USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from the first settlement of the colony to the adoption of the present constitution, vol. II > Part 13
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Among the pledges numerously signed, were the following :- " We will not send for or import from Great Britain, this fall, any other goods than what are already ordered for the fall supply." "We will not purchase of any factor or others, any kinds of goods imported from Great Britain, from January 1769, to January, 1770." "We will not import, on our own account, or on commission, or purchase of any, who shall import from any other colony in America, from January, 1769 to January, 1770, any tea, glass, paper, or other goods, commonly imported from Great Britain, &c." See Gordon's Hist. Am. Rev., i. 163-4.
42
146
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
The citizens were almost all present, and the greatest unanimity of feeling prevailed. The page of the record book on which the doings of the meeting are preserved, is inscribed with the word "Liberty, liberty, liberty," thrice written as if the repetition added to the charm. At this meeting a vote was passed approving of the course that had been pursued by people of Boston, and pledging themselves to "unite both heart and hand in support thereof against all enemies whatsover." The people at the same time instruc- ted their representatives to use their influence at the next session of the General Assembly to bring about an adjust- ment of the treasury accounts of the colony, to see "that the colonels have a special muster and review of their respective regiments," that manufacturers be encouraged, that union with the neighboring colonies be promoted, and lastly, that the debates be open .* Many other towns manifested the same spirit.
Thus in hurry and alarm passed the year 1768. Early in 1769, the British revenue sloop Liberty, was stationed by the commissioner of customs near New London, to keep a close watch upon all the vessels that left that port, or entered it, and see that the revenue laws were not violated. She was for a long time kept cruising between that point and New- port, overhauling every craft that she could find of a suffi- cient size to carry merchandize between one sea-port and another. She was known by the disrespectful name of the "Pirate," and came to such an untimely end before the close of the summer, as befits piracy .; It need hardly be said, that this abominable system of espionage led to smuggling in Connecticut as well as in the other colonies. Sugars and indigo were often shipped at New London as flax-seed, or landed in the dead of the night to avoid the odious duty.}
* Caulkins' Hist. of Norwich, 211, 212.
+ Caulkins' New London, 483. She was destroyed near Newport, " by a burst of popular frenzy."
# As many of the articles imported would not bear to pay the heavy duties demanded, the importers seemed to regard it as no breach of honor to defraud the government of its unjust exactions.
147
TOWN MEETINGS.
[1770.]
The year 1770, was one of peculiar interest in Connecticut. The merchants of the colony had kept the articles of agree- ment entered into with those of New York, in relation to the non-importation of British goods, with singular fidelity. In New York on the other hand, those articles had been in many instances violated with a shamelessness that elicited such universal indignation in Connecticut, that it was resolved that a general convention of delegates from all the towns in the colony should meet at New Haven on the 13th of Sep- tember, to take into consideration the perilous condition of the country, to provide for the growth and spread of home- manufactures, and to devise more thorough means for carry- ing out to the letter, the non-importation agreement. " We will frown," say the freemen of Norwich, at a town meeting held on the 29th of January, "upon all who endeavor to frus- trate these good designs, and avoid all correspondence and dealings with those merchants who shall dare to violate these obligations."*
The preparations for this general convention of the mer- cantile and landholding interests were very marked and decisive in almost all the old towns, and were in their general character so nearly alike that the action of one may serve to illustrate that of the others.t Frequent town meetings were held, speeches were made, and resolutions were passed, many of which found their way to England and caused the ears of the British ministry to tingle and their cheeks to redden with anger. Indeed, the towns of the colony on this occasion evinced, as they have always done in difficult emergencies, their individuality and distinct municipal organization, acting
* Caulkins' Hist. of Norwich, p. 212.
