History Of The Colonization Of The United States - free ebook by George Bancroft

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History Of The Colonization Of The United States

George Bancroft

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225 chapters

Preface To The First Edition

Preface To The First Edition

I have formed the design of writing a History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent to the present time. As the moment arrives for publishing a portion of the work, I am impressed more strongly than ever with a sense of the grandeur and vastness of the subject; and am ready to charge myself with presumption for venturing on so bold an enterprise. I can find for myself no excuse but in the sincerity with which I have sought to collect truth from trust-worthy documents

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History Of The United States

History Of The United States

The United States of America constitute an essential portion of a great political system, embracing all the civilized nations of the earth. At a period when the force of moral opinion is rapidly increasing, they have the precedence in the practice and the defence of the equal rights of man. The sovereignty of the people is here a conceded axiom, and the laws, established upon that basis, are cherished with faithful patriotism. While the nations of Europe aspire after change, our constitution eng

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Colonial History

Colonial History

The enterprise of Columbus, the most memorable maritime enterprise in the history of the world, formed between Europe and America the communication which will never cease. The national pride of an Icelandic historian has indeed claimed for his ancestors the glory of having discovered the western hemisphere. It is said, that they passed from their own island to Green land, and were driven by adverse winds from Greenland to the shores of Labrador; that the voyage was often repeated; that the coast

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II.

II.

I have traced the progress of events, which, for a season, gave to France the uncertain possession of Acadia and Canada. The same nation laid claim to large and undefined regions at the southern extremity of our republic. The expedition of Francis I. discovered the continent in a latitude south of the coast which Cabot had explored; but Verrazzani had yet been anticipated. The claim to Florida, on the ground of discovery, belonged to the Spanish, and was successfully asserted. Extraordinary succ

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III.

III.

The attempts of the French to colonize Florida, though unprotected and unsuccessful, were not without an important influence on succeeding events. About the time of the return of De Gourgues, Walter Raleigh, Oldys' Raleigh, 16, 17. Tytler's Raleigh, 19— 23. a young Englishman, had abruptly left the university of Oxford, to take part in the civil contests between the Huguenots and the Catholics in France, and with the prince of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV., was learning the art of war under the

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IV.

IV.

The period of success in planting colonies in Vir- ginia had arrived; yet not till changes had occurred, affecting the character of European politics and society, and moulding the forms of colonization. The reformation had interrupted the harmony of religious opinion in the west of Europe; and differences in the church began to constitute the basis of political parties. Commercial intercourse equally sustained a revolution. It had been conducted on the narrow seas and by land; it now launched ou

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V.

V.

While Virginia, by the concession of a represen- tative government, was constituted the asylum of liberty, by One of the strange contradictions in human affairs, it became the abode of hereditary bondsmen. The unjust, wasteful and unhappy system was fastened upon the rising institutions of America, not by the consent of the corporation, nor the desires of the emigrants; but, as it was introduced by the mercantile avarice of a foreign nation, so it was subsequently riveted by the policy of Englan

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Chapter VI.

Chapter VI.

Ascending the throne in his Twenty-fifth year, Charles I. inherited the principles and was governed by the favorite of his father. The rejoicings in consequence of his recent nuptials, the reception of his, bride, and preparations for a parliament, left him little leisure for American affairs. Virginia was esteemed by the monarch as the country producing tobacco, its inhabitants were valued at court as planters, and prized according to the revenue derived from the staple of their industry. The p

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Chapter VII.

Chapter VII.

The limits of Virginia, by its Second charter, ex- tended Two hundred miles North of Old Point Comfort, and therefore included all the soil which subsequently formed the State of Maryland. It was not long before the country towards the head of the Chesapeake was explored; settlements in Accomack were extended; and commerce was begun with the tribes which Smith had been the First to visit. Porey, the secretary of the colony, Made a discovery into the great bay, as far as the River Patuxent, which

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VIII.

VIII.

The settlement of New England was a result of the Reformation; Heeren, i. 102, 103 not of the contest between the new opinions and the authority of Rome, but of implacable differences between Protestant dissenters and the established Anglican church. Who will venture to measure the consequences of actions by the apparent humility or the remoteness of their origin? The mysterious influence of that Power which enchains the destinies of states, overruling the decisions of sovereigns and the foretho

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IX.

IX.

The Council of Plymouth for New England, having obtained of King James the boundless territory and the immense monopoly which they had desired, had no further obstacles to encounter but the laws of nature and the remonstrances of parliament. No tributaries tenanted their countless Millions of uncul tivated acres; and exactions upon the vessels of English fishermen were the only means of acquiring an immediate revenue from America. But the spirit of the commons indignantly opposed the extravagant

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X.

X.

The English government was not indifferent to the progress of the colonies of New England. The fate of the First emigrants had been watched by all parties with benevolent curiosity; nor was there any inducement to oppress the few sufferers, whom the hardships of their condition were so fast wasting away. The adventurers were encouraged by a proclamation, Hazard, i. 311, 312. which, with a view to their safety, prohibited the sale of fire-arms to the savages. The stern discipline exercised by the

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Colonial History

Colonial History

The principles that should prevail in the adminis- tration of the American colonies, always formed a dividing question between the political parties in England. The restoration of the legitimate dynasty was attended by a corresponding change in colonial policy. The revolution, which was now come to its end, had been in its origin a democratic revolution, and had apparently succeeded in none of its ultimate purposes. In the gradual progress of civilization, the power of the feudal aristocracy had

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XII.

XII.

MASSACHUSETTS never enjoyed the favor of the re- stored government. The virtual independence which had been exercised for the last Twenty years, was too dear to be hastily relinquished. The news of the restoration, brought by the ships in which Goffe and Whalley were passengers, was received with skeptical anxiety; and no notice was taken of the event. At the session of the General court in October, a motion for an address to the king did not succeed; affairs in England were still regarded as un

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XIII.

XIII.

MEANTIME civilization had advanced at the south and twin stars were emerging beyond the limits of Virginia. The country over which Soto had rambled in quest of gold, where Calvinists, befriended by Coligny, had sought a refuge, and where Raleigh had hoped to lay the foundations of colonial principalities, was beginning to submit to the culture of civilization. Massachusetts and Carolina were both colonized under proprietary charters, and of both the charters were subverted; but while the proprie

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XIV.

XIV.

FOR more than Eight years, The people of Vir- ginia had governed themselves; and their government had been conducted with wise moderation. Tranquillity and a rapid increase of population promosed the extension of its borders; and colonial life was sweetened by the enjoyment of equal franchises. No trace of established privilege appeared in its code or its government; in its forms and in its legislation, Virginia was a representative democracy; so jealous of a landed aristocracy, that it insisted

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XV.

XV.

THE spirit of the age was present when the founda- tions of New York were laid. Every great European event affected the fortunes of America. Did a state prosper, it sought an increase of wealth by plantations in the west. Was a sect persecuted, it escaped to the New World. The reformation, followed by collisions between English dissenters and the Anglican hierarchy, colonized New England; the reformation, emancipating the Low Countries, led to settlements on the Hudson. The Netherlands divide wi

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XVI.

XVI.

The nobler instincts of humanity are the same in every age and in every breast. The exalted hopes, that have dignified former generations of men, will be renewed as long as the human heart shall throb. The visions of Plato are but revived in the dreams of Sir Thomas More. A spiritual unity binds together every member of the human family; and every heart contains an incorruptible seed, capable of springing up and producing all that man can know of God, and duty, and the soul. An inward voice, unc

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XVII.

XVII.

The country which, after the reconquest of the New Netherlands, was again conveyed to the duke of York, included the New England frontier from the Kennebee to the Saint Croix, extended continuously to Connecticut River, and was bounded on the south by Maryland. We have now to trace an attempt to consolidate the whole coast north of the Delaware. The charter from the king sanctioned whatever ordinances the duke of York or his assigns might establish; and in regard to justice, revenue, and legisla

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XVIII.

XVIII.

THUS have we traced, almost exclusively from con- temporary documents and records, the colonization of the Twelve oldest states of our Union. At the period of the great European revolution of 1688, they contained not very many beyond Two hundred thousand inhabitants, of whom Massachusetts, with Plymouth and Maine, may have had Forty-four thousand; New Hampshire and Rhode Island, with Providence, each Six thousand; Connecticut, from Seventeen to Twenty thousand; that is, all New England, Seventy-

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Colonial History

Colonial History

The Stuarts passed from the throne of England Their family, distinguished by a blind resistance to popular opinion, was no less distinguished by misfortunes. During the period of their separate sovereignty over Scotland, but Three of the race escaped a violent death. The First of them who aspired to the crown of Great Britain was by an English monarch doomed to death on the scaffold; her grandson was beheaded in the name of the English people. The next in the line, long a needy exile, is remembe

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XX.

XX.

If our country, in the inherent opposition between its principles and the English system, was as ripe for governing itself in 1689 as in 1776, the colonists disclaimed, and truly, a present passion for independence. A deep instinct gave assurance that the time was not yet come. They were not merely colonists of England, but they were riveted into an immense colonial system, which every commercial country in Europe had assisted to frame, and which bound in its strong bonds every other quarter of

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Chapter XXI.

Chapter XXI.

Such were the events which gave to the French not only New France and Acadia, Hudson's Bay and Newfoundland, but a claim to a moiety of Maine, of Vermont, and to more than a moiety of New York, to the whole Valley of the Mississippi, and to Texas even, as far as the Rio Bravo del Norte. Throughout that wide region, it sought to introduce its authority, under the severest forms of the colonial system. That system was enforced, with equal eagerness, by England upon the sea-coast. Could France, and

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Chapter XXII.

Chapter XXII.

On the surrender of Acadia to England, the lakes, the rivulets, the granite ledges, of Cape Breton,— of which the irregular outline is guarded by reefs of rocks, and notched and almost rent asunder by the constant action of the sea,— were immediately occu- pied as a province of France; and, in 1714, fugitives from Newfoundland and Acadia built their huts along its coasts wherever safe inlets invited fishermen to spread their flakes, and the soil, to plant fields and gardens. In a few years, the

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Chapter XXIII.

Chapter XXIII.

The Tuscaroras changed their dwelling-place before the treaty of Utrecht was completed. Their chiefs had become indignant at the encroachments of the proprietaries of Carolina, who had assigned their lands to unhappy German fugitives from the banks of the Neckar and the Rhine. De Graffenried, who had undertaken the establishment of the exiles, accompanied by Lawson, the Surveyor-general for the northern province, in September of 1711, ascended the Neuse River in a boat, to discover how far it wa

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XXIV.

XXIV.

The moral world is swayed by general laws. They extend not over inanimate nature only, but over and nations,— over the policy of rulers and the opinion of masses. Event succeeds event according to their influence: amidst the jars of passions and interests, amidst wars and alliances, commerce and conflicts, they form the guiding principle of civilization, which marshals incongruous incidents into their just places, and arranges checkered groups in clear and harmonious order. Yet let not human arr

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Index To The History Of Colonization A

Index To The History Of Colonization A

Abenakis of Maine solicit missions, III. 135. War with, 211. Language, 238. Aborigines, their conversation with Eliot, II. 95. Their language, III. 236. Manners, 265. Political institutions, 274. Religion, 284. Natural endowments, 299. Origin, 306. Acadia settled, I. 27. Fortunes of, 445; II. 70; II. 186, 234. Accomacs, III. 239. Aguesseau, III. 357. Aix la Chapelle, congress of, III. 466. Alabama entered by Soto, I. 48. By the French, II. 200, 348, 352, 365. Albany founded, II. 273. Alexander's

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B

B

Bacon, Lord, tolerant, I. 294. Inclines to materialism, II. 329. Bacon, Nathaniel, his cereer, II. 217-228. Baltimore. See Calvert. Bank of England chartered, III. 191 Bank of France, III. 354. Barclay, Robert, governor of New Jersey, II. 414. Barlow, his voyage, I. 92. Behring's discoveries, III. 453. Bellamont, Lord, in New York, III. 59. In New England, 82. Berkeley, George, character of, III. 372. Berkeley, Sir William, in Virginia, I. 203. In England, II. 68. Plants Carolina, 134. Dissatisf

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C.

