USA > Massachusetts > Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, colony, province and state, volume 2 > Part 38
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terials and naval stores. This practice was certainly contrary to the general economic interests of the colonists; but these measures were irritating rather than restrictive. The pro- scribed industries were for the most part of little direct im- portance and the scope of such restrictions was in reality rather narrow. The restrictions upon the iron industry were probably the most serious and may have been a real disadvan- tage to New York and Pennsylvania, but hardly of much general significance.
INLAND TRANSPORTATION AND TRAVEL
Inland transport was not largely developed in the early eighteenth century. The dominant movement of trade was along the coast, and careful utilization of the rivers attended to the primary needs for heavy transport. Livestock trans- ported themselves to market and the volume of goods moving towards the coast from the remoter inland towns was really small. Much traffic that is now sent overland, then moved by water; and consequently, the requirements for land trans- port were very modest.
No turnpike roads existed until the last year of the eigh- teenth century ; but the dirt roads of New England were wholly adequate to the requirements of modest traffic except for short seasons of the year. Roads were laid out steadily during the eighteenth century and improved to a certain extent. There was considerable activity in the building of bridges especially over the smaller streams. Ferries were established on the larger streams and were, for a long time, the chief reliance of travellers.
Inns and taverns were widely diffused, and relatively accu- rate lists of them can easily be compiled from the records, as licenses were required for the sale of liquor. In all probability most of these inns were chiefly of local significance for the retail consumption of spirits. Accommodation for travellers was in that sense considerably in advance of demand. Travel was so infrequent that even in 1760 the traveller could not hope to secure any attention for himself until he had com- pletely satisfied the curiosity of the inn-keeper's family and all the servants. Franklin found it convenient to collect the whole
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staff as soon as he entered the inn, in order to satisfy their curiosity in the shortest possible space of time.
The limitations of inland transport were most seriously felt in connection with the transmission of news. A general colonial post was established under Royal authority in 1692, but development under this patent was slow and results were poor. The post was consolidated on an Imperial basis by a statute of 1711. Under this Act, a Postmaster General for the seaboard colonies was appointed and considerable improve- ments in the service were achieved. The extent of regular mail service was, however, quite restricted. In 1749 there were only 143 miles of post routes in the eastern counties of Massachusetts, and 89 miles in the western counties. Service was at best weekly, and in the winter it was not always possi- ble to maintain a fortnightly service. After Franklin became Postmaster General in 1753, substantial reforms were carried out and the service greatly improved, but the effect of these achievements was not generally felt until the close of our period.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Notwithstanding a wealth of monographic literature on the colonial period, few good general treatises on economic history have appeared. Much source material must still be carefully utilized. For this brief survey it has been necessary to make use of unpublished material in the Massa- chusetts Archives and the Sparks MSS. in the Harvard College Library. The important publications of the Record Commission of the City of Boston and various other printed records have been utilized. Excellent material exists in the town archives, and perhaps in those of the local historical and antiquarian societies. The most useful books are:
AKAGI, ROY HIDEMICHI .- The Town Proprietors of the New England Colo- nies (Phila., Univ. of Pa., 1924)-A carefully documented study of one of the most important aspects of the social and economic life of New England.
ALBION, ROBERT GREENHALGH .- Forests and Sea Power, 1652-1862 (Harvard Univ. Press, 1926)-An extremely interesting study of the problems of the British navy, including a complete analysis of the forest legisla- tion in regard to the colonies.
ASHLEY, WILLIAM JAMES .- "The Commercial Legislation of England and the American Colonies, 1660-1760" (Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XIV, pp. 1-29, 1899-1900)-A study of the Navigation Acts by a noted English author.
BAGNALL, WILLIAM R .- The Textile Industries in the United States (Vol. I, Cambridge, Houghton Mifflin, 1893)-A minute record of the history of the textile industry during 1639-1810, dominated by anti- quarian interests, using a variety of sources; important even to a general reader. No more volumes were published.
BEER, GEORGE LOUIS .- British Colonial Policy, 1754-1765 (N. Y., Macmil- lan, 1907).
BEER, GEORGE LOUIS .- The Commercial Policy of England toward the American Colonies (Columbia Studies in History, Economics, and Public Laws, Vol. III, No. 2, N. Y., Longmans, Green, 1893).
