USA > Georgia > A history of Georgia : from its first discovery by Europeans to the adoption of the present constitution in MDCCXCVIII. Vol. II > Part 19
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On the 4th July, the Provincial Congress (now pro- perly called such, as every parish and district was represented) met in Savannah, and elected as its pre- siding officer, Archibald Bulloch. This Congress con- ferred upon the "Council of Safety," "full power upon every emergency during the recess of Congress." This latter body, which was fully organized on the 11th December, when George Walton was elected its Presi- dent, and Edward Langworthy its Secretary, assumed now the functions of government-levied troops, com- missioned officers, bought supplies, and did whatever else was needed in the peculiar circumstances of the times.
These movements, however, were confessedly imper- fect; yet were patiently endured, with their many evils, until a better machinery of government could be con- structed, and set in motion. Yet the patriots were not prepared to establish a new and permanent consti- tution, because it was yet undecided what measures would be ultimately pursued by the Continental Con- gress. Feeling, however, the need of some broader basis of action, the Provincial Congress, on the 15th April, 1776, adopted the following preamble and reso- lution, as the groundwork of a more stable and formal government :-
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" Whereas, the unwise and iniquitous system of ad- ministration obstinately persisted in by the British Parliament and Ministry against the good people of America, hath at length driven the latter to take up arms, as their last resource, for the preservation of their rights and liberties, which God and the Consti- tution gave them :
" And whereas an armed force, with hostile inten- tions against the people of this province, having lately arrived at Cockspur, his Excellency Sir James Wright, Baronet, the King's Governor of Georgia, in aid of the views of administration, and with a design to add to those inconveniences which necessarily flow from a state of confusion, suddenly and unexpectedly with- drew himself from his government, carrying off the great seal of the province with him :
"And whereas, in consequence of this and other events, doubts have arisen with the several magis- trates how far they are authorized to act under their former appointments, and the greatest part of them have absolutely refused to do so, whereby all judicial powers are become totally suspended, to the great danger of persons and property :
" And whereas, before any general system or form of government can be concluded upon, it is necessary that application be made to the Continental Congress for their advice and directions upon the same; but, never- theless, in the present state of things, it is indispensa- bly requisite that some temporary expedient be fallen upon to curb the lawless and protect the peaceable :
" This Congress, therefore, as the representatives of the people, with whom all power originates, and for whose benefit all government is intended, deeply im-
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pressed with a sense of duty to their constituents, of love to their country, and inviolable attachment to the liberties of America, and seeing how much it will tend to the advantage of each to preserve rules, justice, and order-do take upon them, for the present, and until the further order of the Continental Congress, or of this or any future Provincial Congress, to declare, and they accordingly do declare, order, and direct, that the following Rules and Regulations be adopted in this province-that is to say :-
"Ist. That there shall be a President and Com- mander-in-chief appointed by ballot, in this Congress, for six months, or during the time above specified.
"2d. That there shall, in like manner and for the like time, be also a Council of Safety, consisting of thirteen persons (besides the five delegates to the General Congress), appointed to act in the nature of a Privy Council to the said President or Commander-in- chief.
" 3d. That the President shall be invested with all the executive powers of government, not inconsistent with what is hereafter mentioned ; but shall be bound to consult and follow the advice of the said Council, in all cases whatsoever; and any seven of the said Coun- cil shall be a quorum for the purpose of advising.
"4th. That all the laws, whether common or statute, and the Acts of Assembly which have formerly been acknowledged to be of force in this province, and which do not interfere with the proceedings of the Continental or our Provincial Congresses, and also all and singular the resolves and recommendations of the said Conti- nental and Provincial Congresses, shall be of full force, validity, and effect, until otherwise ordered.
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"5th. That there shall be a Chief Justice and two Assistant Judges, an Attorney-General, a Provost- Marshal, and Clerk of the Court of Sessions, appointed by ballot, to serve during the pleasure of the Congress. The Court of Sessions, or Oyer and Terminer, shall be opened and held on the second Tuesday in June and December, and the former rules and method of pro- ceeding, as nearly as may be, shall be observed in regard to summoning of juries, and all other cases whatsoever.
