USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from the first settlement of the colony to the adoption of the present constitution, vol. II > Part 41
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The stable character of its population, their business habits, the central position of the city, its neatness, the style of its buildings, the beautiful hills that crown it, and which are already covered with splendid mansions and elegant villas, all prophecy the brilliant future of Bridgeport and bespeak the vitality of the principles and blood of the old coast towns the descendants of whose pioneers are gathered there.
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CHAPTER XXI
MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS. WAR OF 1812. HARTFORD CONVENTION,
THE state and federal governments having been establish- ed, the people of Connecticut, cheered with the prospect of continued peace, gradually recovered from their pecuniary embarrassments, and from the physical and social evils that inevitably follow in the train of war. Soldiers and officers, the council of war, committees of safety and inspection- royalists and republicans-all swore allegiance to the new constitution and government, laid aside their badges of dis- tinction, and were content and proud to be known by the honorable title of American citizens.
Measures were at once adopted and the requisite steps taken by our legislature, to adapt the laws and local govern- ment to the new order of things. William Samuel Johnson, and Oliver Ellsworth, were elected senators to the General Congress ; and Messrs. Jonathan Sturges, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Huntington, Jonathan Trumbull, and Jeremiah Wadsworth, were chosen representatives in that body. Acts were passed regulating the subsequent election of members of both houses of Congress. Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Samuel Holden Parsons, and James Davenport, were appointed com- missioners on the part of this state, to negotiate a treaty with "the Indians who occupy the territory reserved by Connecticut in their cession to the United States."*
For a period of more than twenty years from the date of the ratification of the Federal Constitution, few events occur- red within the limits of our state worthy to be noted by the pen of the historian. The usual elections occurred, the legislature held its regular semi-annual sessions, laws were passed, amended and repealed, various alterations in the
* State Records, MS.
473
EQUAL RIGHTS.
national constitution were proposed and considered, and the ordinary current of public affairs flowed smoothly on.
In October, 1791, an act was passed which professedly secured "equal rights and privileges to christians of all denominations in this state." About the same time, statutes were passed for the encouragement of manufactures, for reorganizing the militia of the state, and for procuring the sale of the western lands. At the October session, 1793, the legislature passed the following resolve. It indicates a spirit of liberality which was far from being common at that period.
" Be it enacted, That the monies arising from the sale of the territory belonging to this state, lying west of the state of Pennsylvania, be, and the same is hereby established as a perpetual fund, the interest whereof is granted and shall be appropriated to the use and benefit of the several ecclesi- astical societies, churches or congregations, of all denomina- tions, in this state, to be by them applied for the support of their respective ministers or preachers of the gospel, and schools of education, under such rules and regulations as shall be hereafter adopted by this Assembly."t
The Assembly of the state having, in 1792, granted to those citizens of Connecticut whose property had been destroyed by the British, a tract of half a million acres of Ohio lands, it was, in May 1795, ordered that all deeds con- veying those lands to others should be recorded in the clerk's office in the town or towns where the damage of the original grantee was sustained. The "Connecticut Land Company " soon after purchased other western lands of the state ; and in October, 1797, in compliance with the petition of the company referred to, Connecticut surrendered to the United States her jurisdiction over the territory.
Previous to the commencement of the present century, the public roads of the state appear to have been much neg- lected, and the difficulties of intercommunication between the several towns were correspondingly great. About the year 1795, the subject of turnpike roads began to attract much
* State Records, MS.
474
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
attention. For several years thereafter, the number of char- tered companies continued to be multiplied, until nearly all the important towns of the state were reached by the net- work of turnpikes. These lines were extended, from time to time, and new lines were constantly added. The system did much to improve the facilities of travel, and answered a good purpose, until superceded by the greater works of inter- nal improvement which have since changed the face of the world.