C.

Cabot, John and Sebastian, I. 24 Calvert, Sir George, Lord Baltimore I. 238. His character, II. 239. Calvert, Charles, in Maryland, II. 237 Returns to England, 240. Calvin, influence of, I. 266. Parallel between him and Luther, 277. Calvinism, political meaning of, II 461 Influence on laws of Massachusetts, 463. In Connecticut, 464. Canada, French in, I. 27. Its conquest, 334; II. 88; II. 183, 220. Jesuits in, 120. Cancello, I. 60. Canonchet, II. 102. Canonicus, I. 318. Cardross, Lord, in South

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D.

D.

Dablon, Father, III. 143, 152 Dahcotas, III. 243. Dale, Sir Thomas, I. 142. Danforth in Maine, II. 114. Daniel, Robert, III. 21. Daniel, Father, III. 122. Martyrdom, 138 Dare, Virginia, I. 105. Davenport, John, establishes New Haven colony, I. 403. Deerfield burned, III 212. De La Ware, I. 137. In Virginia, 140. Illness, 142. In parliament, 149. Death, 152. Delaware colonized by the Dutch, II. 281. By the Swedes, 287. Separated from Pennsylvania, III. 44. See New Sweden, And Pennsylvania. Detroi

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E

E

Eaton, Theophilus, governor of New Haven, I. 403. Edwards, Jonathan, III. 399. Elizabeth, Queen, I. 282. Eliot, John, II. 94. Endicott, John, I. 341; I. 82. England, its maritime discoveries, I. 7, 75, 76, 80. First attempt to plant a colony, 84. Favors colonization, 118. Early slave trade, 173. Claims Maine and Acadia, 148. Restrictive commercial policy of, 194. The reformation in, 274. Jealous of New England, 405. Its democratic revolution, II. 1. Long parliament, 4. Civil war, 8. Presbyterian

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F

F

Fenwick, John, purchases half New Jersey, II. 357. Fernandez, Francisco, I. 34. Finland, emigrants from, II. 286. Five Nations. See Iroquois. Fletcher, Benjamin, in Pennsylvania, III. 37. In New York, 56. In Connecticut, 67 Fleury, Cardinal, II. 325. Averse to war, III. 449. Florida discovered, I. 31. Abandoned, 60. Huguenots, 63. Melendez in, 66. Colonized, 69. Expeditions against, in. 209, 432. Fox, George, I. 154. Education, 331. Influence of the age on him, 354. His death, 404. France, First

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G

G

Garay, Francisco, I. 35. Gates, Sir Thomas, I. 143, 149. George I., III. 322. Georgia, colonization of, proposed, III. 417. Charter for, 419. Oglethorpe in, 420. Indians in, 422. Moravians in, 423. Slavery interdicted, 426. Highlanders in, 427. The Wesleys and Whitefield, 429. Extends its boundaries, 431. See Oglethorpe. Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, I. 88, 91. Goffe, William, II. 35, 104. Gomez, Stephen, I. 38. Gorges, Sir Ferdinand, I. 119, 270, 337 Death, 429. Gorges, Robert, I. 326. Gorton, Samuel,

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H

H

Hakluyt, Richard, I. 113, 119. Hamilton, Andrew, II. 393. Hampden, John, I. 411. Hansford, Thomas, II. 229. Hartford, II. 283. Harvard College founded, I. 459. Harvey, John, I. 197. Impeached, 201. Haverhill massacre, II. 215. Haynes, John, I. 362. Hennepin, Father, II. 163. His false-hood, 202. Higginson, Francis, I. 346. Highlanders in Georgia, II. 427. History, its criterion, II. 397. A science, 398. The record of God's providence, 399. Hooker, Thomas, character of, I. 363. Hooper, the martyr

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I.

I.

Iberville, Lemoine da, II. 199. Icelandic voyages, I. 3; III. 313. Illinois visited by Jesuits, III. 155. Early history of, 165. A fort built in, 167. Permanent settlement in, 195. Illinois tribe, III. 158, 241. Independents, origin of, I. 287. Indiana colonized, III. 346. Indians. See Aborigines. Indies, East, war in, III. 452. Ingle, rebellion of, I. 254. Ingoldsby in New York, II. 53. Iowa visited by Jesuits, III. 157. Iowas, Le Sueur among, II. 204. Iroquois attacked by Champlain, I. 28. See

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J

J

James I., his relations with Virginia, I. 120, 136, 145, 156, 187, 193. Grants a charter for New England, 272. His character, 291. James II. sends rebels to Virginia, II. 250. Becomes a proprietary, 313. Grants New Jersey, 315. Patron of the slave trade, 317. Arbitrary, 320. Favors William Penn, 364. His character, 407. His colonial policy, 408. Taxes colonial commerce, 410, 411, 413, 415. His career as king, 441. His flight, 446. Jamestown founded,. 125. Burned, I. 228. Jeffries, II. 250, 413.

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K

K

Kaskaskia, III. 195. Keith, George, III. 36. An abortionist, III. 408. Kidd, William, III. 60. Kieft, II. 287....

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L.

L.

Lallemand, Father, III. 122-140. Law, John, III. 349. His credit system, 350. His bank, 354. Downfall, 357. Leisler, Jacob, II. 450; III. 51-54. His execution, 55. Reversal of attainder, 59. Lenni-Lenape, III, 383. In New Jersey, III. 239. Leon, Ponce de, discovers Florida, I. 33. Locke, John, his character, III. 144. Contrasted with Penn, I. 379. Logan, James, III. 44, 345. Louis XIV. persecutes the Huguenots, I. 175. His policy, 424. Treachery, 426. Absolute, III. 115. Defends legitimacy, 175.

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M.

M.

Maine visited, I. 27. Colonized by the French, 28. Entered by Pring, 113. By Weymouth, 114. By Argall, 148. Colonized by English, 268. Granted in part to the Pilgrims, 320. To Gorges, 328. Colonized, 331, 336. Its court organized, 337. Early history, 428. Annexed to Massachusetts, 430. Royal commissioners in, II. 86. Indian war, 210. New government, 114. Indian war, III. 180, 335. Maintenon, Madame de, II. 175; III. 323. Manhattan occupied, II. 272. Manigault, Judith, II. 180. Marest, Gabriel, I

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N

N

Nanticokes, III. 239. Narragansetts, I. 318, 398. Peace with, 424. War with, III. 104. Their language, III. 238. Narvaez, I. 39. Natchez, III. 204, 349. Natchez tribe, III. 248, 358, 363. Navigation act, origin of, I. 212. Of Charles II., II. 42. New Albion, II. 296. New Amsterdam, II. 277. New Belgium. See New Netherlands. New England, confederacy of the colonies of, 420. Royal commissioners for, II. 77. Population of, 93. Indians in, 93. War with King Philip, 101. The colonies consolidated, 43

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O

O

Oglethorpe, James, III. 418. Treats with the Indians, 421. Visits the Highland emigrants, 431. Besieges St. Augustine, 443. His character, 446. Ohio, the French on the, III. 343. Olive, Thomas, III. 50. Oneidas, II. 417. Onondagas, II. 417. Their magnanimity, 425. Jesuits among, III. 143. Orleans, Philip of, III. 323. Ottawas, III. 241. Oxenstiern colonizes Delaware, II. 285....

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P

P

Pamlicos, II. 239. Paper money, in. 186,209,350,355, 387. Pemaquid destroyed, III. 181. Penn, William, II. 363. His charter, 364. Opposes monopoly, 366. Sails for the Delaware, 369. Previous life of, 370. Contrasted with Locke, 379 Penn on the Delaware, 382. Treaty with the Indians, 383. Disputes with Baltimore, 387. Bids farewell to the colony, 395. Advocates English freedom, 397. His fame, 400. Thrice arrested, III. 39. Founds a democracy, 44. Pennsylvania. (See Penn.) Witchcraft in, II. 393.

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Q

Q

Quakerism, II. 326. A plebeian sect, 330. A universal religion, 336. Inner Light, 337. Its method that of Descartes, 338. Repels superstition, 340. Is primitive Christianity, 343. Agrees with Plato, 344. Its rule of conduct 344. No hireling ministry, 348. An absolute democracy, 352. Quakers persecuted in Massachusetts, I. 451. In North Carolina, II. 153. In Virginia, 201. In Maryland, 237. In New Jersey, 357. Their legislation, 359. In Pennsylvania, 389. Quebec founded, I. 28. Capitulates to the

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R

R

Raleigh, Walter, I. 74. Furnishes Gilbert with a ship, 90. Obtains a patent, 92. Colonizes North Carolina, 95. Attempts an agricultural colony, 103. Founds the city of Raleigh, 104. His assigns, 107. Character of, 108. A prisoner, 136. Randolph, Edward, II. 111. Rasles, Sebastian, III. 333, 337. Raymbault, Father, III. 129, 131,132. Reformation in England, I. 274. Regicides, II 32. Revolution of 1688, II. 445. Effect on New England, 447. On New York, 450. On New Jersey, 451. Its political theory

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S

S

Sagadahock settled, I. 268. Garrison in, II. 408. St. Augustine founded, I. 69. St. John, Lord Bolingbroke, III. 219. St. Lawrence discovered, I. 20. St. Mary, central Jesuit station, III. 125 Salem, I. 339. Witchcraft in, III. 84. Salle, La, III. 162. Descends the Mississippi, 168. Leads a colony to Louisiana, 169. In Texas, 170. Murdered, 173. Saltonstall, Richard, denounces the slave trade, I. 174. Samoset, 316. Savannah, III. 420. Schenectady destroyed, III. 182. Senecas, II. 417. Separatist

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T

T

Taylor, Jeremy, I. 376. Texas, a part of Louisiana, III. 171. Tobacco, used as currency, I. 151. Tonti, III. 163, 167. Tuscaroras, III. 245. War with, 319. Twiller, Walter Van, II. 282....

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U

U

Uchees, III. 247. Uncas, I. 399. Underhill, John, I. 399; II. 292. Ursuline convent at Quebec, III. 127. Utrecht, peace of, III. 225....

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V.

V.

Vane, Sir Henry, arrives, I. 383. His character, I. 36. Trial, 38. Death, 40. Van Rensselaer purchases land, I 280 Vermont, III. 370. Vernon at Porto Bello, III. 439 Carthagena, 441. Verrazzani, I. 15. Vincennes, III. 366. Vincennes, town of, III. 346. Virginia, I. 95, 117. First charter, 120 Its code of laws, 122. Colonists embark for, 123. Colonized, 124. Weakened by dissensions, 125. And sickness, 127. Smith's administration, 134. New charter, 136. Suffers from famine, 139. Relieved by Lord D

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W

W

Wadsworth, William, III. 67. Waldenses in New Netherlands, II. 302 Waldron, Richard, III. 180. Walker, Henderson, III. 20. Walker, Sir Hovenden, III. 221. Walpole, III. 325. His indifference to the colonies, 345. Rejects the system of taxing colonies, 383. Averse to war with Spain, 438. Washington, George, III. 467. Wesley, John and Charles, III. 428. West, Francis, I. 196. Weymouth explores the coast, I. 114. Whalley, Edward, II. 34. Wheelwright, John, I. 388. Removes to Piscataqua, 392. Whitak

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Y

Y

Yamassees, a Creek nation, III. 21. War with, 327. In Georgia, 422. Yeardley, I. 152. Succeeds Wyatt 195....

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Z

Z

Zealand, II. 258 Zenger, John Peter, III. 391 End of history of colonization....

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The American Revolution

The American Revolution

America claims legislative independence of England. Pelham's administration. In the year of our Lord One thousand seven hun- dred and Forty-eight, Montesquieu, wisest in his age of the reflecting statesmen of France, apprized the cultivated world, that a free, prosperous and great people was forming in the forests of America, which England had sent forth her sons to inhabit. De l'esprit des Lois. LIV. XIX. chap. XXVII. Elle [une nation libre] donneroit aux peuples de ses colonies la forme de son

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II.

II.

