislature
was not regarded as likely often to occur. In point of fact,
it has hitherto happened only twice in the century, in the
elections of 1800 and of 1824. It was recognized that the
work would ordinarily be done through the machinery of
the electoral college, and that thus the fear of intrigue
between the president and Congress, as it had originally
been felt by the convention, might be set aside. To make
assurance doubly sure, it was provided that " no person shall
be appointed an elector who is a member of the legislature
of the United States, or who holds any office of profit or
trust under the United States." It then appeared that the
arguments which had been alleged against the eligibility of
the president for a second term had lost their force ; and
he was accordingly made reeligible, while his term of ser
vice was reduced from seven years to four.
The scheme had thus arrived substantially at its present
shape, except that the counting of the electoral vote still
remained in the hands of the Senate. On the 6th of Sep
tember this provision was altered, and it was decided that
"the president of the Senate shall, in the presence of the
. Senate and the House of Representatives, open
count the all the certificates, and the votes shall then be
counted." The object of this provision was to
take the office of counting away from the Senate alone, and
give it to Congress as a whole ; and while doing so, to guard
against the failure of an election through the disagreement
of the two houses. The method of counting was not pre
scribed, for it was thought that it might safely be left to
joint rules established by the two houses of Congress them
selves, after analogies supplied by the experience of the
several state legislatures. The case of double returns, sent
in by rival governments in the same state, was not contem
plated by the convention ; and thus the door was left open
for a danger considerably greater than many of those over
which the delegates were agitated. It may safely be said,
however, that not even the wildest license of interpretation

1787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

305

can find any support for the ridiculous doctrine suggested
by some persons blinded by political passion in 1877, that
the business of counting the votes and deciding upon the
validity of returns belongs to the president of the Senate.

&h$<J5Zz

i^^xy^rc^ir?^

No such idea was for a moment entertained by the conven
tion. Any such idea is completely negatived by their action
of the 6th of September. The express purpose of the final
arrangement made on that day was to admit the House of
Representatives to active participation in the office of de
termining who should have been elected president. It was
expressly declared that this work was too important to be
left to the Senate alone. What, then, would the conven
tion have said to the preposterous notion that this work

306 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
might safely be left to the presiding officer of the Senate ?
The convention were keenly alive to any imaginable grant
of authority that might enable the Senate to grow into an
oligarchy. What would they have said to the proposal to
create a monocrat ad hoc, an official permanently endowed
by virtue of his office with the function of king-maker ?
In this connection it is worth our while to observe that
in no respect has the actual working of the Constitution
departed so far from the intentions of its framers as in the
case of their provisions concerning the executive. Against
The con- a h°st of possible dangers they guarded most elab-
vention orately, but the dangers and inconveniences against
imaginary which we have actually had to contend they did not
but not 'the foresee. It will be observed that Wilson's pro-
real ones pQsai £Qr a (jjrect election of the president by the
people found little favour in the convention. The schemes
that were seriously considered oscillated back and forth
between an election by the national legislature and an elec
tion by a special college of electors. The electors might be
chosen by a popular vote, or by the state legislatures, or in
any such wise as each state might see fit to determine for
itself. In point of fact, electors were chosen by the legisla
ture in New Jersey till 1816; in Connecticut till 1820; in
New York, Delaware, and Vermont, and with one exception
in Georgia, till 1824 ; in South Carolina till 1868. Massachu
setts adopted various plans, and did not finally settle down
to an election by the people until 1828. Now there were
several reasons why the Federal Convention was afraid to
trust the choice of the president directly to the people.
One was that very old objection, the fear of the machina
tions of demagogues, since people were supposed to be so
easily fooled. As already observed, the democratic senti
ment in the convention was such as we should now call
weak. Another reason shows vividly how wide the world
seemed in those days of slow coaches and mail-bags carried
on horseback. It was feared that people would not have
sufficient data wherewith to judge of the merits of public

i787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

3°7

men in states remote from their own. The electors, as
eminent men exceptionally well informed, might hold little
conventions and select the best possible candidates, using
in every case their own unfettered judgment.
In this connection the words of Hamilton are worth quot
ing. In the sixty-eighth number of the " Federalist " he
says : " The mode of appointment of the chief magistrate
of the United States is almost the only part of the sys
tem which has escaped without severe censure, or which

has received the slightest mark of approbation from its
opponents. The most plausible of these who has appeared
in print has even deigned to admit that the election of
the president is well guarded. ... It was desirable that the
sense of the people should operate in the choice of the

308 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
person to whom so important a trust was to be confided.
... It was equally desirable that the immediate election
should be made by men capable of analyzing the qualities
adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances
favourable to deliberation and to a judicious combination of
all the reasons and inducements that were proper to govern
their choice. A small number of persons, selected by their
fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to
possess the information and discernment requisite to so com
plicated an investigation. ... It was also peculiarly desir
able to afford as little opportunity as possible to tumult and
disorder. This evil was not least to be dreaded in the elec
tion of a magistrate who was to have so important an agency
in the administration of the government."
Such was the theory as set forth by a thinker endowed
with rare ability to follow out in imagination the results of
any course of political action. It is needless to say that the
actual working of the scheme has been very different from
what was expected. In our very first great strug-
working gle of parties, in 1800, the electors divided upon
electoral party lines, with little heed to the "complicated
scheme investigation " for which they were supposed to be
chosen. Quite naturally, for the work of electing a candi
date presupposes a state of mind very different from that of
serene deliberation. In 1800 the electors acted simply as
automata recording the victory of their party, and so it has
been ever since. In our own time presidents and vice-
presidents are nominated, not without elaborate intrigue, by
special conventions quite unknown to the Constitution ; the
people cast their votes for the two or three pairs of can
didates thus presented, and the electoral college simply
registers the results. The system is thus fully exposed to
all the dangers which our forefathers dreaded from the fre
quent election of a chief magistrate by the people. Owing
to the great good-sense and good-nature of the American
people, the system does not work so badly as might be
expected. It has, indeed, worked immeasurably better than

i787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

309

any one would have ventured to predict. It is nevertheless
open to grave objections. It compels a change of adminis
tration at stated astronomical periods, whether any change
of policy is called for or not ; it stirs up the whole country
every fourth year with a furious excitement that is often
largely factitious ; and twice within the century, in 1801 and
again in 1877, it has brought us to the verge of the most
foolish and hopeless species of civil war, in view of that thor
oughly monarchical kind of accident, a disputed succession.1
The most curious and instructive point concerning the
peculiar executive devised for the United States by the
Federal Convention is
the fact that the dele
gates proceeded upon a
thoroughly false theory
of what they were doing.
As already observed, in
this part of its discus
sions the convention had
not the clearly outlined
chart of local interests to
steer by. It indulged in
general speculations and
looked about for prece
dents ; and there was
one precedent which
American statesmen then
always had before their
eyes, whether they were
distinctly aware of it or
not. In creating an ex
ecutive department, the members of the convention were
really trying to copy the only constitution of which they
had any direct experience, and which most of them agreed
1 Since this was written, this last and most serious danger would
seem to have been removed by the acts of 1886 and 1887 regulating the
presidential succession and the counting of electoral votes.

JcTrh^n, 6A?Lax/z/

3io

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi

in thinking the most efficient working constitution in exist-
Thecon- ence, — as indeed it was. They were trying to
vention copy the British Constitution, modifying it to suit
itself to be their republican ideas ; but curiously enough, what
from the they copied in creating the office of president was
Constitu- n°t the real English executive or prime minister,
tion but the fictitious English executive, the sovereign.
And this was associated in their minds with another pro
found misconception, which influenced all this part of their
work. They thought that to keep the legislative and exec
utive offices distinct and separate was the very palladium of
liberty ; and they all took it for granted, without a mo
ment's question, that the British Constitution did this thing.
England, they thought, is governed by King, Lords, and
Commons, and the supreme power is nicely divided between
the three, so that neither one can get the whole of it, and
that is the safeguard of English liberty. So they arranged
President, Senate, and Representatives to correspond, and
sedulously sought to divide supreme power between the
three, so that they might operate as checks upon one an
other. If either one should ever succeed in acquiring the
whole sovereignty, then they thought there would be an
end of American liberty.
Now in the earlier part of the work of the Federal Con
vention, in dealing with the legislative department, the dele
gates were on firm ground, because they were dealing with
things of which they knew something by experience ; but in
all this careful separation of the executive power from the
legislative they went wide of the mark, because they were
following a theory which did not truly describe things as
they really existed. And that was because the English Con
stitution was, and still is, covered up with a thick husk of
legal fictions which long ago ceased to have any vitality.
Blackstone, the great authority of the eighteenth century,
set forth this theory of the division of power between King,
Lords, and Commons with clearness and force, and nobody
then understood English history minutely or thoroughly

1 787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

3"

enough to see its fallaciousness. Montesquieu also, the
ablest and most elegant political writer of the age, influence
with whose works most of the statesmen in the 0^°"^"
Federal Convention were familiar, gave a similar Blackstone
description of the English Constitution, and generalized
from it as the ideal constitution for a free people. But
Montesquieu and Blackstone, in their treatment of this

point, had their eyes upon the legal fictions, and were blind
to the real machinery which was working under them.
They gave elegant expression to what the late Mr. Bagehot
called the "literary theory" of the English Constitution.
But the real thing differed essentially from the "literary
theory" even in their day. In our own time the diver
gence has become so conspicuous that it would not now be
possible for well-informed writers to make the mistake of
Montesquieu and Blackstone. In our time it has come to

312 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
be perfectly obvious that so far from the English Constitu
tion separating the executive power from the legislative,
this is precisely what it does not do. In Great Britain the
supreme power is all lodged in a single body, the House of
Commons. The sovereign has come to be purely a legal
fiction, and the House of Lords maintains itself only by
submitting to the Commons. The House of Commons is
absolutely supreme, and, as we shall presently see, it really
both appoints and dismisses the executive. The English
executive, or chief magistrate, is ordinarily the first lord of
the treasury, and is commonly styled the prime minister.
He is chairman of the most important committee of the
House of Commons, and his cabinet consists of the chair
men of other committees.
To make this perfectly clear, let us see what our ma
chinery of government would be if it were really like the
English. The presence or absence of the crowned head
makes no essential difference ; it is only a kind of orna
mental cupola. Suppose for a moment the presidency
what our abolished, or reduced to the political nullity of the
menT"" crown in England ; and postpone for a moment
would be the consideration of the Senate. Suppose that in
if it were ~r
really like our House of Representatives the committee of
Great ways and means had two chairmen, — an upper
1 ] " chairman who looks after all sorts of business, and
a lower chairman who attends especially to the finances.
This upper chairman, we will say, corresponds to the first
lord of the treasury, while the lower one corresponds to the
chancellor of the exchequer. Sometimes, when the upper
chairman is a great financier, and capable of enormous
labour, he will fill both places at once, as Mr. Gladstone
was lately first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the
exchequer. The chairmen of the other committees on for
eign, military, and naval affairs will answer to the English
secretaries of state for foreign affairs and for war, the first
lord of the admiralty, and so on. This group of chairmen,
headed by the upper chairman of the ways and means, will

1787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

3'3

then answer to the English cabinet, with its prime minister.
To complete the parallel, let us suppose that, after a new
House of Representatives is elected, it chooses this prime

minister, and he appoints the other chairmen who are to
make up his cabinet. Suppose, too, that he initiates all
legislation, and executes all laws, and stays in office three
weeks or thirty years, or as long as he can get a majority of
the house to vote for his measures. If he loses his majority,

314 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
he can either resign or dissolve the house, and order a new
election, thus appealing directly to the people. If the new
house gives him a majority, he stays in office ; if it shows
a majority against him, he steps down into the house, and
becomes, perhaps, the leader of the opposition.
Now if this were the form of our government, it would
correspond in all essential features to that of England. The
likeness is liable to be obscured by the fact that in England
it is the queen who is supposed to appoint the prime minis
ter ; but that is simply a part of the antiquated " literary
theory " of the English Constitution. In reality the queen
only acts as mistress of the ceremonies. Whatever she may
wish, the prime minister must be the man who can com
mand the best working majority in the house. This is not
only tested by the first vote that is taken, but it is almost
invariably known beforehand so well that if the queen offers
the place to the wrong man he refuses to take it. Should
he be so foolish as to take it, he is sure to be overthrown at
the first test vote, and then the right man comes in. Thus
in 1880 the queen's manifest preference for Lord Granville
or Lord Hartington made no sort of difference. Mr. Glad
stone was as much chosen by the House of Commons as if
the members had sat in their seats and balloted for him. If
the crown were to be abolished to-morrow, and the house
were henceforth, on the resignation of a prime minister, to
elect a new one to serve as long as he could command a
majority, it would not be doing essentially otherwise than
it does now. The house then dismisses its minister when
it rejects one of his important measures. But while thus
appointed and dismissed by the house, he is in no wise its
slave ; for by the power of dissolution he has the right to
appeal to the country, and let the general election decide
the issue. The obvious advantages of this system are that
it makes anything like a deadlock between the legislature
and the executive impossible ; and it insures a concentra
tion of responsibility. The prime minister's bills cannot be
disregarded, like the president's messages ; and thus, too,

1787 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 315
the house is kept in hand, and cannot degenerate into a
debating club.1
A system so delicate and subtle, yet so strong and effi
cient, as this could no more have been invented by the
wisest of statesmen than a chemist could make albumen by
taking its elements and mixing them together. In its prac
tical working it is a much simpler system than ours, and
still its principal features are not such as would be likely to
occur to men who had not had some actual experience of
them. It is the peculiar outgrowth of English history. As
we can now see, its chief characteristic is its not T ,
In the
separating the executive power from the legislative. British
As a member of Parliament, the prime minister ment, the
introduces the legislation which he is himself ex- department
pected to carry into effect. Nor does the English is not sepa-
system even keep the judiciary entirely separate, the legisla
tor the lord chancellor not only presides over the
House of Lords, but sits in the cabinet as the prime minis
ter's legal adviser. It is somewhat as if the chief justice
of the United States were ex officio president of the Senate
and attorney - general ;
though here the resem
blance is somewhat su
perficial. Our Senate,
l£xZ-£^3 although it does not re
present landed aristocracy
or the church, but the federal character of our government,
has still a superficial resemblance to'the House of Lords. It
passes on all bills that come up from the lower house, and
can originate bills on most matters, but not for raising reve
nue. Its function as a high court of impeachment, with the
chief justice for its presiding officer, was directly copied
from the House of Lords. But here the resemblance ends.
1 The history of President Cleveland's tariff message of 1887, how
ever, shows that, where a wise and courageous president calls attention
to a living issue, his party, alike in Congress and in the country, is in a
measure compelled to follow his lead.

316 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
The House of Lords has no such veto upon the House of
Commons as our Senate has upon the House of Represen
tatives. Between our upper and lower houses a serious
deadlock is possible ; but the House of Lords can only
reject a bill until it sees that the House of Commons is
determined to have it carried. It can only enter a protest.
If it is obstinate and tries to do more, the House of Com
mons, through its prime minister, can create enough new
peers to change the vote, — a power so formidable in its
effects upon the social position of the peerage that it does
not need to be used. The knowledge that it exists is usually
enough to bring the House of Lords to terms.1
These features of the English Constitution are so promi
nent since the reform of Parliament in 1832 as to be gener
ally recognized. They have been gradually becoming its
essential features ever since the Revolution of
Circum
stances 1688. Before that time the crown had really
scuredthe been the executive, and there had really been a
ofTh^Sst separation between the executive and legislative
a century branches of the government, which on several
ago °
occasions, and notably in the middle of the seven
teenth century, had led to armed strife. What the Revolu
tion of 1688 really decided was that henceforth in England
the executive was to be the mighty arm of the legislature,
and not a separate and rival power. It ended whatever of
reality there was in the old system of King, Lords, and
Commons, and by the time of Sir Robert Walpole the sys
tem of cabinet government had become fairly established ;
but men still continued to use the phrases and formulas
bequeathed from former ages, so that the meaning of the
changes going on under their very eyes was obscured.
There was also a great historical incident, after Walpole's
time, which served further to obscure the meaning of these
changes, especially to Americans. From 1760 to 1784, by
1 Where, however, the majority in the House of Lords is so great as
to approach unanimity, as in opposition to Home Rule for Ireland, it
does operate as a check upon the House of Commons, because the
cure mentioned in the text would be too violent.

1787 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 317
means of the rotten borough system of elections and the
peculiar attitude of political parties, the king contrived to
make his will felt in the House of Commons to such an
extent that it became possible to speak of the personal gov
ernment of George III. The work of the Revolution of
1688 was not really completed till the election of 1784,
which made Pitt the ruler of England, and its fruits cannot
be said to have been fully secured till 1832. Now as our
Revolutionary War was brought on by the attempts of
George III. to establish his personal government, and as it
was actually he rather than Lord North who ruled England
during that war, it was not strange that Americans, even
of the highest education, should have failed to discover the
transformation which the past century had wrought in the
framework of the English government. Nay, more, during
this century the king had seemed even more of a real insti
tution to the Americans than to the British. He had
seemed to them the only link which bound the different
parts of the empire together. Throughout the struggles
which culminated in the War of Independence, it had been
the favourite American theory that while the colonial assem
blies and the British Parliament were sovereign each in its
own sphere, all alike owed allegiance to the king as visible
head of the empire. To people who had been in the habit
of setting forth and defending such a theory, it was impossi
ble that the crown should seem so much a legal fiction as it
had really come to be in England. It is very instructive
to note that while the members of the Federal Convention
thoroughly understood the antiquated theory of the English
Constitution as set forth by Blackstone, they drew very few
illustrations from the modern working of Parliament, with
which they had not had sufficient opportunities of becoming
familiar. In particular they seemed quite unconscious of
the vast significance of a dissolution of Parliament, although
a dissolution had occurred only three years before under
such circumstances as to work a revolution in British politics
without a breath of disturbance. The only sort of dissolu-

318 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
tion with which they were familiar was that in which Dun-
more or Bernard used to send the colonial assemblies home
about their business whenever they grew too refractory.
Had the significance of a dissolution, in the British sense,
been understood by the convention, the pregnant suggestion
of Roger Sherman, above mentioned, could not have failed
to give a different turn to the whole series of debates on the
executive branch of the government. Had our Constitution
been framed a few years later, this point would have had a
better chance of being understood. As it was, in trying to
modify the English system so as to adapt it to our own uses,
it was the archaic monarchical feature, and not the modern
ministerial feature, upon which we seized. The president,
in our system, irremovable by the national legislature, does
not answer to the modern prime minister, but to the old-
fashioned king, with powers for mischief curtailed by elec
tion for short terms.
Among the ancient royal powers wielded by the American
president, perhaps the most important is his limited power
of veto. An act passed by the two houses of Congress is
not in force until he has signed it, or else has allowed ten
days to elapse without expressing his disapproval of it. If
he refuse to sign a bill, it requires a two thirds majority in
both houses to pass it over his refusal. This gives the
president a very considerable check upon the national legis
lature. The English sovereign once possessed a veto power
without such- specific limitations, but has long since practi
cally lost it altogether. The last use of it was in 1707, when
Queen Anne vetoed a Scotch militia bill. George III.
regarded the veto power as one of his prerogath-es, but he
never ventured so far as to exercise it. In our time Mr.
Bagehot writes that the queen must sign her own death-
warrant if the two houses agree in sending it up to her.1
The American constitution is in this respect essentially less
democratic and more monarchical than the British.
1 Bagehot, The English Constitution, p. 122; Taswell- Langmead,
English Constitutional History, p. 706.