"6th. That the President or Commander-in-chief, with the advice of the Council as before mentioned, shall appoint magistrates to act, during pleasure, in the several parishes throughout this province; and such magistrates shall conform themselves as nearly as may be to the old establishment, form, and methods of pro- ceeding.
" 7th. That all legislative powers shall be reserved to the Congress; and no person who holds any place of profit, civil or military, shall be eligible as a member either of the Congress or Council of Safety.
"Sth. That the following sums shall be allowed as salaries to the respective officers, for and during the time they shall serve, over and besides all such per- quisites and fees as have been formerly annexed to the said officers respectively."
Pursuant to the provisions of this scheme, Archibald Bulloch was elected President and Commander-in-chief of Georgia; John Glen, Chief Justice; William Stephens, Attorney-General ; and James Jackson, Clerk of Court.
The "Council of Safety," on the 1st of May, pre- sented to the new President the following address :-
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" To His Excellency Archibald Bulloch, Esquire, Presi- dent and Commander-in-chief of the Province of Georgia : The Address of the Council of Safety for the said Province.
" May it please your Excellency :
" The long session of the late Congress, together with the season of the year, called particularly for a speedy recess; and the House having adjourned while you were out of town, it becomes more particularly neces- sary for us to address your Excellency. All, there- fore, with unfeigned confidence and regard, beg leave to congratulate, not only your Excellency on your appointment to, but your country on your acceptance of, the supreme command in this province.
" It would be needless and tedious to recount the various and yet multiplying oppressions which have driven the people of this province to erect that govern- ment which they have called upon you to see executed ; suffice it, then, to declare, that it was only an alterna- tive of anarchy and misery, and, by consequence, the effect of dire necessity. Your Excellency will know that it was the endeavor of the Congress to stop every avenue of vice and oppression, lest the infant virtue of a still more infant province might in time rankle into corruption ; and, we doubt not that, by your Excel- lency's exertions, all the resolutions made or adopted by Congress will be enforced with firmness, without any regard to any individual, or any set of men; for no government can be said to be established while any part of the community refuses submission to its autho- rity. In the discharge of this arduous and important
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task, your Excellency may rely on our constant and best endeavors to assist and support you."
To this earnest and confiding address President Bul- loch returned the following reply :-
" To the Honorable the Members of the Council of Safety of the Province of Georgia :
" Honorable Gentlemen : I am much obliged to you for your kind expressions of congratulation of my ap- pointment to the supreme command of this colony. When I reflect from whence the appointment is derived -that of the free and uncorrupt suffrages of my fellow- citizens, it cannot fail to stimulate me to the most vigorous exertions in the discharge of the important duties to which I am called by our Provincial Con- gress. While I have the advice and assistance of gen- tlemen of known integrity and abilities, I doubt not but I shall be enabled to enforce and carry into execu- tion every resolve and law of Congress. And, as far as lies with me, my country may depend I will, with a becoming firmness, and the greatest impartiality, always endeavor to cause justice in mercy to be executed.
" ARCHIBALD BULLOCH."
The Council of Safety still continued to exercise its several functions, his Excellency being the Presi- dent of the body.
The Declaration of Independence, which had been published in Savannah with impressive ceremonies, put a new aspect on political affairs. It was now no longer a contest of colonies acknowledging fealty to the Eng-
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lish Crown, seeking redress of grievances from an ob- stinate King and a servile Parliament ; but a struggle of States for independence. Allegiance to Britain was cast off; the governments which had so long been esta- blished in the thirteen colonies were overturned; and, with them, went down the courts of law, and all the instrumentalities by and through which government had been administered. The old civil and political superstructures were taken down, and new establish- ments were to be reared in their places. To meet the exigency arising from this new attitude of the Conti- nental Congress, in declaring the American Colonies free and independent, President Bulloch issued a pro- clamation, based on a recommendation of the General Congress, ordering " the several parishes and districts within this State to proceed to the election of delegates between the 1st and 10th days of September next, to form and sit in convention ; and the delegates so elected are directed to convene at Savannah on the first Tues- day in October following, when business of the highest consequence to the government and welfare of the State will be opened for their consideration." In a circular letter addressed to the several parishes, he enjoined upon the people "the necessity of making choice of upright and good men to represent them in the ensuing convention - men whose actions had proved their friendship to the cause of freedom, and whose depth of political judgment qualified them to frame a constitution for the future government of the country."
