USA > Kentucky > A history of Kentucky > Part 5
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THE SPANISH CONSPIRACY
suggested to the people of Fayette County that they should instruct their next delegates not to agree to frame a con- stitution and form of government without first obtaining the consent of the Virginia legislature and not to make any application for the navigation of the Mississippi other than to the legislature of Virginia or to the Congress of the United States.
This had the desired effect. The contest in the other counties was quiet ; but in Fayette it was attended by great excitement. As usual, the election lasted five The Fayette days. It became evident that the Country election party was going to be completely victorious. The ever adroit Wilkinson, one of the candidates of the Court party, perceived the situation, and promptly announced that he would be guided in voting in the convention by the wishes of his constituents. This promise and his great popularity secured his election, while his associates were defeated. The other four delegates chosen were John Allen, Colonel Joseph Crockett, Colonel Thomas Marshall, and Judge Muter.
The seventh convention assembled November 4, 1788. The most vital question in the life of Kentucky was about to be decided : whether she should determine Seventh to submit to the recent act of Congress and convention take the necessary legal steps to obtain her separation from Virginia and admittance into the Union, or whether she should determine to separate herself illegally from Virginia and erect herself into an independent State. If the latter course were followed, the Spanish government had a good chance to obtain control of Kentucky.
The forces in the convention were drawn up against each other. Let it not be supposed, however, that all those who favored -violent separation from Virginia knew
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THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
of, or sympathized with, Wilkinson's scheme to make Kentucky a Spanish province. At the outset a discussion arose as to the power which the convention possessed. The Court party contended that it had all power necessary to frame a constitution, to declare the District independent, etc. The Country party, on the contrary, strongly opposed every argument of this nature.
Upon the day following this discussion Wilkinson made a speech before the convention. He dwelt feelingly upon the dangers of Indian hostilities, and described
Wilkinson's
speech brilliantly the advantages of the navigation of the Mississippi River, and pointed out the inability of Con- gress to obtain for Kentucky this benefit. He openly advocated the violent separation of Kentucky from Vir- ginia ; but he only hinted at his real scheme, - to deliver Kentucky when thus separated into the hands of the Spanish government. And all the while he watched the faces of his hearers to see what effect his adroit sugges- tions would have upon them. If he discovered satisfac- tion on their countenances, he would go further and declare his plan; if he discovered disapproval, he had not com- mitted, himself in words, and he could yet retreat.
The majority of the convention were not only indisposed to listen to any overtures from Spain, but they were de- Loyalty of the cidedly loyal to the government of the United
convention States, and opposed to an illegal separation from Virginia. Wilkinson misunderstood the Kentuckians. They applauded his showy oratory, but they were independ- ent in action and stanch in principle. They were thor- oughly aroused to an appreciation of the dangers which might arise from their dependent position, and of the fatal results of the Mississippi being closed to them. And yet they nobly resisted the temptation of benefits offered to
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THE SPANISH CONSPIRACY
them by Spain, and remained loyal to the country for which they had fought, and had been ready to give their lives.
In the revulsion of feeling created by the sentiments thus boldly advocated by Wilkinson a resolution, offered by John Edwards and seconded by Thomas Turning point Marshall, was agreed to, which proved to be in the contest the turning point in the contest. The resolution provided for the appointment of " a committee to draw up a decent and respectful address to the people of Virginia, for ob- taining the independence of the District of Kentucky agreeable to the late resolutions and recommendations of Congress."
But even after this decisive indication of the loyal feel- ing of the convention had been given, other efforts were made by the opposite faction to carry their object. Before the "decent and respectful " Further efforts of the Court address was accepted, Wilkinson offered a party resolution that a committee be appointed to draft an ad- dress to the good people of the District urging them to furnish the convention at its next session with instruction how to proceed in this important subject of an independent government.
This resolution was adopted, greatly to the fears of the party opposing illegal separation. Whereupon, Colonel Crockett, lately an officer of the Revolution Patriotism
and a stanch adherent of the Union, left the triumphs convention and hastened to Fayette County. He returned in two days, having obtained the signatures of several hundred citizens who were opposed to an illegal separa- tion. Wilkinson, who had given his promise to be guided by the will of his constituents, was obliged to submit. Patriotism carried the day. The address to the Virginia
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THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
Assembly was accepted, and the convention adjourned to meet again the following July.
