USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia, Volume II > Part 17
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PROTESTS IN THE INTEREST OF THE CROWN.
Captain McCall,1 who was himself an eye-witness of the occurrences, and who wrote while many of the actors were still in life, asserts that a few days after the meeting of the 10th of August Governor Wright called a convention to test the strength of his party. About a third of the inhabitants in and near Savannah, including his council and other civil and military officers, met at the court-house, signed a dissent from the re- publican proceedings, and entered a protest against the late assemblage as being unconstitutional. Documents of similar import were prepared and placed in the hands of influential friends of the governor with instructions to procure signatures to them from various parishes in the province. To the parties hav- ing charge of these papers moneys were allowed, "proportioned to the number of subscribers they obtained," as compensation for their services. Under such advantageous circumstances these royal agents were successful in procuring signatures from many timid men who sympathized with the American cause. Fraud too was practiced. In some instances the number of subscribers exceeded the population of the parish from which the protest purported to come. Signatures of dead men were forged. Thus was earnest effort made to overestimate the strength of the king's party in Georgia and to belittle the power of such as were resolved to resist an enforcement of the recent tyrannical Parliamentary enactments. Several protests, obtained in this manner and intended not only to influence the public sentiment in Georgia but also to reach the ear and confirm the purposes of the home authorities, were published in the "Georgia Gazette." Wo instance one from the inhabitants of the parish of St. Matthew and town of Ebenezer, which appeared on the 21st of September ; 2 another on the 28th of the month,3 signed by sun- dry parties in the parish of St. George, and from the town of Queensborough ; and a third on the 12th of October,4 subscribed by a number of the inhabitants of the parish of St. Paul and town of Augusta, and also by citizens of Wrightsboro, Kyoka, and the Broad River settlements. In his communication 5 to the Earl of Dartmouth Governor Wright alludes to the preparation of these protests, and ventures the opinion that when they are all received it will be apparent that the resolutions of the 10th of
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1 Ilistory of Georgia, vol. ii. p. 24. 4 Georgia Gazette, No. 575.
Savannah. 1816.
2 Georgia Gazette, No. 572.
6 Dated Savannah, 24th of August, 1774.
8 Georgia Gazette, No. 573.
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
August " were not the voice of the People, but unfairly and insolently made by a Junto of a very few only."
The two parties in the province were already counting noses, and marshaling their forces for the coming contest. His excel- lency, with that political sagacity which distinguished him in a remarkable degree, foresaw the danger and confessed the inability of the colonial government to sustain itself in the face of the gathering storm.1 He frankly admitted that it required the in- terposition of a power greater than that possessed by the execu- tive to rectify abuses, remedy existing evils, and subdue the flame of independence which was each year burning more fiercely in the province.
In the meeting of the 10th of August the expediency of send- ing six deputies to the proposed general congress of the Ameri- can colonies was discussed. The proposition did not, however, receive the sanction of the assemblage.
Of all the parishes composing the province none was more pa- triotic or resolute, none more public spirited or anxious to form a league against British oppression, than the parish of St. John. Of the five hundred and seventy-nine barrels of rice contributed by Georgia for the relief of the suffering poor of Boston two hundred were given by the inhabitants of this parish. Brave, intelligent, generous, and most intolerant of the semblance of oppression, they were prepared "to exert themselves to the ut- most, and to make every sacrifice that men impressed with the strongest sense of their rights and liberties, and warm with the most benevolent feelings for their oppressed brethren, can make to stand firmly or fall gloriously in the common cause." Dis- satisfied with the action of the meeting in Savannah, which de- clined to commission delegates to a general congress, they called a convention of their own on the 30th of August, 1774. By in- vitation, deputies from St. George and St. David were also pres- ent. It was then resolved " that if a majority of the Parishes would unite with them, they would send deputies to join the General Congress and faithfully and religiously abide by and con- form to such determination as should there be entered into, and come from thence recommended."