The royal Governor of New York appeals to the Para-Mount power of Great Britain.— Pelham's administration continued. The sun of July, 1748, shed its radiance on the banks of the Hudson. The unguarded passes of its Highlands derived as yet no interest, but from the majestic wildness that enhanced the grandeur of their forms. The shadows of the mountains, as they bent from their silent repose to greet the infrequent bark that spread its sails to the froward summer breeze, were deepened by dense fo

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III.

III.

The Exploration of Ohio.— Pelham's administration continued. The world had never witnessed colonies with in- stitutions so free as those of America; but this result did not spring from the intention of England. On the Twelfth of July, 1749, all the ministers of state assembled at the Board of Trade, and deliberated, from Seven in the evening till One the next morning, Letter from the Solicitor, F. J. Paris, in James Alexander to C. Golden, 25 Sept., 1749. on the political aspect of the plantatio

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IV.

IV.

America Refuses to be ruled by arbitrary Instruc-Tions.— Pelham's administration continued. The thoughts of the British ministry were so engrossed by intrigues at home, as to give but little heed to the glorious country beyond The Alleghanies. Having failed in the attempt to subject all the colonies by act of parliament to all future orders of the king, the Lords of Trade sought to gain the same end in detail. Rhode Island, a charter government, of which the laws were valid without the assent of

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V.

V.

Franklin plans union for the American people.— Pelham's administration continued. New York offered no resistance to the progress of the French in America. From Virginia the Ohio Company, in 1753, opened a road by Will's Creek, into the Western valley; and Gist established a plantation near the Youghiogeny, just beyond Laurel Hill. Eleven families settled in his vicinity; a town and fort were marked out on Shurtee's Creek; but the British government did nothing to win the Valley of the Ohio, leav

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VI.

VI.

The Old Thirteen colonies.— Newcastle's administration. In 1754 David Hume, whose penetrating mind had discovered the hollowness of the prevailing systems of thought in Europe, yet without offering any better substitute in philosophy than a selfish ideal skepticism, or hoping for any other euthanasia to the British constitution than its absorption in monarchy, said of America in words which he never need have erased, and in a spirit which he never disavowed, The seeds of many a noble state have

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VII.

VII.

The ministers are advised to tax America by act of parliament.— Newcastle's administration. Such was America, where the people was rapidly becoming sovereign. It was the moment when the aristocracy of England, availing itself of the formulas of the Revolution of 1688, controlled the election of the House of Commons, and possessed the government. To gain a seat in parliament, the Great Commoner himself Mr. Pitt to the duke of Newcastle, in Chatham Correspondence, i. 85, 86. was forced to solicit

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VIII.

VIII.

England and France Contend for the Ohio valley and for Acadia.— Newcastle's administration continued. Anarchy lay at the heart of the institutions of Europe; the germ of political life was struggling for its development in the people of America. While doubt was preparing the work of destruction in the Old World, faith in truth and the formative power of order were controlling and organizing the free and expanding energies of the New. As yet, America refused union, not from unwillingness to devot

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IX.

IX.

Great Britain unites America under military rule Newcastle's administration continued. While the British interpretation of the bounda- ries of Acadia was made good by occupation, the troops for the central expeditions had assembled at Albany. The army with which Johnson was to reduce Crown Point consisted of New England militia, chiefly from Connecticut and Massachusetts. A regiment of Five hundred foresters of New Hampshire were raising a fort in Coos, on the Connecticut; but, under a new summo

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X.

X.

The Whig aristocracy cannot govern England— Newcastle's administration continued. The open declaration of war was not made by England till May; though her navy had all the while been employed in despoiling the commerce of France. At the commencement of avowed hostilities, she forbade neutral vessels to carry merchandise belonging to her antagonist. Frederick of Prussia had insisted, that, By the law of nations, the goods of an enemy cannot be taken from on board the ships of a friend; that free

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XI.

XI.

The Whig aristocracy cannot conquer Canada.— anarchy in the administration. The rangers at Fort William Henry defy the winter. The forests, pathless with snows, the frozen lake, the wilderness, which has no shelter against cold and storms, the perilous ambush, where defeat may be followed by the scalping-knife, or tortures, or captivity among the farthest tribes,— all cannot chill their daring. On skates they glide over the lakes; on snow-shoes they penetrate the woods. In January, 1757, the gal

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XII.

XII.

The New Protestant powers against the Catholic powers of the Middle Age.— William Pitt's ministry. The orator is vastly well provided for, thought Bedford, in 1746, on the appointment of William Pitt to a subordinate office of no political influence. I assure your grace of my warmest gratitude, wrote Pitt himself, in 1750, to Newcastle, who falsely pretended to have spoken favorably of him to the king; and now, in defiance of Bedford and Newcastle, and the antipathy of the king, he is become the

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XIII.

XIII.

Conquest of the valley of the West.— William Pitt's ministry continued. The Protestant nations compared Frederic to Gustavus Adolphus, as the defender of the Reformation and of freedom. With a vigor of hope like his own, Pitt, who, Eight days before the battle of Rossbach, had authorized Frederic to place Ferdinand of Brunswick at the head of the English army on the continent, planned the conquest of the colonies of France. Consulted through the under secretaries, Franklin gave full advice on th

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XIV.

XIV.

The conquest of Canada— Pitt's ministry continued. America more and more drew the attention of statesmen; and Pitt, who was well informed, and, though at that time inaccessible to Franklin, had, occasionally, through his under-secretaries, continued to profit by Franklin's wisdom, resolved that the boundless North of that continent should be a conquest for his country. With astonishing unanimity, parliament voted for the year Twelve millions sterling, and such forces, by sea and land, as till th

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XV.

XV.

Invasion of the Valley of the Tennessee.— Pitts administration continued. The capitulation of Quebec was received by Townshend, as though the achievement had been his own; and his narrative of the battle left out the name of Wolfe, whom he indirectly censured. He had himself come over for a single summer's campaign, to be afterwards gloried about and rewarded. Barrington's Barrington. As he hurried from the citadel, which he believed untenable, back to the secure gayeties of London, Charles Paxt

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XVI.

XVI.

Possession taken of Michigan and the country on the Lakes.— Pitts administration continued. Had Amherst been more active, the preceding campaign would have reduced Canada. His delay and retreat to Crown Point gave De Levi, Montcalm's successor, a last opportunity of concentrating the remaining forces of France at Jacques Cartier for the recovery of Quebec. In that city Saunders had left abundant stores and Heavy artillery, with a garrison of Seven thousand men, under the command of the brave but

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XVII.

XVII.

The king and the aristocracy against the Great Commoner.— George the Third Drives out Pitt. My horse is lame, said the new king, as a rea- son for turning back; nor did he manifest any sign of emotion or surprise at the intelligence which he had received. Continuing his concealment, I have said this horse was lame, he remarked to the groom at Kew; I forbid you to say the contrary; and he went directly to Carleton House, the residence of his mother. Walpole's George III. i. 6. The First person wh

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XVIII.

XVIII.

The Acts of Trade provoke Revolution.— the remodelling of the colonial governments Lord Barrington, who was but an echo of the opinions of the king, approved the resignation of Pitt, as Important and Fortunate; Dodington, now raised to the peerage as the ostentatious and childless Lord Melcombe, Wished Bute joy of being delivered of a most impracticable colleague, His Majesty of a most imperious servant, and the country of a most dangerous minister.But Bute at the moment had misgivings; for he s

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XIX.

XIX.

The King Drives out the Newcastle Whigs.— the dawn of the New republic. The world did not at once perceive the purposes of the new ministers, who were careful at First to adopt as literally as possible the orders of William Pitt, and his plan for conducting the war. He had infused his own haughtiness and determined spirit into the army and navy of England; the strings which he had struck with power still vibrated; his light, like that of An annihilated star, still shone brilliantly to the world;

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XX.

XX.

England, grasping at the colonies of France and Spain, risks the loss of her own.— Bute's ministry. While it was yet uncertain who among British statesmen would be selected to establish British authority in the colonies, the king, on the twentysixth of October, offering to return Havana to Spain for either the Floridas or Porto Rico, urged the instant consummation of the treaty. The best dispatch I can receive from you will be these preliminaries signed. May Providence, in compassion to human mi

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The American Revolution

The American Revolution

The continent of Europe The successes of the Seven Years War were the triumphs of Protestantism. For the First time since the breach made in the church by Luther, the great Catholic powers, attracted by a secret consciousness of the decay of old institutions, banded themselves together to arrest the progress of change. In vain did the descendants of the feudal aristocracies lead to the field superior numbers; in vain did the Pope bless their banners as though uplifted against unbelievers; no God

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II.

II.

The continent of Europe— France. France, the Beautiful kingdom of central Eu- rope, was occupied by a most ingenious people, formed of blended elements, and still bearing traces not only of the Celtic but of the German race, of the culture of Rome, and the hardihood of the Northmen. In the habit of analysis it excelled all nations; its delight in logical exactness and in precision of outline and expression of thought, gave the style alike to its highest efforts and to its ordinary manufactures;

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III.

III.

England and its dependencies North of the channel that bounded France, liberty was enjoyed by a wise and happy people, whose domestic character was marked by moderation, and, like its climate, knew but little of extremes. The opinions on religion and on government which speculative men on the continent of Europe were rashly developing without qualification or reserve, were derived from England. She rose before the philosophers as the asylum of independent thought, and upon the nations as the hom

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IV.

IV.

England and its dependencies, continued. So England was One united nation. The landed aris- tocracy was the sovereign, was the legislature, was the people, was the state. The separate influence of each of the great component parts of English society may be observed in the British dominions outside of Great Britain. From the wrecks of the empire of the Great Mogul, a monopolizing company of English merchants had gained dominion in the East; with factories, subject provinces, and territorial reven

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V.

V.

Charles Townshend pledges the ministry of Bute to tax America by the British parliament, and Resigns. At the peace of 1763 the fame of England was ex- alted throughout Europe above that of all other nations. She had triumphed over those whom she called her hereditary enemies, and retained half a continent as the monument of her victories. Her American dominions stretched without dispute from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, from the Gulf of Mexico to Hudson's Bay; and in her older possessions th

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VI.

VI.

The triumvirate ministry pursue the plan of taxing America by parliament. George the Third was revered by his courtiers as realizing the idea of a patriot king. The Annual Register: Gov. Bernard, in a speech to the Legislature of Massachusetts. He would espouse no party, rule By no faction, and employ none but those who would conduct affairs on his own principles. The watchword of his friends was A coalition of parties, in the spirit of dutiful obedience, so that he might select ministers from a

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VII.

VII.

Pontiac's war.— the triumvirate ministry continued. The western territory, of which England believed itself to have come into possession, was One massive forest, interrupted only by rocks, or prairies, or waters, or an Indian cleared field for maize. The English came into the illimitable waste as conquerors, and here and there in the solitudes, all the way from Niagara to the Falls of the St. Mary and the banks of the St. Joseph's, a log fort with a picketed inclosure was the emblem of their pre

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VIII.

VIII.

The Treasury enter a Minute for an American Stamp tax— ministry of Grenville and Bedford. The savage warfare was relentlessly raging when the young statesman to whom the forms of office had referred the subject of the colonies, was devising plans for organizing governments in the newly acquired territories. Of an Irish family, and an Irish as well as an English peer, Shelburne naturally inclined to limit the legislative authority of the Parliament of Great Britain over the outlying dominions of

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IX.

IX.

Enforcement of the acts of Navigation.— Grenville's administration continued. The Stamp act was to be the close of a system of colonial Measures, founded, as Grenville believed, On the true principles of policy, of commerce, and of finance. The Regulations lately made concerning the Colonies, and the Taxes imposed upon them Considered, 1765, 114. This ministerial pamphlet was professedly the exposition of Grenville's opinions and policy, and, as such, was circulated in America; its reputed autho

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X.

X.

How America received the plan of a Stamp tax.— Grenville's administration continued. No sooner was parliament up, than Jenkinson pressed on Grenville to forward the American Stamp-act, by seeking that further information, the want of which he had assigned as a reason for not going on with it. But the treasury had no mode of direct communication with the colonies, and the Secretary of State had no mind to consult them. For the moment nothing was done, though Jackson wrote to Hutchinson of Massach

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XI.

XI.