This was the crisis in the life of Kentucky. It has been dwelt upon thus at length because no other event in her
history so clearly reveals the character of the Loyalty characteristic of Kentucky people. Let every one who studies this subject learn that in the midst of high excitement the Kentuckians acted deliberately and soberly; in the midst of strong temptations they acted wisely and patriotically. Let him also learn that in Kentucky every individual has weight. Although Wilkinson did not abandon his scheme to separate Kentucky from the United States, and although his friend, Sebastian, after this received a pension from Spain for his efforts in that work, yet there was no further danger that Kentucky would become disloyal to the Union.
RECAPITULATION
Spanish possessions in America. Spain desires to hold the region.
Owns both sides of the Mississippi below the 31st degree of latitude. Refuses navigation to the Ameri- cans.
" Jay's project."
Action of Congress on the subject misunderstood.
The navigation necessary to Ken- tucky's prosperity.
Excitement in the District.
Meeting of citizens at Danville.
Wilkinson goes to New Orleans. Allies himself with Spain.
Right of trade, etc., granted him.
He returns in state to impress the people.
Kentucke Gazette established.
Fifth convention holds a quiet session.
Fixes the time for separation.
Proceedings published in the Gazette. John Brown, congressman of the Dis- trict.
He presents Kentucky's petition.
Congress is absorbed in other mat- ters.
Pays no attention to the petition.
New Federal constitution adopted.
The petition is brought before the old Congress.
Is referred to the new Congress.
The sixth convention is informed of this fact.
Brown's letter to McDowell.
Gardoqui's proposition to Kentucky.
Kentucky distracted because of her situation.
Two classes in the Court party.
The Country party loyal.
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THE SPANISH CONSPIRACY
Wilkinson and Sebastian.
The convention moderate in action. Dangerous resolutions are adopted. Muter's card points out the meaning of the resolutions.
Effect upon the election in Fayette County. Wilkinson's promise and election. The vital question before the seventh convention.
Illegal separation advocated. KENT. HIST .- 6
Wilkinson's adroit speech.
Convention opposed to his sugges- tions.
Contrary resolutions carried. Wilkinson's further effort.
Crockett's petition from Fayette County.
Wilkinson obliged to submit. Victory of the loyal party. Kentucky's sober conduct. The people control.
CHAPTER VIII
THE END OF THE STRUGGLE, 1788-1792
STILL the struggle for statehood was not ended. No- where was there any official opposition to Kentucky's be-
Statehood not
coming an independent member of the Union,
yet attained neither within the District, in the Virginia Assembly, nor in the Congress of the United States. And yet, by some strange enchantment, it seemed impossible to accomplish the desired end. The fruitless conventions have been compared to "the card edifices of children which are no sooner erected than, at a breath, they are destroyed."
No parallel occurs in history of such exasperating, need- less delay in a worthy cause. The annals of history may be searched in vain, also, to find a parallel to the patience with which the high-spirited Kentuckians bore these trials, and to the loyalty which they cherished toward the govern- ment of their country. Kentucky's situation was isolated ; .but the deep excitement which prevailed in the District concerning the separation and the navigation of the Mis- sissippi was known abroad.
In the autumn of 1788, Dr. John Connolly appeared in Kentucky. He was the same Connolly for whom, in 1773, British lands had been surveyed at the Falls of the intrigue Ohio, where the city of Louisville now stands. He announced that he came to look after these lands, of which he had been deprived because he was a Tory. But in reality he was a British agent. His mission was to induce
82
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THE END OF THE STRUGGLE
Kentucky to withdraw from the Union and to throw her- self upon the protection of Great Britain, who would assist her with troops, ammunition, etc., to take possession of New Orleans, and thus to force the navigation of the Mississippi from Spain by arms.