Georgia, however, was not represented in the first general congress of the colonies. Upon the return of the deputies from South Carolina to that body the most earnest efforts were made
1 See his Letter to the Earl of Dartmouth, dated Savannah, the 24th of August, 1774.
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157
DECLARATION OF COLONIAL RIGHTS.
to incite Georgians to greater activity in the cause of the united colonies, and to evoke from them a cordial approval of the reso- lutions passed at Philadelphia. The " Declaration of Colonial Rights," there framed and adopted, was widely disseminated, and many were they in Georgia who openly and strenuously urged its acceptance as a forcible expression of the general sentiment. In explanation of the state of feeling then dominant in the prov- ince, Sir James Wright 1 thus addressed the Earl of Dartmouth : "I think it my duty to acquaint your Lordship that since the Carolina Deputies have returned from the Continental Congress as they call it, every means possible have been used to raise a flame again in this Province. Those People, it is said, solemnly undertook that this Province should accede to the Resolutions of that Congress, and we have been in hot water ever since, and I suppose the Sons of Liberty here, stimulated by the Carolinians, will take upon them to pass resolves in the name of the whole Province. I shall endeavour as much as possible to prevent it, but the sanction given to Rebellion by the Resolves and Pro- ceedings of that Congress has greatly encouraged the spirit of political enthusiasm which many were possessed of before, and raised. it to such a height of Frenzy that God knows what the consequences may be or what man or whose property may escape their resentment."
In the Continental Congress twelve provinces were represented. Governor Wright's influence, sustained by the leading royalists, had been sufficiently potent to deter Georgia from sending dele- gates. Their absence was severely commented upon, and it was resolved to spare no exertions which might induce the colony of Oglethorpe to cast her lot with her sister plantations.
The colonial rights, promulgated by Congress and severely de- nounced by Governor Wright, may be epitomized thus: The enjoyment of life, liberty, and property was absolutely claimed. The privilege of being bound by no law to which they had not consented through their representatives was demanded as inherent in the colonists by virtue of their character as British subjects. The exclusive power of taxation, internal and external, and the right of legislation for the colonies were declared to reside in their respective assemblies ; Parliament possessing the authority to enact only such laws as were requisite for the bona fide regu- lation of trade. The common law of England was insisted upon as the birthright of the colonists. " The right of trial by a jury
1 Seo his letter of the 13th of December, 1774.
شريط التاجر
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
of the vicinage, the right of public meetings, and the right of pe- tition for the redress of grievances " were pronounced "inalien- able." Against standing armies maintained in the colonies with- out their consent, and against legislation by councils dependent on the Crown, solemn protests were entered. All immunities hitherto enjoyed by the colonies, whether authorized by charter or by custom, were asserted to be vested rights which could not be abrogated by any exercise of power on the part of the mother country. Eleven acts of Parliament passed since the accession of George III. - the Sugar act, the Stamp act, the two Quar- tering acts, the Tea act, the act suspending the New York legis- lature, the two acts for the trial in Great Britain of offenses com- mitted in America, the Boston Port Bill, the act for regulating the government of Massachusetts, and the Quebec act - were denounced as having been passed in derogation of the rights of the colonies.
With a view to the practical enforcement of these claims, four- teen articles were agreed upon as the basis of an " American As- sociation." The associators were pledged to commercial non- intercourse with Great Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies, and to a non-consumption of tea and British goods. This non-inter- course was to extend to such of the North American provinces as should decline to unite in the association, and was to continue until the obnoxious acts of Parliament were repealed. The non- importation clauses were to become operative in December, but the non-exportation clauses were postponed for nine months longer. The slave-trade was specially denounced, and entire ab- stinence from it and from those engaged in it was enjoined. The associators stood pledged to encourage the breeding of sheep. Mourning goods were to be discarded. There was to be no en- hancement of the price of goods on hand in consequence of this agreement. Committees were to be raised everywhere, whose duty it should be to publish the names of all who violated the provisions of this compact. All dealings with such "enemies of American liberty " were strictly prohibited.1
To the "Sons of Liberty " the position now occupied by Geor- gia was distressful and mortifying. From her isolated situation, from her apparent indifference to the compact into which the other American colonies had entered, and from the ban under which she was placed by her failure to participate in the delib- erations of and to be bound by the conclusions reached by the
1 Soo Hildreth's History of the United States, vol. iii. pp. 43, 44. New York, 1880.
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A PROVINCIAL CONGRESS CALLED.