The Twelfth parliament of Great Britain passes the American Stamp tax.— Grenville's administration continued. At the opening of the year 1765, the people of New England were reading the history of the First Sixty years of the Colony of Massachusetts, by Hutchinson. This work is so ably executed that as yet it remains without a rival; and his knowledge was so extensive, that, with the exception of a few concealments, it exhausts the subject. Nothing so much revived the ancestral spirit, which a w

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XII.

XII.

The ministry offend the king as well as the colonies— administration of Grenville continued. Events within the palace delayed the conflict with America. The king, in his zeal to give the law to his ministers and to govern as well as reign, lost his opportunity of enforcing the Stamp act. No sooner had he recovered from the illness, of which the true nature was kept secret even from the members of his cabinet, than, bearing in mind that the heir to the throne was an infant of but Two years old, h

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XIII.

XIII.

The day— star of the American union. If the British Parliament can tax America, it may tax Ireland and India, and hold the wealth of the East and of the West at the service of its own septennial oligarchy. As the relation of the government to its outlying dominions would become One of power and not of right, it could not but employ its accumulated resources to make itself the master of the ocean and the oppressor of mankind. This system, if it is suffered to prevail, said Oxenbridge Thacher, of

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XIV.

XIV.

South Carolina Founds the American union. The essays of Freeman had appeared, and the sum- mons for the Congress had gone forth from Massachusetts, when the resolves of Virginia were published to the world. They have spoken treason, said the royalists. Is it treason, retorted others, For the deputies of the people to assert their rights, or to give them away?Oh! those Virginians, cried Oxenbridge Thacher, from his deathbed, where, overplied by public exertions, he was wasting away with a hectic,

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XV.

XV.

The Duke of Cumberland forms a ministry— the Rocking-Ham whigs. While America was giving force to its resistance by union, divisions that could not be healed, planted confusion in the councils of its oppressors. We left the king quivering with wounded pride at the affront from his ministers. But far from giving way, he thwarted their suggestions about appointments to office, frowned on those whom they promoted, and publicly showed regard to his friends whom they displaced. Grenville, in apparent

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XVI.

XVI.

How the Stamp officers were Handled in America— administration of Rockingham. Six weeks and more before the news of the change of ministry was received in Boston, and while the passions of the public mind throughout the continent were still rising, Jared Ingersoll, of Connecticut, late Agent for that province, now its stamp-master, arrived from England at Boston; and the names of the stamp distributors were published on the Eighth of August. But Grenville's craftily devised policy of employing A

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XVII.

XVII.

America reasons against the Stamp Act— ministry of Rockingham continued. During these acts of compulsory submission, and while Boston, in a full town-meeting unanimously asked the pictures of Conway and Barre for Faneuil Hall, the Lords of the Treasury in England, Rockingham, Dowdeswell, and Lord John Cavendish being present, held meetings almost daily, to carry the Stamp Act into effect; and without any apparent reluctance, completed the lists of stamp officers; provided for the instant filling

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XVIII.

XVIII.

The colonies meet in Congress.— Rockingham Adminis-Tration. The cry was the harbinger of an American Congress. The delegates of South Carolina, the fearless Gadsden, who never practised disguise, the upright, able, and eloquent Rutledge; Lynch, who combined good sense, patriotism, and honesty, with fiery energy, conciseness of speech, and dignity of manner, arrived First at its place of meeting. A little delay in its organization gave time for the representatives of New Jersey, where the lawyers

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XIX.

XIX.

America Annuls the Stamp Act— Rockingham's Adminis-Tration continued. On the day on which the Congress consummated the Union, the Legislature which First proposed it, having been reassembled at Boston, and now cheered and invigorated by the presence of Samuel Adams, embodied in their reply to Bernard, the opinion on the power of parliament, from which the colony was never to recede. Your Excellency tells us, they said, That the province seems to be upon the brink of a precipice! To despair of th

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XX.

XX.

Parliament Learns that America has resisted– Rockingham's administration continued. The Stamp Act, said George Grenville, when, ema- ciated, exhausted, and borne down by disappointment, he spoke in the House of Commons for the last time before sinking into the grave— The Stamp Act was not found impracticable. Had I continued in office, I would have forfeited a Thousand lives, if the Act had been found impracticable. Cavendish Debates, i. 551. If the administration of this country had not been ch

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XXI.

XXI.

Has parliament the right to tax America— Rocking-Ham's administration continued. During the recess of parliament, Egmont, Conway, Dowdeswell, Dartmouth, and Charles Yorke, met at the house of the Marquis of Rockingham. To modify, but not to repeal the American tax, and to enact the penalty of high treason against any One who, by speaking or writing, should impeach the legislative authority of parliament, were measures proposed in this assembly; but they did not prevail. The ministry could form n

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XXII.

XXII.

Parliament Affirms its right to tax America— Rocking-Ham's administration continued. It was the Third day of February, when the Duke of Grafton himself offered in the House of Lords the resolution, which was in direct contradiction to his wishes. At the same time he recommended lenient measures. Shelburne proposed to repeal the Stamp Act, and avoid a decision on the question of right. If you exempt the American colonies from One statute or law, said Lyttelton, You make them independent communiti

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XXIII.

XXIII.

The repeal of the Stamp Act— Rockingham's Adminis-Tration continued. On Tuesday, the Fourth of February, the party of Bedford and the old ministry of Grenville coalesced with the friends of prerogative to exercise over the colonies the power, which it had just been resolved that parliament rightfully possessed. The ministry desired to recommend to them to compensate the sufferers by the American riots. The opposition, by a vote of Sixty-three to Sixty, changed the recommendation into a parliamen

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XXIV.

XXIV.

The House of Lords give way with protests.— Rockingham's administration continued. The heat of the battle was over. The Stamp Act was sure to be repealed; and every One felt that Pitt, would soon be at the head of affairs. Rockingham still aspired to intercept his promotion, and engage his services. In its last struggle to hold place by the tenure which the king disliked, the old Whig party desired to make of the rising power of the people its handmaid, rather than its oracle. But Pitt spurned t

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Preface

Preface

The present Volume completes the History of the American Revolution, considered in its causes. The Three last explain the rise of the Union of the United States from the body of the people, the change in the colonial policy of France, and the consequences of the persevering ambition of Great Britain to consolidate its power over America. The penal Acts of 1774 dissolved the moral connection between the Two countries, and began the civil war. The importance of the subject justified comprehensive

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The Crisis

The Crisis

The Charter of Massachusetts in peril.— the fall of the Rockingham Administration. The satisfaction of America was not suffered to con- tinue long. The King, regarding the repeal of the Stamp Act as A fatal compliance, George the Third to Lord North, 4 February, 1776. which had for May. ever Wounded the majesty of England, and Planted thorns under his own pillow, A short history, &c., &c., &c., 18, 19. preferred the hazard of losing the colonies Considerations on the Present State of

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XXVI.

XXVI.

Coalition of the King and the Great Commoner against the aristocracy— the Administration of Chatham. The obnoxious clauses of the Billeting Act had been renewed inadvertently by Ministers, who had designed to adopt a system of lenity. They proposed to remove Bernard from Massachusetts, in favor of Hutchinson, Thos. Hutchinson, Jr., to Thos. Hutchinson, July, 1766. whom Conway had been duped into believing a friend to colonial liberty. Reviving against Spain the claim for the ransom of the Manill

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XXVII.

XXVII.

Charles Townshend Usurps the lead in Government— Chatham's Administration continued. The people of Massachusetts lulled themselves into the belief that they were Restored once more to the secure enjoyment Of their rights and liberties.But their secret enemies, some from a lust of power, and others from an inordinate love of money, Candidus [Samuel Adams], in Boston Gazette, 9 Sept. 1771. still restlessly combined to obtain an American army and an American tribute, representing them in numerous l

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XXVIII.

XXVIII.

The British aristocracy reduce their own taxes— defeat of Chatham's Administration by the Mosaic Opposition. The day after Townshend braved his colleagues the Legislature of Massachusetts convened. Hutchinson, having received his compensation as a sufferer by the riots, restrained his ambition no longer, and took a seat in the Council as though it of right belonged to the Lieutenant Governor. Bernard to Secretary of State, 7 Feb. 1767, and 21 Feb. 1767. The House resented The lust of power, mani

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XXIX.

XXIX.

Parliament will have an American army and an Ame-Rican Revenue.— Charles Townshend's supremacy in the Administration. The eclipse of Chatham left Charles Townshend the lord of the ascendant. He was a man of wonderful endowments, dashed with follies and indiscretion. Impatient of waiting, his ruling passion was present success. He was for ever carried away by the immediate object of his desires; now hurried into expenses beyond his means, now clutching at the phantoms of the stock market or specu

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XXX.

XXX.

How Townshend's American taxes were received by France and America.— coalition of the King and the aristocracy. The anarchy in the Ministry was agreeable to the King, for it enabled him to govern as well as to reign. Grafton made no tedious speeches in the closet, and had approved the late American regulations; persuading himself even that the choice of tea as the subject of taxation was his own; Grafton of himself, in his Autobiography. that the law, suspending the legislative functions of New-

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XXXI.

XXXI.

Massachusetts Consults her Sister Colonies.— Hillsbo-rough's Administration of the Colonies. On the Twenty-fourth of November, the Twelfth Parliament came together for the last time, previous to its dissolution. Its members were too busy in preparing for the coming elections to interfere with America, about which the King's speech was silent; Garth to South Carolina, 25 Nov. 1767. and when Grenville descanted on Two or Three papers in the Boston Gazette, as infamous libels on Parliament, the Hou

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XXXII.

XXXII.

An American empire is in the Divine decrees— Hillsbo-rough's Administration of the Colonies continued. The day after the Circular was adopted, the Board of Commissioners of the Revenue met at Boston, and with the utmost secrecy, addressed to their superiors in England a memorial which, in connection with the reports of Bernard, was designed to effect a fatal change in the policy of England. Expressing apprehensions for their own safety, they complained against the American Press, especially agai

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XXXIII.

XXXIII.

An army and a fleet for Boston.— Hillsborough's Adminis-Tration of the Colonies continued. Send over an army and a fleet to reduce the dogs to reason; Compare Franklin's writings, VII. 256, of 8 May, 1768, and Durand to Choiseul, 1 January, 1768. such was the cry of those round the court and the public offices in England, at every rumor of colonial discontents. On the Fifteenth of April the news of the Circular letter of Massachusetts reached the Ministers. It is an incentive to rebellion, De Be

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XXXIV.

XXXIV.

Does Massachusetts rescind?— Hillsborough's Colonial Administration continued. Some weeks would elapse before these orders would become known in the Colony. Meantime, the Commissioners of the Customs assumed more and more airs of haughtiness, with the strangest superciliousness Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire to the Marquis of Rockingham, November 13, 1768; in Albemarle's Rockingham, Ii. 88. More obstructions have arisen to the service in this country, from the servants of Government, than f

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XXXV.

XXXV.

The Regulators of North Carolina.— Hillsborough's Ad-Ministration of the Colonies continued. The people of Boston had gone out of favor with almost every body in England. W. S. Johnson to Thaddeus Burr, London, 28 July, 1768. Even Rockingham had lost all patience, saying the Americans were determined to leave their friends on his side the water, without the power of advancing in their behalf a shadow of excuse. N. Rogers to Hutchinson, 2 July, 1768. This was the state of public feeling, when, on

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XXXVI.

XXXVI.

The towns of Massachusetts meet in Convention.— Hillsborough's Administration of the Colonies con-tinued. The approach of military rule convinced Samuel Adams of the necessity of American Independence. From this moment, S. Adams's own statement to a friend in 1775. Ms. he struggled for it deliberately and unremittingly as became One who delighted in the stern creed of Calvin, which, wherever it has prevailed, in Geneva, Holland, Scotland, Puritan England, New England, has spread intelligence, se

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XXXVII.

XXXVII.

The Celtic-American Republic on the banks of the Mississippi. On Wednesday the Twenty-eighth of September, just after the Convention broke up, the squadron from Halifax arrived, and anchored at Noon in Nantasket Bay. It brought not Two regiments only, but artillery also, which Bernard, by a verbal message, had specially requested. Dalrymple, the commander of the troops, Expressed infinite surprise that no quarters had been prepared.On Thursday, the Twenty-ninth, a Council was summoned, at which

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XXXVIII.

