USA > Delaware > Minutes of the Council of the Delaware state from 1776 to 1792, V 1 > Part 8
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A member from the House of Assembly, attending at the door, was admitted and delivered at the Chair a bill entitled
"An act for the holding the General Assembly at Dover, in the County of Kent."
By order read the first time.
Also, sundry resolutions of that House, to wit :
"IN THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, "FRIDAY, A. M., May 9th, 1777.
"Resolved unanimously, That it is a daring invasion of the "rights and liberties of the people of this State for any person or "persons to impress any of the inhabitants thereof, or persons "therein residing, either into the sea or land service of the United "States of America, or any of them, under colour of authority " derived from any State, or man, or body of men whatever, ex- "cept the Legislature of this State.
"Resolved unanimously, That the President and Commander- "in-Chief be requested to cause to be apprehended and prose- "cuted, according to law, any person or persons who shall pre- "sume to violate the above resolution, and, if necessary, that the " Militia be called in to support the civil authority in apprehend- "ing such offenders."
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THE DELAWARE STATE, 1777.
Which, by order, was read the first time.
The Speaker laid before the Council a letter received by him in the late recess of the General Assembly from the Honorable John Hancock, Esquire, President of Congress, inclosing an attested copy of the Declaration of Independency of the Thir- teen United States of America, with the names of the Members of Congress subscribing the same.
And the same being read by order,
Resolved unanimously, That for the better preserving the said act of independency and as a lasting testimony of the approba- tion thereof by the representatives of the people of this State in General Assembly met, the same be entered at large on the minutes of the respective Houses of this present General Assem- bly, and afterwards lodged in the rolls office among the laws and other publick acts of this State.
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776.
THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have con- nected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident-That all men are cre- ated equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient
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causes ; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are ac- customed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies ; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former system of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establish- ment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation, till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those. people would relinquish the right of representation in the legis- lature-a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for op- posing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large, for their exercise, the state remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States ; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreign- ers ; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
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He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers, to harass our people, and eat out their sub- stance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the military independent of and su- perior to the civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation :
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ..
For protecting them by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States :
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world :
For imposing taxes on us without our consent :
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences :
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and en- larging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies :
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments:
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with the power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people,
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He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercen- aries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has en- deavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguish- ed destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for re- dress in the most humble terms : our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose charac- ter is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British breth- ren. We have warned them from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarratable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these unsurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necesity which denounces our separation, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends.
We, therefore, the represenatives of the United States of America, in general congress assembled, appealing to the Su- preme Judge of the world, for the recitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these col- onies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies, are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally disolved ; and that as free and independent States they have full power to levy war, con-
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clude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all. other acts and things which independent States may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
The foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress, engross- ed, and signed by the following members :
JOHN HANCOCK. NEW HAMPSHIRE.
JOSIAH BARTLETT, WILLIAM WHIPPLE,
MATTHEW THORNTON.
MASSACHUSETTS BAY.
SAMUEL ADAMS, ROBERT TREAT PAINE, ELBRIDGE GERRY.
JOHN ADAMS,
RHODE ISLAND, &c.
STEPHEN HOPKINS,
WILLIAM ELLERY.
CONNECTICUT.
ROGER SHERMAN, WILLIAM WILLIAMS, OLIVER WOLCOTT
SAMUEL HUNTINGTON,
NEW YORK.
WILLIAM FLOYD,
PHILIP LIVINGSTON,
FRANCIS LEWIS,
LEWIS MORRIS.
NEW JERSEY.
RICHARD STOCKTON, JOHN WITHERSPOON,
JOHN HART,
ABRAHAM CLARK.
PENNSYLVANIA.
ROBERT MORRIS,
BENJAMIN RUSH,
JAMES WILSON,
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, JOHN MORTON, ? GEORGE Ross.
GEORGE CLYMER,
JAMES SMITH, GEORGE TAYLOR,
FRANCIS HOPKINSON,
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DELAWARE.
CÆSAR RODNEY, GEORGE READ,
THOMAS M'KEAN.
MARYLAND.
SAMUEL CHASE,
WILLIAM PACA,
THOMAS STONE, CHAS. CARROLL, of Carrollton.
VIRGINIA.
GEORGE WYTHE,
THOMAS NELSON, JR.,
RICHARD HENRY LEE,
THOMAS JEFFERSON,
FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE, CARTER BRAXTON.
BENJAMIN HARRISON,
NORTH CAROLINA.
WILLIAM HOOPER, JOSEPH HEWES,
JOHN PENN.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
EDWARD RUTLEDGE, THOMAS LYNCH, JR., ARTHUR MIDDLETON.
THOMAS HEYWARD,
GEORGIA.
BUTTON GWINNETT,
LYMAN HALL,
GEORGE WALTON.
Ordered, That Mr. Bassett wait on the House of Assembly with the letter from the President of Congress and the attested copy of the Act of Independence, together with the foregoing resolution for their approbation and concurrence.
Mr. Bassett, being returned, reported that he had waited on the House of Assembly according to the order aforesaid.