The fertile Kentucky country and the vast West con- nected with it were objects of desire to foreign kingdoms. Already it had been known to the people of the District that Great Britain stood ready with open arms to receive them. Connolly visited many prominent men in Louisville, and then went to Fayette County, where he held an inter- view with Colonel Thomas Marshall, a few days after the exciting seventh convention (November, 1788). But Marshall was strongly attached to the Federal government and a friend of Washington, the President elect of the United States. Dr. Connolly met with no encouragement, and the British intrigue came to an end.
Still other acts were to be passed by the Virginia legisla- ture, and further conventions held in Kentucky, before the weary work of separation was over. The eighth Other conven-
convention, which assembled July 20, 1789, tions
objected to certain points in the third act of Virginia. A fourth act was then passed. To this, the ninth conven- tion, assembled July 26, 1790, agreed, and fixed the Ist day of June, 1792, as the date when the separation should take place. This convention called for the election of delegates to a tenth convention.
Other acts regarding Kentucky were also passed by the Virginia legislature about this time. One sixth part of the surveyors' fees, formerly paid to William and Mary College (Virginia), were ordered to Other acts of the Virginia be paid to Transylvania Seminary. Also the Assembly county of Woodford was established, the last of the nine
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THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
formed while Kentucky was a District. They were in order: Fayette, Jefferson, Lincoln, Nelson, Bourbon, Mercer, Madison, Mason, and Woodford.
The last towns established during the colonial period were Bardstown and Hopewell. The latter was settled as Houston's Station, in 1776. In 1790, the name was changed to Paris. To-day it is the thriving center of the wealthy county of Bourbon. Many prominent men lived in and about Bardstown in the early times. There, in the cemetery, is the grave of poor John Fitch (bearing the date of his death, 1798), whose name is so pathetically connected with the invention of the steamboat. The town and surrounding neighborhood were settled largely by Maryland Catholics at the close of the Revolution. They were people of culture, and they have held the region to the present day, planting in it their institutions of learn- ing and religion. Thither fled Trappist monks from France, who founded the "Home of the Silent Brother- hood." Near by the pious Sisters of Loretto dwell in their convent of the Stricken Heart.
The Presbyterians in Kentucky have already been dwelt upon. The Baptists entered Kentucky in the very begin- Early religious ning of its settlement. The Rev. William denominations Hickman preached here as early as 1776; but it was not until 1781 that there existed an organized church. In September of that year, the Rev. Lewis Craig, and most of his congregation, left Spottsylvania County, Virginia, for Kentucky.1 As they traveled, they stopped occasionally on the way to hold regular services. Thus they entered the District as an organized church.
1 Other immigrants had attached themselves to the expedition. There were in all between five and six hundred. The Traveling Church, by George W. Ranck.
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THE END OF THE STRUGGLE
The next in point of time were the Methodists, whose evangelistic spirit early led them forth to preach the Gos- pel in the new country. The Episcopalians had no church until many years after the District had become a State. That large and ever increasing denomination known under the broad appellation the Christian church had not yet taken its rise.
Again the depressing account of Indian depredations must be continued. The people of the District had left the protection of the forts, and were now liv- ing in separated homes. The Indians no longer came in large numbers, but small parties would fall upon and murder Indian single indi-
depredations viduals, or several traveling to- gether. Men hunting game for their families were attacked. Men and women calmly going to church were killed or captured. Tragedies Captured on the Way to Church upon the Ohio River were especially frequent. Boats bearing travelers from, or settlers into, the District were seized, and the occupants were subjected to the most cruel tortures. Far and wide rang the cry of these distressing facts. Complaints were made to the President of the United States and to the secretary of war. In answer, the President assured the people that measures for their protection would be taken; and the secretary of war
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THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
authorized the county lieutenants to call out scouts to guard the frontier.
IFSc.
At last the government of the United States had learned that Kentucky Captives treaties with Indians were of no avail, and that the only way to subdue them was to carry war home to them in their own country. General Harmar was now placed at the head of three hundred and
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THE END OF THE STRUGGLE
twenty regulars of the United States army. Soon a force amounting to more than eleven hundred volunteers was collected in Kentucky, under Colonel John Hardin. These troops assembled at Fort Washington (where Cincinnati now stands), September 30, 1790, and marched to Harmar's the towns of the Miami Indians. Harmar had defeat
been an officer in the Revolution; but he seems to have lost his military ability upon this expedition. He might have overawed and conquered the Indians by meeting them with his whole body of troops. But instead of doing this, twice he sent out small detachments, each time under the command of Colonel Hardin, and each time these were surprised and almost completely destroyed ; while not far away, the larger portion of the army remained calmly in camp. Harmar's defeat lost him his reputation, and made the Indians exultant and consequently more murderous toward the Kentuckians.