Continental Congress, they determined to liberate her at the ear- liest practicable moment.
A Provincial Congress was determined upon as the surest and best method of accomplishing this desirable result, and the 18th of January, 1775, was suggested for the convocation. Savannah was named as the most suitable place for the session. On the 8th of December, 1774, many of the leading citizens of that town and of Christ Church Parish convened at the market-place, and, having summoned John Glen, Esq., to the chair, proceeded to an election of delegates to the Provincial Congress. Upon closing the polls at six o'clock in the afternoon, "the following gen- tlemen were declared duly elected, viz .: Joseph Clay, George Houstoun, Ambrose Wright, Thomas Lee, Joseph Habersham, Edward Telfair, John Houstoun, Peter Tondee, Samuel Farley, William Young, John Smith, Archibald Bulloch, John McCluer, Noble Wimberley Jones, and John Morel."
In commenting upon this action of Christ Church Parish a writer in the "Georgia Gazette " 1 says : " It cannot surely at this time admit of a doubt but every Parish and District throughout the Province will, as soon as possible, follow so laudable an ex- ample.
" Every thinking man must be convinced how much the hon- our, welfare, and happiness of us and our posterity depend upon a vigorous assertion and claim of our just and natural rights which the arbitrary system of politicks adopted by the Administration is undeniably calculated to deprive us of."
This anticipation was not realized : for, as we shall see, upon the assembling of the Provincial Congress it was found that only five of the twelve parishes composing the province sent delegates. Governor Wright and the supporters of the Crown were most earnest in discountenancing all these preliminary meetings, and the home authorities assured him that in his efforts to " suppress such unwarrantable proceedings " he should have every support. The Lords of the Admiralty were instructed to direct Admiral Graves to station one of his small cruisers in Savannah River, and General Gage was ordered to send to Governor Wright a detachment of one hundred men from the garrison at St. Au- gustine.2
On the 20th of December Sir James advised the Earl of Dart-
1 No. 584, Wednesday, December 14, to Governor Wright, dated Whitehall, Ist 1774.
2 Sco Letter from the Earl of Dartmouth
February, 1775.
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THIE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
mouth : " Our Liberty Folks are really very active in tormenting a flame throughout the Province, . . . but your Lordship may rely on it that every means possible shall be used to counteract and oppose them, and in which I shall persevere to the last, and if they do accede to the resolutions of the Continental Congress, yet had I but 200 Soldiers and a Sloop of War I think I should be able to keep everything quiet and orderly and might be very easy as to their threats about non-importation and non-exporta- tion, and of shutting up the Ports, &c., &c., &c. ; but your Lord- ship knows I have not the least support, altho' I have the great satisfaction to acquaint your Lordship that the King's Officers and a great number of Gentlemen are against all the Liberty Measures, as your Lordship would see by the Dissents."
Although not yet thoroughly republican, Georgia was fast be- coming so, and neither the persuasions of the king's officers nor the threats of a resort to military force to compel submission to the will of Parliament were sufficiently potent to silence the voice of the protestants or to prohibit public demonstrations in favor of colonial rights.
Early in January, 1775, a district congress was held by the in- habitants of St. Andrew's Parish, at which a series of manly resolutions, embodying the views of a large number of the most influential citizens of that flourishing settlement on the Alata- maha, was adopted with much enthusiasm. The first of these resolutions expressed the unqualified approval, by the members of the congress, of " the unparalleled moderation, the decent but firm and manly conduct of the loyal and brave people of Boston and Massachusetts Bay " in their efforts to preserve their liber- ties ; their acquiescence in, and adoption of, "all the resolutions of the Grand American Congress ; " and their " cheerful accession to the Association entered into by them as the wisest and most moderate measure that could be adopted." The second resolu- tion, after condemning the closing of the land offices to the great detriment of colonial growth and the injury of the industrious poor, declared that every "encouragement should be given to the poor of every nation by every generous American." The third criticised severely ministerial mandates which prohibited colonial assemblies from passing such laws as the exigencies of the respec- tive provinces required. In the fourth the practice of making colonial officers dependent upon Great Britain for the determi- nation and payment of their salaries, thus rendering them " in- dependent of the people who should support them according to
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ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION.