Soon after the close of the Revolution, the boundary line between Connecticut and Massachusetts became a subject of contention. In May, 1791, the legislature was officially notified by the governor of Massachusetts, that in conse- quence of disputes that had arisen, commissioners had been appointed on the part of that state to unite with those of Connecticut in adjusting the matter. Our legislature at that time declined taking any action upon the subject. In Octo- ber, 1793, however, the Hon. Oliver Ellsworth, Roger New- bury, and Gideon Granger, Jr., were appointed commission- ers to ascertain and establish the line between the two states from Connecticut river westward to the state of New York. In May, 1801, it was resolved, that inasmuch as the former commissioners had not, for various reasons, attended to the object of their appointment, Aaron Austin, Zephaniah Swift, and Eliphalet Terry, should be appointed in their stead. They were vested "with the same powers in every respect, as were given to said former commissioners." Two years subsequently, the work not having been completed on account of the disagreement of the commissioners, Aaron Austin, Nathaniel Terry, and Thaddeus Leavitt, were appointed to perfect the line.
In the mean time, the gallant sons of Connecticut were adding to the fame of the young republic by their heroic con- duct in a distant land. In May 1801, Jussuf Caramalli, Bashaw of Tripoli, (who had deposed his brother Hamet,) cut down the flag-staff of the American consulate. This act was a virtual declaration of war. Commodore Preble
475
GENERAL EATON'S EXPEDITION.
[1804.]
having failed in his efforts to humble the usurper, General William Eaton, a native of Connecticut, who had for some years been the American consul at Tunis, conceived the idea of restoring the exiled Hamet, and through him, of effecting a permanent peace. With this project in view, General Eaton visited the United States; and having obtained the sanction of his government, he re-embarked in July, 1804, on board the Argus sloop of war, with the squadron of Com- modore Barron, who was directed to cooperate with Eaton in the enterprise.
A few days after the commodore took the command before Tripoli, he sent the Argus under command of Captain Isaac Hull, (also a native of Connecticut,) to Alexandria, with General Eaton, where they arrived on the 26th of Novem- ber. From this place, accompanied by some of the officers of the squadron, Eaton proceeded to Cairo. The viceroy of Egypt received them with favor, and readily granted permis- sion to Hamet to leave his dominions unmolested, notwith- standing he had been fighting against the government with the discontented Mamelukes .* The deposed prince gladly accepted the proposals of Eaton, and they soon raised about five hundred men-of twelve different nations-including eleven Americans and seventy or eighty Greeks and French- men. If he had possessed means of subsistence for so many, the commander could have enlisted thirty thousand men for the expedition. On the 6th of March, the little army entered the desert of Lybia, and after a fatiguing march of fifty days, during which time they had traversed more than six hundred miles of desert-sands and surmounted innumerable obstacles, they encamped in the rear of the city of Derne, on the 26th of April .*
Captain Hull, during this time, had made his way back to Malta for orders and stores, and by the middle of April, with the ships Argus, Nautilus, and Hornet, was cruising along the coast in the vicinity of Derne, awaiting the arri-
* Cooper. + Allen, Cooper, Blake.
476
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
val of the overland army. Ascertaining soon after, that Eaton had encamped about a league from the shore, Captain Hull landed a field-piece with some stores and muskets, in charge of a few marines of the corps. The order of attack having been agreed upon, at two o'clock P. M., April 27th, a furious assault upon the town was commenced at the same instant from the land and from the ships. The enemy made a spirited defense, but the town and fortress were com- pelled to surrender before night-fall. Only fourteen of the assailants had been killed and wounded, General Eaton being among the latter. The number of men engaged in the attack, including the marines and sailors, was about twelve hundred ; while the place was defended by three or four thousand.