1787 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 319
The independence of the executive magistrate, and his
prerogative of veto, are a fundamental part of. the American
system of government. The position of the state governors
is in these respects analogous to that of the president.
Probably this system is better adapted to the needs of our
country than the more democratic British system. One of
the most serious of the dangers which beset democratic
government, especially where it is conducted on a great
scale, is the danger that the majority for the time being will
use its power tyrannically and unscrupulously, as it is always
tempted to do. Against such unbridled democracy we have
striven to guard ourselves by various constitutional checks
and balances. Our written constitutions and our supreme
courts are important safeguards, and another great safe
guard is the independence of our executives. But if our
executive departments were mere committees of the legisla
ture, like the English cabinet, this independence could not
be maintained ; and the loss of it would probably entail
upon us greater evils than those which now flow from want
of leadership in our legislatures.1
In contrasting presidential with cabinet government, Mr.
Bagehot has instructively pointed to the evils attending the
long antagonism between President Johnson and Congress.
If Johnson's position had been like that of an English prime
minister, he would have had to resign at the beginning of
the struggle. As it was, his irremovableness goaded Con
gress to such desperation that it tried to make a very ques
tionable use of the process of impeachment. This example
seems to show the superiority of the English system.
A contrary inference, however, is suggested by the autumn
elections of 1862. There was a notable diminution of the
Republican vote, though not enough to give the Democrats
a majority in Congress. Supposing the Democrats to have
1 In two admirable essays on " Cabinet Responsibility and the. Con
stitution," and " Democracy and the Constitution," Mr. Lawrence
Lowell has shown the merits of the American system. Lowell, Essays
on Government, Boston, 1890, pp. 20-117.

320 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
gained a majority, if Mr. Lincoln had been Prime Minister
instead of President, it would have been necessary for him to
resign. In that critical moment of a great war, the bare pos
sibility of a sudden change of leaders and policy would have
been an evil, and the irremovableness of the executive was
an element of strength on the side of the government.
The phenomena with which history deals are so compli
cated that one can seldom arrive at positive conclusions by
citing real or hypothetical examples. But there is one
respect in which daily experience is teaching Americans to
set a high value upon the independence of the executive.
That independence, I repeat, is needed as a check upon the
irresponsible tyranny of the legislature. Two centuries ago
the legislature was needed as a check upon the monarch.
To-day the tyranny which we have chiefly to dread, and
under which we chiefly suffer, is the tyranny of Demos,
"the many-headed king;" and when we are choosing a
president or a governor one of the most important questions
we can ask is whether the candidate is clear-headed enough
and bold enough to protect us from the knavery and folly
of our representatives. Such are the vicissitudes of peril
through which society must pass on its way toward that
liberty of which eternal vigilance is the price !
The close parallelism between the office of president and
that of king in the minds of the framers of the Constitution
was instructively shown in the debates on the advisableness
of restraining the president's action by a privy council.
Gerry and Sherman urged that there was need of such a
council, in order to keep watch over the president.
can cabinet It was suggested that the privy council should con-
gou-Tnot to slst of " the president of the Senate, the speaker of
cabinet'but ^e House of Representatives, the chief justice of
to the privy the supreme court, and the principal officer in each
council of five departments as they shall from time to time
be established ; their duty shall be to advise him in matters
which he shall lay before them, but their advice shall not
conclude him, or affect his responsibility." The plan for

1787 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 321
such a council found favour with Franklin, Madison, Wilson,
Dickinson, and Mason, but did not satisfy the convention.
When it was voted down Mason used strong language.
"In rejecting a council to the president," said he, "we are
about to try an experiment on which the most despotic gov
ernment has never ventured ; the Grand Seignior himself
has his Divan." It was this failure to provide a council
which led the convention to give to the Senate a share in
some of the executive functions of the president, such as the
making of treaties, the appointment of ambassadors, consuls,
judges of the supreme court, and other officers of the United
States whose appointment was not otherwise provided for.
As it was objected to the office of vice-president that he
seemed to have nothing provided for him to do, he was dis
posed of by making him president of the Senate. No cabi
net was created by the Constitution, but since then the
heads of various executive departments, appointed by the
president, have come to constitute what is called his cabinet.
Since, however, the members of it do not belong to Congress,
and can neither initiate nor guide legislation, they really
constitute a privy council rather than a cabinet in the
modern sense, thus furnishing another illustration of the
analogy between the president and the archaic sovereign.
Concerning the structure of the federal judiciary little
need be said here. It was framed with very little The federal
disagreement among the delegates. The work was iudlciary
chiefly done in committee by Ellsworth, Wilson, Randolph,
and Rutledge, and the result did not differ essentially from
the scheme laid down in the Virginia plan. It was indeed
the indispensable completion of the work which was begun
by the creation of a national House of Representatives. To
make a federal government immediately operative upon
individual citizens, it must of course be armed with federal
courts to try and federal officers to execute judgment in
all cases in which individual citizens were amenable to the
national law. But for this system of United States courts
extended throughout the states and supreme within its own

322 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
sphere, the federal constitution could never have been put
into practical working order. In another respect the federal
judiciary was the most remarkable and original of all the
creations of that wonderful convention. It was charged
with the duty of interpreting, in accordance with the general
principles of common law, the Federal Constitution itself.
This is the most noble as it is the most distinctive feature in
the government of the United States. It constitutes a dif
ference between the American and British systems more
fundamental than the separation of the executive from the
legislative department. In Great Britain the unwritten con
stitution is administered by the omnipotent House of Com
mons ; whatever statute is enacted by Parliament must stand
until some future Parliament may see fit to repeal it. But
an act passed by both houses of Congress, and signed by the
president, may still be set aside as unconstitutional by the
supreme court of the United States in its judgments upon
individual cases brought before it. It was thus that the
practical working of our Federal Constitution during the first
thirty years of the nineteenth century was swayed to so
great an extent by the profound and luminous decisions of
Chief Justice Marshall, that he must be assigned a foremost
place among the founders of our Federal Union. This
intrusting to the judiciary the whole interpretation of the
fundamental instrument of government is the most pecul
iarly American feature of the work done by the convention,
and to the stability of such a federation as ours, covering as
it does the greater part of a huge continent, it was absolutely
indispensable. Thus, at length, was realized the sublime conception of a
nation in which every citizen lives under two complete and
well-rounded systems of laws, — the state law and the fed
eral law, — each with its legislature, its executive, and its
judiciary moving one within the other, noiselessly and with
out friction. It was one of the longest reaches' of construc
tive statesmanship ever known in the world. There never
was anything quite like it before, and in Europe it needs

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37 THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 323
uich explanation to-day even for educated statesmen who
.ave never actually beheld its workings. Yet to Americans
it has become so much a matter of course that they, too,
sometimes need to be told how much it signifies. In 1787
it was the substitution of law for violence between states
that were partly sovereign. In some future still grander
convention we trust the same thing will be done between
states that have been wholly sovereign, whereby peace may
gain and violence be diminished over other lands than this
which has set the example.
Great as was the work which the Federal Convention had
now accomplished, none of the members supposed it to be
complete. After some discussion, it was decided that
Congress might at any time, by a two thirds vote in both
houses, propose amendments to the Constitution, or on the
application of the legislature of two thirds of the states
might call a convention for proposing amendments ; and
such amendments should become part of the constitution
as soon as ratified by three fourths of the states, either
through their legislatures or through special conventions
summoned for the purpose. The design of this elaborate
arrangement was to guard against hasty or ill-considered
changes in the fundamental instrument of government ; and
its effectiveness has been such that an amendment has
come to be impossible save as the result of intense convic
tion on the part of a vast majority of the whole American
people. Finally it was decided that the Federal Constitution, as
now completed, should be presented to the Continental
Congress, and then referred to special conventions in all
the states for ratification ; and that when nine states, or two
thirds of the whole number, should have ratified, it should
at once go into operation as between such ratifying states.
When the great document was at last drafted by Gouver
neur Morris, and was all ready for the signatures, the aged
Franklin produced a paper, which was read for him, as his
voice was weak. Some parts of this Constitution, he said,

324 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
he did not approve, but he was astonished to find it so nearly
. perfect. Whatever opinion he had of its errors he
Constitu- would sacrifice to the public good, and he hoped
that every member of the convention who still had
objections would on this occasion doubt a little of his own
infallibility, and for the sake of unanimity put his name to
this instrument. Hamilton added bis plea. A few mem
bers, he said, by refusing to sign, might do infinite mischief.
No man's ideas could be more remote from the plan than his
were known to be ; but was it possible for a true patriot to
deliberate between anarchy and convulsion, on the one side,
and the chance of good to be expected from this plan, on
the other ? From these appeals, as well as from Washing
ton's solemn warning at the outset, we see how distinctly it
was realized that the country was on the verge of civil war.
Most of the members felt so, but to some the new govern
ment seemed far too strong, and there were three who
dreaded despotism even more than anarchy. Mason, Ran
dolph, and Gerry refused to sign, though Randolph sought
to qualify his refusal by explaining that he" could not yet
make up his mind whether to oppose or defend the Consti
tution, when it should be laid before the people of Virginia.
He wished to reserve to himself full liberty of action in the
matter. That Mason and Gerry, valuable as their services
had been in the making of the Constitution, would now go
home and vigorously oppose it, there was no doubt. Of the
delegates who were present on the last day of the conven
tion, all but these three signed the Constitution. In the
signatures the twelve states which had taken part in the
work were all represented, Hamilton signing alone for New
York. Thus after four months of anxious toil, through the whole
of a scorching Philadelphia summer, after earnest but some
times bitter discussion, in which more than once the meet
ing had seemed on the point of breaking up, a colossal work
had at last been accomplished, the results of which were
powerfully to affect the whole future career of the human

1787

THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

325

THE PRESIDENT'S ARMCHAIR

race. In spite of the high-wrought intensity of feeling
which had been now and then displayed, grave decorum had
ruled the proceedings ; and now, though few were really
satisfied, the approach to acquiescent unanimity was re
markable. When all was over, it is said that many of the
members seemed awestruck. Washington sat with head
bowed in solemn meditation. The scene was ended by
a characteristic bit of homely pleasantry from Franklin.
Thirty-three years ago, in the days of George II., before
the first mutterings of the Revolution had been heard, and
when the French dominion in America was still untouched,
before the banishment of the Acadians or the rout of Brad
dock, while Washington was still surveying lands in the
wilderness, while Madison was playing in the nursery and
Hamilton was not yet born, Franklin had endeavoured to
bring together the thirteen colonies in a federal union. Of
the famous Albany plan of 1754, the first complete outline

326 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vi
of a federal constitution for America that ever was made, he
was the principal if not the sole author. When he signed
his name to the Declaration of Independence in this very
room, his years had rounded the full period of threescore
and ten. Eleven years more had passed, and he had been
spared to see the noble aim of his life accomplished. There
was still, no doubt, a chance of failure, but hope now reigned
in the old man's breast. On the back of the president's
quaint black armchair there was emblazoned a half-sun, bril
liant with its gilded rays. As the meeting was breaking up
and Washington arose, Franklin" pointed to the chair, and
made it the text for prophecy. " As I have been sitting
here all these weeks," said he, " I have often wondered
whether yonder sun is rising or setting. But now I know
that it is a rising sun ! ''

CHAPTER VII

CROWNING THE WORK

It was on the 17th of September, 1787, that the Federal
Convention broke up. For most of the delegates there was
a long and tedious journey home before they could meet
their fellow-citizens and explain what had been done at Phil
adelphia during this anxious summer. Not so, however,
with Benjamin Franklin and the Pennsylvania delegation.
At eleven o'clock on the next morning, radiant with delight
at seeing one of the most cherished purposes of his life so
nearly accomplished, the venerable philosopher, attended by
his seven colleagues, presented to the legislature of Pennsyl
vania a copy of the Federal Constitution, and in a brief but
pithy speech, characterized by his usual homely wisdom,
begged for it their favourable consideration. His words
fell upon willing ears, for nowhere was the disgust at the
prevailing anarchy greater than in Philadelphia. But still
it was not quite in order for the assembly to act upon the
matter until word should come from the Continental Con
gress. Since its ignominious flight to Princeton, four years
ago, that migratory body had not honoured Philadelphia
with its presence. It had once flitted as far south as An
napolis, but at length had chosen for its abiding-place the
city of New York, where it was now in session. The new
To Congress the .new Constitution must be sub- Sonfe'iaid
mitted before it was in order for the several states before c°n"
gress and
to take action upon it. On the 20th of Septem- submitted
ber the draft of the Constitution was laid before tothesev-
Congress, accompanied by a letter from Washing- ^f /atifica-
ton. The forces of the opposition were promptly tion
mustered. At their head was Richard Henry Lee, who

328 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
eleven years ago had moved in Congress the Declaration of
Independence. He was ably supported by Nathan Dane
of Massachusetts, and the delegation from New York were
unanimous in their determination to obstruct any movement
toward a closer union of the states. Their tactics were vig
orous, but the majority in Congress were against them,
especially after the return of Madison from Philadelphia.
Madison, aided by Edward Carrington and young Henry
Lee, the famous leader of light horse, succeeded in every
division in carrying the vote of Virginia in favour of the
Constitution and against the obstructive measures of the
elder Lee. The objection was first raised that the new Con
stitution would put an end to the Continental Congress, and
that in recommending it to the states for consideration Con
gress would be virtually asking them to terminate its own
existence. Was it right or proper for Congress thus to have
a hand in signing its own death-warrant ? But this flimsy
argument was quickly overturned. Seven months before
Congress had recognized the necessity for calling the con
vention together ; whatever need for its work existed then,
there was the same need now ; and by refusing to take due
cognizance of it Congress would simply stultify itself. The
opposition then tried to clog the measure by proposing
amendments, but they were outgeneralled, and after eight
days' discussion it was voted that the new Constitution,
together with Washington's letter, "be transmitted to the
several legislatures, in order to be submitted to a convention
of delegates in each state by the people thereof, in con
formity to the resolves of the convention."
The submission of the Constitution to the people of the
states was the signal for the first formation of political
parties on a truly national issue. During the war there had
indeed been Whigs and Tories, but their strife had not been
like the ordinary strife of political parties ; it was actual war
fare. Irredeemably discredited from the outset, the Tories
had been overridden and outlawed from one end of the
Union to the other. They had never been able to hold up

1787 CROWNING THE WORK 329
their heads as a party in opposition. Since the close of the
war there had been local parties in the various states, divided
on issues of hard and, soft money, or the impost, or state
rights, and these issues had coincided in many of the states.
During the autumn of 1787 all these elements were segre
gated into two great political parties, whose charac
ter and views are sufficiently described by their American
names. Those who supported the new Constitu- Federalists
tion were henceforth known as Federalists ; those ?n.d A,nti"
' federalists
who were opposed to strengthening the bond be
tween the states were called Antifederalists. It was fit that
their name should have this merely negative significance, for
their policy at this time was purely a policy of negation and
obstruction. Care must be taken not to confound them
with the Democratic-Republicans, or strict constructionists,
who appear in opposition to the Federalists soon after the
adoption of the Constitution. The earlier short-lived party
furnished a great part of its material to the later one, but
the attitude of the strict constructionists under the Constitu
tion was very different from that of the Antifederalists.
Madison, the second Republican president, was now the
most energetic of Federalists ; and Jefferson, soon to become
the founder of the Democratic-Republican party, wrote from
Paris, saying, " The Constitution is a good canvas, on which
some strokes only want retouching." He found the same
fault with it that was found by many of the ablest and most
patriotic men in tbe country, — that it failed to include a bill
of rights ; but at the same time he declared that while he
was not of the party of Federalists, he was much further
from that of the Antifederalists. The Federal Convention
he characterized as "an assembly of demi-gods."
The first contest over the new Constitution came in Penn
sylvania. The Federalists in that state were numerous,
but their opponents had one point in their favour The con-
which they did not fail to make the most of. The Peesnn"yi_
constitution of Pennsylvania was peculiar. Its leg- vama
islature consisted of a single house, and its president was

33°

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii

chosen by that house. Therefore, said the Antifederalists,
if we approve of a federal constitution which provides for a
legislature of two houses and chooses a president by the
device of an electoral college, we virtually condemn the
state constitution under which we live. This cry was raised
with no little effect. But some of the strongest immediate
causes of opposition to the new Constitution were wanting
in Pennsylvania. The friends of paper money were few
there, and the objections to the control of the central
government over commerce were weaker than in many of
the other states. The Antifederalists were strongest in
the mountain districts west of the Susquehanna, where the
somewhat lawless population looked askance at any plan
that savoured of a stronger government and a more regular
collection of revenue. In the eastern counties, and espe
cially in Philadelphia, the Federalists could count upon a
heavy majority.
The contest began in the legislature on the 28th of Sep
tember, the very day on which Congress decided to submit
the Constitution to the states, and before the news of the
action had reached Philadelphia. The zeal of the Federal
ists was so intense that they could wait no longer, and they
hurried the event with a high-handed vigour that was not
altogether seemly. The assembly was on the eve of break
ing up, and a new election was to be held on the first Tues
day of November. The Antifederalists hoped to make a
stirring campaign, and secure such a majority in the new
legislature as to prevent the Constitution from being laid
before the people. But their game was frustrated by
George Clymer, who had sat in the Federal Convention,
and now most unexpectedly moved that a state convention
be called to consider the proposed form of government.
Great was the wrath of the Antifederalists. Mr. Clymer
was quite out of order, they said. Congress had not yet
sent them the Constitution ; and besides, no such motion
could be made without notice given beforehand, nor could
it be voted on till it had passed three readings. Parliamen-

