USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the commonwealth period. 1775-1820 v. III > Part 17
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1 Bradford, ii. 179; Williamson's Maine, ii. 471.
2 At the head of the armament was the Warren, a continental frigate of 32 guns. Of the others, there were 9 ships, 6 brigs, and 3 sloops. Thach- er's Jour. 166 ; Williamson's Maine, ii. 470.
3 Thacher's Jour. 170; William- VOL. III. 11
son's Maine, ii. 471.
4 He had been in actual service under General Ward, and commanded a regiment from Essex to Rhode Is- land in the expedition under Sullivan. Williamson's Maine, ii. 471; Winsor's Duxbury, 158.
5 Williamson's Maine, ii. 472.
162
FRESH LEVIES RAISED.
CHAP. short, but exceedingly sharp. The assailants, four hundred in IV. number, lost one hundred ; and the enemy fled, leaving thirty 1779. killed, wounded, and taken. Unfortunately, the movements of the Americans were not properly seconded by the marines from the fleet, and their situation became critical. All that could be done, therefore, was to throw up slight intrenchments within seven hundred yards of the fort ; and at a council of war, held the same day, it was decided to despatch messengers to Boston for aid. Before this arrived, the British were re- Aug.13. enforced by a fleet of seven sail, under Sir George Collier ; and the Americans, satisfied of the superiority of their oppo- nents, abandoned the siege, and hastily retreated. So fruitless an enterprise awakened chagrin ; and the whole country was filled with "grief and murmurs." The pecuniary damage to the finances of the state was a great misfortune ; the loss of property was seriously felt ; and the conduct of the officers was severely reproved.1
The three years' term for which enlistments had been made for the national army was now about to expire ; and, as the war yet raged, and but few had enlisted to serve till it ended, it was necessary to provide for this contingency by the reënlist- ment of those already engaged, or by raising fresh levies. A committee was accordingly sent to the army, to labor for the former purpose ; and they were furnished with funds, to ena- ble them to accomplish the object of their mission.2 In the midst of these arrangements, Congress, at the instance of General Washington, applied to Massachusetts for a reënforce-
1 On this expedition, see Boston Gazette for Mar. 18 and 25, and Apr. 1 and 8, 1782; Thacher's Jour. 166 -170; Heath's Mems. 235 ; Sparks's Corresp. of the Rev. ii. 460-462; Pemberton's Jour. in 1 M. H. Coll. ii. 172; Bradford, ii. 178-180; Wil- liamson's Maine, ii. 468-478. A court of inquiry was held in the fall ; and Commodore Saltonstall was declared incompetent ever after to hold a com-
mission in the service of the state, while Lovell and Wadsworth were honorably acquitted.
2 Bradford, ii. 183. The sum placed in the hands of the committee was $200,000 ; and they were authorized to offer a bounty of $300 to every soldier reënlisting. The sum of $500,000 was also remitted to Gen- eral Heath for a similar purpose.
163
THE NATIONAL DEBT.
ment of two thousand men ; and an order was issued to raise CHAP. them in the eastern and inland counties. But this could not IV. be effected without some difficulty ; and the mustering com- 1779. mittees were authorized to offer a bounty in addition to that which the Congress allowed, and the towns were required to advance thirty pounds to every one enlisting.1
The national debt had become enormous, and was nominally rated at two hundred millions of dollars. The depreciation of the paper currency had also reached such a point as to be " the burden of America ;" and, as all the states were respon- sible for the payment of this debt, and the whole property of the country was virtually mortgaged, unless something could be done for immediate relief it was feared that the nation would be reduced to bankruptcy. In this sad posture of pub- lic affairs, a circular was addressed to the people by Congress, Sep. 13 designed to convince them that the United States were "able and willing" to redeem the bills which had been put into circulation. "Suppose," it was said, "the emissions should amount to two hundred millions of pounds at the conclusion of the war, and that, exclusive of supplies from taxes, the loan should amount to one hundred millions : then the whole na- tional debt will be three hundred millions. There are, at present, three millions of inhabitants in the thirteen states. Three hundred millions of dollars, divided amongst these, will give to each person one hundred dollars ; and is there an indi- vidual in America unable, in the course of eighteen or twenty years, to pay that sum ?" The ability to meet these demands was further argued from a consideration of the sums formerly withdrawn from the country by the English government in the way of trade; notwithstanding which, the colonies grew rich. And, in future, would not the whole world be open to their commerce ? And, as the population increased, and the
1 Jour. H. of R. for 1779; Thacher's Jour. 178; Heath's Mems. 222; Bradford, ii. 184.
164
PROVISIONS FOR ITS PAYMENT.