XXXVIII.

The King and the British Parliament against the Town of Boston.— Hillsborough's Administration of the Colo-Nies continued. Spain valued Louisiana as a screen for Mexico; and England, in her turn, held the Valley of the Mississippi from jealousy of France, not to colonize it. To the great joy of Spain, D'Ossun, French Ambassador at Madrid, to Choiseul, 6 Dec. 1768. and in conformity to a policy, Compare the elaborate Narrative of Lord Barrington, Secretary of War, of May, 1766. against which the

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XXXIX.

XXXIX.

A way to take off the Incendiaries.— Hillsborough's Ad-Ministration of the Colonies continued. The opinion of Parliament was hardly pro- nounced, when Du Chatelet again pressed America on the attention of Choiseul. Without exaggerating the projects or the Union of the Colonies, said he, “The time of their independence is very near. Their prudent men believe the moment not yet come; but if the English government undertakes vigorous measures, who can tell how far the fanaticism for liberty may car

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XL.

XL.

Virginia comes to the aid of Massachusetts.— Hiillsbo-rough's Administration of the Colonies continued. The decision of the King of Spain had been hastened by tidings of the rebellion in New Orleans, which engaged the most earnest attention of his Council. Grimaldi to Fuentes in Gayarre. The Cabinet, with but One dissentient, agreed that Louisiana must be retained, as a granary for Havana and Port Rico, a precaution against the contraband trade of France, and a barrier to keep off English encroa

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Chapter XLI.

Chapter XLI.

Republicanism in the East and the West.— Hillsborough's Administration of the Colonies continued. Massachusetts had not only like Virginia to assert the rights of America, but also to effect the removal of the troops from Boston, into whose Very streets and lanes about Two thousand men had been sent, in equal disregard of good policy Mahon's England, v. 406. and of an Act of Parliament. For more than Ten months, the Colony remained without an Assembly. The servants of the Crown who had placed th

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XLII.

XLII.

The non-importation agreement enforced.— the New Tory party installed in power. The Lieutenant Governor well understands my system, Bernard to Hillsborough, 29 April, 1769. said Bernard, as he transferred the Government. Hutchinson was descended from One of the earliest settlers of Massachusetts and loved the land of his birth. A native of Boston, he was its representative for Ten years, during Three of which he was Speaker of the Assembly; for more than Ten other years, he was a member of the C

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Note

Note

The Boston Massacre.— Hillsborough's Administration of the Colonies continued. The troops must move to the castle, said Samuel Adams; Hutchinson to Sir Francis Bernard, 20 Dec. 1769. It must be the First business of the General Court to move them out of town. Hutchinson to Hillsborough, 20 Dec. 1769. Otis went about declaiming that The Governor had power to do it by the Constitution. Hutchinson to person unnamed, 10 January, 1770. We consider this metropolis, and indeed the whole Province under

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XLIV.

XLIV.

The non-importation agreements fail.— Hillsborough's Administration of the Colonies continued. At the cry of innocent blood shed by the sol- diery, the continent heaved like a troubled ocean. Gov. Wentworth of New Hampshire to Hillsborough. But in Boston itself, the removal of the troops to the barracks at Castle William, however offensive to the pride of the army, smoothed the way for conciliation. The Town was resolved on bringing the party who had fired to trial, that the supremacy of the civ

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XLV.

XLV.

Martial law introduced into Massachusetts.— Hillsbo-rough's Administration of the Colonies continued. Greater joy was never shown than prevailed in London at the news that America was resuming commercial intercourse. The occasion invited corresponding concessions, which Lord North would have willingly made; but the majority of his colleagues had been led to consider The state of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay more desperate than ever; State of the Disorders Confusion and Misgovernment, &c.

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XLVI.

XLVI.

The origin of Tennessee.— Hillsborough's Administration of the Colonies continued. The Colonization of the West was One of the great objects ever promoted by Franklin. No One had more vividly discerned the capacity of the Mississippi valley not only to sustain Commonwealths, but to connect them with the world by commerce; and when the Ministers would have rejected the Fort Stanwix Treaty, W. S. Johnson to Joseph Chew, 13 Feb. 1770. which conveyed from the Six Nations an inchoate title to the imm

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XLVII.

XLVII.

Great Britain Centres in itself power over its Colonies.— Hillsborough's Administration of the Colonies con-cluded. The King steadily pursued the system of concen- trating all power over the Colonies; but so gradually that a sudden, complete collision with ancient usage was avoided. If the Charter of the Province had been taken away, Compare Massachusetts Gazette, 21 Jan. 1771. even the moderate would have held themselves absolved from their allegiance. Compare Brutus in Boston Gazette of 11 Feb

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XLVIII.

XLVIII.

The towns of Massachusetts hold Correspondence. We must get the colonies into order, before we engage with our neighbors, were the words of the king to Lord North in August; and though nothing could be more unlike than the manners of George the Third and Louis the Fifteenth, a cordial understanding sprung up between them, and even a project for a defensive alliance, that monarchy might triumph in France over philosophy, in America over the people. If in other affairs Louis the Fifteenth was weak

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XLIX.

XLIX.

Virginia Consolidates Union. On the Sixth of January, the day on which the Legislature of Massachusetts assembled at Boston, the affairs of America were under consideration in England. The King, who read even the semi-official letters in which Hutchinson described the Boston Committee of Correspondence as in part composed of Deacons and Atheists, and Blackhearted fellows whom One would not choose to meet in the dark, Hutchinson to Secretary Pownall, 13 Nov. 1772. That this letter was read by the

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L.

L.

The Boston tea party. The East India Company, who were now by Act of Parliament authorized to export tea to America entirely duty free in England, applied to the Treasury in August for the necessary license. They were warned by Americans, that their adventure Lee to S. Adams, 22 Dec. 1773. would end in loss, and some difficulties occurred in details; but the scruples of the Company were overruled by Lord North, who answered peremptorily, It is to no purpose making objections, for the King will h

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LI.

LI.

The King in Council Insults the Great American plebeian. The just man covered with the opprobrium of crime and meriting all the honors of virtue, is the sublimest spectacle that can appear on earth. Against Franklin were arrayed the Court, the Ministry, the Parliament, and an all-pervading social influence; but he only assumed a firmer demeanor and a loftier tone. On delivering to Lord Dartmouth the Address to the King for the removal of Hutchinson and Oliver, he gave assurances, that the people

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LII.

LII.

The crisis. The passions of the British Ministry were encour- aged by the British people, who resented the denial of its supremacy and made the cause of Parliament its own. Edmund Burke in VanSchaack's VanSchaack, 19, and Vardell 26. The current ran against the Americans; and the Ministry, overruling the lingering scruples of Dartmouth and Lord North, decided that there existed a rebellion which required not conciliation but coercion. Inquiries were made with the object of enabling the King to p

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Preface

Preface

The period of the American Revolution of which a portion is here treated, divides itself into Two epochs; the First extending to the Declaration of Independence; the Second, to the acknowledgment of that Independence by Great Britain, In preparing the volume, there has been no parsimony of labor; but marginal references to the documents out of which it has mainly been constructed are omitted. This is done not from an unwillingness to subject every statement of fact, even in its minutest details,

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The American Revolution

The American Revolution

America, Britain and France, in May, 1774. The hour of the American Revolution was come The people of the continent with irresistible energy obeyed One general impulse, as the earth in spring listens to the command of nature, and without the appearance of effort bursts forth to life in perfect harmony. The change which Divine wisdom ordained, and which no human policy or force could hold back, proceeded as uniformly and as majestically as the laws of being, and was as certain as the decrees of e

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II.

II.

New York Proposes a General congress. New York anticipated the prayer of Boston. Its people, who had received the port-act directly from England, felt the wrong to that town, as a wound to themselves, and even the lukewarm kindled with resentment. From the epoch of the Stamp-act, their Sons of Liberty, styled by the royalists The Presbyterian junto, had kept up a Committee of correspondence. Yet Sears, MacDougal, and Lamb, still its principal members, represented the sympathies of the mechanics

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III.

III.

Voices from the South. Hearts glowed more warmly on the banks of the Patapsco. That admirable site of commerce, whose river side and hill-tops are now covered with stately warehouses, mansions and monuments, whose bay sparkles round the prows of the swiftest barks, whose wharfs receive to their natural resting-place the wealth of the West Indies and South America, and whose happy enterprise sends across the mountains its iron pathway of many arms to reach the Valley of the Mississippi, had for a

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IV.

IV.

Massachusetts Appoints the time and place for a General congress. On the First day of June, Hutchinson embarked for England; and as the clocks in the Boston belfries finished striking Twelve, the blockade of the harbor began. The inhabitants of the town were chiefly traders, shipwrights, and sailors; and since no anchor could be weighed, no sail unfurled, no vessel so much as launched from the stocks, their cheerful industry was at an end. No more are they to lay the keel of the fleet merchantma

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V.

V.

Boston ministered to by the continent. The martyr town was borne up in its agony by mes- sages of sympathy. From Marblehead came offers to the Boston merchants of the gratuitous use of its harbor, its wharfs, its warehouses, and of all necessary personal attendance in lading and unlading goods. Forty-eight persons were found in Salem, willing to entreat of Gage his Patronage for the trade of that place; but a Hundred and twenty-five of its merchants and freeholders addressed him in a spirit of d

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VI.

VI.

America resolves to meet in General congress. George the Third ranked New York next to Bos- ton in opposition to government.There was no place where a congress was more desired, and none where the determinations of the congress were more sure to be observed. The numerous emigrants from New England brought with them New England principles; the Dutch, as a body, never loved Britain. Of the Two great families which the system of manorial grants had raised up, the Livingstons inclined to republicani

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VII.

VII.

The cabinet of Louis Sixteenth. In France, Louis the Sixteenth had selected minis- ters, of whom a part only were disposed to take advantage of the perplexities of England; but they were the more likely to prevail from the unsteadiness of the administration, which sprung from his own character and made his life a long equipoise between right intentions and executive feebleness. His countenance, seeming to promise probity, betrayed irresolution. In manner he was awkward and embarrassed, and even

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VIII.

VIII.

How the mandamus councillors were dealt with. On Saturday, the Sixth day of August, Gage received an authentic copy of the act of parliament For the better regulating the province of the Massachusetts bay, introduced by Lord North in April, and, as we have seen, assented to by the king on the Twentieth of May. Rockingham and his friends have left on the records of the House of lords their protest against the act, Because, said they, A definitive legal offence, by which a forfeiture of the charte

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IX.

IX.

Massachusetts Defeats the regulating act. The congressional delegates from Massachusetts, con secrated by their office as her suppliant ambassadors in the day of her distress, were welcomed everywhere on their journey with hospitable feasts and tears of sympathy. No governor in the pride of office was ever attended with more assiduous solicitude; no general returning in triumph with sincerer love. The men of Hartford, after giving pledges to abide by the resolutions of the congress, accompanied

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X.

X.

The Suffolk county convention. The province kept its powder for its militia at Quarry Hill on a point of land between Medford and Cambridge, then within the limits of Charlestown. In August, the towns had been removing their stock, each according to its proportion. On Thursday Morning, the First day of September, at Half past 4, about Two hundred and sixty men, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Madison, embarked on board Thirteen boats at Long Wharf, rowed up Mystic river, landed at Temple's farm,

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XI.

XI.

The continent Supports Massachusetts. Among the members elected to the continental con- gress, Galloway of Philadelphia was so thoroughly royalist that he acted as a volunteer spy for the British government. To the delegates from other colonies, as they arrived, he insinuated that Commissioners with full powers should repair to the British court, after the example of the Roman, Grecian, and Macedonian colonies on occasions of the like nature; but his colleagues spurned the thought of sending env

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XII.

XII.

The Continental congress Seeks to avert independence. Gage, who came flushed with confidence in an easy victory, at the end of Four months was care-worn, disheartened and appalled. With the forces under his command, he hoped for no more than to pass the winter unmolested. At One moment, a suspension of the penal acts was his favorite advice, which the king ridiculed as senseless; at the next he demanded an army of Twenty thousand men, to be composed of Canadian recruits, Indians, and hirelings f

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XIII.