The Deputies met in convention at the time ap- pointed, and took up the important subject before them. Much other business, however, pressed upon
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them, consequent on putting the State in a proper posture of defence ; but after one or two adjournments they accomplished their work, and on the 5th of Feb- ruary, 1777, ratified in convention the first Constitu- tion of the State of Georgia.
This instrument, after reciting in its preamble the causes which led to its origin, was divided into sixty- three articles, covering the whole ground of govern- ment in its legislative, executive, and judiciary depart- ments. The second article declared what should be the composition of the Legislature, to wit : a House of Assembly and an Executive Council; and also directed how the Governor and this Executive Council should be elected. The fifth article apportioned the repre- sentatives to the several counties. The sixth stated their qualifications. The seventh, the power of the Assembly. The ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thir- teenth, fourteenth, the qualifications and duties of electors. The fifteenth contained the representative's oath. The sixteenth and seventeenth declared who should and who should not, have seats in the Le- gislature. The articles from the nineteenth to the twenty-fourth, inclusive, set forth the duties of the Governor. Those from the twenty-fifth to the thir- tieth, inclusive, stated what were the duties of the Executive Council. The articles from the thirty- sixth to the forty-eighth, were taken up in defining the powers of the Judiciary. The fifty-fourth re- quired the erection of a school, at the public expense, in each county. The fifty-sixth established religious toleration. The sixtieth, the fundamental principle of the habeas corpus. The sixty-first, the inviolate freedom of the press and trial by jury. The sixty-
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second, the ineligibility of clergymen to seats in the Legislature; and the sixty-third provided, with great caution, for any needed revision of the Constitution. It was a striking indication of the grateful feeling of Georgians for those who had so warmly defended the cause of America in the British Parliament, that the fourth article of this Constitution changed the desig- nation of the old parishes by striking out their former names and substituting therefor, with one exception, the names of the English apologists for America. Thus the old parish of Christ Church, in which was Savannah and a part of the parish of St. Philip, were set off as a new county and called CHATHAM, in honor of the elder Pitt, the venerable Earl of Chatham. The parishes of St. David and St. Patrick, were erected into one county and called GLYNN, after the eminent counsellor of that name. The parishes of St. Matthew and the upper part of St. Philip, were to be known by the name of EFFINGHAM, after Lord Effingham, who had refused to employ his sword against the Americans, and resigned the Colonelcy of the 22d Regiment rather than serve with it in the war of the Revolution. To the parish of St. Paul, in which Augusta was situated, was given the name of RICH- MOND, in honor of the Duke of Richmond, who had boldly advocated the cause of America in the House of Lords. The parish of St. George was named BURKE, after that great commoner and wise states- man. The parishes of St. John, St. Andrew, and St. James, were to form one county under the name LIBERTY : a distinction awarded to the parish of St. John for its early and steady devotion to the cause of freedom. The parishes of St. Thomas and St. Mary,
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were to constitute another county by the name of CAM- DEN, after the distinguished Lord Chancellor of Eng- land, and firm friend of America. The ceded lands north of the Ogeechee was constituted a county, taking the name of WILKS, the name of that political dema- gogue who payed his court to liberty only that he might gain notoriety and wealth.
The great seal of the State, adopted by this Con- vention, had on one side a scroll, whereon was en- graved, " The Constitution of the State of Georgia," and the motto, " Pro bono publico;" on the other side, an elegant house, and other buildings ; fields of corn, and meadows covered with sheep and cattle; a river running through the same, with a ship under full sail; and the motto, " Deus nobis hæc otia fecit."