A member from the House of Assembly, attending at the door, was admitted and returned to the Chair the bill entitled "An act for the more speedily completing the quota of troops, &c.," with the amendments proposed by this House to the said bill, to all of which the House of Assembly agreed except the Ist, 2d, 3d and 4th, and request that a committee of Council may be ap- pointed to confer with a committee of the House of Assembly upon the said amendments not acceded to.
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And the said proposal for a committee of conference being taken into consideration, Mr. Bassett, Mr. Cantwell, and Mr. Collins are appointed on the part of this House for that purpose.
Mr. Collins, a member of this House, and one of the commis- sioners appointed by the President and Council of this State to meet commissioners appointed by the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, at York town, in Pennsylvania, in pursuance of a resolve of Congress, for the pur- pose of considering and forming a system adapted to the said States for regulating the price of labour, of manufactures, and of internal produce within those States, and of goods imported from foreign parts, except military stores, laid a copy of the proceed- ings of the said commissioners before the Council.
On motion and order the same was read. 1
Ordered, That the same be sent to the House of Assembly for their perusal, and that Mr. Collins deliver the same.
Mr. Collins, being returned, reported that he had waited on the House of Assembly according to order.
On motion, by special order,
The resolutions of the House of Assembly were read the second time and concurred in.
Ordered, That Mr. Bassett wait on the House of Assembly with the said resolutions and concurrence of Council thereto.
Who, being returned, reported that he had waited on the House of Assembly according to the order aforesaid.
Ordered, That the following verbal message be transcribed, signed by the Speaker, and sent to the House of Assembly, to wit :
VERBAL MESSAGE TO THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY FROM THE COUNCIL. :
Gentlemen :
The Council have acceded to your proposal for a conference, by committees to be appointed by both Houses, on the subject matter of the four first amendments proposed by the Council to
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the bill for the more speedily completing the quota of troops to be raised in this State for the Continental army, and have ap- pointed Messrs. Cantwell, Bassett, and Collins, on the part of the Council, a committee for the purpose aforesaid.
Ordered, That Mr. Bassett wait on the House of Assembly with the the forgoing message.
Who, being returned, reported that he had waited on the House of Assembly according to the order aforesaid.
A member from the House of Assembly, attending at the door, was admitted and delivered to the Chair a verbal message ap- pointing Messrs. Ridgely, Finney, and Clowes, on the part of that House, a committee of conference respecting the amend- ments not acceded to.
Which, by order, was read.
Adjourned till to-morrow morning, 10 o'clock.
SATURDAY, A. M., May 10th.
Council met.
Mr. Vandyke appeared and took his seat.
A member from the House of Assembly, attending at the door, was admitted and delivered at the Chair
"A supplement to an act entitled 'An act for regulating inn- holders, tavern-keepers, and other publick house keepers within this Government, and impowering the Justices to settle the rates of liquors.'"
Also returned the resolution of this House as to the Act of Independency of the United States of America.
On motion, by order,
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The "Supplement to an act entitled 'An act for regulating inn- holders, tavern-keepers, and other publick house keepers within this Government, &c.,'" was read the first time and ordered to lie on the table for consideration.
The Council took into consideration their Ist, 2d, 3d and 4th amendments proposed by them to the bill entitled "An act for the more speedily completing the quota of troops to be raised, &c.," and do recede from the same.
On motion,
Ordered, That a committee be appointed to draw up a message to the House of Assembly assigning the reasons for proposing said amendments, and Messrs. Vandyke, Bassett, and Cantwell were appointed a committee for that purpose.
Adjourned till 3 o'clock, P. M.
EODEM DIE, P. M.
Council met.
The committee appointed to draw up a message to the House of Assembly laid one on the table, which was read, and, after some amendments made, was transcribed and signed by the Speaker, and is as follows, to wit :
A MESSAGE FROM THE COUNCIL TO THE ASSEMBLY.
Gentlemen :
As the committee of conferees appointed by the two Houses on the subject matter of the four first amendments proposed by the Council to the bill for the more speedily completing the quota of troops to be raised in this State for the Continental army have come to no determination thereon, and the advantage which might arise to the United States by the filling up said quota of
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troops must be totally lost should no mode to effect the same be adopted by the General Assembly at their present sitting, the Council think it necessary to recede from their said pro- posed amendments ; but at the same time, in justice to them- selves, deem it their duty to. inform your honorable House of the reasons which induced them to propose said amendments, and which still strongly impress their minds, to wit :
That the exemptions from all service in the Militia on a recruit being procured by any two persons will induce many to offer con- siderable sums in addition to the bounty allowed by Congress, which will effectually put an end to the enlistment of men by any commissioned officer of said battalion, except for such who may wish to purchase exemptions.
That such exemptions will tend to discourage the Militia, aš the procuring recruits in that mode can only be adopted by those who may be in easy circumstances. This will occasion dissatis- faction and murmuring among others who are not so fortunate as to be able to take advantage thereof.