1787

CROWNING THE WORK

331

tary usage was doubtless on the side of the Antifederalists,
but the majority were clamorous, and overwhelmed them
with cries of " Question, question ! " The question was
then put, and carried by 43 votes against 19, and the house

mm

^^^v^^^s

adjourned till four o'clock. Before going to their dinners
the nineteen held an indignation meeting, at which it was
decided that they would foil these outrageous proceedings by
staying away. It took forty-seven to make a quorum, and
without these malcontents the assembly numbered but forty-
five. When the house was called to order after dinner, it
was found there were but forty-five members present. The

332 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
sergeant-at-arms was sent to summon the delinquents, but
they defied him, and so it became necessary to adjourn till
next morning. It was now the turn of the Federalists to
uncork the vials of wrath. The affair was discussed in the
taverns till after midnight, the nineteen were
How to -a
make a abused without stmt, and soon after breakfast,
'' next morning, two of them were visited by a
crowd of men, who broke into their lodgings and dragged
them off to the state house, where they were forcibly held
down in their seats, growling and muttering curses. This
made a quorum, and a state convention was immediately
appointed for the 20th of November. Before these pro
ceedings were concluded, an express-rider brought the news
from New York that Congress had submitted the Constitu
tion to the judgment of the states.
And now there ensued such a war of pamphlets, broad
sides, caricatures, squibs, and stump-speeches as had never
been seen in America. Cato and Aristides, Cincinnatus
and Plain Truth, were out in full force. What was the
matter with the old confederation ? asked the Antifederal
ists. Had it not conducted a glorious and triumphant war ?
Had it not set us free from the oppression of England ?
That there was some trouble now in the country could not
be denied, but all would be right if people would only curb
their extravagance, wear homespun clothes, and obey the
laws. There was government enough in the country
already. This Philadelphia convention ought to be dis
trusted. Some of its members, such as John Dickinson
and Robert Morris, had opposed the Declaration of Inde
pendence. Pretty men these, to be offering us a new gov
ernment ! You might be sure there was a British cloven
foot in it somewhere. Their convention had sat four months
with closed doors, as if they were afraid to let people know
what they were about. Nobody could tell what secret con
spiracies against American liberty might not have been
hatched in all that time. One thing was sure : the conven
tion had squabbled. Some members had gone home in a

(LAyfr.

yzyATZyAtS

K?<7Zy

1787 CROWNING THE WORK 333
huff ; others had refused to sign a document fraught with
untold evils to the country. And now came James Wilson,
making speeches in behalf of this precious Constitution, and
trying to pull the wool over people's eyes and persuade them
to adopt it. Who was James Wilson, any way ? A Scotch
man, a countryman of Lord Bute, a born aristocrat, a snob, a
patrician, Jimmy, James de Caledonia. Beware of any form
of government defended by such a man. And as to the
other members of the convention, there was Roger Sher
man, who had signed the articles of confederation, and was
now trying to undo his own work. What confidence could
be placed in a man who did not know his own mind any
better than that ? Then there were Hamilton and Madi
son, mere boys ; and Franklin, an old dotard, a man in his
second childhood. And as to Washington, he was doubtless
a good soldier, but what did he know about politics ? So
said the ^more moderate of the malcontents, hesitating for
the moment to speak disrespectfully of such a man ; but
presently their zeal got the better of them, and in a paper
signed " Centinel " it was boldly declared that Washington
was a born fool !
From the style and temper of these arguments one clearly
sees that the Antifederalists in Pennsylvania felt from the
beginning that the day was going against them. Sixteen of
the men who had seceded from the assembly, headed by
Robert Whitehill of Carlisle, issued a manifesto setting forth
the ill-treatment they had received, and sounding an alarm
against the dangers of tyranny to which the new Constitution
was already exposing them. They were assisted by Rich
ard Henry Lee, who published a series of papers entitled
" Letters from the Federal Farmer," and scattered thousands
of copies through the state of Pennsylvania. He did not
deny that the government needed reforming, but in the pro
posed plan he saw the seeds of aristocracy and of centraliza
tion. The chief objections to the Constitution were that it
created a national legislature in which the vote was to be by
individuals, and not by states ; that it granted to this body

334

THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii

an unlimited power of taxation ; that it gave too much power
to the federal judiciary ; that it provided for paying the
salaries of members of Congress out of the federal treasury,
and would thus make them independent of their own states ;
that it required an oath of allegiance to the federal govern
ment ; and finally, that it did not include a bill of rights.
These objections were very elaborately set forth by the lead
ing Antifederalists in the state convention ; but the logic
and eloquence of James Wilson bore down all opposition.
The Antifederalists resorted to filibustering. Five days, it
is said, were used up in settling the meanings of the two
words "annihilation " and " consolidation." In this way the
convention was kept sitting for nearly three weeks, when
news came from "the Delaware state," as it used then to be
called in Pennsylvania. The concession of an equal repre
sentation in the federal Senate had removed the
Delawareratifies the only ground of opposition in Delaware, and the
tionfrjec. Federalists had everything their own way there.
Penntyiva- ^-n a convention assembled at Dover, on the 6th of
nia, pec. December, the Constitution was ratified without a
12 ; JNew
jersey, single dissenting voice. Thus did this little state
lead the way in the good work. The news was
received with exultation by the Federalists at Philadelphia,
and on the 12th Pennsylvania ratified the Constitution by a
two thirds vote of 46 to 23. The next day all business was
quite at a standstill, while the town gave itself up to proces
sions and merrymaking. The convention of New Jersey
had assembled at Trenton on the 1 ith, and one week later,
on the 1 8th, it ratified the Constitution unanimously.
A most auspicious beginning had thus been made. Three
states, one third of the whole number required, had ratified
almost at the same moment. Two of these, moreover, were
small states, which at the beginning of the Federal Conven
tion had been obstinately opposed to any fundamental change
in the government. It was just here that the Federalists
were now strongest. The Connecticut compromise had
wrought with telling effect, not only in the convention, but

1787

CROWNING THE WORK

335

BOSTON IN 1790

upon the people of the states. When the news from Tren
ton was received in Pennsylvania, there was great rejoicing
in the eastern counties, while beyond the Susquehanna there
were threats of armed rebellion. On the day after Christ
mas, as the Federalists of Carlisle were about to light a bon
fire on the common and fire a salute, they were driven off
the field by a mob armed with bludgeons, their rickety old
cannon was spiked, and an almanac for the new year, con
taining a copy of the Constitution, was duly cursed, and
then burned. Next day the Federalists, armed with mus
kets, came back, and went through their ceremonies. Their
opponents did not venture to molest them ; but after they
had dispersed, an Antifederalist demonstration was made,
and effigies of James Wilson and Thomas McKean, another
prominent Federalist, were dragged to the common, and
there burned at the stake.
The action of Delaware and New Jersey had shown that
the Antifederalists could not build any hopes upon the
antagonism between large and small states. It was thought,
however, that the southern states would unite in opposing
the Constitution from their dread of becoming commer-

336 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
dally subjected to New England. But the compromise on
the slave-trade had broken through this opposition
Sifes? On the 2d of January, 1788, the Constitution was
ia88 -ton- ratified in Georgia without a word of dissent. One
necticut, week later Connecticut ratified by a vote of 128 to
40, after a session of only five days.
The hopes of the Antifederalists now rested upon Massa
chusetts, where the state convention assembled on the 9th
of January, the same day on which that of Connecticut broke
up. Should Massachusetts refuse to ratify, there would be
The out- no hope for the Constitution. Even should nine
MassLdm- states adopt it without her, no one supposed a
setts Federal Union feasible from which so great a state
should be excluded. Her action, too, would have a marked
effect upon other states. It could not be denied that the
outlook in Massachusetts was far from encouraging. The
embers of the Shays rebellion still smouldered there, and in
the mountain counties of Worcester and Berkshire were
heard loud murmurs of discontent. Laws impairing the
obligation of contracts were just what these hard-pressed
farmers desired, and by the proposed Constitution all such
laws were forever prohibited. The people of the district- of
Maine, which had formed part of Massachusetts for nearly a
century, were anxious to set up an independent government
for themselves ; and they feared that if they were to enter
into the new and closer Federal Union as part of that state,
they might hereafter find it impossible to detach themselves.
For this reason half of the Maine delegates were opposed to
the Constitution. In none of the thirteen states, moreover,
was there a more intense devotion to state rights than in
Massachusetts. Nowhere had local self-government reached
a higher degree of efficiency ; nowhere had the town meet
ing flourished with such vigour. It was especially charac
teristic of men trained in the town meeting to look with sus
picion upon all delegated power, upon all authority that was
to be exercised from a distance. They believed it to be
all important that people should manage their own affairs,

JOHN HANCOCK, Efq,
President o/y^/iey American Congress.

338 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
instead of having them managed by other people ; and so
far had this principle been carried that the towns of Massa
chusetts were like little semi-independent republics, and the
state was like a league of such republics, whose representa
tives, sitting in the state legislature, were like delegates
strictly bound by instructions rather than untrammelled
members of a deliberative body. To men trained in such a
school, it would naturally seem that the new Constitution
delegated altogether too much power to a governing body
which must necessarily be remote from most of its constitu
ents. It was feared that some sort of tyranny might grow
out of this, and such fears were entertained by men who
were not in the slightest degree infected with Shaysism, as
the political disease of the inland counties was then called.
Such fears were entertained by one of the greatest citizens
that Massachusetts has ever produced, the man who has
been well described as preeminently " the man of the town
meeting," — Samuel Adams. The limitations of this great
man, as well as his powers, were those which belonged to
him as chief among the men of English race who have
swayed society through the medium of the ancient folk
mote. At this time he was believed by many to be hostile
to the new Constitution, and his influence in Massachusetts
was still greater than that of any other man. Besides this,
it was thought that the governor, John Hancock, was half
hearted in his support of the Constitution, and it was in
everybody's mouth that Elbridge Gerry had refused to set
his name to that document because he felt sure it would
create a tyranny.
Such symptoms encouraged the Antifederalists in the
hope that Massachusetts would reject the Constitution and
ruin the plans of the "visionary young men" — as Richard
Henry Lee called them — who had swayed the Federal Con
vention. But there were strong forces at work in the oppo
site direction. In Boston and all the large coast towns, even
those of the Maine district, the dominant feeling was Feder
alist. All well-to-do people had been alarmed by the Shays

1788 CROWNING THE WORK 339
insurrection, and merchants, shipwrights, and artisans of
every sort were convinced that there was no prosperity in
store for them until the federal government should have
control over commerce, and be enabled to make its strength
felt on the seas and in Europe. In these views Samuel
Adams shared so thoroughly that his attitude toward the
Constitution at this moment was really that of a waverer

3&~1JLj£^ 9a

CLy^-S cr\-~5
rather than an opponent. Amid balancing considerations
he found it for some time hard to make up his mind.
In the convention which met on the 9th of January there
sat Gorham, Strong, and King, who had taken part in the
Federal Convention. There were also Samuel Adams and
James Bowdoin ; the revolutionary generals, Heath and
Lincoln ; and the rising statesmen, Sedgwick, Parsons, and
Fisher Ames, whose eloquence was soon to become so
famous. There were twenty-four clergymen, of various
denominations, — men of sound scholarship, and several of

34°

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

CHAP. VII

<^/A^yf^t^ <S*->

yy^Ayf

them eminent for worldly wisdom and liberality of temper.
Governor Hancock presided, gorgeous in crimson velvet and
finest laces, while about the room sat many browned and
weatherbeaten farmers, among whom were at least eighteen
who hardly a year ago had marched over the pine-clad
mountain ridges of Petersham, under the banner of the rebel
Shays. It was a wholesome no less than a generous policy
that let these men comei in and freely speak their minds.
The air was thus the sooner cleared of discontent ; the
disease was thus the more likely to heal itself. In all there
were three hundred and fifty-five delegates present, — a
much larger number than took part in any of the other state
conventions. The people of all parts of Massachusetts were

1788 CROWNING THE WORK 341
thoroughly represented, as befitted the state which was pre
eminent in the active political life of its town meetings,
and the work done here was in some respects decisive in its
effect upon the adoption of the Constitution.
The convention began by overhauling that document from
beginning to end, discussing it clause ' by clause with some
what wearisome minuteness. Some of the objections seem
odd to us at this time, with our larger experience. Debates in
It was several days before the minds of the coim- ''husatsSa~
try members could be reconciled to the election of convention
representatives for so long a period as two years. They had
not been wont to delegate power to anybody for so long a
time, not even to their selectmen, whom they had always
under their eyes. How much more dangerous- was it likely to
prove if delegated authority were to be exercised for so long
a period at some distant federal city, such as the Constitution
contemplated ! There was a vague dread that in some
indescribable way the new Congress might contrive to make
its sittings perpetual, and thus become a tyrannical oligarchy,
which might tax the people without their consent. And
then as to this federal city, there were some who did not like
the idea. A district ten miles square ! Was not that a
great space to give up to the uncontrolled discretion of the
federal government, wherein it could wreak its tyrannical
will without let or hindrance ? One of the delegates thought
he could be reconciled to the new Constitution if this dis
trict could only be narrowed down to one mile square. And
then there was the power granted to Congress to maintain a
standing army, of which the president was to be ex officio
commander-in-chief. Did not this open the door for a Crom
well ? It was to be a standing army for at least two years,
since this was the shortest period between elections. Why,
even the British Parliament, since 1688, did not keep up a
standing army for more than one year at a time, but renewed
its existence annually under what was termed the Mutiny
Act. But what need of a standing army at all ? Would
it not be sure to provoke needless disorders ? Had they

342 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii "
already forgotten the Boston Massacre, in spite of all the
orations that had been delivered in the Old South Meeting-
House ? A militia, organized under the town meeting sys
tem, was surely all-sufficient. Such a militia had won glori
ous triumphs at Lexington and Bennington ; and at King's
Mountain, had not an army of militia surrounded and cap
tured an army of regulars led by one of England's most
skilful officers ? What more could you ask ? Clearly this
plan for a standing army foreboded tyranny. Upon this
point Mr. Nason, from the Maine district, had his say, in
tones of inimitable bombast. "Had I the voice of Jove,"
said he, " I would proclaim it throughout the world ; and had
I an arm like Jove, I would hurl from the globe those villains
that would dare attempt to establish in our country a stand
ing army! "
Next came the complaint that the Constitution did not
recognize the -existence of God, and provided no religious
tests for candidates for federal offices. But, strange to say,
this objection did not come from the clergy. It was urged
by some of the country members, but the ministers in the
convention were nearly unanimous in opposing it.
titude of There had been a remarkable change of sentiment
t ecergy among the clergy of this state, which had begun
its existence as a theocracy, in which none 'but church
members could vote or hold office. The seeds of modern
liberalism had been planted in their minds. When Amos
Singletary of Sutton declared it to -be scandalous that a
Papist or an infidel should be as eligible to office as a
Christian, — a remark which naively assumed that Roman
Catholics were not Christians, — the Rev. Daniel Shute of
Hingham replied that no conceivable advantage could result
from a religious test. Yes, said the Rev. Philip Payson of
Chelsea, " human tribunals for the consciences of men are
impious encroachments upon the prerogatives of God. A
religious test, as a qualification for office, would have been
a great blemish." " In reason and in the Holy Scripture,"
said the Rev. Isaac Backus of Middleborough, " religion is

1788

CROWNING THE WORK

343

ever a matter between God and the individual ; the imposing
of religious tests hath been the greatest engine of tyranny
in the world." With this liberal stand firmly taken by the
ministers, the religious objection was speedily overruled.
Then the clause which allows Congress to regulate the
times, places, and manner of holding federal elections was
severely criticised. It was feared that Congress would take
advantage of this provision to destroy the freedom of elecr
tions. It was further objected that members of Congress,
being paid their salaries from the federal treasury, would
become too independent of their constituents. Federal col
lectors of revenue, moreover, would not be so likely to act
with moderation and justice as collectors appointed by the
state. Then it was very doubtful whether the people could
support the expense of an
elaborate federal govern
ment. They were already
scarcely able to pay their
town, county, and state tax
es ; was it to be supposed
they could bear the addi
tional burden with which
federal taxation would load
them ? Then the compro
mise on the slave-trade was
fiercely attacked. They did
not wish to have a hand in
licensing this nefarious traf
fic for twenty years. But
it was urged, on the other
hand, that by prohibiting the foreign slave-trade after 1808
the Constitution was really dealing a death-blow to slavery ;
and this opinion prevailed.
During the whole course of the discussion, observed the
Rev. Samuel West of New Bedford, it seemed to be taken
for granted that the federal government was going to be
put into the hands of crafty knaves. " I wish," said he,

^cHYU^LOf^f^

344 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
" that the gentlemen who have started so many possible
objections would try to show us that what they so much
deprecate is probable. . . . Because power may be abused,
shall we be reduced to anarchy ? What hinders our state
legislatures from abusing their powers? . . . May we not
rationally suppose that the persons we shall choose to ad
minister the government will be, in general, good men ? "
General Thompson said he was surprised to hear such an
argument from a clergyman, who was professionally bound
to maintain that all men were totally depraved. For his
part he believed they were so, and he could prove it from
the Old Testament. " I would not trust them," echoed
Abraham White of Bristol, " though every one of them
should be a Moses."
The feeling of distrust was strongest among the farmers
from the mountain districts. As Rufus King said, they
objected, not so much to the Constitution as to the men who
made it and the men who sang its praises. They hated
lawyers, and were jealous of wealthy merchants. "These
lawyers," said Amos Singletary, "and men of learning, and
moneyed men that talk so finely and gloss over matters so
smoothly, to make us poor illiterate people swallow the pill,
expect to get into Congress themselves. They mean to be
managers of the Constitution. They mean to get all the
money into their hands, and then they will swallow up us
little folk, like the great Leviathan, Mr. President ; yes, just
as the whale swallowed up Jonah." Here a more liberal-
minded farmer, Jonathan Smith of Lanesborough, rose to
reply with references to the Shays rebellion, which presently
called forth cries of " Order ! " from some of the members.
Samuel Adams said the gentleman was quite in order, —
let him go on in his own way. " I am a plain
a Berkshire man," said Mr. Smith, "and am not used to speak
in public, but I am going to show the effects of
anarchy, that you may see why I wish for good government.
Last winter people took up arms, and then, if you went to
speak to them, you had the musket of death presented to

1788

CROWNING THE WORK

345

your breast. They would rob you of your property, threaten
to burn your houses, oblige you to be on your guard night
and day. Alarms spread from town to town, families were
broken up ; the tender mother would cry, ' Oh, my son is
among them ! What shall I do for my child ? ' Some
were taken captive ; children taken out of their schools and
carried away. . . . How dreadful was this ! Our distress
was so great that we should have been glad to snatch at
anything that looked like a government. . . . Now, Mr.