BEER, GEORGE LOUIS .- The Old Colonial System, 1660-1754 (2 vols., N. Y., Macmillan, 1912).
BEER, GEORGE LOUIS .- The Origins of British Colonial Policy, 1578-1660 (N. Y., Macmillan, 1908)-These studies by Beer constitute the most complete and detailed analysis of important aspects of the history of colonial commerce and British policy.
BISHOP, JAMES LEANDER .- A History of American Manufactures from 1608 to 1860 (3 vols., Phila., Young, 1866)-A minute antiquarian record of individual industries.
CHICKERING, JESSE .- A Statistical View of the Population of Massachusetts from 1763 to 1840 (Boston, Little and Brown, 1846)-The most ac- cessible source now available for the records of the Census of 1765.
CLARK, VICTOR SELDEN .- History of Manufactures in the United States, 1607-1860 (Washington, Carnegie Institution, 1916)-The most exten- sive study of our early industrial history yet available; capable pre- sentation, but less significant for the craft and household industries of the early period as he is more interested in the capitalistic develop- ments of the early nineteenth century.
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Dow, GEORGE FRANCIS, AND EDMONDS, JOHN HENRY .- The Pirates of the New England Coast, 1630-1730 (Salem, Marine Research Society, 1923)-A well-documented and interesting account of piratical enter- prise.
HALL, HENRY .- "Report on the Shipbuilding Industry of the United States" (United States : Bureau of the Census, Tenth Census, 1880, Census Reports, Vol. VIII, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1884)- Incomplete in many respects, but of fundamental importance to the student. Rather technical for a general reader.
LORD, ELEANOR LOUISA .- Industrial Experiments in the British Colonies (Johns Hopkins Studies in Historical and Political Science, Extra Vol. XVII, Balto., Johns Hopkins Press, 1898)-A useful account of the British restrictions upon industry. The chapters on the attempt to control the forests are now supplanted by Albion's more detailed account.
MCFARLAND, RAYMOND .- A History of the New England Fisheries (Univ. of Pa., N. Y., Appleton, 1911)-An unusually interesting and scholarly study of a subject frequently neglected.
MORRIS, EDWARD PARMELEE .- The Fore and Aft Rig in America (New Haven, Yale Univ. Press, 1927)-A scholarly study of a somewhat technical subject that will be interesting to any layman. Especially timely in view of the increased interest in the history of ships and shipping.
PITMAN, FRANK WESLEY .- The Development of the British West Indies, 1700-1763 (Yale Historical Publications, Studies, IV, New Haven, Yale Univ. Press, 1917)-An interesting and thorough study of the develop- ment of the sugar colonies, important on the policy embodied in the Molasses Act, the commercial contracts of Massachusetts and the other New England colonies.
TOWER, WALTER S .- A History of the American Whale Fishery (Univ. of Pa. Publications, Series in Political Economy and Public Law, No. 20, Phila., Univ. of Pa., 1907)-The most readable history of whaling, though it adds little new material.
UNITED STATES ; BUREAU OF THE CENSUS .- A Century of Population Growth; 1790-1900 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1909) -Presents a summary of early estimates of population, and computes figures for all the colonies by decades from the time of their settle- ment.
WEEDEN, WILLIAM BABCOCK .- Economic and Social History of New Eng- land, 1620-1789 (2 vols., Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1891)-Still useful, because the range of the author's information is remarkable, but many cogent matters are omitted.
CHAPTER XIV
FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS (1741-1763)
BY GEORGE A. PLIMPTON President of Trustees of Amherst College
CAUSES OF WAR
The rivalry between France and England for possession of the eastern part of the North American continent in 1741 had lasted a hundred and twenty years and was to last for twenty years longer ; but it was only a part of an international clash which was reflected on the continent of Europe, in the West Indies, and even in far-off India, and was made lively by an almost continuous contest for the control of the seas. The two springs of this century-long battle between France and England were the land ambitions of the French and the sea and the oversea ambitions of the English. Two successive periods of war were closed, as has been seen in an earlier chapter, by general treaties of peace-the Peace of Ryswick in 1697, and the Peace of Utrecht in 1713 ; and two more were to come-the Peace of Aix la Chapelle in 1748, and the Peace of Paris in 1763.
