USA > Georgia > A history of Georgia : from its first discovery by Europeans to the adoption of the present constitution in MDCCXCVIII. Vol. II > Part 20
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Under these instructions, this committee acted until the time came for the next meeting of the Assembly in Augusta. At the designated period, however, a quorum of members did not convene, owing to the disturbed state of the province, and the occupancy of the lower counties by the British troops and govern- ment.
The twenty-five members who did meet at this time, though not able to organize the House, and carry on in full the operations of government, felt most deeply the need of certainty and stability, as it respects authority and law; and the great evils which resulted from the absence of an executive head and legislative direction. Impressed with these sentiments, they drew up and subscribed the following remarkable paper :-
" State of Georgia, Richmond County.
" Whereas, from the invasion of the British forces in this State, great evils have arisen, and still exist, to dis- turb the civil government of the said State, and which, in a great measure, have prevented the Constitution of
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the land from being carried into such full effect as to answer the purposes of government therein pointed out. And whereas, it becomes incumbent and indis- pensably necessary at this juncture to adopt such tem- porary mode as may be most conducive to the wel- fare, happiness, and security of the rights and privi- leges of the good people of the said State, and the maintainance and existence of legal and effective authority in the same, as far as the exigence of affairs requires, until a time of less disquiet shall happen, and the Constitution take its regular course ; to the end, therefore, that government may prevail, and be ac- knowledged to prevent, as far as may be, anarchy and confusion from continuing among us, and fully to sup- port the laws of the land derived under the Constitu- tion thereof,
" We, therefore, the representatives of the people of the counties of Wilkes, Richmond, Burke, Effing- ham, Chatham, Liberty, Glynn, Camden, and other freemen of the State, having convened and met in the county of Richmond, in the State aforesaid, for the purposes of considering the present disturbed situation of the State, and for applying, as far as in our power, some remedy thereto, and having maturely and seri- ously considered the same, do recommend that the fol- lowing persons be appointed by the good people of this State to exercise the supreme authority thereof; who shall, before they enter on the execution of their office, take the following oath, viz., I, A. B., elected one of the Supreme Executive Council of the State of Georgia, do solemnly swear that I will, during the term of my appointment, to the best of my skill and judgment, execute the said office faithfully and conscientiously
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without favor, affection, or partiality ; that I will, to the utmost of my power, support, maintain, and defend the State of Georgia, and use my utmost endeavors to support the people thereof in the secure enjoyment of their just rights and privileges; and that I will, to the best of my judgment, execute justice and mercy in all judgments : so help me God.
" And we, and each of us, on our parts, as free citi- zens of the State of Georgia aforesaid, do for our- selves nominate, authorize, empower, and require you, John Wereat, Joseph Clay, Joseph Habersham, Hum- phrey Wells, William Few, John Dooley, Seth John Cuthbert, William Gibbons, Sen., and Myrick Davies, Esqr's, or a majority of you, to act as the Executive or Supreme Council of this State ; and to execute, from Tuesday, the twenty-seventh instant, to the first Tues- day in January next, unless sooner revoked by a ma- jority of the freemen of this State, every such power as you, the said John Wereat, Joseph Clay, Joseph Habersham, Humphrey Wells, William Few, John Dooley, Seth John Cuthbert, William Gibbons, Sen., and Myrick Davies, Esqr's, or a majority of you, shall deem necessary for the safety and defence of the State and the good citizens thereof : taking care in all your proceedings to keep as near the spirit and meaning of the Constitution of the said State as may be. And you, the said John Wereat, Joseph Clay, Joseph Ha- bersham, Humphrey Wells, William Few, John Doo- ley, Seth John Cuthbert, William Gibbons, Sen., and Myrick Davies, Esqr's, or a majority of you, hereby have full power and authority, and are authorized, ยท empowered, and required, to elect fit and discrete per- sons to represent this State in Congress, and to instruct
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the delegates so chosen in which matters and things as will tend to the interest of this State in particular, and the United States of America in general.