Between the years 1783 and 1790, about fifteen hundred persons had been killed or taken captive within the Dis- trict, or on their way to it. Further efforts Local Board of were made to stop such tragedies. A local War
Board of War was appointed by Congress, which should have charge of the protection of the District. The men chosen for this position of trust were Colonel Isaac Shelby, the man who had turned the tide at Point Pleasant, and who had planned the scheme of attack which led to the decisive victory at King's Mountain ; General Charles Scott, also a tried officer of the Revolution ; Hary Innes, formerly attorney-general of the District, now judge of the Federal court; Congressman John Brown; and Benjamin Logan, well known to us as a pioneer.
About this time General Arthur St. Clair, then governor of the Northwestern Territory, was appointed commander
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THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
in chief of the army of the Northwest. Another expe- dition against the Miami Indians was planned. As a preparation for this serious undertaking two St. Clair's ap- small, but successful, expeditions against the pointment
Wabash Indians were arranged by the local Board of War, -the first under General Charles Scott, the second led by Colonel James Wilkinson. Their object was to subdue these Indians, so that they would not aid the Miami tribes. General St. Clair's appointment was not agreeable to the Kentuckians. While he was an honor- able man and a brave officer, he was old and infirm, and altogether unfitted for the projected campaign against the most formidable of Indian confederations. No volunteers offered in Kentucky. Therefore, one thousand unwilling men were drafted and placed under the command of Colonel William Oldham. Many of these deserted before reaching their destination.
St. Clair was not aided by the government as he might have been.1 By the day of the battle not more than four- teen hundred men remained St. Clair's de- in his army. Of these only feat a small portion were regulars. The rest were dissatisfied, undisciplined troops, with whom a very capable leader would have found victory difficult. With St. Clair defeat was inevitable. On the 3d of November, 1791, the army was en- Arthur St. Clair camped on the eastern fork of the Wabash River. During the afternoon and evening, Indians were discovered in the vicinity, and were fre- quently shot at by the sentinels. St. Clair had been
1 St. Clair's Defeat. By Hon. Theodore Roosevelt. Harper's Magazine, February, 1896.
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THE END OF THE STRUGGLE
expressly warned by Washington against a surprise, and yet he made no preparation for an attack. Consequently, just after sunrise, the next morning, when the Indians opened fire upon the army, there was the old story of a surprise, with all the panic and slaughter which usually follow. St. Clair and General Richard Butler, the second in command, courageously tried to rally their men, but in vain. The Indians were so hidden by the smoke of the artillery of the whites that they could not be seen. They seemed suddenly to spring out of the earth to shoot down the foe, and then to disappear. Most of the officers (among them, General Butler) were killed, and about two thirds of the army. Then only one thought inspired the rest, - every man made a mad rush to save his own life, and the Indians followed in close pursuit.
The previous February, the Congress of the United States had agreed to admit Kentucky into the Union as an independent State, June 1, 1792. Accord- Constitutional ingly, April 3, 1792, the tenth and last conven- convention tion assembled at Danville, as usual, to form a constitution for the new Commonwealth. The convention was com- posed of five delegates from each of the nine counties then existing. The majority of them were very able men ; many of them had served repeatedly in former conventions. The constitution was modeled after the recently launched Fed- eral constitution.
The government was organized under three heads, - legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative power was vested in a General Assembly, consisting Features of the of a Senate and a House of Representatives. constitution The senators were chosen for four years by a college of electors. The representatives were chosen for one year, and were elected by the people. The executive
.