TOME OF JONATHAN SMITH
President, when I saw this Constitution, I found that it was
a cure for these disorders. I got a copy of it, and read it
over and over. ... I did not go to any lawyer, to ask his
opinion ; we have no lawyer in our town, and we do well
enough without. My honourable old daddy there [pointing
to Mr. Singletary] won't think that I expect to be a Con
gressman, and swallow up the liberties of the people. I
never had any post, nor do I want one. But I don't think
the worse of the Constitution because lawyers, and men of
learning, and moneyed men are fond of it. I am not pf such
a jealous make. They that are honest men themselves are

346 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
not apt to suspect other people. . . . Brother farmers, let
us suppose a case, now. Suppose you had a farm of 50
acres, and your title was disputed, and there was a farm of
5,000 acres joined to you that belonged to a man of learn
ing, and his title was involved in the same difficulty : would
you not be glad to have him for your friend, rather than to
stand alone in the dispute ? Well, the case is the same.
These lawyers, these moneyed men, these men of learning,
are all embarked in the same cause with us, and we must
all sink or swim together. Shall we throw the Constitution
overboard because it does not please us all alike ? Suppose
two or three of you had been at the pains to break up a
piece of rough land and sow it with wheat : would you let it
lie waste because you could not agree what sort of a fence
to make ? Would it not be better to put up a fence that did
not please every one's fancy, rather than keep disputing
about it until the wild beasts came in and devoured the
crop ? Some gentlemen say, Don't be in a hurry ; take
time to consider. I say, There is a time to sow and a time
to reap. We sowed our seed when we sent men to the
Federal Convention, now is the time to reap the fruit of our
labour ; and if we do not do it now, I am afraid we shall
never have another opportunity."
It may be doubted whether all the eloquence of Fisher
Ames could have stated the case more forcibly than it was
put by this plain farmer from the Berkshire hills. Upon
Ames, with King, Parsons, Bowdoin, and Strong, fell the
principal work in defending the Constitution. For the first
Attitude of tw0 weeks, Samuel Adams scarcely opened his
Samuel mouth, but listened with anxious care to everything
Adams , . , . , . ,
that was said on either side. The convention was
so evenly divided that there could be no doubt that his sin
gle voice would decide the result. Ever)- one eagerly

1788

CROWNING THE WORK

347

awaited his opinion. In the debate on the two years' term
of members of Congress, he had asked Caleb Strong the
reason why the Federal Convention had decided upon so
long a term ; and when it was explained as a necessary com-

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348 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
promise between the views of so many delegates, he replied,
" I am satisfied." " Will Mr. Adams kindly say that again ? "
asked one of the members. " I am satisfied," he repeated ;
and not another word was said on the subject in all those
weeks. So profound was the faith of this intelligent and
skeptical and independent people in the sound judgment and
unswerving integrity of the Father of the Revolution ! As
the weeks went by, and the issue
seemed still dubious, the work-
ingmen of Boston, shipwrights
and brass - founders and other
mechanics, decided to express
their opinion in a way that they
knew Samuel Adams would
heed. They held a meeting at
the Green Drasron tavern, passed
SIGN OF GREEN DRAGON TAVERN uii.i.uiyiii5v , J^
resolutions in favour of the Con
stitution, and appointed a committee, with Paul Revere at
its head, to make known these resolutions to the great pop
ular leader. When Adams had read the paper, he asked of
Paul Revere, "How many mechanics were at the Green
Dragon when these resolutions passed ? " "More, sir, than
the Green Dragon could hold." "And where were the rest,
Mr. Revere?" "In the streets, sir." "And how many
were in the streets ? " " More, sir, than there are stars in
the sky."
Between Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson there were
several points of resemblance, the chief of which was an
intense faith in the sound common sense of the mass of the
people. This faith was one of the strongest attributes of
both these great men. It has usually been supposed that it
was this incident of the meeting at the Green Dragon that
determined Adams's final attitude in the state convention.
Unquestionably, such a demonstration must have had great
weight with him. But at the same time the affair was
taking such a turn as would have decided him, even without
the aid of this famous mass-meeting. The long delay in the

1788 CROWNING THE WORK 349
decision of the Massachusetts convention had carried the
excitement to fever heat throughout the country. Not only
were people from New Hampshire and New York and
naughty Rhode Island waiting anxiously about Boston to
catch every crumb of news they could get, but intrigues were
going on, as far south as Virginia, to influence the result.
On the 2 1 st of January the " Boston Gazette" came out with

a warning, headed by enormous capitals with three exclama
tion-points : " Bribery and Corruption ! ! ! The most diabol
ical plan is on foot to corrupt the members of the convention
who oppose the adoption of the new Constitution. Large
sums of money have been brought from a neighbouring state

350 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
for that purpose, contributed by the wealthy. If so, is it
not probable there may be collections for the same accursed
purpose nearer home ? " No adequate investigation ever
determined whether this charge was true or not. We may
hope that it was ill-founded ; but our general knowledge of
human nature must compel us to admit that there may have
been a grain of truth in it. But what was undeniable was
that Richard Henry Lee wrote a letter to Gerry, urging that
Massachusetts should not adopt the Constitution without
insisting upon sundry amendments ; and in order to consider
these amendments, it was suggested that there should be
another Federal Convention. At this anxious crisis, Wash-
washing- ington suddenly threw himself into the breach with
fuUugges- that infallible judgment of his which always saw
tion the way to victory. " If another Federal Conven
tion is attempted," said Washington, " its members will be
more discordant, and will agree upon no general plan. The
Constitution is the best that can be obtained at this time.
. . . The Constitution or disunion are before us to choose
from. If the Constitution is our choice, a constitutional
door is open for amendments, and they may be adopted in a
peaceable manner, without tumult or disorder."
When this advice of Washington's reached Boston, it set
in motion a train of events which soon solved the difficulty,
both for Massachusetts and for th.e other states which had
not yet made up their mind. Chief among the objections to
the Constitution had been the fact that it did not contain a
bill of rights. It did not guarantee religious liberty, freedom
of speech and of the press, or the right of the people peace
fully to assemble and petition the government for a redress
of grievances. It did not provide against the quartering of
soldiers upon the people in time of peace. It did not pro
vide against general search-warrants, nor did it securely
prescribe the methods by which individuals should be held
to answer for criminal offences. It did not even provide
that nobody should be burned at the stake or stretched on
the rack, for holding peculiar opinions about the nature of

1788 CROWNING THE WORK 351
God or the origin of evil. That such objections to the
Constitution seem strange to us to-day is partly due to the
determined attitude of the men who, amid all the troubles
of the time, would not consent to any arrangement from
which such safeguards to free thinking and free living
should be omitted. The friends of the Constitution in Bos
ton now proposed that the convention, while adopting it,
should suggest sundry amendments containing the essential
provisions of a bill of rights. It was not intended that
the ratification should be conditional. Under the circum
stances, a conditional ratification might prove as disastrous
as rejection. It might lead to a second Federal Conven
tion, in which the good work already accomplished might
be undone. The ratification was to be absolute, and the
amendments were offered in the hope that action would be
taken upon them as soon as the new government should go
into operation. There could be little doubt that the sug
gestion would be heeded, not only from the importance of
Massachusetts in the Union, but also from the fact that Vir
ginia and other states would be sure to follow her example
in suggesting such amendments. This forecast proved
quite correct, and it was in this way that the first ten
amendments originated, which were acted on by Congress
in 1790, and became part of the Constitution in 1791.
As soon as this plan had been matured, Hancock pro
posed it to the convention ; the hearty support of Adams
was immediately insured, and within a week from that time,
on the 6th of February, the Constitution was ratified by the
narrow majority of 187 votes against 168. On Massachu-
that same day Jefferson, in Paris, wrote to Madi- setts ratu
son : " I wish with all my soul that the nine first po|irfgr0"
conventions may accept the new Constitution, to ™g™sd"
secure to us the good it contains ; but I equally Fe£-6<
wish that the four latest, whichever they may
be, may refuse to accede to it till a declaration of rights be
annexed ; but no objection to the new form must produce
a schism in our Union." But as soon as he heard of the

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GOVERNOR HANCOCK'S LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS

354

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

chap, vii

action of Massachusetts, he approved it as preferable to his
own idea, and he wrote home urging Virginia to follow the
example. Massachusetts was thus the sixth state to ratify the Con
stitution. On that day the name of the Long Lane by the
meeting-house where the convention had sat was changed
to Federal Street. The Boston people, said Henry Knox,

FEDERAL STREET CHURCH, BOSTON

had quite lost their senses with joy. The two counties of
Worcester and Berkshire had given but 14 yeas against 59
nays, but the farmers went home declaring that they should
cheerfully abide by the decision of the majority. Not a
murmur was heard from any one.
About the time that the Massachusetts convention broke
up, that of New Hampshire assembled at Exeter ; but after
a brief discussion it was decided to adjourn until June, in
order to see how the other states would act. On the 21st

1788 CROWNING THE WORK 355
of April the Maryland convention assembled at Annapolis ;
and Washington expressed a hope that it would not adjourn
withoat coming to a decision, for the Antifederalists were
gloating over the postponement in New Hampshire. Their
glee wa.s short-lived, however. Some of; Maryland's strong
est men, such as Luther Martin and Samuel Chase,
. Maryland
were Antifederalists ; but their efforts were of no ratifies,
avail. After a session of five days the Constitu- pn
tion was ratified by a vote of 63 to 11. Whatever damage
New Hanlipshire might have done was thus more than made
good. |
The eyt;s of the whole country were now turned upon the
eighth state; South Carolina. Her convention was to meet
at Charleston on the 12th of May, the anniversary of the
day on Which General Lincoln had surrendered that city to
Sir Hfitmry Clinton ; but there had been a decisive prelim
inary struggle in the legislature in January. The most
^ac.ive of the Antifederalists was Rawlins Lowndes, who
had opposed the Declaration of Independence. Lowndes
was betrayed into silliness. "We are now," said he, "under
a' most excellent constitution, — a blessing from Heaven,-
t hat has stood the test of time [! !], and given us liberty and
independence ; yet we are impatient to pull down that fab-
'v [rie which we raised at the expense of 0^ blood." This was
%not very convincing to the assembly, most of the members
l&nowing full well that the fabric had not stood the test of
tftne, but had already tumbled in by reason of its vicious
/construction. A more effective plea was that which re-
yferred to the slave-trade. "What cause is there," said
Lowndes, "for jealousy of our importing negroes? Why
confine us to twenty years? Why limit, us at all? This
trade can be justified on the principles of religion Debates in
and humanity. They do not like our having slaves c^0sr°nath
because they have none themselves, and therefore legislature
want to exclude us from this great advantage." Cotesworth
Pinckney replied : " By this settlement we have secured an
unlimited importation of negroes for twenty years. The

356 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
general government can never emancipate them, for no such
authority is granted, and it is admitted on all hands that
the general government has no powers but what are ex
pressly granted by the Constitution. We have obtained a
right to recover our slaves in whatever part of the country
they may take refuge, which is a right we had not. before.
In short, considering all circumstances, we have made the
best terms in our power for the security of this species of
property. We would have made better if we c6uld ; but,
on the whole, I do not think them bad."
Perhaps Pinckney would not have assumed extactly this
tone at Philadelphia, but at Charleston the argi iment was
convincing. Lowndes then sounded the alarm th-at the New
England states would monopolize the carrying-^rade and
charge ruinous freights, and he drew a harrowing p\icture of
warehouses packed to bursting with rice and indigo sVpoiling
because the owners could not afford to pay the Yankee
skippers' prices for carrying their goods to market. PuiV
Pinckney rejoined that a Yankee shipmaster in quest of
cargoes would ndt be likely to ruin his own chances for get
ting them, and he called attention to the great usefulness of
the eastern merchant marine as affording material for a navy'
and thus contributing to the defence of the country. Finally
Lowndes put in a plea for paper money, but with little suc-l
cess. The result of the debate set the matter so clearlyj
before the people that a great majority of Federalists wer
elected to the convention. Among them were Gadsden, t
Rutledges and the Pinckneys, Moultrie, and William Wash
ington, who had become a citizen of the state from which he
had helped to expel the British invader. The Antifederalists
were largely represented by men from the upland counties,
belonging to a population in which there was considerable
likeness all along the Appalachian chain of mountains, from
Pennsylvania to the southern extremity of the range. There
were among them many " moonshiners," as they were called,
— distillers of illicit whiskey, — and they did not relish the
idea of a federal excise. At their head was Thomas Sumter,

CROWNING THE WORK

357

a convert to the scheme for a southern confederacy. Their
policy was one of delay and obstruction, but it availed them
little, for on the 23d of May, after a session of south Car-
eleven days, South Carolina ratified the Consti- ^Tulyl-'
tution by a vote of 149 against J2>.
The astute policy of the Federal Convention in adopting
the odious compromise over the slave-trade was now about

^9£^J//iliim

fo^t%*^gZL/

' ey*^f

to bear fruit. In Virginia there was a nascent sentiment in
favour of establishing a separate southern confederacy. By
the action of South Carolina all such possible schemes were
now nipped in the bud. Of the states south of Mason and
Dixon's line, three had now ratified the Constitution, so that
any separate confederacy could now consist only of ortan(
Virginia and North Carolina. The reason for this effect upon
short-lived separatist feeling in Virginia was to be
found in the complications which had grown out of the
attempt of Spain to close the Mississippi River. It will be

358 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
remembered that only two years before Jay had actually
recommended to Congress that the right to navigate the
lower Mississippi be surrendered for twenty-five years, in
exchange for a favourable commercial treaty with Spain.
The New England states, caring nothing for the distant
Mississippi, supported this measure in Congress ; and this
narrow and selfish policy naturally created alarm in Virginia,
which, in her district of Kentucky, touched upon the great
river. Thus to the vague dread felt by the southern states
in general, in the event of New England's controlling the
commercial policy of the government, there was added, in
Virginia's case, a specific fear. If the New England people
were thus ready to barter away the vital interests of a remote
part of the country, what might they not do ? Would they
ever stop at anything so long as they could go on building up
their commerce ? This feeling strongly influenced Patrick
Henry in his opposition to the Constitution ; * and we have
seen how Randolph and Mason, in the Federal Convention,
were so disturbed at the power given to Congress to regu
late commerce by a simple majority of votes that they
refused to set their names to the Constitution. They
alleged further reasons for their refusal, but this was the
chief one. They wanted a two thirds vote to be required,
in order that the South might retain the means of protect
ing itself. Under these circumstances the opposition to the
Constitution was very strong, and but for the action of South
Carolina the party in favour of a separate confederacy might
have been capable of doing much mischief. As it was, since
that party had actively intrigued in South Carolina and
Maryland, the ratification of the Constitution by both these
states was a direct rebuff. It quite demoralized the advo
cates of secession. The paper-money men, moreover, were
1 There were some who suspected Henry of working in favour of the
scheme for a separate southern confederacv. See Madison's Works, i.
388 ; Bancroft's History of the Constitution, ii. 465. But clearly he did
not go so far as this. See Elliott's Debates, iii. 57,63, 161; Henry's
Patrick Henry, ii. 332; Tyler's Patrick Henry, 288.

1788

CROWNING THE WORK

359

handicapped oy the fact that two of the most powerful
Antifederalists, Mason and Lee, were determined opponents
of a paper currency, so that this subject had to be dropped
or very gingerly dealt with. The strength of the Antifed
eralists, though impaired by these causes, was still very
great. The contest was waged with all the more intensity
of feeling because, since eight states had now adopted the
Constitution, the verdict of Virginia would be decisive.
The convention met at Richmond on the 2d of June, and

Q^b^^&W^

TD71 

Edmund Pendleton was chosen president. Foremost among
the Antifederalists was Patrick Henry, whose elo- Debates in
quence was now as zealously employed against the g^ia'Con.
new government as it had been in bygone days vention
against the usurpations of Great Britain. He was supported
by George Mason, as well as by Benjamin Harrison and
John Tyler, the fathers of two future presidents, and James
Monroe, who was to be president himself ; and he could

360 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
count on the votes of most of the delegates from the midland
counties, from the south bank of the James River, and from
Kentucky. But the united talents of the opposition had no
chance of success in a conflict with the genius and tact of
Madison, who at one moment crushed, at another conciliated,
his opponent, but always won the day. To Madison, more
than any other man, the Federalist victory was due. But
he was ably seconded by Governor Randolph, whom he
began by winning over from the opposite party, and by
the favourite general and eloquent speaker, "Light-Horse
Harry." Conspicuous in the ranks of Federalists, and unsur
passed in debate, was a tall and gaunt young man, with
beaming countenance, eyes of piercing brilliancy, and an
indescribable kingliness of bearing, who was by and by to
become chief justice of the United States, and by his mas
terly and far-reaching decisions to win a place side by side
with Madison and Hamilton among the founders of our
national government. John Marshall, second to none among
all the illustrious jurists of the English race, was then, at
the age of thirty-three, the foremost lawyer in Virginia. He
had already served for several terms in the state legislature,
Madison but ms national career began in this convention,
and Mar- where his arguments with those of Madison, rein-
shall pre- °
vail and forcing each other, bore down all opposition. The
ratifies, details of the controversy were much the same as
June 25 jn tke states already passed in review, save in so
far as coloured by the peculiar circumstances of Virginia.
After more than three weeks of debate, on the 25th of June,
the question was put to vote, and the Constitution was rati
fied by the narrow majority of 89 against 79. Amendments
were offered, after the example of Massachusetts, which had
already been followed by South Carolina and the minority in
Maryland ; and, as in Massachusetts, the defeated Antifed
eralists announced their intention to abide loyally by the
result.1 1 There was much that was sound and wise in the Antifederalism
of such men as Mason, Henry, and Tyler. Their dread of creating a

1788

CROWNING THE WORK

361

The discussion had lasted so long that Virginia lost the
distinction of being the ninth state to ratify the Constitution.
That honour had been reserved for New Hamp- New
shire, whose convention had met on the anniversary Hampshire
of Bunker Hill, and after a four days' session, on ratified,
the 2 1 st of June, had given its consent to the new June21
government by a vote of 57 against 46. The couriers from
Virginia and those from New Hampshire, as they spurred
their horses over long miles of dusty road, could shout to

FROM THE INDEPENDENT CHRONICLE, BOSTON, JUNE 26, 1788
each other the joyous news in passing. Though the ratifica
tion of New Hampshire had secured the necessary ninth
state, yet the action of Virginia was not the less significant
and decisive. Virginia was at that time, and for a quarter
of a century afterward, the most populous state in the
Union, and one of the greatest in influence. Even with the
needed nine states all in hand, it is clear that the new gov
ernment could not have gone into successful operation with
the leading state, the home of Washington himself, left out
in the cold. The New Roof, as men were then fond of call
ing the Federal Constitution, must speedily have fallen in
tyranny was almost prophetic of the base uses to which the doctrine of
" implied powers " was to be put, when under the specious phrases of
" internal improvements " and " protection to native industry" it inaug
urated the gigantic system of corruption and spoliation which we have
so long meekly endured.