+ At a spirited meeting holden at Litchfield, on the 30th of August, 1770, Mr. Abraham Kilbourn was chosen moderator, and Messrs. John Osborne and Jede- diah Strong were appointed delegates to the convention in question. The dele- gates from Norwich, were Captain Jedediah Huntington, and Elijah Backus, Esq. The citizens of Norwalk held a preliminary meeting on the 20th of August-Col. Thomas Fitch, moderator-at which Capt. John Cannon, Col. Thomas Fitch, and Capt. Benjamin Isaacs, were appointed delegates. The convention was composed of some of the ablest and most patriotic men in the colony.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
with as much apparent independence as if they were sovereignties. The town-meeting was a forum where the humblest man in the colony might rise up and speak his sen- timents freely, though in simple and unpolished phrase, in behalf of the oppressed people. In these primitive senate- chambers the minds of those profound statesmen whose wis- dom afterwards enlightened the deliberations of Congress, and whose eloquence electrified the nation, were ripened for the high stations of the senate, the cabinet and the bench.
On the 27th of August, a meeting of this sort was held at Glastenbury for the purpose of choosing delegates to attend the convention at New Haven .* They speak of this conven- tion as about to meet to "resolve upon such measures as are proper to be taken for the support of the non-importation agreement, so important at this critical conjuncture to the plantations in America, belonging to the British crown : also to consider the alarming conduct of a neighboring colony-New York, [in] shamefully violating said agreement." They then proceeded to appoint two of their principal citi- zens to represent the town in that convention and instructed them what to do, and how to vote as members of it. They are directed to support to the utmost of their ability the non- importation agreement; for, say they, "you cannot but be sensible that the reasons for coming into said agreement at first will continue to operate in their full force so long as the duty on a single article remains as a test of parliamentary power to tax America without her consent or representation." They proceed to animadvert in severe terms upon the viola- tion of that agreement in New York. "A large number," say they, " of merchants and traders in the colony of New York, have of late, in direct opposition to the general sense of the Americans, been guilty of a very criminal and perfidi- ous breach of said agreement, and thereby have shamefully
* The delegates from Glastenbury, were Messrs. Jonathan Welles, and Ebenezer Plummer. The citizens of New London, appointed four delegates, viz :- Gurdon Saltonstall, William Hillhouse, Nathaniel Shaw, Jr., William Manwaring.
149
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES.
[1770.]
betrayed their country's cause. We further offer it as our opinion, that, for the future, no commercial intercourse, by any in this colony be held with the inhabitants of that gov- ernment, either directly or indirectly, until the revenue acts are repealed, our grievances redressed, or until they make public satisfaction." The importers were next placed under the ban of excommunication; and that nothing might be left undone to make their condition completely wretched, it is recommended that " all connections be withdrawn from those in this colony who shall presume hereafter to carry on any traffic or trade with those betrayers of their country, until they shall give proper satisfaction for their offensive conduct."*
The popular feeling in favor of domestic manufactures soon grew to be a passion. The women of the colony, with- out reference to rank, encouraged their husbands, sons, and lovers, and vied with them in bringing back the "age of home-spun." The sliding of the shuttle, the buzz of the spin- ning-wheel, the bleaching of cloth upon the lawn that sloped downward from the kitchen door of the family mansion to the rivulet that threaded the bottom of the glade, found employ- ment for the proudest as well as the humblest female in the land.t Committees of Inspection were appointed by the towns to see that no man or woman should infringe upon the sanctity of the non-importation agreement. These com- mittees were by no means idle. The gentleman who wished to drink a glass of brandy, or other imported liquor, and the dame who felt that her patriotism needed the gentler stimu- lus of tea, were obliged to keep the tempting beverage out of sight and watch a secret moment to nourish the cherished appetite. Woe betide the wretch who should be caught in the act of transgression. If a male, publication in the Gazette, the cry of the populace at his heels, and the insults of every boy who was large enough to shout the word Liberty-was the least that he could expect, even should he
* Dr. Chapin's Hist. of Glastenbury, 52, 53. t Cothren, i. 173.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
be fortunate enough to escape the tenacious affinities of tar and feathers. If a woman, it were better for her that she had never been born. No sighs were in reserve to be breathed in her ears by the young or the brave, though her face were fair as an angel's ; and those of her own sex were sure to turn from her as if her eye had in it an evil charm .* In this trying crisis too, much capital was diverted from the old channels of agriculture and merchandise into the new enterprise of establishing factories and mills.