In every one of the wars terminated by these four peaces, which were little more than truces, the North American colonies of Great Britain were involved; in every one Massa- chusetts was a lively participant, as the most populous of the northern colonies, as a nursery of merchant shipping, priva- teers and fighting ships, and (through its possession of Maine) as the land neighbor of both Acadia and Quebec, outposts of French power.
A history of Massachusetts cannot include the detail even of the last two of the four periods of fighting. It must restrict itself to those stirring events by land and sea in which Massa- chusetts troops and sailors were actually engaged, and which
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concerned the safety of the colony. Nor is it possible even to estimate the loss of men and ships and material, and the re- tarding effect of the constant subtraction of man power and destruction of the small stock of hard-earned wealth in Massa- chusetts. The purpose of this chapter is to review briefly the principal events in wars by land and sea between 1741 and 1763 in which Massachusetts had a part. Particularly it is im- portant to bring out the spirit of the Massachusetts people and the methods by which their man power and money power, such as it was, were made available for the defence of the colony; and for the numerous offensive movements at sea on the northern coast, in the Lake Champlain region, on the St. Lawrence river, at Cape Breton, and even at far-off Niagara. The spirit of Massachusetts is revealed by extracts taken from manuscripts in the collection of the author of this chapter.
RIVAL FORCES IN 1741
In the early eighteenth century a candid thinker would have been puzzled to predict whether America would eventually become British or French. The part that Massachusetts played in making this country English can hardly be exaggerated. The situation in 1741 was as follows: France claimed, on the ground of discovery, all of Canada and all the land west of the Ohio River and the Allegheny Mountains to the Mississippi River, including New Orleans and extending eastward to Florida and westward to Mexico. This country was defended by forts at Louisburg, at Gaspereau, at Beau Séjour, Quebec, Montreal, Frontenac, Toronto, Le Boeuf, Logstown and later at Duquesne. In 1749 Count Céléron de Bienville nailed signs to the trees and placed lead plates along the Ohio River with an inscription in French that this was French territory and that trespassing was forbidden. Two of these plates are still in existence, one in the Virginia Historical Society, and the other at the American Antiquarian Society. The population of the French territory at that time was estimated at between 70,000 and 80,000 people.
The British Colonies and the Spanish possessions covered the rest of the eastern part of the continent. The British extended from the coast to the Ohio River, as far south
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as Florida, and by the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) France admitted that the region occupied by the Acadians was British also. The British depended for frontier defense upon Fort Halifax, Fort Annapolis, Fort Canseau, Fort St. John, Fort Pemaquid, Fort Henry, Fort Edward, Fort Oswego, and Fort Cumberland. The population of the British territory which flanked the French possessions was estimated at 1,300,- 000 people.
CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG (1745)
Fortunately for Massachusetts, William Shirley was ap- pointed Governor of the Province on May 16, 1741, to succeed Jonathan Belcher. Shirley had been a surveyor of the king's woods, which gave him an opportunity to study New England geography. In 1734 he became the King's Advocate General in America, and this meant that all of New England, with the exception of Connecticut, was under his jurisdiction.
In the year 1745 war broke out between Great Britain and France-often called "King George's War"; or, in Europe, "War of the Austrian Succession." The object of the French forces in America was to capture Nova Scotia and northern New England. A French expedition from Louisburg captured Fort Canseau, taking the prisoners back to Louisburg. A second force was sent to Annapolis, but fortunately this stronghold was reinforced and the effort failed. Governor Shirley, in view of these events, conceived the idea of sending a force to capture Louisburg. This idea to many seemed ridiculous ; nevertheless he secured the approval of the General Court, and Massachusetts voted 3,250 men. Connecticut voted 500 men, and New Hampshire and Rhode Island 300 each.
Shirley appointed as commander William Pepperrell of Kit- tery, Maine, and second in command Captain Waldo of Boston. He also secured the cooperation of Commodore War- ren, who commanded the British Fleet in American waters. The Reverend George Whitefield, then in America, told Pep- perrell he did not think the scheme very promising, that if it did succeed the widows and orphans of the slain officers would be like lions robbed of their whelps; but if it pleased God to give them success, envy would endeavor to eclipse his glory. Pepperrell, however, continued with his arrangements. The
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expedition consisted of thirteen armed vessels under Captain Edward Tyng, with about ninety transports and two hundred guns. The expedition sailed from Boston, March 12, 1744, under command of Pepperrell and Commodore Warren, and reached Canseau April 4. May 7, a demand was sent to the Commander in Chief of the French King's troops in Louis- burg, promising "that all the subjects of the French King now in the said city and territories shall be treated with the utmost humanity, have their personal estates secured to them and transport themselves and said effects to any part of the French King's dominions in Europe."