362 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
without this indispensable prop. When it was known that
Virginia had ratified, it was felt that the victory was won,
and the success of the new scheme assured. The 4th of
July, 1788, witnessed such loud rejoicings as have perhaps
never been seen before or since on American soil. In Phila
delphia there was a procession miles in length, in which
every trade was represented, and wagons laden with imple
ments of industry or emblematic devices alternated with
bands of music and gorgeous banners. There figured the
New Roof, supported by thirteen columns, and there was to
be seen the Ship of State, the good ship Constitution, made
out of the barge which Paul Jones had taken from the
shattered and blood-stained Serapis, after his terrible fight.
As for the old scow Confederacy, Imbecility master, it was
proclaimed she had foundered at sea, and "the sloop An
archy, when last heard from, was ashore on Union Rocks."
All over the country there were processions and bonfires,
and in some towns there were riots. In Providence the
Federalists prepared a barbecue of oxen roasted whole, but
a mob of farmers, led by three members of the state legisla
ture, attempted to disperse them, and were with some dif
ficulty pacified. In Albany the Antifederalists publicly
burned the Constitution, whereupon a party of Federalists
brought out another copy of it, and nailed it to the top of a
pole, which they planted defiantly amid the ashes of the fire
their opponents had made. Out of these proceedings there
grew a riot, in which knives were drawn, stones were thrown,
and blood was shed.
Such incidents might have served to remind one that the
end had not yet come. The difficulties were not yet sur
mounted, and the rejoicing was in some respects premature.
It was now settled that the new government was to go into
operation, but how it was going to be able to get along
without the adhesion of New York it was not easy
The strug- ,
gie in New to see. It is true that New York then ranked only
as fifth among the states in population, but com
mercially and militarily she was the centre of the Union.

1788

CROWNING THE WORK

3<53

She not only touched at once on the ocean and the lakes,
but she separated New England from the rest of the coun
try. It was rightly felt that the Union could never be
cemented without this central state. So strongly were
people impressed with this feeling that some went so far as
to threaten violence. It was said that if New York did not
come into the Union peacefully and of her own accord, she
should be conquered and dragged in. That she would come

GEORGE CLINTON

in peacefully seemed at first very improbable. When the
state convention assembled at Poughkeepsie, on the 1 7th of
June, more than two thirds of its members were avowed
Antifederalists. At their head was the governor, George
Clinton, hard-headed and resolute, the bitterest hater of the
Constitution that could be found anywhere in the thirteen

364

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

CHAP, vii

states. Foremost among his supporters were Yates and
Lansing, with Melancton Smith, a man familiar with politi
cal history, and one of the ablest debaters in the country.
On the Federalist side were such eminent men as Living-

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AN OLD VIEW OF POUGHKEEPSIE

ston and Jay ; but the herculean task of vanquishing this
great hostile majority, and converting it by sheer dint of
argument into a majority on the right side, fell chiefly upon
the shoulders of one man.
But for Alexander Hamilton the decision of New York
would unquestionably have been adverse to the Constitution.
Nay, more, it is very improbable that, but for him, the good
work would have made such progress as it had in the other
states. To get the people to adopt the Constitution, it was
above all things needful that its practical working should
be expounded, in language such as every one could under
stand, by some writer endowed in a high degree with polit-

CROWNING THE WORK

3^5

ical intelligence and foresight. Upon their return from
the Federal Convention, Yates and Lansing had done all in
their power to bring its proceedings into ill-repute. Pam
phlets and broadsides were scattered right and left. The
Constitution was called the "triple-headed monster," and
declared to be " as deep and wicked a conspiracy as ever
was invented in the darkest ages against the liberties of a
free people." It soon occurred to Hamilton that it would
be well worth while to explain the meaning of all parts of
the Constitution in a series of short, incisive essays. He

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

communicated his plan to Madison and Jay, who joined him
in the work, and the result was the " Federalist," perhaps
the most famous of American books, and surely one of
the most profound and suggestive treatises on government
that have ever been written. Of the eighty-five The« Fed-
numbers originally published in the " Independent eralist "
Gazetteer," under the common signature of " Publius," Jay

366 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
wrote five, Madison twenty-nine, and Hamilton fifty-one.1
Jay's papers related chiefly to diplomatic points, with which
his experience abroad had fitted him to deal. The first
number was written by Hamilton in the cabin of a sloop
on the Hudson, in October, 1787 ; and they continued to
appear, sometimes as often as three or four in a week,
through the winter and spring. Madison would have con
tributed a larger share than he did had he not been called
early in March to Virginia to fight the battle of the Consti
tution in that state. The essays were widely and eagerly
read, and probably accomplished more toward insuring the
adoption of the Constitution than anything else that was
said or done in that eventful year. They were hastily writ
ten, — struck out at white heat by men full of their subject.
Doubtless the authors did not realize the grandeur of the
literary work they were doing, and among the men of the
time there were few who foresaw the immortal fame which
these essays were to earn. It is said of one of the senators
in the first Congress that he made the memorandum, " Get
the ' Federalist,' if I can, without buying it. It is n't worth
it." But for all posterity the " Federalist " must remain the
most authoritative commentary upon the Constitution that
can be found ; for it is the joint work of the principal author
of that Constitution and of its most brilliant advocate.
In nothing could the flexibleness of Hamilton's intellect,
or the genuineness of his patriotism, have been more finely
shown than in the hearty zeal and transcendent ability with
which he now wrote in defence of a plan of government so
different from what he would himself have proposed. He
made Madison's thoughts his own, until he set them forth
with force not inferior to Madison's. Yet no arguments
1 Attempts have been repeatedly made to claim for Hamilton a
dozen or more of the numbers written by Madison ; but there is no
good ground for such a claim. The arguments of Mr. E. G. Bourne,
in American Historical Review, i. 443-460, 682-685, seem finally deci
sive. See, also, the excellent note in Bancroft's History of the United
States, New York, 1886, vi. 452.

i;88

CROWNING THE WORK

367

could possibly be less chargeable with partisanship than the
arguments of the "Federalist.'' The judgment is as dis
passionate as could be shown in a philosophical treatise.
The tone is one of grave and lofty eloquence, apt to move

even to tears the reader who is fully alive to the stupen
dous issues that were involved in the discussion. Hamil
ton was supremely endowed with the faculty of imagining,
with all the circumstantial minuteness of concrete reality,
political situations different from those directly before him ;
and he put this rare power to noble use in tracing out the
natural and legitimate working of such a Constitution as
that which the Federal Convention had framed.

368 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
When it came to defending the Constitution before the
hostile convention at Poughkeepsie, he had before him as
arduous a task as ever fell to the lot of a parliamentary
debater. It was a case where political management was
out of the question. The opposition were too numerous to
be silenced, or cajoled, or bargained with. They must be
converted. With an eloquence scarcely equalled before or
since in America until Webster's voice was heard, Hamilton
argued week after week, till at last Melancton Smith, the
foremost debater of Clinton's party, broke away, and came
over to the Federalist side. It was like crushing the centre
of a hostile army. After this the Antifederalist forces were
confused and easily routed. The decisive struggle was over
the question whether New York could ratify the Constitu
tion conditionally, reserving to herself the right to withdraw
from the Union in case the amendments upon which she
had set her heart should not be adopted. Upon this point
Hamilton reinforced himself with the advice of Madison,
who had just returned to New York. Could a state once
adopt the Constitution, and then withdraw from the Union
if not satisfied ? Madison's reply was prompt and decisive.
t No, such a thing could never be done. A state which had
once ratified was in the federal bond forever. The
wfnTth™ Constitution could not provide for nor contem-
' ^°Nye'w plate its own overthrow. There could be no such
York rati- thing as a constitutional right of secession. When
ties, July 26 °
Melancton Smith deserted the Antifederalists on
this point, the victory was won, and on the 26th of July
New York ratified the Constitution by the bare majority of
30 votes against 27. Rejoicings were now renewed through
out the country. In the city of New York there was an
immense parade, and as the emblematic federal ship — the
Ship of State — was drawn through the streets, with Ham
ilton's name emblazoned on the vehicle that supported her,
it was doubtless the proudest moment of the young states
man's life.
New York, however, clogged her acceptance by propos-

1788

CROWNING THE WORK

369

ing, a few days afterward, that a second Federal Convention
be called for considering the amendments suggested by the
various states. The proposal was supported by the Virginia
legislature, but Massachusetts and Pennsylvania opposed it,

1— ~X7!7

7; | |l||
SX

PARADE IN NEW YORK IN HONOUR OF THE ADOPTION OF THE CONSTI
TUTION, 1788

as having a dangerous tendency to reopen the whole dis
cussion and unsettle everything. The proposal fell to the
ground. People were weary of the long dispute, and turned
their attention to electing representatives to the first Con
gress. With the adhesion of New York all serious anxiety
came to an end. The new government could be put in
operation without waiting for North Carolina and Rhode
Island to make up their minds. The North Caro
lina convention met on the 21st of July, and ad
journed on the 1st of August' without coming to
any decision. The same objections were raised
as in Virginia ; and besides, the paper-money party
was here much stronger than in the neighbouring state. In
Rhode Island paper money was the chief difficulty ; that
state did not even take the trouble to call a convention. It

The lag
gard states,
NorthCarolina
and Rhode
Island

370 THE CRITICAL PERIOD chap, vii
was not until the 21st of November, 1789, after Washing
ton's government had been several months in operation, that
North Carolina joined the. Federal Union. Rhode Island
did not join till the 29th of May, 1790. If she had waited
but a few months longer,, Vermont, the first state not of the
original thirteen, would have come in before her.
The autumn of 1788 was a season of busy but peaceful
electioneering. That remarkable body, the Continental
Congress, in putting an end to its troubled existence, de
creed that presidential electors should be chosen on the
first Wednesday of January, 1789, that the electors should
meet and cast their votes for president on the first Wednes
day in February, and that the Senate and House of Re
presentatives should assemble on the first Wednesday in
March. This latter day fell, in 1789, on the 4th of the
month, and accordingly, three years afterward, Congress
took it for a precedent, and decreed that thereafter each
new administration should begin on the 4th of March. It
was further decided, after some warm debate, that until the
site for the proposed federal city could be selected and
built upon, the seat of the new government should be the
city of New York.
In accordance with these decrees, presidential elections
were held on the first Wednesday in January. The Anti-
First presi- federalists were still potent for mischief in New
efection, York, with the result that, just as that state had
Jan. 7, 1789 not joined in the Declaration of Independence
until after it had been proclaimed- to the world, and just as
she refused to adoptth£__Eed«ral Constitution until after
more than the requisite--«-umber of states had ratified it, so
now she failed to choose electors, and had nothing to do
with the vote that made Washington our first president.
The other ten states that had ratified the Constitution all
chose electors. But things moved slowly and cumbrously
at this first assembling of the new government. The House
of Representatives did not succeed in getting a quorum
together until the ist of April. On the 6th, the Senate

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1789 CROWNING THE WORK 371
chose John Langdon for its president, and the two houses
in concert counted the electoral votes. There were 69 in
all, and every one of the 69 was found to be for George
Washington of Virginia. For the second name on the list
there was nothing like such unanimity. It was to be ex
pected that the other name would be that of a citizen of
Massachusetts, as the other leading state in the Union.
The two foremost citizens of Massachusetts bore the same
name, and were cousins. There would have been most
striking poetic justice in coupling with the name of Wash
ington that of Samuel Adams, since these two men had
been indisputably foremost in the work of achieving the
independence of the United States. But for the hesitancy
of Samuel Adams in indorsing the Federal Constitution, he
would very likely have been our first vice-president and our
second president. But the wave of federalism had now
begun to sweep strongly over Massachusetts, carrying
everything before it, and none but the most ardent Feder
alists had a chance to meet in the electoral college. Voices
were raised in behalf of Samuel Adams. While we honour
the American Fabius, it was said, let us not forget the
American Cato. It was urged by some, with much truth,
that but for his wise and cautious action in the Massachu
setts convention, the good ship Constitution would have
been fatally wrecked upon the reefs of Shaysism. His
course had not been that of an obstructionist, like that of his
old friends Henry and Lee and Gerry ; but at the critical
moment — one of the most critical in all that wonderful
crisis — he had thrown his vast influence, with decisive
effect, upon the right side. All this is plain enough to the
historian of to-day. But in the political fervour of the elec
tion of 1789, the fact most clearly visible to men was that
Samuel Adams had hesitated, and perhaps made things
wait. These points came out most distinctly on the issue
of his election to the Federal Congress, in which he was
defeated by the youthful Fisher Ames, whose eloquence in
the state convention had been so conspicuous and useful ;

372

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

CHAP. VII

WASHINGTON'S TRIUMPHAL JOURNEY TO NEW YORK

but they serve to explain thoroughly why he was not put
upon the presidential list along with Washington. His
cousin, John Adams, had just returned from his mission to
England, weary and disgusted with the scanty respect which
he had been able to secure for a feeble league of states that
could not make good its own promises. His services during
the Revolution had been of the most splendid sort : and
after Washington, he was the second choice of the electoral
college, receiving 34 votes, while John Jay of New York,
his nearest competitor, received only 9. John Adams was
accordingly declared vice-president.

1789 CROWNING THE WORK 373
On the 14th of April Washington was informed of his
election, and on the next day but one he bid adieu again to
his beloved home at Mount Vernon, where he had hoped
to pass the remainder of his days in that rural peace and
quiet for which no one yearns like the man who is bur
dened with greatness and fame unsought for. The position
to which he was summoned was one of unparalleled splen
dour, — how splendid we can now realize much better than
he, and our grandchildren will realize it better than we, —
the position of first ruler of what was soon to become at
once the strongest and the most peace-loving people upon
the face of the earth. As he journeyed toward New York,
his thoughts must have been busy with the arduous pro
blems of the time. Already, doubtless, he had marked out
the two great men, Jefferson and Hamilton, for his chief
advisers : the one. to place us in a proper attitude before
the mocking nations of Europe ; the other to restore our
shattered credit, and enlist the moneyed interests of all the
states in the success of the Federal Union. Washington's
temperament was a hopeful one, as befitted a man of his
strength and dash. But in his most hopeful mood he could
hardly have dared to count upon such a sudden demon
stration of national strength as was about to ensue upon
the heroic financial measures of Hamilton. His medita
tions on this journey we may well believe to have been
solemn and anxious enough. But if he could gather added
courage from the often-declared trust of his fellow-country
men, there was no lack of such comfort for him. At every
town through which he passed, fresh evidences of it were
gathered, but at one point on the route his strong nature
was especially wrought upon. At Trenton, as he crossed
the bridge over the Assunpink Creek, where twelve years
ago, at the darkest moment of the Revolution, he had out
witted Cornwallis in the most skilful of stratagems, and
turned threatening defeat into glorious victory, — at this
spot, so fraught with thrilling associations, he was met by a
party of maidens dressed in white, who strewed his path

374

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

CHAP, vii

with sweet spring flowers, while triumphal arches in softest
green bore inscriptions declaring that he who had watched
over the safety of the mothers could well be trusted to pro
tect the daughters. On the 23d he arrived in New York, and
was entertained at dinner by Governor Clinton. One week
later, on the 30th, came the inauguration. It was one of
those magnificent days of clearest sunshine that
sometimes make one feel in April as if summer
had come. At noon of that day Washington went
from his lodgings, attended by a military escort, to
Federal Hall, at the corner of Wall and Nassau streets,

Inaugura
tion of
Washing
ton, April
3°

X X5i
am m

y '

INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON

where his statue has lately been erected. The city was
ablaze with excitement. A sea of upturned eager faces sur
rounded the spot, and as the hero appeared thousands of
cocked hats were waved, while ladies fluttered their white
handkerchiefs. Washington came forth clad in a suit of
dark brown cloth of American make, with white silk hose
and shoes decorated with silver buckles, while at his side
hung a dress-sword. For a moment all were hushed in
deepest silence, while the secretary of the Senate held forth

I789 CROWNING THE WORK 375
the Bible upon a velvet cushion, and Chancellor Livingston
administered the oath of office. Then, before Washington
had as yet raised his head, Livingston shouted, — and from
all the vast company came answering shouts, — " Long live
George Washington, President of the United States ! "