their usefulness and behaviour," was heartily condemned. By the fifth the parish declared its " disapprobation and abhorrence of the unnatural practice of slavery in America," and its determi- nation to urge "the manumission of our slaves in this Colony upon the most safe and equitable footing for the masters and themselves." The last resolution provided for the election of del- egates to represent the district in the Provincial Congress, and instructed them to urge the appointment of deputies from Georgia to the Continental Congress.1
Appended to these resolutions, and signed by Lachlan McIn- toshi, George Threadcraft, Charles McDonald, John McIntosh, Raymond Demere, Jiles Moore, Samuel McClelland, Peter Sal- lens, Jr., James Clark, John Witherspoon, Jr., John Witherspoon, John Fulton, Samuel Fulton, Isaac Cuthbert, Isaac Hall, Jones Newsom, A. Daniel Cuthbert, John Hall, John McCollugh, Snr. John McCollugh, Jr., William McCollugh, Reuben Shuttleworth, John McCleland, Richard Cooper, Seth McCullugh, Thomas King, Paul Judton, John Roland, Pr: Shuttleworth, Joseph Stobe, and To: Bierry, were the following articles of associa- tion : -
" Being persuaded that the salvation of the rights and liberties of America depend, under God, on the firm union of the inhabi- tants in the vigorous prosecution of the measures necessary for its safety, and convinced of the necessity of preventing the an- archy and confusion which attend the dissolution of the powers of Government, we, the freemen, frecholders, and inhabitants of the Province of Georgia, being greatly alarmed at the avowed design of the Ministry to raise a revenue in America, and shocked by the bloody Scene now acting in the Massachusetts Bay, do in the most solemn manner resolve never to become slaves ; and do associate under all the ties of religion, honor, and love of coun- try, to adopt and endeavor to carry into execution whatever may be recommended by the Continental Congress, or resolved upon by our Provincial Convention that shall be appointed, for the purpose of preserving our Constitution and opposing the execu- tion of the several arbitrary and oppressive acts of the Brit- ish Parliament until a reconciliation between Great Britain and America on constitutional principles, which we most ardently de- sire, can be obtained ; and that we will in all things follow the advice of our general Committee, to be appointed, respecting the
1 See Stevens' History of Georgia, vol. ii. pp. 86, 87. Philadelphia. 1859. VOL. II. 11
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
purposes aforesaid, the preservation of peace and good order, and the safety of individuals and private property."
Christ Church, St. John, and St. Andrew were the strongest and most intelligent parishes within the limits of the province. In their primary meetings they all declared themselves in favor of the resolutions adopted by the Continental Congress, and appointed delegates to the Provincial Congress.
It was the expectation of Governor Wright, by convening the General Assembly of the province on the same day named for the meeting of the Provincial Congress, either to prevent a session of the latter body or essentially to modify its deliberations.1 Vain was this anticipation. Pursuant to the call of his excel- lency the General Assembly of Georgia met in Savannah on the 18th of January, 1775. In his speech the governor thus cau- tioned the Commons House of Assembly : 2 " The alarming situ- ation of American affairs at this juncture makes it highly nec- essary for me to say something to you on that subject : and it is with the utmost concern that I see, by every account, all the Colonies to the northward of us, as far as Nova Scotia, in a gen- eral ferment, and some of them in such a state as makes me shudder when I think of the consequences which it is most prob- able will soon befall them.
" The unhappy disputes with the Mother Country are now be- come of the most serious nature, and I am much afraid the very extraordinary and violent measures adopted and pursued will not only prevent a reconciliation, but may involve all America in the most dreadful calamities.
"Gentlemen, I think myself very happy in having it in my power to say that this Province is hitherto clear, and I much hope by your prudent conduct it will remain so.