The French Commander, Duchambon, stood out till June 14, when he capitulated. The number of killed on the French side was placed at 300, and on the English side 130. The cap- ture of Louisburg, which was supposed to be impregnable, made a tremendous impression not only throughout the colo- nies but also in England, and in consequence of it William Pepperrell was knighted. A gilt cross, taken from a church, was presented to Harvard College, in whose possession it now remains.
June 20, 1745, on board the Superbe in Louisburg Harbor, Commander Warren writes to Pepperrell, suggesting a joint letter to the Duke of Newcastle that the officers and soldiers be rewarded for their service. The soldiers and sailors had expected great plunder, but by the terms of the capitulation were prevented from getting it. No substitute for the spoils of war was offered them, however.
Much to the disgust of the people in the colonies, Louisburg was restored to France at the peace of Aix la Chapelle in 1748, in exchange for Madras, India. The expedition had cost Massachusetts $261,700, which sum the British Govern- ment repaid by sending 200 chests of Spanish Dollars and 100 casks of copper coins.
THE ALBANY CONGRESS OF 1754
From 1748 to 1754 there was constant warfare on the fron- tier. This was due to commercial rivalry, encroachment on our territory, and massacres by the French and Indians, who
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THE ALBANY CONGRESS
also carried captives into Canada for ransom. These actions were confined to no one province. Something had to be done.
In view of these conditions the British Board of Trade and Plantations suggested that there ought to be a meeting of representatives of the different colonies to take concerted action with regard to a settlement with the Indians of the boundaries of the land they owned; and also to take steps to protect the colonists against the attacks of the French and the Indians. Accordingly twenty-five delegates from New Hamp- shire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland met at Albany in June, 1754. Massachusetts was represented by Thomas Hutchinson. The Indians of the Six Nations were represented by Chief Hendricks, who made the remark that "the French were men, but the English were women."
This Albany Conference was the first concerted effort to bring the colonies together into some form of permanent organization. Benjamin Franklin, delegate from Pennsyl- vania, drew up an elaborate plan of semi-federal government. It contemplated an appointment of a President General by the Crown. He was to have a Grand Council elected by repre- sentatives of the people in the several colonies to the number of 48. Massachusetts and Virginia were to have seven, Rhode Island two; no province was to have more than seven or less than two. Every three years there was to be a new election. The council was to meet every year, and could sit for six weeks; 20 men would constitute a quorum, provided there was one or more from each colony. The President could not initiate business but could veto the action of the council. He could also, with advice of the council, make peace or declare war on Indian tribes. He could lay general duties, impose taxes and issue public money, and do almost anything not repugnant to the laws of England. Military officers were to be nominated by the president and confirmed by the council. Civil officers were to be nominated by the council and confirmed by the president. The plan found no favor with the Board of Trade or with the Council.
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SHIRLEY'S PLANS (1755)
Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia in 1754 sent George Wash- ington to Fort Le Boeuf in northwestern Pennsylvania to investigate the inroads of the French. Upon his report to the Governor, Washington was ordered to proceed to the frontier. Overwhelmed by the French and Indian forces, he was obliged to surrender to the French. Indians, both east and west, took up the side of the French, and war raged all along the frontier.
The attitude of Governor Shirley of Massachusetts and the common interest of Massachusetts with the colonies further south is brought out significantly in extracts from a letter to Governor Delancy of New York, February 24, 1755 :
"It would be needless for me to observe to you how his majesties' colonies upon this continent are surrounded with the encroachment of the French. They have long since marked out for themselves a large empire upon the back of it, extending from Cape Breton to the Gulf of Mexico and comprehending the country between the Appalachian Moun- tains and the Pacific Ocean, with the numerous powerful Tribes of Indians inhabitating it and they are now finishing the extreme parts of a communication between Louisburg and Quebec across the Isthmus of Nova Scotia and Bay of Fundy at one end and a junction of Canada with the Mississippi by a line of Forts upon the Great Lakes and Rivers at the other. It has fallen to the lot of the most eastern colonies to be hemmed in by [a] part of their encroachments.