Jussuf, the reigning Bashaw, soon collected a formidable army, and attempted to regain the town, but was defeated in a battle fought on the 13th of May, and met with a complete repulse on the 10th of June. Eaton was preparing to push his conquests still farther, but was arrested by a treaty of peace .*
Though the people and authorities of Connecticut have always yielded suitable obedience to the "higher powers,". they have not so uniformly submitted to what they have regarded as unjust or unwise acts, without expressing their dissent. The act of Congress of December 22, 1807, declar- ing an unlimited embargo, for all the purposes of foreign commerce, on every port in the Union, was considered by the great mass of our citizens, as unnecessary and oppressive in its operations. The legislature, at the October session, after expressing an apprehension that silence on their part "might be construed to imply the want of a disposition to
* See Cooper's Naval Hist. ; Pease and Niles' Gaz .; Allen's Biog. Dic. Gen- eral Eaton was born in Woodstock, Feb. 23, 1764. At the age of sixteen, he ran away from home and joined the army, but subsequently graduated at Dartmouth college. In 1797, he was appointed consul to Tunis, and continued in that office for about nine years. On his return to this country, he settled in Brimfield, Mass., and in 1807, represented that town in the legislature. He died June 1, 1811, aged forty-seven.
477
THE EMBARGO.
[1811.]
protect, or an intention to betray, the dearest rights of their constituents," proceeded to pass a series of stringent resolu- tions, indicative of their feelings and sentiments in relation to that "unprecedented crisis." "We maintain," say they, "that the right freely to navigate the ocean, was, like our soil, transmitted to us as an inheritance from our forefathers, and the enjoyment of this right is secured to us, as a free and sovereign state, by the plighted faith of the United States." After detailing, however, the oppressive burdens and grievances brought upon the people of this state by the operations of the act referred to, they add, in the true spirit of patriotic obedience, "we rely, nevertheless, on the further patient and faithful regard to public order, in the hope that the Congress will, at their approaching session, on a knowl- edge of these distresses, speedily decide that a removal of them is compatible with the peace, honor, and happiness of the United States."
Congress having on the 9th of January, 1809, passed an act "to enforce and make more effectual" the embargo, an extra session of the legislature was called in the succeeding February, on account of the "great national emergency." A series of resolutions, and an address to the people of Con- necticut, were adopted, and two thousand copies were ordered to be printed and circulated ; and a like number of copies of the offensive act was directed to be distributed with the resolves and address.
In May, 1811, the subject was again brought before the legislature, and a series of resolutions, similar in their purport to those already adverted to, was adopted. The commercial interests of the state were prostrated ; the ordinary business of the inhabitants along the line of our sea-coast was neces- sarily suspended ; and the consequent distress which prevailed in many places so exasperated the people that some were ready for open rebellion against the General Government. The Assembly, alarmed at the extent of this feeling, while it recognized the right and duty of the people to defend "the liberties and independence of the state, as well as of the
478
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
United States, against every aggression," exhorted the citi- zens to " continue to cherish an attachment to social order, the principles of our republican institutions and the Constitution of the United States, as essentially con- nected with the liberty they so highly prize ; and to enter- tain the hope that the General Government will abandon a course of measures so distressing to individuals, so debasing to the national spirit and character, and so inefficacious for the protection of the rights and honor of the United States ; and that they remain assured that the General Assembly of this state, participating in the sentiments and sufferings of the people by whom they are chosen, will never lose sight of their commercial rights and interests.";
The train of events finally led to a result that had long been anticipated. On the 18th of June, 1812, the govern- ment of the United States declared war against Great Britain. It is needless to go into the causes which led to such a decla- ration. A long series of insults and aggressive acts on the part of our old enemy, including the impressment of our seamen and indignities offered to our flag, were the alleged occasions of an appeal to arms for a redress of grievances. The views of the people of Connecticut in relation to this important step are expressed in the following paper. It is copied from the manuscript records of the doings of the Assembly, at their special session in August of that year :
"The Legislature of the State of Connecticut, specially convened to consult the welfare and provide for the defense of the state at this interesting and eventful period, avail themselves of the opportunity thus afforded to declare and resolve-
" That while some of their sister states offer assurance of their unqualified approbation of the measures of the General Government, in respect to our foreign relations, we confi- dently trust that the motives which influence us to declare what we believe to be the deliberate and solemn sense of
* State Records, MS.