That every step having a tendency to discourage the bulk of the people, or lessen their confidence in a number of their fellow-citi- zens, ought to be carefully avoided, as the success of the present righteous struggle chiefly depends on unanimity and confidence being supported among all ranks of people. The mode prescribed in the bill may, for many reasons, not be so injurious in a large and populous State. Our case is different. We have a long and extended frontier and few to guard it. Every exertion must be made to spirit up that few. The numbers are such that they will not bear much diminution, particularly of those of whom most may be expected.
That if a number of suitable persons in this State, in addition to the officers of the Delaware Battalion, were authorized to re- cruit and a bounty given to them, with a further allowance for the subsistence of recruits, the quota of troops for this State might be made up, and a defection in the Militia not risqued.
Ordered, That Mr. Baning wait on the House of Assembly with the bill and forgoing message.
Who, being returned, reported that he had waited on the House of Assembly according to order.
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A member from the House of Assembly, attending at the door, was admitted and delivered at the Chair
"A supplement to the act entitled 'An act for establishing a Militia in this State,' "
Which, by order, was read the first time.
On motion, by special order,
The supplement to the act entitled "An act for establishing a Militia in this State," was read the 2d time, and, after some time spent therein, was agreed to.
Ordered, That Mr. Baning wait on the House of Assembly with the bill.
Who, being returned, reported that he had delivered the bill according to order.
On motion, by special order,
The bill entitled "An act for holding the General Assembly at Dover, in the County of Kent," was read the 2d time, and an amendment being proposed the same was transcribed and sent to the House of Assembly for their concurrence.
The supplement to an act entitled "An act for regulating inn- holders, tavern-keepers, and other publick house keepers within this Government," was read the 2d time and concurred in.
Ordered, That Mr. Vandyke wait on the House of the Assem- bly with the two foregoing bills and amendment proposed to the former.
Mr. Vandyke, being returned, reported that he had waited on the House of Assembly according to order.
A member from the House of Assembly, attending at the door, was admitted and returned the bill entitled
"An act for the holding the General Assembly at Dover, in the County of Kent,"
With the amendment thereto proposed, to which the House of Assembly agreed.
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The Council consent that the said bill be enacted into a law.
A member from the House of Assembly, attending at the door, was admitted and delivered to the Chair a message from the President to the General Assembly, inclosing sundry resolu- tions of Congress, to wit :
" Gentlemen :
"I herewith send you some resolutions of the Honorable " Congress of the 19th ultimo, transmitted to me by the Presi- " dent, recommending measures to the Legislative and Executive "authorities of this State and the State of Maryland to avert the "imminent danger of an insurrection in the Counties of Somerset "and Worcester, in the State of Maryland, and to prevent their "being joined by disaffected persons in the County of Sussex, in "this State, and to enact laws appointing commissioners to take "charge of the estates of such as may be removed. In conse- "quence whereof, with the advice of the Privy Council, I wrote "to some principal gentlemen in the County of Sussex and to " the commanding officers of the Militia adjacent to Worcester "County, desiring them respectively to make the most speedy "and strict inquiries respecting the danger apprehended from "Sussex County, and that they would, as soon after as possible, "let me know the result. In answer to which, I have been in- "formed by those gentlemen severally that the inhabitants of "that county are very quiet, and that they imagined the sus- "picion as to them was not well founded, save one of the gen- "tlemen, who refers me to be informed by Mr. John Clowes, a "member of the House of Assembly, with whom I have had an "opportunity to converse on that subject, but from whom you "can much better immediately receive that information."
Also, sundry resolutions of the House of Assembly, founded upon the report of their committee to whom were referred the foregoing message and its inclosures.
Also, a verbal message informing the Council that the House of Assembly . propose to adjourn to-morrow morning till the 2d June next.
On motion,
Ordered, That the resolutions of the honorable House of As- sembly, founded on the message of his Excellency the President
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and sent to the Council, be referred to a committee of two to re- port thereon.
And Messrs. Vandyke and Bassett are appointed a committee for that purpose.
Adjourned till Monday morning, 10 o'clock.
MONDAY, May 12th, 1777. 1
Council met. ·
Mr. Dingee, a member of this House, appeared and took his seat, and assigned his reason for not attending sooner, which was deemed sufficient.
A member from the House of Assembly, attending at the door, was admitted and returned to the Chair the two following engross- ed bills for the examination of Council, to wit :
The bill entitled "An act for the more speedily completing the quota of troops to be raised in this State for the Continental army."
Also, a supplement to the act entitled "An act for establishing a Militia in this State."
Which, being severally examined and compared, the Council consent that the said bills be enacted into laws.
Ordered, That Mr. Vandyke wait on the House of Assembly with the said bills.
Who, being returned, reported that he had waited on the House of Assembly according to the order aforesaid.
The committee appointed to consider the resolutions of the honorable House of Assembly, founded on the message of his Excellency the President, have taken the same into consideration 1.6
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and beg leave to report the following resolutions to be adopted instead thereof : *
And the said resolutions reported by the committee of Council being read and considered, were agreed to be adopted in the stead of the resolutions sent from the House of Assembly, and ordered to be sent to that House for their consideration and con- currence.
A member from the House of Assembly, attending at the door, was admitted and delivered at the Chair the following resolution of that House, to wit :
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