To carry this Constitution into effect, was now an important object with the President and Council of Safety. But it had scarcely been signed, before Archi- bald Bulloch died; and on the 4th March, 1777, the Council of Safety elected Button Gwinnett Presi- dent and Commander-in-chief, until such time as, by the Constitution, a Governor shall be appointed. In the exercise of his gubernatorial powers, he issued a proclamation requiring the parishes to elect delegates to a Legislature, to convene in Savannah on the first Tuesday in May.
The Legislature met at the time and place desig- nated; and at once, after the formalities of opening, proceeded to elect a Governor and Executive Council : when John Adam Treutlen was chosen Governor; and John Houstoun, Thomas Chisholm, William Holzin- dorf, William Few, John Coleman, William Peacock, John Walton, Arthur Fort, John Fulton, John Jones,
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and Benjamin Andrews, were chosen as the first Ex- ecutive Council. Of this body, Benjamin Andrews was elected President, and Samuel Stirk, Clerk. The books and papers of the late Council of Safety were, by a resolution of the Assembly, confided to them, and thenceforth the Council of Safety ceased to exist.
In the latter part of 1776, a resolution was intro- duced into the General Assembly of South Carolina, and unanimously passed, " that a union between the two States of South Carolina and Georgia would tend effectually to promote their strength, wealth, and dig- nity, and to secure their liberty, independence, and safety." It was also resolved to send Commissioners to Georgia, to treat with the Legislature upon this matter; and, among others, William Henry Drayton was appointed.
Mr. Drayton reached Savannah in the beginning of January, 1777; but soon found that "every gentleman in public office, with whom he conversed, was strongly against a union." A few others, however, approved the measure. Being honored with an invitation to appear before the Convention, then in session, he stated to that body, in an address of an hour's length, the various reasons which should lead them to seek a union with South Carolina, and the many benefits which would accrue to Georgia thereby. The state of affairs in Georgia, as he painted them, was certainly very highly colored; and some of his prognostications read quite strangely alongside the facts of actual his- tory. Among other things, he declared, "in a state of separation, in all probability, Savannah will be ruined, because it will be our interest to preserve our trade to our own people. A town will rise on the
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Carolina side of the Savannah River, which will be sure to preserve our half of the trade of that river, and, by being wisely supported, may draw to it the other half, also."
His arguments failed to produce the desired re- sponse; the overtures were rejected, as the Conven- tion, that same afternoon, delivered to Mr. Drayton their answer, declining the proposition.
Button Gwinnett was particularly opposed to this measure, and labored assiduously to check it. After his death, a new plan of action was adopted by the people of South Carolina, who circulated petitions tending to cast odium on the Executive of Georgia; magnifying the grievances, and exciting distrust in the people; and urged them to take some action towards a union of the two most southern States, as the best means of defence and safety. Finding these papers freely circulated, and calculated to be detri- mental to the welfare of the State, the Executive Council, on the 14th July, requested Governor Treut- len " to issue a proclamation, offering a reward of one hundred pounds to any person or persons who will apprehend William Henry Drayton and sundry per- sons," engaged in this project. The next day, there- fore, the Governor issued his proclamation to that effect ; and it was freely distributed, to counteract the pernicious effect of the Carolina papers.
To this proclamation Mr. Drayton returned a most discourteous and defiant reply. His aim seemed to be to cast ridicule on the Governor and his advisers, of whom he says : "I am inclined to think you are con- cealed Tories, or their tools, who have clambered up, or have been put into office, in order to burlesque
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government (and I never saw a more extravagant burlesque than you exhibit), that the people might be sick of an American administration, and strive to return under the British dominion, merely for the sake of endeavoring to procure something like law and order. I respect the people of Georgia; but, most wise rulers, kissing your hands, I cannot but laugh at some folks. Can you guess who they are ?"
Such an insolent communication evinced the animus of the men who moved in this matter, and excited general disgust.