479
MANIFESTO OF CONNECTICUT.
[1812.]
the people of this state, on the question of the war, will be justly appreciated.
"The people of this state view the war as unnecessary.
" Without pretending to an exclusive or superior love of country to what is common to their fellow-citizens, or arro- gating a preëminence in those virtues which adorn our his- tory, they yield to none in attachment to the Union, or vene- ration for the Constitution. The Union, cemented by the blood of the American people, is endeared to our best affec- tions, and prized as an invaluable legacy bequeathed to us and our posterity by the founders of our empire.
"The people of this state were among the first to adopt the Constitution. Having shared largely in its blessings, and confidently trusting that under the guardianship of the peo- ple, and of the states, it will be found competent to the objects of its institution, in all the various vicissitudes of our affairs, they will be the last to abandon the high hopes it affords of the future prosperity and glory of our country.
" These sentiments of attachment to the Union and to the Constitution, are believed to be common to the American people, and those who express and disseminate distrust of their fidelity to both or either, we cannot regard as the most discreet of their friends.
" Unfortunately our country is now involved in that awful conflict which has desolated the fairest portions of Europe. Between the belligerents, Great Britain is selected for our enemy. We are not the apologists of the wrongs of foreign nations-we inquire not as to the comparative demerits of their respective decrees or orders. We will never deliberate on the choice of a foreign master. The aggressions of both nations ought to have been met at the onset, by a system of defensive protection commensurate to our means, and adapted to the crisis. Other counsels prevailed, and that system of commercial restrictions, which before had dis- tressed the people of Europe, was extended to our country. We became parties to the continental system of the French emperor. Whatever its pressure may have been elsewhere,
480
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
on our citizens it has operated with intolerable severity and hardship.
" In the midst of these sufferings, war is declared, and that nation of the two is selected as a foe, which is capable of in- flicting the greatest injury. In this selection we view, with the greatest solicitude, a tendency to entangle us in an alli- ance with a nation which has subverted every republic in Europe, and whose connections, wherever formed, have been fatal to civil liberty.
"Of the operation of her decrees on the American com- merce, it is not necessary here to remark. The repeal of them, promulgated in this country since the declaration of war, virtually declares that the American government was not to be trusted. Insult is thus added to injury.
"Should a continuance of this war exclude our sea-faring and mercantile citizens from the use of the ocean, and our invaluable institutions be sacrificed by an alliance with France, the measure of our degradation and wretchedness would be full.
"War, always calamitous, in this case portentous of great evils, enacted against a nation powerful in her armies, and without a rival on the ocean, cannot be viewed by us but with the deepest regret. A nation without fleets, without armies, with an impoverished treasury, with a frontier by sea and land extending many hundred miles, feebly defended, waging a war, hath not first "counted the cost."
" By the Constitution of the United States, the power of declaring war is vested in Congress. They have declared war against Great Britain. However much this measure is regretted, the General Assembly, ever regardful of their duty to the General Government, will perform all those obligations resulting from this act. With this view, they have at this session provided for the more effectual organization of the military force of this state, and a supply of the munitions of war. These will be employed, should the public exigencies require it, in defense of this state, and of our sister states, in compliance with the Constitution-and it is not to be
481
THE WAR.
[1812.]
doubted, but that the citizens of this state will be found, at the constitutional call of their country, among the foremost in its defense.