XIII.

Congress will make the last appeal if necessary. Washington was convinced that not One thinking man in all North America desired independence. He ardently wished to end the horrors of civil discord, and restore tranquillity upon constitutional grounds, but his indignation at the wrongs of Boston could be appeased only by their redress; and his purpose to resist the execution of the regulating act was unalterable. Permit me, said he, addressing a British officer, then serving under Gage, With the

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XIV.

XIV.

How Catholic emancipation began. The congress of 1774 contained statesmen of the highest order of wisdom. For eloquence Patrick Henry was unrivalled; next to him, the elder Rutledge of South Carolina was the ablest in debate; But if you speak of solid information and sound judgment, said Patrick Henry, Washington is unquestionably the greatest man of them all. While the delegates of the Twelve colonies were in session in Philadelphia, Ninety of the members just elected to the Massachusetts assem

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XV.

XV.

The governor of Virginia Nullifies the Quebec act. The attempt to extend the jurisdiction of Quebec to the Ohio river had no sanction in English history, and was resisted by the older colonies, especially by Virginia. The interest of the crown offices in the adjacent provinces was also at variance with the policy of parliament. No royal governor showed more rapacity in the use of official power than Lord Dunmore. He had reluctantly left New York, where, during his short career, he had acquired F

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XVI.

XVI.

The Fourteenth parliament of Great Britain. It is the united voice of America to preserve their freedom, or lose their lives in defence of it. Their resolutions are not the effect of inconsiderate rashness, but the sound result of sober inquiry and deliberation. The true spirit of liberty was never so universally diffused through all ranks and orders of people in any country on the face of the earth, as it now is through all North America. If the late acts of parliament are not to be repealed, t

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XVII.

XVII.

He King Rejects the offers of congress. It will be easy to sow division among the delegates to the congress, said Rochford to Garnier, They will do nothing but bring ridicule upon themselves by exposing their weakness.Their firmness, moderation, and unanimity took the ministry by surprise, when just before the adjournment of parliament their proceedings reached England. It is not at all for the interests of France that our colonies should become independent, repeated Rochford. The English minist

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XVIII.

XVIII.

Chatham Lays the foundation of peace. At the meeting of parliament after the holidays, Lord North, who had no plan of his own, presented papers relating to America. Burke complained of them as partial. Chatham, who alone among the public men of England had the sagacity and courage to propose what was necessary for conciliation, was reminded of the statesman who said to his son: See with how little wisdom this world of ours is governed; and he pictured to himself Ximenes and Cortes discussing the

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XIX.

XIX.

The people of New York true to union. While Gage was waiting for England to undertake in earnest the subjugation of America, the king expected every moment to hear that the small but well-disciplined force at Boston had struck a decisive blow at a disorderly Rabble.Neither he nor his ministers believed the hearty union of so vast a region as America possible. But at the One extreme, New Hampshire in convention unanimously adhered to the recent congress, and elected delegates to the next. At the

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XX.

XX.

Parliament Declares Massachusetts in rebellion. The confidence of the ministry reposed more and more on the central provinces, and Dartmouth took for granted the peaceful settlement of every question; yet Six sloops of war and Two frigates were under orders for America, and it was ostentatiously heralded that Seven hundred marines from England, and Three regiments of infantry with One of light horse from Ireland, making a reinforcement of Two thousand four hundred and eighteen men, were to be pr

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XXI.

XXI.

The spirit of New England. On the day on which the king received the address of parliament, the members of the Second provincial congress of Massachusetts, about Two hundred and fourteen in number, appointed Eleven men as their Committee of safety, charged to resist every attempt at executing the acts of parliament. For this purpose they were empowered to take possession of the warlike stores of the province, to make returns of the militia and minute men, and to muster so many of the militia as

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XXII.

XXII.

Has New England a right in the Newfoundland fisheries? On the Tenth of February, after the speaker reported to the House of commons the answer to their address, Lord North presented a message from the king, asking the required Augmentation to his forces.The minister, who still clung to the hope of reducing Massachusetts by the terrors of legislation, next proposed to restrain the commerce of New England and exclude its fishermen from the Banks of Newfoundland. The best shipbuilders in the world

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XXIII.

XXIII.

The anniversary of the Boston massacre. The French minister judged rightly; the English government had less discernment and was deceived by men who had undertaken to secure New York to the crown, if their intrigues could be supported by a small military force. But the friends of the British system in that colony were not numerous, and were found only on the surface. The Dutch Americans formed the basis of the population, and were in a special manner animated by the glorious example of their fath

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XXIV.

XXIV.

Public opinion in England. During this angry strife between the citizens and sol- diers at Boston, Lord Howe at London broke off negotiations with Franklin, and the ministry used the pen of Samuel Johnson, to inflame the public mind. Johnson was a poor man's son, and had himself tasted the bitter cup of extreme indigence. His father left no more than Twenty pounds. To bury his mother and pay her little debts, he had composed Rasselas. For years he had gained a precarious support as an author. He

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XXV.

XXV.

Virginia Prepares for self-defence. From prejudice, habit, and affection, the members of the Convention of Virginia, in which even the part of Augusta county, west of the Alleghany mountains, was represented, cherished the system of limited 20. monarchy under which they had been born and educated in their land of liberty. They were accustomed to associate all ideas of security in their political rights with the dynasty of Hanover, and had never, even in thought, desired to renounce their allegia

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XXVI.

XXVI.

The King Waits to hear of the success of Lord North's proposition. Even so late as the First day of April, the provincial Congress of Massachusetts, still fondly hoping for a peaceful end of all their troubles, so far recognised the authority of Gage, as to vote, that if he would issue writs in the usual form for the election of a General assembly, to be held on the last Wednesday in May, the towns ought to obey the precepts, and elect members; but in case such writs should not be issued, they r

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XXVII.

XXVII.

Lexington. On the afternoon of the day on which the provincial Congress of Massachusetts adjourned, Gage took the Light infantry and grenadiers off duty, and secretly prepared an expedition to destroy the colony's stores at Concord. But the attempt had for several weeks been expected; a strict watch had been kept; and signals were concerted to announce the First movement of troops for the country. Samuel Adams and Hancock, who had not yet left Lexington for Philadelphia, received a timely messag

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XXVIII.

XXVIII.

To Concord and back to Boston. The British troops drew up on the village green, fired a volley, huzzaed thrice by way of triumph, and after a halt of less than Thirty minutes, marched on for Concord. There, in the morning hours, children and women fled for shelter to the hills and the woods, and men were hiding what was left of cannon and military stores. The minute companies and militia formed on the usual parade, over which the congregation of the town, for near a century and A half, had passe

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XXIX.

XXIX.

Effects of the day of Lexington and Concord: the alarm. Darkness closed upon the country and upon the town, but it was no night for sleep. Heralds on swift relays of horses transmitted the war-message from hand to hand, till village repeated it to village; the sea to the backwoods; the plains to the highlands; and it was never suffered to droop, till it had been borne North, and South, and East, and West, throughout the land. It spread over the bays that receive the Saco and the Penobscot. Its l

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XXX.

XXX.

Effects of the day of Lexington and Concord con-tinued: the camp of liberty. The inhabitants of Boston suffered an accumulation of sorrows, brightened only by the hope of the ultimate relief of all America. Gage made them an offer that if they would promise not to join in an attack on his troops, and would lodge their arms with the selectmen at Faneuil Hall, the men, women, and children, with all their effects, should have safe conduct out of the town. The proposal was accepted. For several days

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XXXI.

XXXI.

Effects of the day of Lexington and Concord continued; the general rising. On Sunday the Twenty-third of April, the day after the dissolution of the Provincial congress of New York, the news from Lexington suddenly burst upon the city. The emissaries who had undertaken to break the chain of union by intrigue, saw with dismay the arrest of their schemes by the beginning of war. The inhabitants, flushed with resentment, threw off restraints. Though it was Sunday, Two sloops which lay at the wharfs

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XXXII.

XXXII.

Effects of the day of Lexington and Concord continued: Ticonderoga taken. The people of South Carolina, who had hoped relief through the discontinuance of importations from Britain, did not falter on learning the decision of parliament. On the instant, Charles Pinckney, using power intrusted to him by the Provincial congress, appointed a committee of five to place the colony in a state of defence; on the Twenty-first of April, the very night after their organization, men of Charleston, without d

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XXXIII.

XXXIII.

Effects of the day of Lexington and Concord in Europe. The news from Lexington surprised London in the last days of May. The people had been lulled into a belief, that the ministry indulged in menaces only to render the olive branch acceptable; and the measures of parliament implied confidence in peace. And now it was certain that war had begun, that Britain was at war with herself. The Massachusetts congress, by a swift packet in its own service, had sent to England a calm and accurate statemen

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XXXIV.

XXXIV.

The Second continental congress. Few hours after the surrender of Ticonderoga, the Second continental congress met at Philadelphia. There among the delegates, appeared Franklin and Samuel Adams; John Adams, and Washington, and Richard Henry Lee; soon joined by Patrick Henry, and by George Clinton, Jay, and Jay's college friend, the younger Robert R. Livingston, of New York. Whom did they represent? and what were their functions? They were committees from Twelve colonies, deputed to consult on me

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XXXV.

XXXV.

The revolution Emanates from the people. The motion of Jay was for many days the subject of private and earnest discussion; but the temper of the congress was still irresolute, when on the Eighteenth of May they received the news of the taking of Ticonderoga. The achievement was not in harmony with their advice to New York; they for the time rejected the thought of invading Canada, and they were inclined even to abandon the conquest already made; though as a precaution they proposed to withdraw

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XXXVI.

XXXVI.

Congress offers to negotiate with the king. Far different was the spirit of the continental con- gress. The unexpected outbreak of war compelled them to adopt some system of defence; but many of its members still blinded themselves with the hope of reconciliation, and no measure for the vigorous prosecution of hostilities could be carried with unanimity, except after the concession of a Second petition to the king. Washington foresaw the long and bloody contest which must precede the successful

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XXXVII.

XXXVII.

Massachusetts Asks for George Washington as com-mander in chief. In obedience to the injunctions of Lord North and Lord Dartmouth, who earnestly wished that the effort should be made to reconcile some One of the several colonial assemblies to their insidious offer, the First day of June, 1775, saw the house of burgesses of Virginia convened for the last time by a British governor. Peyton Randolph, the speaker, who had been attending as president the congress at Philadelphia, arrived at Williamsb

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XXXVIII.

XXXVIII.

Prescott Occupies Breed's Hill. The army round Boston, of which Washington in person was soon to take command, was A mixed multitude, as yet, Under very little discipline, order, or government.The province of Massachusetts had no executive head, and no unity even in the military department. Ward was enjoined to obey the decisions of the Committee of safety, whose directions were intercepted on their way to him by the Council of war. Thus want of confidence multiplied the boards to which measures

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XXXIX.

XXXIX.

Bunker Hill battle. Ward determined, if possible, to avoid a general action. Apprehending that, if reenforcements should leave his camp, the main attack of the British would be made upon Cambridge, he refused to impair his strength at Headquarters; but he ordered the New Hampshire regiments of Stark, stationed at Medford, and of Reed, near Charlestown neck, to march to Prescott's support. When word was brought that the British were actually landing in Charlestown, the general regarded it as a fe

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XL.

XL.

The result of Bunker Hill battle. The royal army, exasperated at retreating before an enemy whom they had professed to despise, and by the sight of many hundreds of their men who lay dead or bleeding on the ground, prepared to renew the engagement. While the Light infantry and a part of the grenadiers were left to continue the attack at the rail-fence, Howe concentrated the rest of his forces upon the redoubt. Cannon were brought to bear in such a manner as to rake the inside of the breastwork,

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The American Revolution

The American Revolution

The Continental congress in midsummer, 1775. Idle refugees in Boston, and even candid British officers, condemned Howe's attack on the New England lines as a needless exposure of his troops to carnage. By landing at the Charlestown isthmus, they said, he should have cooped the rebels within the peninsula; or by aid of a musket proof gunboat he should have dislodged the party near the Mystic; and, even at the last, by concentrating his force at the rail fence, he might have taken Prescott in the

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XLII.