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THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
power was vested in a governor, who was likewise chosen for four years by the college of electors. The judicial power was vested in a supreme court and inferior courts, which the legislature might from time to time establish. The judges of the supreme court and of the inferior courts were nominated with the consent of the Senate, were ap- pointed by the governor, and held office during good behavior. Elections were made by ballot, and the right of suffrage was granted to every free male white inhabi- tant of the State, of the proper age, who had not been dis- franchised by conviction of crime. Ministers were not allowed to hold any legislative office. No point in the document is more worthy of note than the fact that com- merce in slaves was prohibited. While the provision was made that the legislature could not emancipate slaves without the consent of their owners, yet the power was given to that body to force the owners of slaves to provide properly for them, and to treat them with humanity.
"Immediately after the adoption of the constitution, Colonel Isaac Shelby was elected governor. In him the
State secured an admi- rable chief magistrate. Isaac Shelby, the first governor The people could not have chosen better. He was a Marylander, who became, in his early manhood, a citizen of what is now Tennessee (then a part of North Carolina). He did brilliant service in the battle of Point Pleasant, in October, 1774. After- Isaac Shelby wards, in North Carolina, he played a most gallant part in small expeditions, but especially in remedying the ruin that the
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THE END OF THE STRUGGLE
defeat of Gates at Camden brought upon the continental cause. When others were appalled by the magnitude of this disaster, Shelby seemed to awake to a full sense of his really great military power. He saved a little army he then commanded, and secured a large number of prisoners in his hands by a swift march to the west into the recesses of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Then, when he had disposed of his captives, he turned upon the famous,
Battle of King's Mountain
Ferguson, and by the well-conceived and admirably exe cuted move on King's Mountain, destroyed the force of that able commander at a single blow. Although Shelby was not in name the chief in this action, there is no reason to doubt that the conception of the campaign and the vigor of its execution were his alone. His also was the scheme of attack which led to the battle of Cowpens. He went to Kentucky in 1783, where he married and re-
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THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
mained, taking part in the early struggles for emancipa- tion from Virginia's control. As brave in action as he was wise in council, his choice as the first governor was an honor and a blessing to the young Commonwealth." 1
RECAPITULATION
Statehood not yet attained. The fact known abroad.
A British agent sent to Kentucky. The bribe ready for Kentucky.
The intrigue disclosed to Colonel Thomas Marshall.
The end of the intrigue.
Eighth convention rejects the third act of Virginia.
Ninth convention agrees to the fourth act.
Date for separation fixed.
Tenth convention called.
The counties of the colonial era.
Hopewell established.
Bardstown established.
Roman Catholic occupation.
Baptists in Kentucky.
" The Traveling Church."
The Methodists.
Other denominations.
Troubles from Indians again.
Treaties with Indians of no avail. An expedition against the Miamis planned.
Force sent from Kentucky.
Harmar's defeat.
Indians more belligerent than ever.
Local Board of War appointed.
St. Clair's appointment.
Dissatisfaction of Kentuckians.
Kentucky troops are drafted.
Expedition against the Miami Indians.
St. Clair's overwhelming defeat.
Kentucky admitted into the Union.
Tenth convention.
State constitution framed.
Resembles the Federal constitution.
Legislative, executive, and judicial powers.
Commerce in slaves prohibited.
Isaac Shelby chosen governor.
His military and civil services and fit- ness for the position.
1 The above quotation is taken from Professor Shaler's scholarly study Kentucky in the American Commonwealth Series.
III-FOUNDING OF THE COMMON- WEALTH, 1792-1850
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CHAPTER IX
ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT, 1792-1796
THE years of weary waiting were over at last, and the government of the new Commonwealth was about to be organized. On the morning of the 4th of Lexington the
June, 1792, the town of Lexington - ap- first capital pointed to be the first capital of the State - was stirred with eager anticipation. The day before, Isaac Shelby had left his country place in Lincoln County and started on his journey to assume the duties of governor. At Danville the citizens poured forth to offer their congratulations in an ad- dress which had been prepared for the occasion. On the way, Shelby was met by a company of volunteer troops, which had been sent out from Lexington to conduct him into the capital. From various parts of the State, stran- gers had come to witness the ceremonies of the inaugura- tion. The people were all in the streets, arrayed in their best attire. There was a generous mingling of broadcloth costumes and buckskin, of imported silk and homespun gowns.
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