"His Majesty on taking the state of his Colonies in North America into his Royal consideration, was graciously pleased. Colonel Lawrence and I have concerted measures for dislodging the French from their forts in Nova Scotia, and driving them out of that Province.
"Mr. Dinwiddie, Governor of Virginia, in his letter to me, dated January (14th acquaints) me that his government had great dependence upon a strong Diversion's (being made) by Sr. Wm. Pepperell's and my Regiments this Summer, at some part of Canada (in favor) of the attempts of the Western Colonies to repel the French upon the Ohio, and (such a) Di- version of the French Forces must likewise greatly facilitate the Enterprise (for) driving the French from their encroach-
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ments in Nova Scotia; it is most evident (that) at the same time the expedition in Nova Scotia, and the Schemes wh. principally employ the attention of the French, and a great part of their Forces upon the (Ohio) afford a most favourable opportunity for the four Colonies of New England, and (those) of New York and New Jerseys with their united strength to erect such a Fort near (Crown) Point, as may command the French Fort there, and curb the City of Montreal (itself). .
"Out of the 2,200 men, wh are raising for Sr. Wm. Pep- perrel's and my Regiment, and 2,000 now raising for the Expedition to Nova Scotia, upwards of 3,000 of them will be taken out of this Province, wh with the 1,200 proposed to be raised in it for Crown Point will amount to considerably more than one eight part of its fighting men, and that they were at an heavy charge last year in carrying an Expedition upon the River Kinneneck, and erecting Fort Hallifax there wh as it is a great advance towards securing the principal pass into the heart of Canada over against their Metropolis of Quebec, and through which River the French have the shortest passage into the Atlantick Ocean of any River in North America must be deemed an advantage to all the Eastern Colonies in general.
"Your Honour will observe that the Assembly hath desired me to appoint an officer for the Chief Command of the pro- posed Expedition.
"The Gentleman I have thought of on this important occa- sion is Colonel William Johnson of Mount Johnson in the Mohawk Country whose distinguished character for the great Influence He hath for Severall Years maintained over the Indians of the Six Nations, is the circumstance, wh determines me in my Choice, preferably to any Gentleman in my own Government.
"But I am persuaded nothing more need be urged to Yr. Honour concerning the great importance of the proposed Ex- pedition (than) that besides securing our Selves against future depredations of the French ( from) their Fort at Crown Point in a time of War, We shall Wipe of the repro (ach) of the Colonies for Suffering that dangerous Encroachment upon his Majes(ty's) Territories to be at first erected, I should
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have mentioned to Your Honour the two Houses of the As- sembly in this Province have bound themselves to A (ct?) by Secrecy . . . . I thought proper to observe that Yr Honour may use Yr discretion in yt (point) with regard to the As- sembly within Yr own Government, the Same (Union of) sentiments, and like Spirit, with wh the Colonies proposed to join in the present . . . that the depredations from the French and their Indians at Crown Point, not only in time of war but (as well) in a time of peace, together with its present exposed State, will move yr Government of New York to an Hearty concurrence with the Massachusetts Bay in ye proposed Expedition."
WESTERN AND NORTHERN CAMPAIGNS (1755)
At the suggestion of Governor Dinwiddie a conference was held at Alexandria, Virginia, in April, 1755, which was at- tended by Governor Delancey of New York, Governor Morris of Pennsylvania, Governor Sharp of Maryland, Governor Dobbs of North Carolina and Governor Shirley of Massa- chusetts. This was the first formal conference of New Eng- land and the middle and southern colonies beyond Maryland, and suggests the meeting of the Stamp Act Congress in 1765.
The conference decided upon four campaigns : First, General Braddock with two regiments and with a colonial force, as- sisted by George Washington, was to proceed against the new French fort, Fort Duquesne; second, an expedition against Crown Point on Lake Champlain was assigned to William Johnson, who was appointed Major-General; third, a cam- paign was planned for the capture of Fort Niagara under the command of William Shirley and Sir William Pepperrell: fourth, preparations were to be made for the removal of the Acadians and the capture of Fort Beau Séjour in Acadia under Major-General Monckton.
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