The years 1771 and 1772, passed with few changes in the affairs of the colony worthy of note. The popular sentiment in favor of resistance to British oppression, gained ground every day, and with this love of freedom there slowly grew up a manliness and boldness of character that prepared the people for a protracted struggle. This long preparation stood in the stead of discipline. Or in the words of the Duke of Richmond, they thus acquired " the substance of what discipline is only the shadow." "Discipline," said that nobleman, in a tone of warning to the House of Lords, "is only the substitute for a common cause to attach through fear and keep to their ranks and standard, those who would otherwise desert them."t The " quarrel," as Chatham scorn- fully called it, between the ministry and the colonies in rela- tion to taxation, was now approaching its crisis. The tea-tax had been kept upon the statute-book for the sake of main- taining the theoretical authority of parliament, rather than for any practical uses that it might serve. But though un- repealed, it was virtually disregarded, and partly by the force
* The following is a list of articles which the citizens of Norwich bound them- selves "not to import, purchase, or use, if produced or manufactured out of America," viz. : loaf sugar, snuff, mustard, starch, malt liquors, linseed oil, cheese, tea, wine, wrought plates, gloves, shoes, bonnets, men's hats, (except felts,) muffs, tippets, etc., wires, lawns, gauze, sewing silk, stays, spirituous liquors, cordage, an- chors, sole leather, clocks, jewellers' ware, gold and silver, lace and buttons, thread lace, velvets, silk handkerchiefs, caps, ribbons, flowers, feathers, &c. Also the finer kinds of broadcloths, cambrics, and silks.
t Memoirs of Josiah Quincy, Jr., 334.
151
THE BOSTON PORT BILL.
[1774.]
of the non-importation agreements and partly by a systematic course of smuggling, it was now almost a dead letter.
Mortified at their defeat, and taunted with it both in and out of parliament, the impatient ministers resolved to send over at once a great quantity of the prohibited article and thrust it upon the people of the colonies. by force of arms. In July, the restraints that had been laid upon the East India com- pany to export teas on their own account, were repealed, and steps were taken for the consignment of several cargoes to the principal ports in America. The opposition that this movement encountered in the colonies, and the defeat that it sustained at Boston, are too well known to need a repetition here.
When the news reached England that the people of Bos- ton had thrown into the harbor the teas that had been sent over for their use, the wrath of the ministers knew no bounds. Nor were the ministers alone in resenting this marked insult to the majesty of British dominion. All departments of the government felt it, and the very men who had before advocated the cause of the Americans with such eloquence, now yielded up the Bostonians to the mercy of their enemies. In the midst of this excitement was brought forward the bill called the "Boston Port Bill,"* that had for its object the punishment of the town of Boston, by shutting up its harbor and removing the seat of government to Salem. Even Barre and Conway approved of the measure, and the members of the house who rose to speak against it, were coughed down ; and although on its last reading, Burke and Johnstone spoke against it, as impolitic and unjust, it passed
* One of the boldest as well as one of the ablest "reviews" of this celebrated bill was published, in 1774, in a pamphlet form, by Josiah Quincy, Jr., and is re- published entire in his " Memoirs" by his son, 1825. It is entitled, " Observa- tions on the Act of Parliament commonly called the Boston Port Bill ; with Thoughts on Civil Society and Standing Armies." The impolicy as well as the glaring injustice of the enactment is fully set forth. It condemns a whole town not only unheard, but uncited ; it " involves thousands in ruin and misery without suggestion of any crime by them committed ;" and is so constructed, that enor- mous pains and penalties must inevitably ensue, notwithstanding the most perfect obedience to its injunctions." See also, Gordon, i. 231.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
by a very large vote .* Four other acts, aiming giant blows not only at the offending town, but at the whole common- wealth, and one of them at all the other colonies, followed in quick succession. t
Now that the vengeance of Great Britain was arming her swift winged ships and fitting out her well-trained troops in thousands to crush the principal sea-port town of the eastern colonies, the inhabitants of that town began to make inquiry whether the people of the colonies would stand by them in the unequal conflict ? It was a question of fearful import.
When the tidings of these oppressive acts of legislation reached Connecticut in May, the General Assembly was in session. A day of humiliation and prayer was ordered on account of the threatening aspects of Divine Providence, on the liberties of the people, that they might call upon "the God of all mercies to avert his judgments."{ At the same ses- sion, other steps were taken that indicate something besides humiliation, as will appear by the following extracts from our Colonial Records.