" The said delegates taking care from time to time to transmit to you, the said Council, or other authority of the State for the time being, an account of their pro- ceedings in Congress aforesaid ; to regulate the public treasury of the said State, to borrow or otherwise ne- gotiate loans for the public safety ; to regulate the militia, and appoint an officer if necessary to command ; to appoint, suspend, and discharge all civil officers, if it shall be found expedient ; to demand an account of all expenditures of public money, and to regulate the same, and, where necessary, order payments of money ; to adopt some mode respecting the current money of this State, and for sinking the same; to direct and commissionate the Chief Justice of the State, or assist- ant justices, or other justices of the peace, and other officers of each county, to convene courts for the trial of offences cognizable by the laws of the land, in such place or places as you shall think fit : always taking care that trial by jury be preserved inviolate, and that the proceedings had before such courts be in a sum- mary way, so that offenders be brought to a speedy trial, and justice be amply done, as well to the State as to the individuals. You, or a majority of you, the said Council, have full power, and hereby are requested on conviction of offenders, to order punishment to be inflicted, extending to death. And when objects de- serving mercy shall be made known to you, to extend that mercy and pardon the offence, remit all fines, mitigate corporal punishments, as the case may be, and as to you or a majority of you shall seem fit and neces-
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sary. And you the said Council, or a majority of you, at all times and places, when and where you shall think fit, have hereby full power and competent autho- rity to meet, appoint your own President ; settle your own rules ; sit, consult, deliberate, advise, direct, and carry in execution, all and every act, special and gene- ral, hereby delegated to you, and all and every such other acts, measures, and things, as you, or a majority of you, shall find expedient and necessary for the wel- fare, safety, and happiness of the freemen of this State.
" And in case any of the persons, herein appointed to exercise the supreme authority as aforesaid, shall re- fuse to act, die, or depart this State, or shall by any other means be prevented from exercising the same, then, and in such case, you the said Council hereby chosen, or a majority of you, shall, and you are hereby authorized, empowered, and required to fill up such vacancies by choosing fit and discrete persons, or per- sons to act in his or their room and stead, which per- son or persons so chosen, is or are hereby invested with every power and authority, in as full and ample a manner, as if they had been appointed by this present instrument of writing.
" And we do hereby declare all officers, civil and military, and all persons, inhabitants of this State, subject to and amenable to your authority, and will ratify and confirm whatever you may do for or con- cerning the public weal, according to the best of your judgment, knowledge, and ability ; and further we do hereby promise you our support, protection, and coun- tenance.
"In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands, this twenty-fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord 1779."
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The Supreme Executive Council, thus clothed with plenary powers, temporarily organized on Saturday, the 24th July, 1779, by the choice of Seth John Cuth- bert, as President pro tempore; and fully organized on the 6th August, by electing unanimously, John Wereat, President, who then, together with the other members of the Council, took the oath prescribed by the instrument, which created them the supreme power in Georgia.
It is evident that this whole transaction was illegal and unconstitutional. The appointing body, and the body appointed to office, both felt it to be so ; and the Council, in a letter to General Lincoln, say, in reference to the delegates appointing nine members as the Coun- cil, " this we assure you they did, but conceive they had sufficient power to establish; but recommended it to the inhabitants of the State, and it has been adopted by a very large majority of them."
Such was the condition of the country at that time, that it was impossible to act under the provisions of the Constitution. A regularly formed government could not then be constructed, and the question was reduced to the dilemma, of having no form of govern- ment at all; or, acting as nearly as possible to the letter of the Constitution, and always in its spirit, to set up, by the popular voice, a provisional government, during such period as the Constitution was necessarily inoperative, by reason of the distress and bloodshed and war which filled the land.
How trying to the hearts of the people this period was, and how dark the future appeared, may be learned from a letter written by this Council, under date of August 18th, 1779, to General Lincoln.