XLII.

The army round Boston. On Monday, the Third day of July, Washington rode forth from his quarters at Cambridge, numerously attended, and, under an elm tree on the common, assumed command of the continental army. A favorable opinion had gone before him; but his presence was greater than his fame. Of his companions, Miffin, a brave and honest officer, though not of deep insight, charmed by his activity, spirit, and obliging behavior; the intelligence, culture, and manners of Reed engaged esteem; Le

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XLIII.

XLIII.

Congress still hopes to avert war. The Continental congress, acting as a promiscu- ous executive, neither formed a carefully considered system, nor felt the weight of personal responsibility. It never presented to itself a vivid picture of Washington's situation, and never went in advance to mitigate his difficulties or supply his wants; but, from the First, waited inactively for his appeals. On the Nineteenth day of July it read his First report from Cambridge, by which it appeared that the arm

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XLIV.

XLIV.

America Awaits the king's decision. The duties of Washington were more various and burdensome than ever devolved upon a European commander. In the absence of an organized continental government, and with a most imperfect One in Massachusetts, it fell on him to take all thought for his army, from its general direction to the smallest want of his soldiers. Standing conspicuous before the world, with apparently no limiting authority at his side, he made it his rule, as a military chief, to obey mos

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XLV.

XLV.

Condition of the central provinces. In the colonies which were not immediately involved in the war, the officers of the crown should have shown self-possession and forbearance. Adopting this system, William Franklin, the governor of New Jersey, was ever on the alert to soothe, divide, or confuse the patriots, professed an equal regard for the rights of the people and the royal prerogatives, continued the usual sessions of the assembly, and where the authority of his office was diminished, confin

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XLVI.

XLVI.

Georgia and the Carolinas. God grant conciliatory measures may take place; there is not an hour to be lost; the state of affairs will not admit of the least delay: such was the frank to message sent to the ministry in July by the able Sir James Wright, of Georgia; and from a province in which A king's governor had little or no business, he pressed for leave to return to England and explain and enforce his advice. The people met in congress; a Council of safety maintained an executive supervision

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XLVII.

XLVII.

Effect of Bunker bill battle in Europe. During the First weeks of July the king contem- plated America with complacency; assured that, in New York, his loyal subjects formed the majority, that in Virginia the rebels could be held in check by setting upon them savages and slaves. Ships were to be sent at once; and if they did not reduce the country, the soldiery would finish the work at the very worst in One more campaign. Alone of the ministers, Lord North was ill at ease, and when a friend said

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XLVIII.

XLVIII.

The question between Britain and America. The chronicler of manners and events can alone measure his own fairness, for no One else knows so well what he throws aside. The greatest poet of action has brought upon the stage the panorama of mortal being, without once finding occasion to delineate a faultless hero. No man that lives has not sinned. The gentlest of historians, recounting in the spirit of love the mighty deeds which divide the new civilization from the old, tells how One of his fellow

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XLIX.

XLIX.

The king and the Second petition of congress. The zeal of Richard Penn appeared from his celerity. Four days after the petition to the king had been adopted by congress, he sailed from Philadelphia on his mission. He arrived in Bristol on the Thirteenth of August, and made such speed that he was the next day in London. Joint proprietary of the opulent and rapidly increasing colony of Pennsylvania, of which he for a time was governor, long a resident in America, intimately acquainted with many of

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L.

L.

How George the Third Fared in his Bid for Russians. The king's proclamation was a contemptuous defi- ance of the opposition, alike of the party of Rockingham and the party of Chatham, as the instigators, correspondents, and accomplices of the American rebels. Party spirit was exasperated and embittered, and Rochford was heard repeatedly to foretell, that before the winter should pass over, heads would fall on the block. The king of England, said Wilkes, the Lord mayor of London, in conversation

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LI.

LI.

Parliament is at One with the king. When the Russians arrive, will you go and see their camp?wrote Edward Gibbon to a friend. We have great hopes of getting a body of these barbarians; the ministers daily and hourly expect to hear that the business is concluded; the worst of it is, the Baltic will soon be frozen up, and it must be late next year before they can get to America.The couriers that, One after another, arrived from Moscow, dispelled this confidence. The king was surprised by the refus

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LII.

LII.

The capture of Montreal. When Carleton heard of the surrender of Ticon- deroga to Allen and Arnold, he resolved to attempt its recovery. The Continental congress had, on the First of June, explicitly disclaimed the purpose of invading Canada; and a French version of their resolution was very widely distributed among its inhabitants. But on the Ninth of that month the governor of the province proclaimed the American borderers to be a rebellious band of traitors, established martial law, and summo

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LIII.

LIII.

The March to Quebec. The detachment which Washington, as he thought- fully brooded over the future without hope of a speedy termination of the war, sent against Quebec, consisted of Ten companies of New England infantry, One of riflemen from Virginia, and Two from Pennsylvania, in all Two battalions of about Eleven hundred men. The command was given to Arnold, who, as a trader in years past, had visited Quebec, where he still had correspondents. In person he was short of stature and of a florid

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LIV.

LIV.

The siege of Quebec. The day before Montgomery entered Montreal, Carleton, with more than a Hundred regulars and Canadians, embarked on board some small vessels in the port to descend to Quebec. He was detained in the river for several days by contrary winds, and moreover he found the St. Lawrence, near the mouth of the Sorel, guarded by continental troops under Easton. On the Seventeenth of November, Prescott, the brigadier who had so lately treated Allen with insolent cruelty, surrendered the

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LV.

LV.

The royal governor of Virginia Invites the Serv-Ants and slaves to rise against their masters. The central colonies still sighed for reconciliation; the tories and the timid were waiting for commissioners; the credit of the continental paper money languished and declined; the General congress in December, while they answered the royal proclamation of August by threats of retaliation, and a scornful rejection of allegiance to parliament, professed allegiance to the king, and distinguished between

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LVI.

LVI.

The New year. 1776. New-year's Day, 1776, was the saddest day that ever broke on the women and children then in Norfolk. Warned of their danger by the commander of the squadron, there was for them no refuge. The King Fisher was stationed at the upper end of Norfolk; a little below her the Otter; Belew, in the Liverpool, anchored near the middle of the town; and next him lay Dunmore; the rest of the fleet was moored in the harbor. Between Three and Four in the afternoon the Liverpool opened its f

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LVII.

LVII.

Britain Engages foreign troops. Had the king employed none but British troops, the war by land against the colonies must have been of short duration. His army was largely recruited from American loyalists; from emigrants driven to America by want, and too recently arrived to be imbued with its principles; from Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland; and from Germany. Treaties were also made for subsidiary troops. When Sir Joseph Yorke, the British ambassador at The Hague, proposed the transfer of

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LVIII.

LVIII.

Britain Beats up for recruits in America. The disbanded Highlanders, who had settled in the Valley of the Mohawk, were reported as disposed to rally once more under the king's standard; to prevent their rising, Schuyler at Albany, in January, following the orders of the General congress, called out Seven hundred of the New York militia, and sending an envoy in advance to quiet the Mohawks of the Lower Castle, marched upon Johnstown, in what was then Tryon county. He was joined on the way by Herk

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LIX.

LIX.

Boston delivered. In February, 1776, the Commander in chief of the American army found himself supplied with only money enough to answer claims antecedent to the last day of December; his want of powder was still Feb. so great as to require the most careful concealment. Congress had strangely lavished its resources on the equipment of a navy; leaving him in such dearth of the materials of war, that he was compelled to look for them in every direction, and at One time had even asked if something

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LX.

LX.

The First act of independence. On the Ninth day of February John Adams re- sumed his seat in congress, with Elbridge Gerry for a colleague, in place of the feeble Cushing, and with instructions from his constituents to establish liberty in America upon a permanent basis. His nature was robust and manly; now he was in the happiest mood of mind for asserting the independence of his country. He had confidence in the ability of New England to drive away their enemy; in Washington, as a brave and pru

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LXI.

LXI.

Turgot and Vergennes. For a whole year the problem of granting aid to the American insurgents had under all its aspects been debated in the cabinet of the king of France, and had not yet found its solution. Louis the Sixteenth was a bigot to the principle of regal power; but George the Third wanted, in his eyes, the seal of legitimacy: his sense of right, which prompted him to keep good faith with the English, was confused by assertions that the British ministry was capable of breaking the exist

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LXII.

LXII.

The example of the Carolinas and Rhode Island. The American congress needed an impulse from the resolute spirit of some colonial convention, and an example of a government springing wholly from the people. Massachusetts had followed closely the forms of its charter; New Hampshire had deviated as little as possible from its former system; neither of the Two had appointed a chief executive officer. On the Eighth of February the Convention of South Carolina, by Drayton, their president, presented t

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LXIII.

LXIII.

The way to restore peace. Hope still rested on the royal commissioners for restoring peace; but the British ministers knew nothing of that great science of government which studies the character, innate energies, and dispositions of a people. The statesman, like others, can command nature only by obeying her laws; he can serve man only by respecting the conditions of his being; he can sway a nation only by penetrating what is at work in the mind of its masses, and taking heed of the state of its

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LXIV.

LXIV.

Virginia Proclaims the rights of man. On the Sixth day of May Forty-five members of the house of burgesses of Virginia, met at the capitolin Williamsburg pursuant to their adjournment; but as they were of the opinion that the ancient constitution had been subverted by the king and Parliament of Great Britain, they dissolved themselves unanimously, and thus the last vestige of the king's authority passed away. The delegates of Virginia, who on the same morning assembled in convention, were a cons

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LXV.

LXV.

The Virginia proposition of independence. While Virginia communicated to her sister col- onies her instruction to her delegates in congress to propose independence, Washington at New York freely and repeatedly delivered his opinion: A reconciliation with Great Britain is impracticable and would be in the highest degree detrimental to the true interest of America; when I First took the command of the army, I abhorred the idea of independence; but I am now fully convinced that nothing else will sa

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LXVI.

LXVI.

The Battle of Fort Moultrie. The month of May robed the pomegranate and the oleander in their gorgeous masses of flowers, and the peace of Charleston was still undisturbed except by gathering rumors, that the English fleet and transports destined for its attack had arrived in Cape Fear River. Its citizens, taking courage from the efficiency and wisdom with which the independent government of the colony was administered, toiled continually in the trenches, and bands of negroes from the neighborin

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LXVII.

LXVII.

The retreat from Canada. The death of Montgomery dispelled the illusion that hovered round the invasion of Canada. The soldiers whose time expired on the last day of December insisted on their discharge; some went off without leave, taking with them their arms; the rest were dejected and anxious to be at home. There remained encamped near Quebec rather than besieging it, about Four hundred Americans and as many wavering Canadians. The force commanded by Carleton was twice as numerous as both, an

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LXVIII.

LXVIII.

The people of the United colonies demand Inde-Pendence. American independence was not an act of sudden passion, nor the work of One man or One assembly. It had been discussed in every part of the country by farmers and merchants, by mechanics and planters, by the fishermen along the coast and by the backwoodsmen of the West; in town meetings and from the pulpit; at social gatherings and around the camp fires; in newspapers and in pamphlets; in county conventions and conferences of committees; in

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LXIX.

LXIX.

The resolution of independence. On the morning of the First of July, the day set apart for considering the resolution of independence, John Adams, confident as if the vote had been taken, invoked the blessing of heaven to make the new-born republic more glorious than any which had gone before. His heart melted with sorrow at the disasters and sufferings of the army that had been in Canada; he knew that England having now recovered that province, commanded the upper lakes and the Mississippi; tha

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LXX.

LXX.

The declaration of the United States. The resolution of congress changed the old thir- teen British colonies into free and independent states. It remained to set forth the reason for this act, and the principles which the new people would own as their guides. Of the committee appointed for that duty, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia had received the largest number of votes, and was in that manner singled out to draft the confession of faith of the rising empire. He owed this distinction to respect f

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Preface

Preface

The papers which I obtained from the French archives when Mr. Mignet had them in charge, have been of the greatest benefit in preparing this volume. Important aid has been derived from the exceedingly copious and as yet unedited cabinet correspondence of Frederic the Second of Prussia with his foreign ministers in England, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Russia. In choosing from this vast mass of materials, I received the most friendly assistance from the superintendent, Mr. Dunker, and fr

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The American Revolution

The American Revolution

The alliance of France with the United States brought the American question into the heart of Europe, where it called new political aspirations into activity, waked the hope of free trade between all the continents, and arraigned the British ministry at the judgment-seat of the civilized world. England could recover influence in the direction of external affairs only by a peace with her colonies. American independence was to be decided, not by arms alone, but equally by the policy and the sympat

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II.