At the May session, 1774, "Capt. Titus Hurlburt, is author- ized and directed to take an inventory of all the cannon, small arms, ammunition, and other military stores belonging to this colony, at the battery at New London, or in the town of New London, and to certify the same to this Assembly."
"Charles Burrall, Oliver Wolcott, and Jonathan Pettibone, are appointed colonels ; Joshua Porter, Ebenezer Norton, and
* Hildreth, iii. 32. # Colonial Records, MS.
+ The substance of these bills may be thus briefly stated, viz. : 1. " A bill for better regulating the government of Massachusetts Bay"-which virtually annulled the charter : providing for the appointment of counselors and judges of the Supe- rior Court by the crown ; all other officers, military, executive, and judicial, to be appointed by the governor independently of the approval by the council ; jurors to be selected by the sheriff's ; all town meetings, except for elections, prohibited. 2. A bill to protect the servants of the crown against the verdicts of colonial jurors- providing that all persons charged with murders committed in support of govern- ment should be tried in England. 3. A revival of a former act providing for quartering troops in America. 4. An act, known as the Quebec Act, had particu-" lar reference to the government and boundaries of Canada.
153
COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE.
[1774.]
Jonathan Humphrey, lieutenant-colonels ; Ebenezer Gay, Epaphras Sheldon, and Abel Merrell, majors."
An artillery company is formed in Middletown; and a company of grenadiers is formed from the towns of Killingly, Pomfret, and Woodstock.
A series of pungent resolutions was also passed, condem- ning the course of the British government. All the towns in the colony called town meetings in consequence of the news, and most of them passed resolutions in imitation of the example of the General Assembly. Committees of cor- respondence were appointed by them to communicate as well with each other as with the colonies at large. Almost every town in the colony also sent donations to Boston for the relief of the poor of that place, and letters were addressed to the committee there breathing the loftiest spirit of liberty and the deepest sympathy with their sufferings. Not only cash, but produce from the farm, and whatever could be made available for food or clothing, were forwarded with a liberal hand from the thinly settled parts of the colony, as well as from the larger and wealthier towns .*
But better than all these gifts made by the people of Connecticut to those of Boston, the most priceless and lovely were those spontaneous and inspiring sympathies that welled up from the great hearts of the freeholders of the colony, and found utterance, as far as their subtle spirit could speak through the medium of words, in those glorious letters written by the committee of correspondence of such little towns as Woodbury, Stratford, Stonington, Glastenbury, Norwich, and many others that were shut out from the world by the trees that still shaded the log-huts of the first settlers.
* The town of Windham sent two hundred and fifty fat sheep; the contribu- tion from Norwich consisted of money, wheat, corn, and a flock of three hundred and ninety sheep; Wethersfield sent a large quantity of wheat; many other towns were equally liberal and patriotic. A like spirit was manifested by the friends of freedom abroad. The committee at Schoharie, N. Y., sent to Boston, five hundred and fifty-five bushels of wheat; certain citizens of Georgia sent on sixty-three barrels of rice, and £122 in specie ; and in the city of London, £30,- 000 sterling were subscribed for the same object.
154
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
On the 23d of June, 1774, the citizens of Glastenbury met in town meeting to express their sense of the insult and out- rage that had been offered to their friends at Boston. They proceeded to appoint a committee of correspondence "to receive and answer all letters," say they, "and to promote and forward such contributions as shall be made in this town for the relief of our distressed friends in Boston." The com- mittee prepared and forwarded with a copy of the resolu- tions of the meeting, the eloquent address that is here sub- joined in a note, and will be read with interest by every scholar for its classical diction, and by every lover of liberty for its burning sentiments and lofty thoughts .*
* The names of the committee who were appointed to draw up this town-paper were Col. Elizur Talcott, Mr. William Welles, Capt. Elisha Hollister, Mr. Ebenezer Plummer, Mr. Isaac Moseley, Mr. Thomas Kimberley, and Mr. Josiah Hale. The letter is as follows :-
" Gentlemen :-
" GLASTENBURY, in Connecticut, "23d June, 1774.