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The bibliography of the period covered in this book is very copi
ously and thoroughly treated in the seventh volume of Winsor's Narra
tive and Critical History of North America, Boston, 1888. For the
benefit of the reader who may not have ready access to that vast store
house of information, the following brief notes may be of service.
The best account of the peace negotiations is to be found in chapter
ii. of Winsor's volume just cited, written by Hon. John Jay, who had
already discussed the subject quite thoroughly in his Address before the
New York Historical Society on its Seventy-Ninth Anniversary, Nov.
27, 1883. Of the highest value are Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice's Life
of Lord Shelburne, 3 vols., London, 1875-76, and Adolphe de Circourt,
Histoire de Paction commune de la France et de P Ameriqtte, etc., tome
iii., Documents originaux inedits, Paris, 1876. See also Sparks, Diplo
matic Correspondence of the American Revolution, 12 vols., Boston,
1829-30; Trescot's Diplomacy of the American Revolution, N. Y.,
1852; Lyman's Diplomacy of the United States, Boston, 1826; Elliot's
American Diplomatic Code, 2 vols., Washington, 1834; Chalmer's Col
lection of Treaties, 2 vols., London, 1790; Lord Stanhope's History of
England, vol. vii., London, 1853 ; Lecky's History of England, vol. iv.,
London, 1882; Lord John Russell's Memorials of Fox, 4 vols., London,
1853—57 ; Albemarle's Rockingham and his Contemporaries, 2 vols.,
London, 1852 ; Walpole's Last fottrnals, 2 vols., London, 1859; Force's
American Archives, 4th series, 6 vols., Washington, 1839-46; John
Adams's Works, 10 vols., Boston, 1850-56; Rives's Life of Madison, 3
vols., Boston, 1859-68 ; Madison's Letters and other Writings, 4 vols.,
Phila., 1865; the lives of Franklin, by Bigelow and Parton ; the lives
of Jay, by Jay, Flanders, and Whitelocke; Morse's fohn Adams, Bos
ton, 1885 ; Correspondence of George ILL. with Lord North, 2 vols.,
London, 1867; Wharton's Digest of International Law, Washington,
1887, Appendix to vol. iii. ; Hale's Franklin in France, 2 vols., Boston,
1888. The view of the treaty set forth in 1830 by Sparks, according to
which Jay and Adams were quite mistaken in their suspicions of the
French court, we may now regard as disposed of by the evidence pre
sented by Circourt and Fitzmaurice. It has led many writers astray,
and even with all the lights which Mr. Bancroft has had, the account in

378 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
the last revision of his History of the United States, vol. v., N. Y., 1886,
though in some respects one of the best to be found in the general his
tories, still leaves much to be desired.
The general condition of the United States under the articles of
confederation is well sketched in the sixth volume of Bancroft's final
revision, and in Curtis's History of the Constitution, 2 vols., N. Y.,
1 861. An excellent summary is given in the first volume of Schouler's
History of the United States under the Constitution, of which vols. i.-v.
(revised ed., N. Y., 1894) have appeared. Mr. Schouler's book is sug
gestive and stimulating. The work most rich in details is Professor
McMaster's History of the People of the United States, of which the
first volume rather more than covers the period 1783-89. The author
is especially deserving of praise for the diligence with which he has
searched the newspapers and obscure pamphlets of the period. He
has thus given much fresh life to the narrative, besides throwing valu
able light upon the thoughts and feelings of the men who lived under
the "league of friendship.'' I take pleasure in acknowledging my
indebtedness to Professor McMaster for several interesting illustrative
details. Further general information as to the period of the Confed
eration may be found in Morse's admirable Life of Alexander Hamil
ton, 3d ed., 2 vols., Boston, 1882; Sumner's Alexander Hamilton,
N. Y., 1890; J. C. Hamilton's Republic of the United States, 7 vols.,
Boston, 1879 j Frothingham's Rise of the Republic, Boston, 1872, chap
ter xii. ; Von Hoist's Constitutional History , 8 vols., Chicago, 1877-92,
chapter i. ; Pitkin's History of the United States, 2 vols., New Haven,
1828, vol. ii. ; Marshall's Life of Washington, 5 vols., Phila., 1805-07 ;
Journals of Congress, 13 vols., Phila., 1800; Secret Journals of Con
gress, 4 vols., Boston, 1820-21.
On the loyalists and their treatment, the able essay by Rev. G. E.
Ellis, in Winsor's seventh volume, is especially rich in bibliographical
references. See also Sabine's Loyalists of the American Revolution,
2 vols., Boston, 1864; Ryerson's Loyalists of America, 2 vols., Toronto,
1880; Jones's New York during the Revolution, 2 vols., N. Y., 1879.
Although chiefly concerned with events earlier than 1780, the Journal
and Letters of Samuel Curwen, 4th ed., Boston, 1864, and especially
the Diary and Letters of Thomas Hutchinson, 2 vols., Boston, 1884-86,
are valuable in this connection.
For the financial troubles the most convenient general survey is to
be found in A. S. Bolles's Financial History of the United States,
1774-1789, N. Y., 1879; Sumner's The Financier and the Finances of
the American Revolution, 2 vols., N. Y., 1891 ; Sparks's Life of Gou
verneur Morris, 3 vols., Boston, 1832; Pelatiah Webster's Political
Essays, Phila., 1791 ; Phillips's Colonial and Continental Paper Cur.
rency, 2 vols., Roxbury, 1865-66; Varnum's Case of Trevett v. Weeden,

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 379
Providence, 1787; Arnold's History of Rhode Island, 2 vols., 4th ed.,
Providence, 1894. The best account of the Shays rebellion is G. R.
Minot's History of the Insurrections in Massachusetts,^! orcester, 1788;
see also Barry's History of Massachusetts, 3 vols., Boston, 1855-57;
Austin's Life of Gerry, 2 vols., Boston, 1828-29. -A new and interest
ing account of the northwestern cessions and the Ordinance of 1 787 is
B. A. Hinsdale's Old Northwest, N. Y., 1888 ; see also Dunn's Indiana,
Boston, 1888 ; Cutler's Life, Journal, and Correspondence of Manasseh
Cutler, 2 vols., Cincinnati, 1887 ; Poole's The Ordinance 0/1787, Cam
bridge, 1876.
In the fohns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political
Science, the following articles bear especially upon subjects here treated
and are worthy of careful study; II., v., vi., H. C. Adams, Taxation in
the United States, 1789-1816; III., i., H. B. Adams, Maryland's
Influence upon Land Cessions to the United States ; III., ix., x., Davis,
American Constitutions ; IV., v., Jameson's Introduction to the Consti
tutional and Political History of the Individual States; IV., vii.-ix.,
Shoshuke Sato's History of the Land Question in the United States;
VIII., i., ii., A. W. Small, The Beginnings of American Nationality ;
IX., i. ii., Willoughby's Government and Administration of the United
States. For the proceedings of the Federal Convention in framing the Con
stitution, and of the several state conventions in ratifying it, the great
treasure-house of authoritative information is Elliot's Debates in the
Conventions, 5 vols., originally published under the sanction of Con
gress in 1830-45; new reprint, Phila., 1888. The contents of the
volumes are as follows : —
I. Sundry preliminary papers, relating to the ante-revolutionary
period, and the period of the Confederation; journal of the
Federal Convention ; Yates's minutes of the proceedings ; the
official letters of Martin, Yates, Lansing, Randolph, Mason, and
Gerry, in explanation of their several courses ; Jay's address to
the people of New York ; and other illustrative papers.
II., III., IV. Proceedings of the several state conventions ; with
other documents, including the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions
of 1798, and data relating thereto.
V. Madison's journal of debates in the Congress of the Confederation,
Nov. 4, 1782-June 21, 1783, and Feb. 19-April 25, 1787; Madi
son's journal of the Federal Convention ; letters from Madison to
Washington, Jefferson, and Randolph, Sept. 1787-Nov. 1788;
and other papers.
The best edition of the " Federalist " is by H. C. Lodge, N. Y., 1888.
See also Story's Commentaries on the Constitution, 4th ed., 3 vols.,
Boston, 1873; the works of Daniel Webster, 6 vols., Boston, 1851 ;

380 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Hurd's Theory of our National Existence, Boston, 1881. The above
works expound the Constitution as not a league between sovereign
states but a fundamental law ordained by the people of the United
States. The opposite view is presented in The Republic of Repub
lics, by P. C. Centz [Plain Common Sense, pseudonym of B. J. Sage of
New Orleans], Boston, 1881 ; the works of Calhoun, 6 vols., N. Y.,
1853-55; A. H. Stephens's War between the States, 2 vols., Phila.,
1868 ; Jefferson Davis's Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government,
2 vols., N. Y., 1881. Bledsoe, Is Davis a Traitor ; or was Secession a
Constitutional Right previous to the War of 186 1 ? Baltimore, 1866.
Several volumes of the " American Statesmen " contain interesting
accounts of discussions in the various conventions, as Tyler's Patrick
Henry, Hosmer's Samuel Adams, Lodge's Hamilton, Magruder's
Marshall, Roosevelt's Morris. Gay's Madison falls far below the
general standard of this excellent and popular series. No satisfactory
biography of Madison has yet been written, though the voluminous
work of W. C. Rives contains much good material. For judicial inter
pretations of the Constitution one may consult B. R. Curtis's Digest of
Decisions, 1790-1854; Flanders's Lives of the Chief fustices, Phila.,
1858 ; Marshall's Writings on the Federal Constitution, ed. Perkins,
Boston, 1839; see a^s0 Pomeroy's Constitutional Law, N. Y., 1868;
Wharton's Commentaj-ies, Phila., 1884; Von Hoist's Calhoun, Boston,
1882. Among critical and theoretical works, Fisher's Trial of the Con
stitution, Phila., 1862, and Lockwood's Abolition of the Presidency, N.
Y., 1S84, are variously suggestive ; Woodrow Wilson's Congressional
Government, Boston, 1885, is a work of rare ability, pointing out the
divergence which has arisen between the literary theory of our govern
ment and its practical working. Walter Bagehot's English Constitu
tion, revised ed., Boston, 1873, had already, in a profound and masterly
fashion, exhibited the divergence between the literary theory and the
actual working of the British government. Some points of weakness
in the British system are touched in Albert Stickney's True Republic,
N. Y., 1879; and his Democratic Government, N. Y., 18S5 ; see also A.
L. Lowell's Essays on Government, Boston, 1890. The constitutional
history of England is presented, in its earlier stages, with prodigious
learning, by Dr. Stubbs, 3 vols., London, 1873-78, and in its later stages
by Hallam, 2 vols., London, 1842, and Sir Erskine May, 2 vols., Boston,
1862-63; see also S. R. Gardiner's Introduction to the Study of Eng
lish History, London, 1 88 1 ; Freeman's Growth of the English Con
stitution, London, 1872 ; Comparative Politics, London, 1873 ; Some
Impressions of the United States, London, 1S83; Rudolph Gneist,
History of the English Constitution, 2 vols., London, 1S86; J. S. Mill,
Representative Government. N. Y., 1862 ; Sir H. Maine, Popular Gov
ernment, N. Y., 1886; Tocqueville's Democracy in America, 2 vols.,

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 381
Cambridge, 1863; Bryce's American Commonwealth, 2 vols., N. Y.,
1888 ; Lecky's Democracy and Liberty, 2 vols., N. Y., 1876.
See also Stevens's Sources of the Constitution of the United States,
N. Y., 1894; Fisher's Evolution of the Constitution of the United
States, Phila., 1897 ; Jameson, Essays in the Constitutional History of
the United States, Boston, 1889 ; Cooley (and others), Constitutional
History of the United States as seen in the Development of American
Law, N. Y., 1889; Curry, The Southern States of the American Union,
N. Y., 1894; Stanwood's History of Presidential Elections, Boston,
1888; Miss Follett, The Speaker of the House of Representatives, N.
Y., 1896; Harding, The Contest over the Ratification of the Federal
Constitution in Massachusetts, N. Y., 1896; Houston's Critical Study
of Nullification in South Carolina, N. Y., 1896.
Much detailed information may be found in Henry's Life, Corre
spondence, and Speeches of Patrick Henry, 3 vols., N. Y., 1891 ; Lee's
Life of Richard Henry Lee, 2 vols., Phila., 1825 ; Madison's Pape7-s,
etc., ed. Gilpin, 3 vols., N. Y., 1841 ; Tyler's Letters and Times of the
Tylers, vols. L, ii., Richmond, 1884-85, vol. hi., Williamsburg, 1897;
Conway's Edmund Randolph, N. Y., 1888; Conway's Life of Thomas
Paine, 2 vols., N. Y., 1892 ; Grigsby's History of the Virginia Federal
Convention (Va. Hist. Soc. Coll., N. S., ix., x.); Miss Rowland's Life,
Correspondence, and Speeches of George Mason, 2 vols., N. Y., 1892;
Miss Rowland's Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 2 vols., N. Y.,
1897; McRee's Life of James Iredell, 2 vols., N. Y. 1857; Stilld's Life
and Times of John Dickinson, Phila., 1891 ; McMaster and Stone,
Pennsylvania and the Federal Constitution, Phila., 1888; Miss Boudi-
not's Life of Elias Boudinot, 2 vols., Boston, 1896; Miss Morris's
Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris, 2 vols., N. Y., 1888; King's
Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, vols, i.-iv. issued, N. Y.,
1894-97, two more to come ; Jay's Correspondence and Public Papers,
4 vols., N. Y., 1890-93 ; Wells's Life of Samuel Adams, 3 vols., Bos
ton, 1865; Austin's Life of Gerry, 2 vols., Boston, 1828-29; Parsons's
Memoir of Theophilus Parsons, Boston, 1859; Belknap's Minutes of
the Convention of 1788 (Mass. Hist. Soc. Proa, 1858) ; Federal Con
vention of Massachusetts. Debates, Resolutions, etc., Boston, 1 788 ;
Debates ajid Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts held in the year 1788, Boston, 1856; Staples, Rhode
Island in the Continental Congress, Providence, 1870; Walker, New
Hampshire Federal Convention, Boston, 1888; Ford, Pamphlets on
the Constitution, Brooklyn, 1892.
A monograph of profound interest and indispensable to a correct
understanding of the subject is Libby, The Geographical Distribution
of the Vote of the Thirteen States on the Federal Constitution, Madi
son, Wis., 1894.

382 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
I may also mention my own books, American Political Ideas, N. Y.,
1885; Civil Government in the United States, Boston, 1890; and my
articles, " Great Britain," " House of Lords," and " House of Com
mons," in Lalor's Cyclopcedia of Political Science, 3 vols., Chicago,
1 882-84. That cyclopasdia contains also numerous articles on Ameri
can history by the late Prof. Alexander Johnston. One must stop
somewhere, and I will conclude by saying that I do not know where
one can find anything more richly suggestive than those articles of
Professor Johnston, in whose premature death our country has sus
tained an irreparable loss.

MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION

The names of those who for various reasons were absent when the
Constitution was signed are given in italics ; the names of those who
were present, but refused to sign, are given in small capitals.

New Hampshire
Massachusetts

Connecticut

New York

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

Delaware

Maryland

John Langdon.
Nicholas Gilman.
Elbridge Gerry.
Nathaniel Gorham.
Rufus King.
Caleb Strong.
William Samuel Johnson.
Roger Sherman.
Oliver Ellsworth.
Robert Yates.
Alexander Hamilton.
fohn Lansing.
William Livingston.
David Brearley.
William Churchill Houston.
William Paterson.
Jonathan Dayton.
Benjamin Franklin.
Thomas Mifflin.
Robert Morris.
George Clymer.
Thomas Fitzsimmons.
Jared Ingersoll.
James Wilson.
Gouverneur Morris.
George Read.
Gunning Bedford.
John Dickinson.
Rkhard Bassett.
Jacob Broom.
James McHenry.
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer.
Daniel Carroll.

384 MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION
fohn Francis Mercer.
Luther Martin.
Virginia ........ George Washington.
Edmund Randolph.
John Blair. •
James Madison.
George Mason.
George Wythe.
fames McClurg.
North Carolina  Alexander Martin.
William Richardson Davie.
William Blount.
Richard Dobbs Spaight.
Hugh Williamson.
South Carolina  John Rutledge.
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.
Charles Pinckney.
Pierce Butler.
Georgia  William Few.
Abraham Baldwin.
William Pierce.
William Houston.
Of those who signed their names to the Federal Constitution, the six
following were signers of the Declaration of Independence : —
Roger Sherman.
Benjamin Franklin,
Robert Morris,
George Clymer,
James Wilson,
George Read.
And the five following were signers of the Articles of Confedera
tion : — Roger Sherman,
Robert Morris,
Gouverneur Morris,
John Dickinson,
Daniel Carroll.
The ten following were appointed as delegates to the Federal Conven
tion, but never took their seats : —
New Hampshire .... John Pickering.
Benjamin West.
Massachusetts .... . Francis Dana.

MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION
New Jersey  John Nelson.
Abraham Clark.
Virginia  Patrick Henry (declined).
North Carolina  Richard Caswell (resigned).
Willie Jones (declined).
Georgia  George Walton.
Nathaniel Pendleton.

385

No delegates were appointed by Rhode Island." In a letter addressed
to " the Honourable the Chairman of the General Convention," and
dated" Providence, May 11, 1787," several leading citizens of Rhode
Island expressed their regret that their state should not be represented
on so momentous an occasion. At the same time, says the letter, " the
result of your deliberations ... we still hope may finally be approved
and adopted by this state, for which we pledge our influence and best
exertions." The letter was signed by John Brown, Joseph Nightingale,
Levi Hall, Philip Allen, Paul Allen, Jabez Bowen, Nicholas Brown,
John Jinkes, Welcome Arnold, William Russell, Jeremiah Olney,
William Barton, and Thomas Lloyd Halsey. The letter was presented
to the Convention on May 28th by Gouverneur Morris, and, " being
read, was ordered to lie on the table for further consideration." See
Elliot's Debates, v. 125.
The Constitution was ratified by the thirteen states, as follows : —

1. Delaware
2. Pennsylvania
3. New Jersey
4. Georgia .
5. Connecticut
6. Massachusetts
7. Maryland . .
8. South Carolina
9. New Hampshire
10. Virginia . , .
11. New York . .
12. North Carolina
13. Rhode Island

. Dec. 6, 1787.
. Dec. 12, 1787.
Dec. 18, 1787.
. Jan. 2, 1788.
. Jan. 9, 1788.
. Feb. 6, 1788.
. April 28, 1788.
. May 23, 1788.
. June 21, 1788.
. June 25, 1788.
. July 26, 1788.
. Nov. 21, 1789.
. May 29, 1790.