These prompt measures of Governor Treutlen put a stop to the efforts of those who sought to reduce Georgia to a state of vassalage to South Carolina; and thenceforward, under difficulties indeed of the most trying kind, her people were permitted to carry on the government of their own affairs, and to place them- selves, as an independent State, on the floor of the Con- tinental Congress, on a level with the other colonies.
When the Assembly met in Savannah, 17th January, 1778, John Houstoun, son of Sir Patrick Houstoun, and one of the foremost and most earnest friends of liberty, was, on the 10th instant, elected Governor; John Glen, Chief Justice; William Stephens, Attor- ney-General; William O'Brien and Nehemiah Wade, Joint Treasurers; James Maxwell, Secretary; and Thomas Chisholm, Surveyor-General. James Jones was elected Collector for the port of Savannah; David Rees, Collector for the port of Sunbury ; and Ambrose Wright, Commissary-General of the State, and Super- intendent of Public Buildings in the County of Chatham. Registers of Probate for each of the coun- ties, and other minor officers, were also elected.
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Thus, gradually, did the State seem to be consoli- dating itself into a compact government, under judi- cious leaders, when the threatening aspect of affairs caused the Executive Council to take a step, which showed at once the greatness of the emergency, and the confidence which was reposed in the Chief Magis- trate of the State.
At a meeting of the Executive Council, April 16, 1778, to consider and act upon the condition of things, both military and civil, that body adopted the bold and, in most instances, dangerous policy, of investing one man with almost dictatorial powers. In a series of preambles and resolutions spread upon their mi- nutes, they declare, that "the situation of this State is truly alarming, and, without the most spirited and vigorous exertions, the machinations of our enemies threaten to succeed ;" that "in such times of danger, it may happen that everything may depend upon in- stantaneous measures being embraced, which cannot be done should the Governor wait for calling a Coun- cil;" and then, having expressed their opinion as to the constitutionality of the proposed measure, they proceed : "The Council, therefore, impressed with a sense of the calamitous situation of this State, and apprehending it as an unavoidable expedient, do request that his honor, the Governor, will be pleased to take upon himself to act in such manner as to him shall seem most eligible ; and to exercise all the execu- tive powers of government appertaining to the militia, or the defence of the State, against the present danger which threatens it, or in annoyance of the enemy, independent of the Executive Council, and without calling, consulting, or advising with them, unless
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when and where he shall find it convenient, and shall choose to do so. And they pledge themselves to sup- port and uphold him in so doing, and to adopt as their own the measures which he shall embrace; and that this shall continue during the present emergency, or until the honorable House of Assembly shall make an order or give their opinion to the contrary."
The Governor, having considered this requisition, answered, that "he was exceedingly unwilling to do any act without the approbation of the Council; but that, as he found by experience during the present alarm, the impossibility of at all times getting them together when too much, perhaps, depended upon a minute; and further, that as the Council had given it as their opinion that the proceeding was justifiable under the Constitution, and as the meeting of the Assembly was so near at hand, and alarms and dan- gers seemed to thicken on all sides, he agreed to act in the manner the Council requested, during the pre- sent emergency, or until the honorable House of As- sembly shall make an order, or give their opinion to the contrary."
The practical working of this grant of power to the Executive, was productive of evil, causing disputes with Continental officers as to military rank; and was one of the causes which led to a failure of the expe- dition on the southern seaboard, to check the Indians and Tories of Florida in their marauding incursions into Georgia.
When the town of Savannah was captured, in De- cember, 1778, the Executive Council removed the seat of government to Augusta. At this place, the mem- bers of the Council met at the house of Matthew VOL. II.
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Hobson, to choose a President. As, however, no Go- vernor had been elected by the Assembly, "the Con- vention of the representatives of the State of Georgia, in Assembly met," by a resolution, passed on the 9th, empowered "the members chosen for a Council, or the majority thereof," " to act as a committee to recom- mend everything they may think expedient, in the place of a Council for this State, until the Convention meet again, to clothe them with power to act as an Executive Council."
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