" We cannot but deeply sympathize with you under the gloomy prospects which at present are before you on account of those oppressive acts of parliament which have lately been passed respecting Boston in particular, and the province of Massachusetts Bay in general. Especially when we consider that our liberties and privileges are so nearly and indissolubly connected with yours, that an encroachment upon one at least, destroys all the security of the other. It seems the Parliament of Great Britain are determined to reduce America to a state of vassalage, and unless we all unite in the common cause, they will undoubtedly accomplish their design. We are surprised to find so many of the merchants in Bos- ton courting favor of the tools of the ministry, and heaping encomiums on that enemy to liberty, that traitor to his country, and abettor, if not author of all these evils to America. However, we hope the spirit of liberty is not yet entirely fled from Boston, but that you will yet hold out, and to the last resist and oppose those who are striving to enslave America. You may depend on us, and we believe all Connecticut almost to a man, to stand by you and assist you in the defense of our invaluable rights and privileges, even to the sacrificing of our lives and fortunes, in so good a cause. You will see the determinations and resolves of this town, which we have inclosed. A subscription is set on foot for the relief of the poor in Boston, and what money or provisions shall be collected, we shall forward as soon as possible. We are informed that your house of representatives have appointed a time, for the meeting of the general congress, in which we hope all the colonies will concur, and that a non-importation and non-exportation agreement, will be immediately come into, which we doubt not will procure the desired effect ; and notwithstanding the gloomy aspect of things at present, we cannot but look forward, with fond hopes and pleasing expectations, to that glorious era, when America in
155
MEETING AT STONINGTON.
[1774.]
On the 11th of July, a similar meeting was held by the inhabitants of Stonington. The doings of this municipal assembly breathe the same spirit. These people had lived too long by the sands washed by the tides of the open Atlantic, to be afraid to strike out at once into deep water. Mark the first sentence of their record. "Deeply impressed with the alarming and critical situation of our public affairs, by the many repeated attacks upon the liberties of the English American colonies by sundry acts of parliament, both for the purpose of raising a revenue in America as well as the late extraordinary act for blocking up the port of Boston-[we] think it our indispensible duty to manifest our sentiments." They then go on to denounce the Port Bill " as repugnant to the spirit of Freedom and fundamentals of the British con- stitution, and in direct violation of magna charta." The remainder is at once so bold, so loyal, so reasonable, and so calmly philosophical, that it seems worthy to have come from the pen of Richmond or Camden. I have made some extracts from it that may also be found in a note." The committee
spite of all the efforts of her enemies to the contrary, shall rise superior to all opposition, overcome oppression, be a refuge for the oppressed, a nurse of liberty, a scourge to tyranny, and the envy of the world-then (if you stand firm and unshaken amidst the storm of ministerial vengeance) shall it be told to your ever- lasting honor, that Boston stood foremost in the cause of liberty, when the greatest power on earth was striving to divest them of it, and by their noble efforts, joined with the united virtue of her sister colonies, they overcame, and thereby trans- mitted to posterity, those invaluable rights and privileges, which their forefathers purchased with their blood. And now gentlemen relying on your steadiness and firmness in the common cause, &c."
R. R. Hinman, Esq., in his " War of the Revolution," gives the doings of the town meetings and conventions in many of the towns and counties, in relation to the Boston Port Bill, the appointment of committees of inspection and correspond- ence, as follows, viz., in New Haven, Lebanon, Norwich, Preston, Groton, Lyme, New London, Windham, Farmington, Wethersfield, Hartford, Woodstock county ; the counties of New London, Windham, Hartford, Litchfield, &c. See pp. 35-78. Meetings of a similar nature were also held in Plainfield, Enfield, East Haddam, Bolton, Stonington, Colchester, Haddam, Ashford, Tolland county, Litchfield, Sharon, Windsor, Middletown, Stratford, Woodbury, and indeed in nearly all the old towns in the colony.
*"These surprising exertions of power which so remarkably distinguish the pre- sent inauspicious times, must necessarily alienate the affections of the Americans
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
of correspondence, soon sent a communication to the Boston committee and in due time received the following answer, copied from the manuscript files of the Stonington Committee of Safety.
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