"To the United States is delegated the power, to call forth the militia to execute the laws, to suppress insurrection, and to repel invasions. To the states respectively is reserved the entire control of the militia, except in the cases specified. In this view of that important provision of the Constitution, the legislature fully accord with the decision of his excellency the governor, in refusing to comply with the requisition of the General Government for a portion of the militia. While it is to be regretted that any difference of opinion on that sub- ject should have arisen, the conduct of the chief magistrate of this state, in maintaining its immunities and privileges, meets our cordial approbation. The legislature also enter- tain no doubt that the militia of the state will, under the direction of the captain-general, be ever ready to perform their duty to the state and nation, in peace or war. They are aware that in a protracted war, the burden upon the militia may become almost insupportable, as a spirit of ac- quisition and extension of territory appears to influence the councils of the nation, which may require the employment of the whole regular forces of the United States in foreign con- quest, and leave our maritime frontier defenseless, or to be protected solely by the militia of the states.
"At this period of anxiety among all classes of citizens, we learn with pleasure, that a prominent cause of the war is removed by a late measure of the British cabinet. The re- vocation of the orders in council, it is hoped, will be met by a sincere spirit of conciliation on the part of our administra- tion, and speedily restore to our nation the blessings of a solid and honorable peace.
"In the event of the continuance of the war, the legisla- ture rely on the people of Connecticut, looking to Him who holds the destinies of empires in His hands, to maintain those institutions which their venerable ancestors estab- lished, to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges 63
482
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
which their fathers acquired and which are consecrated by their blood."
Although our people had steadily opposed the principles and measures that had led to the declaration of war, yet when they saw the country actually involved in the contest, they had too much patriotism to remain inactive. At the same session of the legislature that originated and sent forth this document, the quarter-master-general was authorized and directed to purchase for the state, in addition to the arms and artillery that had already been contracted for, "three thousand muskets, three thousand cartouch boxes, eight pieces of brass artillery of six pound calibre, and the neces- sary apparatus, six thousand pounds of powder, seventy thousand flints, and five tons of musket balls." A military force was also ordered to be forthwith raised in the state, to consist of two regiments of infantry, four companies of artil- lery, and four companies of cavalry, "to hold themselves in readiness for the defense of the state, to enforce the laws of the Union, to suppress insurrections and repel invasions, dur- ing the present war,-subject only, to the order of the com- mander-in-chief of this state."
This resolve of the legislature, together with the previous action of Governor Griswold, which was in strict accordance with the wishes and intentions of the Assembly as above ex- pressed, was the occasion of much remark at the time, and attempts have since been made to cast reproach upon the state for the stand she took on that occasion. Whether the measures pursued by our state were worthy of praise or blame, it is proper to remark, that our harbors and shipping were in a most exposed condition ; the fortifications along the coast had been neglected, and were decaying; and most of the regular troops had been withdrawn from the sea- board .* It should be remembered, also, that even when under a kingly government, the Connecticut troops were usually enlisted with the express proviso that they should be
* Andrews' Eulogy, p. 32.
483
STATE RIGHTS.
[1812.]
under the command of their own officers, and their wishes in this particular had been generally acceded to. A similar feeling seems to have still existed not only among the soldiers but on the part of the state authorities. The governor, there- fore, had refused to comply with a requisition from General Dearborn, for troops to be under the command of officers of the regular army, on the two-fold ground that the constitu- tional exigencies authorizing such a call did not exist, and that the militia "could not be compelled to serve under any other than their own officers, with the exception of the presi- dent himself when personally in the field." He argued, that by the Constitution of the United States, the entire con- trol of the militia is given to the state governments, except in certain specified contingencies, viz., "to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions ;" and as he contended that neither of these exigences actually existed, he could not constitutionally answer the call made upon him. In this decision he was fully sustained by the council, which consisted of the lieutenant-governor and twelve assistants."* That Governor Griswold and the council of Connecticut carried the doctrine of "state rights" farther than a true regard to the interests and powers of the confederacy will justify, is now pretty generally conceded, at least at the north. But if they erred in one direction, it is equally true that the course of the national government was not altogether in accordance with the dictates of justice. As if to revenge upon New England for her opposition to the war and the measures that had led to it, her six hundred
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