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Having stated in the beginning, the circumstances which created them the Supreme Executive Council, they remark with an earnestness and a far-sightedness truly commendable :
" A considerable part of the State having been in the immediate possession of the enemy ever since its inva- sion by them, those counties which have held out against them, have been constantly subject to their incursions and depredations, and, of course, the few militia thereof, much harassed with duty; but their spirits have been kept up with the idea of support from the continent and our sister State, otherwise, we apprehend, a total evacuation would long since have taken place by those who have firmness enough to sacrifice everything to the cause of America, whilst the wavering would have joined the enemy, and assisted them in their operations against Carolina.
" The arrival of the advance of General Scott's army, under Colonel Parker and Major Jamison, at a very critical juncture, has had the most salutary effect that could be expected, for it has infused new spirits into the militia, who are now all cheerfully under arms, to oppose the concerted invasions of the enemy's ir- regulars and Indians, who are at this time making different inroads upon us. General McIntosh has sent out a part of the Continental troops to support our militia, and we hope that for the present we shall be able to repel the enemy, and to keep them from reap- ing any considerable advantages from the attempts of small parties. But we presume, sir, that we need not endeavor to impress your mind with an idea of the feeble resistance we should be able to make to any serious attempt of the enemy to sujugate the upper
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parts of the State, even with the assistance that Gen- eral McIntosh can at this time afford us. We believe that it is generally allowed, that, unless the enemy are considerably reinforced, they will not make another attempt upon Charleston; and, from a variety of cir- cumstances, we are led to hope that they will not receive such reinforcement. Should this be the case, there can scarce remain a doubt but that they will aim at a total subjugation of Georgia this fall; for we can- not in reason suppose that they will keep a conside- rable body of troops immured in Savannah whilst the back country, so necessary to their quiet subsistence, as well as their future designs, remains unconquered. The large quantities of grain made in the vicinity of this place, and the numerous herds of cattle through all the upper parts of the country, must be very con- siderable objects with them, particularly as we know that they cannot even now get sufficient supplies of cattle without coming upwards, and then fighting for them. The frequent skirmishes of our militia with their irregulars, who are employed as drovers, evinces the truth of this observation ; and should they gain the upper parts of this State, we are bold to assert that Carolina would be in a very dangerous situation. The great defection of the upper parts of that country is well known; a circumstance on which the enemy found the most sanguine hopes, and we have every reason to believe that they continually receive en- couragement from these people to invade the back country. Nor could the enemy wish for a more favor- able situation to be joined by them, than that by Augusta, or anywhere above it, where the river is shallow and the swamps all passable.
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" Add to the circumstances already mentioned, which might induce the enemy to progress upwards in force, that of having no obstruction to their intercourse with the Indians, is a very capital one, and which will im- mediately be the case should they effect an entire con- quest of this country ; and unless they should do this, their intercourse will be very precarious and uncertain, and we shall always have it in our power to give the most considerable interruption to it. We think this point worth paying the most particular attention to, as we are informed that Indian goods are now imported at Savannah, and that the Creek Indians have had no late supply from the Floridas. Should the trade from this country with the Indians be once open and unin- terrupted, the enemy will find not the least difficulty, whenever they have a mind, in bringing the savages upon the frontiers of Carolina.
" Besides our apprehensions on the above heads, we are fearful that in case the British troops should move up this way, the greatest part of the inhabitants, worn out with fruitless opposition, and actuated by the fear of losing their all, would make terms for themselves ; and as the human mind is too apt to be led by a natural gradation from one step of infamy to another, we have not the least doubt of their joining the enemy against their countrymen in any other State. But even should the British commander not bend his force this way, a great many families, harassed and unsup- ported, would remove far northwardly (for which they are already thinking of preparing), and this dangerous migration nothing but the appearance of support can prevent.
" With minds forcibly impressed by the operation of
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such powerful reasons, we beg leave, sir, to solicit you, in the most serious manner, to order General Scott, who, we understand, is on his march southwardly with the rest of his troops, immediately to this place. We cannot think that the lower parts of Carolina will be endangered by such an order; for we may reasonably presume that the enemy will never penetrate far into that part of the country while a respectable force re- mains in their rear, which would be the case if General Scott and his troops were in Georgia."