CHAP. industrial resources of the country were developed, would not IV. the tide turn in their favor ? To violate their plighted faith
1779. would be ruinous to their credit. And it was the interest of all to sustain the country, and share its burdens.1
Happily for America, the cloud which lowered so darkly over its prospects was dissipated before irreparable damage was sustained. Their desperate struggle had awakened abroad the liveliest sympathy ; and, by the aid of their agents, who pleaded their cause with signal ability, loans were obtained 1782. Jun. 11 and from Holland and France ; 2 and the nation, which appeared July 16. to be tottering to its ruin, though its embarrassments were still great, was inspired with fresh vigor to do battle with Old England, and to wrest from her a speedy acknowledgment of independence. Had it not been for this change, so peculiarly favorable, it is difficult to say what might have been the re- sult ; for if the case of Massachusetts may serve to illustrate the condition of the other states, the valuation of its whole
1 Jour. Cont. Cong. for Sept. 13, we prosper. Another emission bore an anchor, with the words, In te, Dom- ine, speramus, In thee, Lord, we trust. The eight dollar bills dis- 1779; J. Adams's Letters to Dr. Cal- koen, 43, ed. 1786; Address of the Legis. of Mass. to the Inhabitants of the Commonwealth on Taxes, 1781 ; played a harp, with the motto, Majo- Pemberton's Jour. in 1 M. H. Coll. ra minoribus consonant, The great harmonize with the little. The thirty dollar bills exhibited a wreath on an altar, with the legend, Si recte faci- es, If you do right, you will succeed." Lewis's Lynn, 217. For an account of the expenses, of the revolutionary. war, amounting, in the whole, to at, least $135,193,703, see Pitkin's Sta- tistics of the U. S. 27, 28, ed. 1835. ii. 172-175. The " continental cur- rency," so called, " consisted of small pieces of paper, about two inches square. The one dollar bills had an altar, with the words, Depressa resur- git, The oppressed rises. The two dollar bills bore a hand making a cir- cle with compasses, with the motto, Tribulatio ditat, Trouble enriches. The device of the three dollar bills was an 2 Mem. to their High Mighti- nesses the States General of the United Provinces of the Low Coun- tries ; Address and Recommendations to the States by Congress, Boston 1783, 28-38; Sparks's Franklin, ix. passim ; Washington to Hamilton March 4, 1783, in Writings, viii. 388 -391 ; Diplomacy of the U. S. 137- 151; Bradford, ii. 210. eagle pouncing upon a crane, who was biting the eagle's neck, with the motto, Exilus in dubio, The event is doubtful. On the five dollar bills was a hand grasping a thornbush, with the inscrip- tion, Sustine vel abstine, Hold fast or touch not. The six dollar bills repre- sented a beaver felling a tree, with the word, Perseverando, By perseverance
165
SUFFERINGS OF THE WAR.
property was but eleven millions of dollars, while its debt was CHAP. five millions.1 IV.
The year 1780 was distinguished by few incidents bearing 1780. immediately upon the subject of this chapter ; 2 nor, indeed, from this date to the end of the war, did any thing remarkable occur in Massachusetts which deserves to be particularly men- tioned in this place. It was at the south that hostilities were principally raging ; and the battle grounds of this period must be sought in that quarter. That the times were gloomy no one can doubt. Throughout the country, the sufferings of the people were almost incredible. The lifeblood of the nation had been poured out like water. There were desolate homes in every town. Family ties had been broken and sundered. The old had grown gray in military service ; and the young had shot up to a premature manhood. Cities and dwellings were falling to decay ; and the half-tilled soil, covered with weeds, and the ruined fences, which scarcely kept out starving cattle, told of the hardships the yeomanry had endured.3
1 The nominal debt was two hun- dred millions ; but, on the calcula- tion of forty for one, the actual debt was five millions. The valuation of the state, eleven millions, is supposed to have been too small, and that it should have been double that amount. Bradford, ii. 189.