II.

Germany and the United States. The people who dwelt between the Alps and the northern seas, between France and the Slaves, founded no colonies in America; but, in part, gave to the rising country its laws of being. Let us trace them to their origin, not recounting the annals of the German nation, but searching for the universal interests which the eternal Providence confided to their keeping. We spell the record of our long descent, More largely conscious of the life that is. George Eliot's Span

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III.

III.

The relations of the Two New powers. The negotiations of Great Britain with the petty princes, who transferred the service of their subjects for money, have been fully related. Duke Ernest of Saxony, cultivated by travel in Holland, England, and France, ruled his principality of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg with wisdom and justice. By frugality and simplicity in his court, he restored the disordered finances of his duchy, and provided for great Public works and for science. Though the king of Englan

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IV.

IV.

The British retreat from Pennsylvania. The rescript of France, which announced to the British ministry her acknowledgment of American independence, assumed as a principle of public law that a nationality may, by its own declaration, speak itself into being. The old systems of the Two governments were reversed. The British monarchy, which from the days of William of Orange had been the representative of toleration and liberty, put forth its strength in behalf of unjust authority; while France bec

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V.

V.

How far America had achieved independence at the time of the French alliance. Confined between ridges Three miles apart, the Susquehanna, for a little more than Twenty miles, winds through the valley of Wyoming. Abrupt rocks, rent by tributary streams, rise on the east, while the western declivities are luxuriantly fertile. Connecticut, whose charter from Charles the Second was older than that of Pennsylvania, using its prior claim to lands north of the Mamaroneck river, had colonized this beaut

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VI.

VI.

Spain and the United States. Early in the year, Juan De Miralez, a Spanish emissary, appeared in Philadelphia. Not accredited to congress, for Spain would not recognise that body, Luzerne to Vergennes, 17 Dec., 1779. he looked upon the rising republic as a natural enemy to his country; and through the influence of the French minister, with whom he had as yet no authorized connection, he sought to raise up obstacles on all sides to its development. Gerard to Vergennes, 16 and 29 July, 1778. He ca

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VII.

VII.

People without a government. Early in the year George the Third had been advised by Lord Amherst to withdraw the troops from Philadelphia, and, in the event of the junction of America with France, to evacuate New York and Rhode Island; George III. to Lord North, 17 March, 1778. Letter 467. but the depreciation of the currency, consequent on the helplessness of a people that had no government, revived the hope of subjugating them. The United States closed the campaign of 1778 before autumn, for w

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VIII.

VIII.

The king of Spain baffled by the backwoodsmen of Virginia. While congress unwillingly gave up the hope of dis- lodging England from the continent of North America, the negotiations between the elder and the younger branch of the house of Bourbon changed the attitude of the belligerent powers. I observe with pain, so reported Count Montmorin in October, and so he was obliged continually to report, That this government singularly fears the prosperity and progress of the Americans; Montmorin to Ver

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IX.

IX.

Plan of peace. For the northern campaign of 1779 Two objects presented themselves to America: the capture of Fort Niagara, to be followed by that of Detroit; and the recovery of New York city. But either of these schemes would have required an army of Thirty thousand men; while the fall of the currency, party divisions, and the want of a central power paralyzed every effort at a harmonious organization of the strength of all the states. Washington remained more than a month at Philadelphia in co

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X.

X.

The war in the Northern department. While congress employed the summer in debates on the conditions of peace, the compulsory inactivity of the British army at the north encouraged discontent and intrigues. There rose up in rivalry with Clinton a body styling themselves The loyal associated refugees, who were impatient to obtain an independent organization under Tryon and William Franklin. Clinton wrote that his resources were insufficient for active operations: the refugees insisted that more al

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XI.

XI.

Progress of the war in Europe. Frederic of Prussia had raised the hope that he would follow France in recognising the independence of the United States; but the question of the Bavarian succession, of which the just solution also affected the cause of human progress, compelled him to stand forth as the protector of his own dominions against mortal danger, and as the champion of Germany; so that in his late old age, broken as he was in everything but spirit, he joined with Saxony to stay the aggr

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XII.

XII.

The armed neutrality. The immunity of neutral flags is unknown to bar- barous powers. The usages of the middle ages condemned as lawful booty the property of an enemy, though under the flag of a friend; but spared the property of a friend, though under the flag of an enemy. Ships, except they belonged to the enemy, were never confiscated. When the Dutch republic took its place among the powers of the earth, crowned with the honors of martyrdom in the fight against superstition, this daughter of

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XIII.

XIII.

The war in the southern States. The plan for the southern campaign of 1778 was prepared by Germain with great minuteness of detail. Pensacola was to be strengthened by a Thousand men from New York. On the banks of the Mississippi, near the channel of Iberville, a considerable post was to be established by the commander in West Florida, partly to protect property and trade, but more to preserve the communication with the Indian nations. Germain to the officer commanding in West Florida, 1 July, 1

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XIV.

XIV.

The siege of Charleston. South Carolina moved onward to independence through the bitterest afflictions of civil war. Armies ere encouraged by the government in England to pillage and lay waste her plantations, and confiscate the property of the greatest part of her inhabitants. Families were divided; patriots outlawed and savagely assassinated; houses burned, and women and children driven shelterless into the forests; districts so desolated that they seemed the abode only of orphans and widows;

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XV.

XV.

War in the South: Cornwallis and Gates. Rivalry and dissension between Clinton and Corn- wallis already glowed under the ashes. The formerhad written home more of truth than was willingly listened to; and, though he clung with tenacity to his commission, he intimated conditionally a wish to be recalled. Germain took him so far at his word as to give him leave to transfer to Cornwallis, the new favorite, the chief command in North America. All opposition in South Carolina was for the moment at an

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XVI.

XVI.

Cornwallis and the men of the South and West. From the moment of his victory near Camden, Cornwallis became the principal figure in the British service in America,— the pride and delight of Germain, the desired commander-in-chief, the One man on whom rested the hopes of the ministry for the successful termination of the war. His friends disparaged the ability of Sir Henry Clinton, accused him of hating his younger and more enterprising compeer, and censured him for leaving at the south forces di

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XVII.

XVII.

The rise of free commonwealths. Freedom is of all races and of all nationalities. It is in them all older than bondage, and ever rises again from the enslavements laid on by the hand of violence or custom or abuse of power; for the rights of man spring from eternal law, are kept alive by the persistent energy of constant nature, and by their own indestructibility prove their lineage as the children of omnipotence. In an edict of the Eighth of August, 1779, Louis the Sixteenth announced His regre

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XVIII.

XVIII.

The complot of Sir Henry Clinton and Arnold. Desultory movements of the British and Ameri- can troops in the North during the winter of 1780 were baffled by unwonted cold and deep snows. The Hudson and the East river were covered with solid ice, but Knyphausen provided for the safety of New York by forming battalions of the loyal inhabitants and refugees. Besides; the American army, whose pay was in arrear and whom congress could not provide with food, was too feeble to hazard an attack. In May

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XIX.

XIX.

Striving for union. Our respective governments which compose the union, so ran the circular of congress to the states in the opening of the year 1779, Are settled and in the vigorous exercise of uncontrolled authority.Itself without credit and unable to enforce the collection of taxes, it increased its paper money. About One hundred and six millions were then in circulation. The worth of the continental dollar, for a time buoyed up by the French alliance, had in Three months fallen from Twenty c

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XX.

XX.

Great Britain Makes war on the Netherlands. The successor of Lord Weymouth was Lord Stor- mont, the late British ambassador at Paris. He had an unbounded confidence in the spirit and resources of his country; but this confidence took the worst forms of haughty blindness to moral distinctions in dealing with foreign powers. To the complaints of the Dutch respecting the outrage on their flag, he answered by interpreting treaties directly contrary to their plain meaning, and then by saying: We are

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XXI.

XXI.

France has need of peace. England, said Vergennes, Has declared war against the Netherlands from hatred of their accession to the neutrality. The more I reflect, the more I am perplexed to know whether we ought to be glad or sorry. Vergennes to Montmorin, 25 and 27 Dec., 1780. A new obstacle was created to the General peace for which we must now trace the negotiations. Spain had calculated every thing for a single campaign. Montmorin to Vergennes, 13 May, 1780. The invasion of England having fai

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XXII.

XXII.

The southern campaign. Morgan at the Cowpens. After the defeat of Gates, congress subjected its favorite to a Court of inquiry, and, conforming to the advice of Washington, appointed Major-General Greene to the command of the Southern department. Gates had received his appointment and his instructions directly from congress, and his command had been co-ordinate and independent. On confirming the nomination of Greene, congress assigned to him all the regular troops, raised or to be raised, in Del

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XXIII.

XXIII.

The southern campaign. Battle of Guilford court-house. Morgan's success lighted the fire of emulation in the breast of Greene, and he was Loath it should stand alone.The defeat at the Cowpens took Cornwallis by surprise. It is impossible, so he wrote on the Eighteenth of January, to his superior, Sir Henry Clinton, To foresee all the consequences that this unexpected and extraordinary event may produce. But nothing but the most absolute necessity shall induce me to give up the important object o

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XXIV.

XXIV.

The southern campaign. Greene in South Carolina. On the Seventh of April, Cornwallis brought the relics of his army to Wilmington, where a party sent by his orders from Charleston awaited him. He could not move by land towards Camden without exposing his troops to the greatest chances of being lost. Cornwallis to Phillips, and Cornwallis to Clinton, 4 April, 1781. He should have sped to Charleston by water, to retain possession of South Carolina; but such a movement would have published to the w

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XXV.

XXV.

Campaign in Virginia. Clinton had himself resolved to hold a station in the Chesapeake Bay, and on the Second of January, 1781, Arnold, with Sixteen hundred men, appeared by his order in the James river. The generous state had sent its best troops and arms to the southern army. Nelson had received timely orders from Governor Jefferson to call out the militia of the low country; but, in the region of planters with slaves, there were not freemen enough at hand to meet the invaders; and Steuben, th

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XXVI.

XXVI.

England refuses to continue the American war. The campaign in Virginia being finished, Wash- ington and the eastern army were cantoned for the winter in their old positions around New York; Wayne, with the Pennsylvania line, marched to the south to re-enforce Greene; the French under Rochambeau encamped in Virginia; and De Grasse took his fleet to the West Indies. From Philadelphia, Robert R. Livingston, the First American secretary for foreign affairs, communicated to Franklin the final instruc

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XXVII.

XXVII.

Rockingham's ministry Assents to American independence. The hatred of America as a self-existent state became every day more intense in Spain from the desperate weakness of her authority in her transatlantic possessions. Her rule was dreaded in them all; and, as even her allies confessed, with good reason. The seeds of rebellion were already sown in the vice-royalties of Buenos Ayres and Peru; and a union of Creoles and Indians might prove at any moment fatal to metropolitan dominion. French sta

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XXVIII.

XXVIII.

Shelburne offers peace. On the death of Rockingham, the king offered to Shelburne by letter The employment of First lord of the treasury, and with it the fullest political confidence.Indeed, added the king, He has had ample sample of it by my conduct towards him since his return to my service.No British prime-minister had professed more liberal principles. He wished a liberal reform of the representation of the people of Great Britain in parliament. Far from him was the thought that the prosperi

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XXIX.

XXIX.

Peace between the United States and Great Britain. De Grasse, as he passed through London on parole, brought from Shelburne to Vergennes suggestions, which left Spain as the only obstacle in the way of peace. To conciliate that power, Jay was invited to Versailles, where, on the Fourth of Sep- tember, Rayneval sought to persuade him to resign for his country all pretensions to the eastern Valley of the Mississippi, and with it the right to the navigation of that stream. Jay was inflexible. On th

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