At the same time, the Council addressed a commu- nication to the Governor of South Carolina, briefly reciting their grievances and distress; without repre- sentatives in Congress, without a Legislature, without money to pay the services of its soldiery, surrounded by enemies, and expecting still further subjugation ; and then they ask assistance, both pecuniary and mili- tary, to enable them to maintain their stand, and not abandon Georgia entirely to the British.
Their appeals were not unheeded ; and a few weeks saw the combined army of the French and Americans, under Count d'Estaing and General Lincoln, lay siege to Savannah.
The failure of the allied arms to capture this town, and the virtual defeat and withdrawal of the French and American troops, left Georgia in a worse condition than ever; and it seemed almost as if her political existence was at an end. The royal government was re-established, and Sir James Wright issued his procla- mation, dated Savannah, the 26th October, 1779, ap- pointing Friday, the 29th, as a day of public thanks- giving to Almighty God, for " His divine interposition"
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and " signal protection," whose superintending provi- dence, says the Governor, "has at no period been more fully displayed, than in the late deliverance we have experienced from the united efforts of rebellion and our natural enemies." Proclamations were now issued, also, by Governor Wright and by the military commanders, offering protection to such as would lay down their arms, and live at peace under British rule. Many availed themselves of these beguiling offers, and, feeling that all was lost in Georgia, sought to make peace with the enemy, and secure life, even at the expense of liberty.
So soon as Savannah was relieved from the presence of the allied army, Sir James Wright exerted himself to re-establish the royal government, and to bring back the whole province to its former fealty to the crown. His first care was to put Savannah into a proper condition ; for it had been so shattered by the destructive fire of the French and Americans, and by the wanton use of the troops within, as well as by the necessary demands of the siege, that it was in a deplo- rable state. The churches and public buildings had been used for depots, and hospitals, and barracks; private dwellings had been converted into mess-halls and officers' quarters; fire had laid waste some squares of buildings ; others had been pulled down, to use the material in the different parts of the fortifications ; others had been rendered tenantless by the battering balls; and there was scarcely a house in town which had not been made to suffer, outside or in, in conse- quence of crowding together so many of the inhabi- tants, with soldiers, seamen, and negroes, within the narrow limits of the intrenchments.
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Scarcely had the town put on the aspect of order and cleanliness, before the small-pox broke out, and produced great consternation among the inhabitants and soldiers. Inoculation was at that time but little practised; and only then, after an order obtained for that purpose from the Governor's Council, who gene- rally refused to grant the order, except the disease had already broken out in the household desiring this pre- ventive operation.
Another serious difficulty, which the Governor had to meet with prompt and decided measures, was the number of armed negroes found in and around the town. These persons had been used as laborers in the works planned and executed by the engineer offi- cers; and, in many cases, it was found necessary to arm them, as they worked at the entrenchments. Knowing to some extent the value of their services, they grew bold and presumptuous; and it was found no easy matter to check their insolence, and reduce them to their proper obedience and position. The petitions which were sent in to the Governor from the inhabitants of Savannah, show how great was the danger, and how unbearable the insolence of these negroes, for several months after the siege was over.
Soon after the allied army had left Georgia, the Governor desired to call a legislative Assembly; and, to this end, put several queries to his Council, on the 30th October, 1779, whether an Assembly could be called without issuing writs of election for all the parishes ? how the provost-marshal should do, where the inhabitants would'not meet and elect ? whether an Assembly, consisting of members from parts of the parishes or districts only, will be a lawful Assembly
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or representation of the whole province ? and whether such a partial Assembly or representation may legally proceed to the business of legislation ?