386 PRESIDENTS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

PRESIDENTS OF THE CONTINENTAL
CONGRESS

9-
10.1 1.
12.13-
14.

Peyton Randolph of Virginia .
Henry Middleton of South Carolina
Peyton Randolph . . .
John Hancock of Massachusetts .
Henry Laurens of South Carolina
John Jay of New York ....
Samuel Huntington of Connecticut
Thomas McKean of Delaware . .
John Hanson of Maryland . .
Elias Boudinot of New Jersey .
Thomas Mifflin of Pennsylvania .
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia
Nathaniel Gorham of Massachusetts
Arthur St. Clair of Pennsylvania .
Cyrus Griffin of Virginia ....

Sept. 5, 1774.
Oct. 22, 1774.
May 10, 1775.
May 24, 1775.
Nov. 1, 1777.
Dec. 10, 1778.
Sept. 28, 1779.
July 10, 1781.
Nov. 5, 1781.
Nov. 4, 1782.
Nov. 3, 1783.
Nov. 30, 1784.
June 6, 1786.
Feb. 2, 1787.
Jan. 22, 1788.

INDEX

INDEX

Adams, Herbert, B., 206.
Adams, John, arrives in Paris, 21 ; his indig
nation at the pusillanimous instructions from
Congress, 34 ; condemns the Cincinnati,
124; tries in vain to negotiate commercial
treaty with Great Britain, 143-146 ; negoti
ates a treaty with Holland, 160 ; obtains a
loan there, 161, 162 ; his interview with the
envoy from Tripoli, 167; absent from the
United States at the time of the Federal
Convention, 242 ; elected vice-president of
the United States, 372 ; portraits, 23, 42,
163.
Adams, Samuel, his devotion to local self-gov
ernment, 57, 338 ; his committees of corre
spondence, 95 ; opposes Washington's pro
posal for pensioning officers, 112 ; but at
length supports the Commutation Act, 119;
condemns the Cincinnati, 124 ; approves the
conduct of the Massachusetts delegates, 147 ;
opposes pardoning the ringleaders in the
Shays insurrection, 200 ; not a delegate to
the Federal Convention, 242 ; " the man of
the town meeting," 338; in the Massachu
setts convention, 344, 346, 348 ; why not se
lected for the vice-presidency, 371 ; por
trait, 347.
Albany, riot in, 362.
Amendments to Constitution, 323, 351, 361.
Ames, Fisher, 339, 346, 371 ; portrait, 340.
Amis, North Carolinian trader, 226.
Amphiktyonic council, 267.
Annapolis convention, 232 ; view of state
house, 233.
Antagonisms between large and small states,
262-272; between east and west, 274; be
tween north and south, 276-28S.
Antifederalist party, 329; in Pennsylvania,
330; in Massachusetts, 336, 337, 344; in
South Carolina, 357; in Virginia, 357-360;
in New York, 362, 364, 370.
Antipathies between states, 64.
Aranda, Count, his prophecy, 18 ; portrait, ig.
Aristides, pseudonym, 332.
Aristocracy, 302.
Aristotle, 242.
Arkwright, Sir Richard, 288-
Armada, the Invincible, 253. ,
Armchair, view and story of, 325.
Armstrong, John, 114, 156; portrait, 155.
Army, dread of, 109, 341, 342.
Arnold, Benedict, 27, 112, 157.
Asbury, Francis, portrait, 87.
Ashburton, Lord, 6.
Ashburton treaty, 25.
Assemblies, 67.
Assunpink Creek, 373.
Augustine, 163.
Backus, Rev. Isaac, 342.
Bagehot, Walter, 311.
Baldwin, Abraham, 270; portrait, 269.

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 228.
Baptists persecuted in Virginia, 81.
Barbary pirates, 162-167.
Barrel Isaac, 40; portrait, 41.
Battery, New York, view from, 145.
Bedford, Gunning, 268 ; portrait, 267.
Bennington, 342.
Bernard, Sir Francis, 318.'
Biennial elections, 346.
Bill of rights demanded, 351.
Blackstone; Sir William, 310, 311, 317.
Blair, John, portrait, 309.
Blount, Wilham, portrait, 303.
Boston in 1790, view of, 335.
Boston Gazette, quoted, 349.
Boudinot, Elias, portrait, 100.
Boundaries of United States as settled by the
treaty, 24.
Bowdoin, James, 148, 196-201, 339, 346; por
trait, 201 ; facsimile of proclamation, 199.
Bowen, Jabez, Washington's letter to, 370.
Boyd, Lieutenant, 128.
Braddock, Edward, 325.
Bradshaw's Railway Guide, 182.
Brearley, David, 246, 264 ; arms and auto
graph, 265.
Bribery, charges of, 349.
British army departs, 50.
British Constitution compared with American,
310-318.
Budget for 1786, facsimile of, 107.
Buff and blue colours, 1.
Burgesses, House of, in Virginia, 68.
Burke, JEdanus, 124; facsimile title-page of
his pamphlet, 123.
Burke, Edmund, his sympathy with the Ameri
cans, 2 ; could not see the need for parlia
mentary reform, 6 ; his invective against
Shelburne, 17 ; on the slave-trade, 74 ; por-
trat, 73.
Butler, Pierce, 277 ; portrait, 278.
Cabinet, the president's, 320.
Cabinet government, growth of, in England,
316.
Camden, Lord, 6.
Campus Martius, Marietta, 223, 225.
Canada, Franklin suggests that it should be
ceded to the United States, 9, 15.
Carleton, Sir Guy, 50, 137.
Carlisle, Pa., disturbances at, 335.
Carpet-bag governments, 291.
Carr. Dabney, 95.
Carrington, Edward, 218, 328.
Carroll, Daniel, 246; portrait, 301.
Carroll, John, archbishop, portrait, 89.
Carrying trade, 168, 282.
Cartwright, Edmund, 288;
Catalonian rebels indemnified, 28.
Catholics in the United States, 88.
Cato, pseudonym, 332.
Cavendish, Lord John, 6, 16.

39°

INDEX

Censors, council of, in Pennsylvania, 156.
Centinel, pseudonym, 333-
Cervantes, Miguel de, 164.
Charles II., 28.
Chase, Samuel, 355.
Chatham, Lord, 4.
Cherry Valley, 128.
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 228.
Chittenden, Thomas, 157; portrait, 159.
Cincinnati, order of the, 120-125 ; badge of,
122.
Cincinnati, the city, original name of, 212.
Cincinnatus, pseudonym, 332.
Clan system^ 64.
Clergymen in the Massachusetts convention,
339 ; their liberal spirit, 342.
Cleveland, Grover, his tariff message, 315.
Clinton, George, favours persecution of Tories,
129 ; an enemy to closer union of the states,
150; defeats impost amendment, 237; op
poses the Constitution, 363 *, entertains Presi
dent Washington at dinner, 374; portraits,
Clinton, Sir Henry, 149.
Clymer, George, 330; portrait, 331.
Coalition ministry, 36-44.
Cceur-de-Lion and Saladin, 167.
Coinage, 172.
Coins in circulation, specimens of, 169 ; scales
for weighing, 177.
Coke, Thomas, 87.
Columbia College, 131.
Commerce, control of, given to Congress, 282.
Common law in the United States, 70.
Commons, House of, in England, 70, 310-317;
in North Carolina, 67.
Compromises of the Federal Constitution, 269-
289.
Confederation, articles of, 94-102.
Congress, Continental, its instructions to the
commissioners at Paris, 34 ; its weakness, 57,
101, 102, 106-118, 252; its anomalous char
acter, 95 ; its presidents, 99 ; driven from
Philadelphia by drunken soldiers, 118; flees
to Princeton, 118 ; unable to enforce the pro
visions of the treaty, 126-1 36, 160 ; unable to
regulate commerce, 144-148 ; afraid to inter
fere openly in the Shays rebellion, 201 ;
passes ordinance for government of north
western territory, 216-221 ; refuses to recom
mend a convention for reforming the govern
ment, 234; reconsiders its refusal, 238; in
some respects a diplomatic rather than a leg
islative body, 256; its migrations, 293, 327;
debates on the Constitution, 328 ; submits it
to the states, 328 ; comes to an end, 370.
Congress, Federal, powers granted to, 292;
choice of president by, 301-304 ; counting
electoral votes in, 304, 305, 309.
Connecticut, government of, 67 ; quarrels with
New York and Pennsylvania, 150-157 ; keeps
almost entirely clear of paper money, 1S2 ;
western claims of, 205, 208 ; ratifies the Con
stitution, 336.
Connecticut compromise, the, 269-274.
Connecticut settlements in Pennsylvania, map,
i53-
Conservative character of the American Revo
lution, 66.
Constitution, emblematic federal ship, 362,
369-
Convention, the Federal, 160, 239-326.
Conway, Gen. Henry, 6.
Cooper, Dr. Myles, 132.
Cornwallis, Lord, 21, 50, 373.

Council, privy, 320.
Cowardice of American politicians, 250.
Crawford, William, 50.
Curtis, B. R., 297.
Cutler, Manasseh, 218 ; portrait, 219; view of
his birthplace, 220.
Dane, Nathan, 218, 233, 328; portrait, 234.
Dayton, Jonathan, 241, 246; portrait, 241.
Debt, imprisonment for, 185.
Debts to British creditors, 26, 137.
Delaware, government of, 67; ratifies the Con
stitution, 334.
Democratic-Republican party, 329.
Dickinson, John, 96, 118} 246, 260, 261, 301,
303, 321, 332; portrait, 95; facsimile of let
ter by, 235.
Dissolution of Parliament, 317.
Dollar, the Spanish, 172.
Dunmore, Lord, 318.
Election by lot, 301 ; first presidential, 370-
372-
Electoral college in Maryland, 68 ; device
adopted for choosing the president, 300-308 ;
its practical working, 308.
Elliot, Sir Gilbert, 2.
Ellsworth, Oliver, 246, 267, 269, 289, 291, 295,
297, 300, 321; portrait, 268.
Embargo acts, 146.
Eminent domain, 209.
Episcopal church, 79-86.
Erie Canal, 228, 246.
Executive, federal, 260, 298 ; length of term,
299 ; how elected, 299-305 ; corresponds to
sovereign, not to prime minister, 310, 320.
Exports not to be taxed, 284, 292.
" Federal," the word preferred to " national,"
273-
Federal city under federal jurisdiction, 293, 341.
" Federal Fanner " (letters by R. H. Lee), 333.
Federal Street in Boston, 354 ; view of the
meetings-house, 354.
" Federalist," the, 242, 365, 366.
Federalist party, 256, 329.
Field, S. J., 296.
Fisheries, question of, 20, 25, 35, 144, 168.
Fitch, John, autograph, 60 ; his steamboats,
61, 67.
Fitzherbert, Alleyne, 21, 44.
Florida surrendered by Great Britain to Spain,
35 ; disputes about boundary of, 224.
Folkland, 203, 222.
Fox, C. J., his sympathy with the Americans,
1 ; quarrels with Shelburne, 6, 14 ; resigns,
15; waywardness of his early career, 16; co
alition with North, 36-41 ; mistake in oppos
ing a dissolution, 47 ; portrait of, 7; carica
tures of, 3, 13, 39-
France, treaty of 17S3 with Great Britain, 35.
Franklin, Benjamin, negotiates with Oswald,
9 ; overruled by Jay and Adams, 22 ; his
arguments against compensating the loyal
ists, 28; ridicules the Cincinnati, 122; re
turns from France, 143 ; in the Federal Con
vention, 242, 269, 29S, 321, 323, 325 ; lays the
Constitution before the Pennsylvania legis
lature, 327 ; called a dotard by the Antifeder
alists, 333 ; portraits, 29, 42, 32S.
Franklin, W. T., portrait, 42,
Franklin, state of, 214, 224 ; map, 212.
Fraunces's Tavern, 52.
Frederick the Great, on republics, 60-
Free trade, 4, 139-144.

INDEX

391

French army embarks at Boston, 50.
Froissart, 158.
Frontier posts to be surrendered by Great
Britain, 52; why not surrendered, 157.
Fugitive slaves, 221, 288, 356.
Fur trade, 137, 171.
Gadsden, C, 128, 356.
Gallatin, A., 131, 139.
Galloway, Joseph, 266.
Gardoqui, Diego, 225 ; portrait, 227.
Gates, Horatio, 114-116, 196; portrait, 115.
George III. threatens to abdicate, 4; his dis
gust at the coalition, 43 ; rebuked by House
of Commons, 46 ; Jiis personal government
overthrown, 48 ; hopes the Americans will
repent of their folly, 60, 145 ; resists the
movement for abolishing slave-trade, 74; his
personal government, 317; portrait of, 45;
caricature of, 3.
Georgia takes the lead in making the judiciary
elective, 71 ; abandons that evil practice, 71 ;
issues paper money, 178; ratifies the Con
stitution, 336.
Germain, Lord George, 37.
Gerry, Elbridge, 125, 247, 261, 270, 272, 275,
290, 299, 302, 320, 324, 350, 371 ; portrait,
271 ; view of his house at Cambridge, 273.
Gibbon, Edward, 36, 38; portrait, 35.
Gibraltar, 17, 34.
Gladstone, W. K, 240, 312, 314.
Gorham, Nathaniel, 272, 339; portrait, 103.
Governors, colonial, unpopularity of, 68.
Gower, Lord, 43.
Grafton, Duke of, 6.
Grantham, Lord, 16.
Granville, Lord, 314.
Grasse, Count, defeated by Rodney, 12, 14.
Grayson, William, 167, 221; autograph, 168.
Green Dragon tavern, 348.
Greene, Nathanael, 97, 106, 113, 124, 128, 242.
Grenviiie, Thomas, 10; portrait, n.
Griffin, Cyrus, portrait, 105.
Guadaloupe, 34.
Guilford, Earl of, 43.
Gunston Hall, Va., view of, 289.
Guy Vaux, satirical print, 3.
Half-pay controversy, 112.
Hamilton, Alexander, his early life, 130-132;
attacks the Trespass Act, 134; calls for a
federal convention, 233 ; advocates the im
post amendment, 237 ; in the Federal Con
vention, 242, 244, 261, 263, 265, 267, 274,
299, 324; on inconvertible paper, 295; on
the electoral college, 307 ; called a boy by
the Antifederalists, 333 ; authorship of the
"Federalist," 365-367; supports the Con
stitution in the New York convention, 367,
368; his financial measures, 373; portraits,
126, 133, 365 ; bearer of ship of state, 369.
Hancock, John, 108, 200, 338, 340, 351 ; por
trait, 337 ; facsimile of letter by, 352, 353.
Hannibal, 163.
Hanson, John, portrait, 99.
Hargreaves, James, 288.
Harrison, Benjamin, 359; portrait, 357.
Hartington, Lord, 314.
Hartley, David, 44.
Hawks, F. L., 83.
Heath, Gen. William, 339.
Henry, Patrick, 80, 242, 358, 359, 371.
Hint Club, 178.
Impost amendment, 235-259.

Independence Hall, views of, 119, 143, 239.
India bill, 46.
Insurrections, suppression of, 290.
Intercitizenship, 97.
Iroquois league, 205.
Irreconcilables in the Federal Convention, 243,
260, 262, 264, 274.
Isolation of states a century ago, 64.
Jackson, William, portrait, 253.
Jay, John, thwarts Veigennes, 20, 21, 34; tries
to establish free trade between United States
and Great Britain, 26 ; condemns persecu
tion of Tories, 128 ; on compensation for
slaves, 137 ; consents to the closing of the
Mississippi River for twenty-five years 226 ;
why not sent as delegate to Federal Conven
tion, 243 ; supports the Constitution in New
York convention, 364; contributes articles
to the " Federalist," 365 ; receives nine elec
toral votes for the vice-presidency, 372 ; por
traits, 26, 42.
Jefferson, Thomas, opposed to slavery, 74;
favours religious freedom, 82 ; minister to
France, 143, 160; assists Gouverneur Morris
in arranging our decimal currency, 172 ; his
plan for the government of the northwestern
territory, 210; wishes to prohibit slavery in
the national domain, 212, 220; his purchase
of Louisiana, 222 ; absent from United States
at the time of the Federal Convention, 242 ;
his faith in the people, 243, 348; his opin
ion of the Constitution, 329 ; approves the ac
tion of the Massachusetts convention, 351 ;
portrait, 204 ; map of his proposed states,
211.
Jenifer, D., portrait, 313.
Johnson, W. S., 246 ; portrait, 247.
Jones, Paul, 362.
Jonesborough, convention at, 214.
Judiciary, elective, 71 ; federal, 260, 321, 322.
Juilliard vs. Greenman, 296.
Kentucky, 18, 204, 213, 216, 224, 226.
Keppel, Lord, 6, 16, 44.
King, Rufus, 233, 238, 246, 264, 267, 269, 275,
281, 297, 299, 302, 344, 346; portrait, 237.
King's Mountain, 27, 214, 342.
Kings, election of, in Poland, 299.
Know Ye certificate, facsimile of, 191,
Know Ye men and Know Ye measures, 190,
261.
Knox, Henry, 120.
Lafayette, 50, 54.
Langdon, John, 246, 290, 291, 295, 297, 303,
371 ; portrait, 291.
Lansing, John, 243, 246, 260, 263, 273, 364, 365;
portrait, 243.
Laurens, Henry, 2, 21 ; portrait, 42.
Lecky, W., 106.
Ledyard, Isaac, 135.
Lee, Henry, 328, 360.
Lee, Richard Henry, 57, 147, 218, 221, 242,
327, 333, 33S, 35°. 359, 37'-
" Letters from a Federal Farmer, by R. H,
Lee, 333.
Lexington, 50, 342.
Lincoln, Abraham, 74, 212, 222.
Lincoln, Benjamin, 196, 198, 339, 355.
Livingston, Robert, 34, 364, 375 ; portrait,
33-
Livingston, William, 181, 246; portrait, 261.
Locke, John, 66, 242.
Long Lane becomes Federal Street, 354.