2 On the 19th February, 1780, a report was under consideration in Congress for estimating the supplies to be furnished by the several states for the current year, and the prices at which the several articles should be credited to the states which furnished them ; and this subject, fruitful in vexation as often as it occurred, led to difficulties between the Massachu- setts delegates and Congress, which resulted in the withdrawal of Mr. Gerry. Massachusetts, it seems, had become jealous of an attempt on the part of the other members of the confederacy to load her with an un- reasonable weight, and had frequent-
ly complained of being treated like a willing horse, whom its drivers were compelling to a fatal exertion. The delegates accordingly opposed the as- sessment ; and Mr. Gerry moved a recommitment of the report, which was refused. His treatment on this occasion was such as to cause great offence ; and his complaint was laid before the General Court, and the House voted to sustain him. Austin's Life of Gerry, i. 319-326.
3 In the spring of 1781, General Heath, whom Washington character- izes as "an officer whose high rank and consideration entitle him to par- ticular notice and attention," was sent to the Eastern States to represent the distresses of the army for the want of provisions, &c., and to urge more vig- orous measures for forwarding sup- plies. Sparks's Washington, viii. 36, 39, 43, and Corresp. of the Rev. iii. 312. Comp. also ibid. iii. 222, on the mission of General Knox, and ibid.
166
PRELIMINARIES OF PEACE.
CHAP. IV.
1782. Feb. 22.
Finally, early in 1782, after the war, which had " proceeded on the grossest impolicy," 1 had continued for seven years, and had been attended with the loss, on both sides, of thousands of lives and millions of property, the English government, wearied with the fruitless and desperate struggle, and hope- less of success, began to think seriously of overtures of peace. The reverses her arms had sustained in America, the surren- der of Cornwallis, the series of victories which had crowned with immortal honor the career of Washington, the embarrass- ment of her finances, the difficulty of sustaining longer a burden of which all classes bitterly complained, and the con- sciousness that by persisting in her course she would be involved in a continental war, already commenced, and far more disastrous to her interests than any profit which could possibly accrue from the reduction of the colonies, if effected,2 -all these considerations, joined to the remonstrances of influential citizens of the realm, and the change in the minis- try which was evidently approaching, were weighty arguments in favor of a cessation of hostilities, and a retreat from the position she had so long maintained.
The preliminary motion on the subject of peace was made by General Conway, who was respected on all sides as a gallant soldier and an accomplished gentleman ; but it was rejected by Feb. 27. a majority of one.3 Five days later, the motion was renewed ;
iii. 220, on the mission of Laurens. For the draughts from Massachusetts, between 1780 and 1783, see Brad- ford, ii., Sparks's Washington, viii., and Jour. Cont. Cong.
! Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vii. 124. Comp. also Day's Reflections upon the Present State of England, 8, Lond. 1783.
2 France and Spain declared war with England in 1779; difficulties with Holland and Russia occurred in 1780; and the "armed neutrality " followed, which arrayed against Eng- land the Baltic powers. Lord Ma- hon's Hist. Eng. vi. 255, 263; vii.
44, 45. In the spring of 1779, at- tempts were made by Congress to ar- range a commission for negotiating peace, and John Adams, of Massa- chusetts, was chosen for that purpose by the votes of eleven states. Ad- ams's Works, ix. ; Sparks's Franklin, ix .; Austin's Life of Gerry, i. 286, 295 ; Bradford, ii. 156.
3 Providence Gazette for May 11, 1782; Boston Gazette for May 20, 1782; Diplomacy of the U. S. 164; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vii. 136. The vote stood 193 in the affirmative, to 194 in the negative.