" Be not led away by the voices and opinions of men's over- heated ideas. Consider coolly and sensibly of the terrible conse- quences which may attend adopting resolutions and measures expressly contrary to law, and hostile to the Mother Country, especially at so late a season, when we may almost daily expect to hear the determination of Great Britain on the matters in dis- pute, and therefore I conceive can answer no purpose but that of throwing the Province into confusion: and I tremble at the apprehension of what may be the resolution and declaration of
1 Sce Letter of Governor Wright to the Earl of Dartmouth, dated Savannah, Feb- ruary 1, 1775.
2 Georgia Gazette, No. 590.
مع الكورهـ
Ina colo
163
GOVERNOR WRIGHT WARNS THE ASSEMBLY.
the new Parliament relative to the conduct of the People in some parts of America.
" You may be advocates for liberty : so am I, but in a consti- tutional and legal way. You, Gentlemen, are legislators, and let me entreat you to take heed how you give a sanction to trample upon law and government, and be assured it is an indisputable truth that where there is no law there can be no liberty. It is the due course of law and support of Government which only can insure to you the enjoyment of your lives, your liberties, and your estates, and don't catch at the shadow and lose the sub- stance.
" I exhort you not to suffer yourselves to be drawn in to involve this Province in the distresses of those who may have offended. We are in a very different situation and on a very dif- ferent footing from the other Colonies. Don't consider me as speaking to you merely as the King's Governor of this Province. As such, Gentlemen, it is certainly my duty to support his Maj- esty's just rights and authority and to preserve peace and good order within my Government, and to contribute as much as pos- sible towards the prosperity and happiness of the Province and people. Believe me when I tell you I am at this time actuated by further motives than those only of discharging my duty as the King's Governor. I have lived amongst and presided over you upwards of fourteen years and have other feelings. I have a real and affectionate regard for the People, and it grieves me to think that a Province which I have been so long in, and which I have seen nurtured by the Crown at a vast expense to the Mother Country, and grow up from mere infancy, from next to nothing, to a considerable degree of maturity and opulence, should by the imprudence and rashness of some inconsiderate People be plunged into a state of distress and ruin. We have been most happy in (I hope) avoiding Scylla, and let me in the strongest terms conjure you to steer clear of Charybdis."
The response of the Upper House of Assembly was most sat- isfactory to his excellency, and entirely loyal to the Crown. La- menting the unhappy differences existing between England and the American colonies, the members of that body disapproved of all violent and intemperate measures, and declared it to be their pride and glory to be constitutionally connected with Great Britain by the closest and most enduring union. While dread- ing nothing more than a dissolution of the ties binding them to the mother country, they expressed an ardent wish that the
السد
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
American colonists might be permitted to enjoy all the rights and privileges of British subjects as fully as though they were actual inhabitants of the British Isles. "Nor can we doubt of success," they added, " when we reflect that we are blessed with a King who glories in being the equal father of all his people, and therefore we can and do submit our cause with full confi- dence to his royal wisdom and paternal goodness. Neither will we suppose that a British Parliament, that great and august Body who have so often generously asserted and defended the liberties of other nations, will disregard the equitable claims of their fellow subjects."
The king and Parliament were still secure in the loyalty and affection of the council.
The address of the Lower House of Assembly was more inde- pendent in its tone, and less acceptable to the governor.
" We cannot," said the representatives, " be less affected by and concerned for the present alarming situation of affairs be- tween Great Britain and America than your Excellency. We must be equally insensible not to feel our numerous grievances and not to wish them redressed. It is that alone which every good American contends for. It is the enjoyment of our con- stitutional rights and liberties that softens every care of life and renders existence itself supportable. At the same time, in all qur proceedings we shall studiously avoid every measure that shall not appear to us at once strictly consonant with our duty to his Majesty and the interest, liberty, and welfare of our Con- stituents."
Commenting upon the temper of the representatives and many of their constituents Governor Wright, on the 13th of February, 1775, thus addressed the Earl of Dartmouth : " Really, my Lord, a great many People have worked themselves up to such a pitch of political enthusiasm with respect to their ideas of Liberty and the powers of the British Parliament and of their right to resist what they call unconstitutional laws, that I do not expect they will yet give up their pretensions. They have not forgot certain speeches in the beginning of the year 1766, and very frequently mention them and say if they had not been constitutional and unanswerable the Parliament would not have so far approved of and yielded to them as to have repealed the Stamp Act. These things my Lord have made such strong impressions that it's very difficult to remove them, or for the people to bring themselves to think otherwise."
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