392

INDEX

Long Parliament, 95, 253.
Lords, House of, 68, 70 ; contrasted with Sen
ate, 315.
Lottery ticket, facsimile of, 141.
Lowndes, Rawlins, 355, 356.
Loyalists, compensation of , 27-31 ; persecution
of, 126-136 ; did not form, in any proper
sense of the word, an opposition party, 329.
Luzerne, Chevalier de, 34, 54.
Lykian League, 267.
Macdougall, Alexander, 113,
McDuffie, George, 62.
McKean, Thomas, 335 ; portrait, 97.
Madison, James, and the Religious Freedom
Act, 82 ; on right of coercion, 103 ; advocates
five per cent, impost, 108; on the ordinance
of 1787, 221; moves that a convention be
held to secure a uniform commercial policy,
230 ; succeeds in getting delegates appointed,
238 ; his character and appearance, 244, 245 ;
his journal of the proceedings, 248; chief
author of the Virginia plan, 251, 289; one of
the first to arrive at the fundamental concep
tion of our partly federal and partly national
government, 258 ; approves at first of giving
Congress the power to annul state laws, 259 ;
opposes the New Jersey plan, 264 ; declares
that the real antagonism is between slave
states and free states, 267, 276 ; author of the
three fifths compromise, 280 ; condemns
paper money, 296 ; disapproves of election
of the executive by the legislature, 299 : ap
proves of a privy council, 321 ; supports the
Constitution in Congress, 328 ; called a boy
by the Antifederalists, 333 ; supports the
Constitution in the Virginia convention, 360 ;
part author of the "Federalist," 365, 366;
denies that there can be a constitutional right
of secession, 368 ; portraits of, frontispiece ',
24.5, 248.
Maine as part of Massachusetts, 336.
Manchester, Duke of, 44.
Marbois, Francois de Barb£, 21, 34.
Marion, Francis, 128.
Marshall, John, 84, 297, 322, 360; portrait,
360.
Martin, Luther, 247, 260-262, 264, 267, 269,
274, 296, 355 ; portrait, 275.
Maryland, government of, 67; insists upon
cession of northwestern lands, 96, 207, 209;
paper money in, 181 ; message to Virginia,
230; ratifies -the Constitution, 355.
Mason, George, 247,261,271, 283, 284, 296-
299, 301, 302, 321, 324, 357, 359; portrait,
2S4 ; view of his house, 289.
Massachusetts, government of, 69 ; abolishes
slavery, 77 ; religious bigotry, 78 ; on the
five per cent, duty, 108 ; tries to propose a
convention for increasing the powers of
Congress, 146 ; lays claim to a small part of
Vermont, 158; paper money in, 182-192;
western claims of, 204; changes her attitude,
238; local self-government in, 336 ; debates
on the Constitution, 340-351 ; ratifies it,
suggesting amendments, 351.
" Massachusetts Chronicle," quoted, 127.
" Massachusetts Spy," facsimile page of, 173.
Massacre, Boston, 342.
Mayhew, Jonathan, 95.
Meade, William, So, 84.
Mentor and Phocion, 134.
Mercer, J. F., 295.
Merchants' Exchange, New York, 71.
Methodists, 86.

Middletown convention, 118; old view from
Hartford road, 121.
Mifflin, Thomas, portrait, 53.
Minisink, 128.
Mirabeau, Count de, 124.
Mississippi River, attempt to close it, 224-
226, 357 ; valley of the, 17, 204.
Monroe, James, 231.
Montesquieu, C., 242 311'.
Moonshiners, 356.
Morris, Gouverneur, 113, 172, 246, 260, 270,
281, 283, 290, 294, 297, 299, 301, 323; por
trait, 307.
Morris, Robert, 113, 174, 246, 332; portrait,
174.
Moultrie, William, 148, 356.
Mount Vernon, view of, 55.
Muley, Ismail, 164 ; facsimile title-page of his
tory of his reign, 165.
Mutiny act, 341.
Names of persons and places, fashions in, 210-
212.
Nantucket, 170.
Nason, Samuel, 342.
Naval eminence of New England, 20, 143.
Navigation acts, 142-148, 171.
Negroes carried away by British fleet, 137.
Nelson, Samuel, 297.
New Connecticut, 157.
New Hampshire lays claim to Vermont, 157,
158; riots in, 198; hesitates to ratify the
Constitution, 355 ; ratifies it, 361.
New Jersey quarrels with New York, 152 ;
'paper money in, 181 ; opposes the attempt
to close the Mississippi, 227 ; instructs her
delegates to the Annapolis convention, 232 ;
her plan for amending the articles of confed
eration, 264; ratifies the Constitution, 334.
New Roof, 361.
New York passes navigation and tariff acts
directed against neighbouring states, 150;
lays claim to Vermont, 157, 158 ; paper
money in, 181 ; western claims of, 206-208 ;
defeats the impost amendment, 235-237 ;
debates on the Constitution, 362-368; rati
fies it, 368 ; asks for a second convention,
369 ; fails to choose electors, 370.
New York, plan of the city, no, in.
New York Central Railroad, 22S.
Newburgh address, 113, 117, 125.
Nicola, Louis, his letter to Washington, 112,
125.
Ninth Pillar erected, 361.
Non-importation agreement, 146.
North, Frederick, Lord, fall of his ministry,
1 ; coalition with Fox, 36-40 ; his blindness,
40 ; his proposals after Saratoga, 94 ; his
subservience to the king, 317; caricatures
of, 37, 39-
North Carolina issues paper money, 178 ;
cedes her western lands to the United
States, 213 ; repeals the act of cession, 214 ;
delays her ratification of the Constitution,
369.
Ohio, 217-221.
Old Sarum, 267.
Old South Church, 342.
Onslow, George, 2.
Ordinance of 1787, 213, 216-221.
Oregon, 62.
Oswald, Richard, 9-12, 15, 21-25, 31, 44.
Paine, Thomas, 50, 56, 206; portrait, 51.

INDEX

393

Paper currency, 170-195, 220, 234, 294-297;
specimens of, 175-194.
Parade in New York, 369.
Parker, Theodore, 284.
Parsons, Samuel Holden, 217.
Parsons, Theophilus, 339, 346 ; portrait, 339.
Parties, formation of, 328.
Paterson, William, 246, 263-266, 274, 278, 296 ;
portrait, 263.
Patterson, militia officer in Wyoming, 154.
Payson, Rev. Philip, 342.
Pendleton, Edmund, portrait, 359.
Pennsylvania, government of, 67 ; first tariff
act, 146; quarrels with Connecticut, 152-
156 ; paper money in, 181 ; opposes the clos
ing of the Mississippi, 227; contest over the
Constitution, 329-334; ratifies it, 334.
Petersham, scene of Shay's defeat, 197, 340 ;
view of house where he was captured, 197.
Philadelphia, Congress driven from, 118 ;
Federal Convention meets at, 239 ; unpar
liamentary proceedings in legislature, 330;
celebrates ratification by ten states, 362.
Phocion and Mentor, 134.
Pierce, William, autograph, 315.
Pinckney, Charles, 246, 261, 281, 284, 288, 290,
297, 298, 356; portrait, 285 ; facsimile of let
ter by, 286, 287.
Pinckney, Cotesworth, 246, 261, 277, 281, 282,
284, 288, 297, 355, 356; portrait, 283.
Pitt, Thomas, 42.
Pitt, William, chancellor of exchequer, 16 ;
denounces the coalition, 37 ; defends the
treaty, 42 ; refuses to form a ministry, 42 ;
character, 46, 47 ; prime minister, 47 ; wins
a great political victory, 48; favours free
trade with the United States, 141 ; portrait,
47-
Pohick parish church, 83.
Polish kings, election of, 299.
Population as an index of wealth, 276.
Portland, Duke of, 16, 44.
Potomac, navigation of, 229-232.
Poughkeepsie, convention at, 363-368 ; old
view of, 364.
Powers granted to federal government, 2go.
Presbyterians, 82, 88.
Presidents of Continental Congress, 99.
Prevost's march against Charleston, 26.
Prime minister contrasted with president, 312-
3i4-
Primogeniture, abolition of, 73.
Proprietary governments, 67, 73.
Providence, R. I., barbecue and mob at, 362.
Public lands, 203.
Putnam, Israel, 157.
Putnam, Rufus, 216 ; portrait, 217; his house
at Rutland, 218.
Quebec act, 18.
Quesnay, Francois, 146.
Quorum, how to make a, 332.
Railroads, political influence of, 62.
Randolph, Edmund, 247, 251, 254, 258, 260,
265, 284, 291, 296, 298, 302, 321, 324, 358,
360 ; portrait, 255.
Rattlesnake, the American, a. satirical print,
93-
Rayneval, Gerard de, 21.
Read, George, 260, 295 ; portrait, 295.
Reform, parliamentary, 6.
Religious freedom, progress in, 78-88.
Religious tests opposed by Massachusetts
clergymen, 342.

Representation of slaves, 277-282.
Representatives, House of, 255, 272.
Republican party, 256.
Republics, old notion that they must be small
in area, 60.
Reserve, Connecticut's western, 208.
Revenue bills, 292.
Revere, Paul, 348; portrait, 349.
Revolution, American, its conservative char
acter, 66 ; the French, 66, 125.
Rhode Island, government of, 67; extends
franchise to Catholics, 79 ; on the five per
cent, duty, 109; paper money in, 182-190;
opposes the closing of the Mississippi, 227 ;
does not send delegates to Philadelphia,
239 ; delays her ratification of the Constitu
tion, 369.
Richmond, Duke of, 1, 16.
Rittenhouse, David, 116.
Rockingham, Marquis of, 4; instability of his
ministry, 5 ; its excellent work, 7 ; his death,
16.
Rodney's victory over Grasse, 14 ; satirical
print, 13.
Roman republic not like the United States,
60.
Rousseau, J. J., 66, 124.
Rutgers, Elizabeth, 132.
Rutledge, John, 246, 261, 280, 284, 298, 299,
301, 321, 356; portrait, 279.
St. Clair, Arthur, 212, 221.
St. Croix boundary monument, 25.
Saladin and Cceur-de-Lion, 167.
Sandy Hook light-house, 152.
Sargent, Winthrop, 218.
Scales for weighing coins, 177.
Schuyler, Philip, 132, 150, 157, 207.
Scott, Sir Walter, 158.
Scottish representation in Parliament, 267.
Seabury, Samuel, portrait, 85.
Secession, threats of, 226, 234 ; no constitu
tional right of, 368.
Secrecy of the debates in Federal Convention,
249.
Sedgwick, Theodore, 128, 339.
Self-government, 57,64, go.
Senate, federal, made independent of lower
house, 272 ; contrasted with House of Lords,
3i5-
Senates, origin of, 68.
Seven Years' War, 14, 204.
Sevier, John, 214; portrait, 215.
Shattuck, Job, 195.
Shays rebellion, 196, 197, 234, 261, 336, 340,
344- . .
Sheffield, Lord, protectionist, 141 ; on the
Barbary pirates, 166.
Shelburne, William, Earl of, his character, 4;
his memorandum on proposed cession of
Canada, n; prime minister, 16; approached
by Rayneval and Vaughan, 21 ; misjudged
by Fox, 38 ; defends the treaty, 42 ; resigns,
42 ; his conduct justified by his enemies,
44; understood the principles of free trade,
4, 139; portrait of, 5.
Shepard, William, 196.
Sherman, Roger, 246, 261, 269, 275, 289, 295,
297, 299, 303, 326, 333 ; nis suggestion as to
relations of the executive to the legislature,
299, 300, 318 ; portrait, 298.
Shillings, 172.
Ship-buildingin New England, 141-144.
Shute, Rev. Daniel, 342.
Sidney, Algernon, 66.

394

INDEX

Signatures to the Constitution, facsimile of,
322.
Singletary, Amos, 342, 344, 345-
Six Nations, 205, 217.
Slave-trade, foreign, permitted for twenty
years, 283, 343, 355-
Slaveryinthe several states, 74-77, 288; pro
hibited in northwestern territory, 221 ; dis
cussions about it in Federal Convention,
277-290 ; condemned by George Mason,
284.
Slaves, representation of, 277-281 ; numbers
of, in the several states, 288.
Small states converted to federalism by the
Connecticut compromise, 274, 334.
Smith, Adam, 131, 139, 140.
Smith, Capt. John, 206.
Smith, Jonathan, 344-346; view of his tomb,
345 ; autograph, 346.
Smith, Melancton, 364, 368; portrait, 367.
Smugglers, 140.
South Carolina, Episcopal church in, 79, 84 ;
revokes five per cent, impost, 113; issues
paper money, 17S ; absolute need of concili
ating her, 279, 280 ; makes bargain with New
England states, 282-288 ; debates on the Con
stitution, 355-357; ratifies it, 357.
Sovereignty never belonged to separate states,
92.
Spain, treaty of 1783 with Great Britain, 34;
attempts to close Mississippi River, 223, 226,
234, 357-
Spanish claim m southwest, map of, 228.
Spanish dollar, why it superseded English
pound as unit of value in America, 172.
Spermaceti oil, 144, 170.
Springfield arsenal, 196, 201.
Stage-coach, picture of, 63.
States, powers denied to, 293.
Stormont, Lord, 44.
Story, Joseph, 297.
Strachey, Sir Henry, 21.
Strong, Caleb, 246, 272, 299, 346; portrait, 311.
Succession disputed, 309.
Suffrage, limitations upon, 72.
Sugar trade, 142.
Temple, Lord, 43, 46.
Tennessee, 18, 204, 213.
Thayendanegea, 50.
Thomas, Isaiah, 172; portrait, 171.
Thompson, Gen., in Massachusetts convention,
344-
Thurlow, Lord, 6 ; portrait, 75.
Thurston, member of Virginia legislature, 148.
Tithing-men in New England, 78.
Tobacco as currency in Virginia, 171.
Tories, American ; see Loyalists.
Tories, British, 40.
Townshend, Thomas, 16.
Trade, barbarous superstitions about, 139.
Travelling, difficulties of, a century ago, 62.
Treaty of 1783, difficulties in the way of, 8;
strange character of, 22; provisions of, 24-
3 1 ; a great diplomatic victory for the Ameri
cans, 32, 204; secret article relating to Flor
ida boundary, 31, 223; adopted, 44; news
arrives in America; 50 ; Congress unable to
carry out its provisions, 126-138, 160.
Trespass Act in New York, 130-134.
Trevett vs. Weeden, 189.
Tucker, Josiah, 58, 146.
Tyler, John, the elder, 230, 359; portrait, 231.
Union, sentiment of, 56.

Unitarianism, 88.
University men in Federal Convention, 242.
Vaughan, Benjamin, 21, 33.
Vergennes, Count de, 12 ; wishes to satisfy
Spain at the expense of the United States,
17-20; thwarted by Jay, 21; accuses the
Americans of bad faith, 31 ; tired of sending
loans, 108 ; portrait, 30.
Vermont, troubles in, 156-158 ; riots in connec
tion with the Shays rebellion, 198.
Vice-presidency, 302.
Victoria, Queen, 314.
Vincennes, riot in, 226.
Violence of political invective, 37.
Virginia, church and state in, 79-84 ; on five
per cent, impost, 109; paper money in, 178;
takes possession of northwestern territory,
204-206 ; cedes it to the United States, 260 ;
plan for new federal government, 251-260 ;
its reception by the convention, 260 ; compro
mise as to representation of slaves, 278-281 ;
resents compromise between South Carolina
and the New England states, 284; debates
on the Constitution, 357-360; ratifies it, 360.
" Visionary young men, " i. e. , Hamilton, Mad
ison, Gouverneur Morris, etc., 338.
Waddington, Joshua, 132.
Wall Street, old view in, 69.
Walpole, Horace, 16.
Walpole, Sir Robert, 316.
War, the Civil, 56, 276, 282; contrast with
Revolutionary, 104-10S ; cost of Revolution
ary, 174.
Washington, George, marches from Yorktown
to the Hudson River, 50 ; disbands the army,
51 ; resigns his command, 53 ; goes home to
Mount Vernon, 54; his "legacy" to the
American people, 55 ; on the right of coer
cion, 100 ; urges half-pay for retired officers,
112 ; supposed scheme for making him king,
112 ; his masterlv* speech at Newburgh, 115;
president of the Cincinnati, 120; on the weak
ness of the confederation, 168; wishes to
hang speculators in breadstuff s, 170; disap
proves of Connecticut's reservation of a tract
of western land, 208 ; approves of Ohio Com
pany, 217 ; his views on the need for canals
between east and west, 228 ; important meet
ing held at his house, 229; is chosen delegate
to the Federal Convention. 23S; president of
the convention, 247 ; his solemn warning,
250, 324 ; his suggestion as to the basis of rep
resentation, 272 ; asks if he shall put the ques
tion on the motion of Wilson and Pinckney,
298 ; disapproves of electing executive by the
legislature, 290; sends draft of the Constitu
tion to Congress, 327 ; called a fool by the
Antifederalists, 333 ; approves of amend
ments, but opposes a second convention, 350;
unanimously chosen president of the United
States, 370; his journey to New York, 374 ;
his inauguration, 374; Trumbull's picture of
his resignation, 56; his coach and four, 65;
portraits, 78, 117, 251 ; Cruikshank's picture
of his triumphal journey, 372; Darley's pic
ture of his inauguration, 374; facsimile of
letter by, 370.
Washington, William, 356.
Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, 84.
Watt, James, 61, 288.
Wayne, Anthony, 50.
Wealth as a basis of representation, 276.
Webster, Daniel, 56, 221, 297.

INDEX

39S

Webster, Pelatiah, 104, 240.
Weems, Mason, 84.
Wesley, John, 86.
West, Rev. Samuel, 343 ; silhouette, 343.
West India trade, 142, 171.
Whigs, British, sympathize with revolutionary
party in America, 2.
Whiskey as currency in North Carolina, 171.
White, Abraham, 344.
Whitefield, George, 86.
Whitehill, Robert, 333.
Whitney, Eli, 288.
Williamson, Hugh, portrait, 305.
Wilson, James, 246, 261, 264, 266, 270, 281,

295, 298, 299, 301, 302, 321, 333, 335; por
trait, 332.
Witenagemot, 68.
Wolf Creek Mills, Ohio, 222.
Worcester, street view in, 195.
Worcester Spy, 172.
Wraxall's Memoirs, 1.
Wyoming, troubles in, 152-156; bird's-eye
view of, 151.
Wythe, George, 246 ; portrait, 257.
Yates, Robert, 243, 260, 263, 273, 364, 365;
autograph, 276.
Yazoo ooundary, 31, 224.

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