The Chief Justice (Anthony Stokes) and the Attor- ney-General (James Robertson), to whom these queries were referred, reported to Council, on the 15th No- vember, and decided that "writs of election ought to be issued, in the usual form, for all the parishes and districts that sent members to the last Assembly;" " and if there should be any parish or district without freeholders qualified to elect, or if through the inva- sion or vicinity of the rebels, the provost-marshal can- not venture to proceed to an election, then he must return such special matter along with the writs of election, and verify it by affidavits. Such a Commons' House of Assembly, convened with the precautions above mentioned, we conceive would be a lawful representation of the whole province."
While this report was approved by the Governor and Council ; Sir James and the Council also thought it best to postpone calling an Assembly, and it was not until the following March (1780), that writs were issued for the election of members, returnable on the 5th May.
The following persons were returned to the Council as members of the Commons' House of Assembly.
For the town and district of Savannah : Samuel Farley, James Mossman, John Simpson, and James Robertson.
Little Ogeechee in Christ Church Parish : William Jones.
Great Ogeechee and St. Philip's Parish : James Butler, Thomas Goldsmith, and Simon Monro.
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Midway and St. John's : John Irvine, Joseph Fox. Goshorn and Abercorn in St. Matthew's : Samuel Douglass.
Ebenezer and St. Matthew's : Alexander Wright, Basil Cowper, Nathaniel Hall.
Acton, Christ Church Parish : David Zubly.
Vernonburg, Christ Church Parish : Basil Cowper.
Wilmington, Tybee, &c .: Philip Yonge.
St. Andrew's : Robert Baillie and James Spalding.
Frederica and St. James : William Panton.
St. David's : Samuel Douglass.
St. Patrick's : Robert Porteous.
St. Thomas : Simon Paterson.
St. Mary's : William Ross.
Halifax and St. George's : Alexander Wylly and John Henderson.
On the 9th of May, only fifteen members had quali- fied, and as the constitutional quorum had been fixed by previous Assemblies at eighteen members, with the Speaker, the Governor was at some loss what to do ; but, with the Council, finally decided, " that from the necessity of the thing, they should be taken as a House and proceed to business." Accordingly, the members present organized themselves into a Commons' House of Assembly ; elected their Speaker; presented him to the Governor, who approved their choice; and then received from the Governor his speech, and returned the usual replies.
The two principal bills passed by this Royal Assem- bly, were " An act to attaint of high treason the several persons hereinafter named, who are either absent from this province, or in that part of it which is still in rebellion against his Majesty, and to vest their real
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and personal estate in his Majesty, &c. ; " and a bill en- titled, " An Act to disqualify and render incapable the several persons hereinafter named, of holding, or exer- cising, any office of trust, honor, or profit, in the pro- vince of Georgia."
The Governor, with the usual formalities, prorogued the Assembly on the 10th of July, to the 1st November following.
When Augusta was besieged by the Americans, and Colonel Brown and his troops reduced to great extre- mities, Sir James, by advice of his Council, issued a proclamation on the 21st September, calling a meeting of the Assembly for Monday, the 25th of the same month. In his address to the members on the morn- ing of Wednesday, the 27th, he expressed his regret at being obliged to call them together so soon, " but the exigency of the times requires it."
After stating some of the circumstances "of the late attack on the English troops by a number of rebels from South Carolina, joined by others in the ceded lands," thus showing "clearly, that the spirit and flame of rebellion is not over, and that rigorous measures are still necessary to crush the rebellion in the back part of this province," he urges upon the Assembly : 1. The passage of an act " to compel all persons within such a distance from this town and Augusta as you may judge convenient, forthwith to give in an account of all their male slaves from six- teen years of age to sixty; and that they shall be obliged, when called upon, to send immediately such a proportion of negroes as may be deemed necessary, with proper tools, and for such time as the said works may be found to require their labor."
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2. To inquire " whether all the inhabitants in the town should not be obliged to give in an account of, and to send such male slaves as they have in town within the ages as aforesaid, or pay for the same ; and whether such male inhabitants in the town who have no hands liable to work, should not be compelled to work themselves or serve as overseer."
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