167
PRELIMINARIES OF PEACE.
and, so nearly were parties divided, the ministry did not venture CHAP. upon open resistance- Lord North only pleading for a tem- IV. porary delay. The opposition, however, were too sanguine to 1782. yield ; the resolution was pressed ; and, in the end, it was car- ried, against the whole force of government, by two hundred and thirty-four against two hundred and fifteen.1 The downfall of the old ministry speedily followed ; Lord North resigned ; Mar. 20. and in less than a week the new ministry kissed hands - the Marquis of Rockingham being first lord of the treasury, Sir John Cavendish chancellor of the exchequer, and Charles James Fox secretary of state. Admiral Keppel, with the rank of viscount, was raised to be first lord of the admiralty, and the Duke of Richmond became master general of the ordnance. These five were of the "Rockingham section ;" and, that the followers of Chatham might be duly represented, Lord Shelburne was appointed second secretary of state - the third, or American, secretaryship being abolished ; Lord Camden became president of the council ; the Duke of Graf- ton privy seal; General Conway commander-in-chief; and Lord Ashburton chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. And, as if to "hold the balance " between these parties, Lord Thurlow, a high tory, retained the great seal.2
About the time of the fall of Lord North's ministry, and in Mar. 22 anticipation of that event, Dr. Franklin, who was at Paris, wrote to Lord Shelburne, the secretary of state, informing him of the appointment, on the part of the American government, of five
1 Providence Gazette for May 11, 1782; Boston Gazette for May 20, 1782 ; Sparks's Washington, viii. 293, 294, 299, 540-542 ; Debrett's Parl. Reg. vi. 310-341; Diplomacy of the U. S. 164 ; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vii. 137.
Hamilton's Works, i. 277 ; Lord Ma- hon's Hist. Eng. vii. 144. The death of the Marquis of Rockingham, which occurred not long after, gave a shock to the new administration, and dis- ordered its whole system, and the prospects of peace for a time seemed
2 Considerations on the Provision -. to vanish. But a new ministry was al Treaty with America, ed. 1783, 13; soon organized, and the negotiations were continued. Sparks's Washing- ton, viii. 344, 359, 371; Diplomacy of the U. S. 164. Sparks's Washington, viii. 288, 359; Boston Gazette for June 24, 1782 ; Sparks's Franklin, ix. 183, 200, 202 ;
168
PRELIMINARIES OF PEACE.
CHAP. commissioners, to open and conclude a treaty of peace, and of IV. their readiness to attend to that duty. Accordingly, Richard 1782. Oswald, a London merchant, of respectable attainments, and a gentleman of the strictest candor and integrity, was commis- sioned, as agent on the part of the English government, to treat for that purpose.1 A conference was held soon after his April. arrival ; and a paper was presented by Dr. Franklin, suggest- ing that, in order to effect a thorough reconciliation, and to prevent any future quarrel on the North American continent, England should not only acknowledge the independence of the thirteen United States, but cede to them also the prov- Apr. 19. ince of Canada.2 With this paper Mr. Oswald returned to his employers ; but the proposition contained in it was unpal- atable to Lord Shelburne ; and the cabinet decided that he Apr. 27. should return with the abstract of a treaty on a different basis, admitting the independence of the thirteen United States, but leaving other matters to be restored as they stood at the peace of 1763.3 At the same time, a second agent was sent by the government to treat with Vergennes on the part of France ; and Mr. Thomas Grenville, the friend of Fox,
1 Sparks's Washington, viii. 371. " I dare say," adds Washington, " the king felt some severe pangs at the time he put his hand to the letters patent. It is not, however, less effi- cacious or pleasing on that account ; and breaking the ice is a great point gained."
2 Boston Gazette for Aug. 19, 1782; Edin. Rev. for Jan. 1854; Franklin's Journal, in Sparks's Frank- lin, ix. 238 et seq. ; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vii. 179. The proposition thus made was not new with Frank- lin, but had been suggested by him so early as October, 1778, in a letter to Mr. Hartley. Works, viii. 301. See 3 Journal, in Sparks's Franklin, also ibid. 253-255, 268-270, 278- . ix .; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vii. 287, relative to the terms of recon- ciliation with America, discussed in the spring of 1778, when William Pulteney, Esq., M. P., was sent to
Paris as secret agent to consult with Dr. Franklin. These propositions were renewed in 1779. Hartley to Franklin, April 22, 1779, in Frank- lin's Works, viii. 330-337, and the reply of Franklin, May 6, in ibid. 345 -347. See also Jebb's proposal for a federal union between America and England, in ibid. 508-513, under date of October 11, 1780. The subject of peace, indeed, was agitated and talked of for a long time before any thing definite was effected. Comp. Diplo- matic Corresp. of the Rev. viii. pas- sim ; Diplomacy of the U. S. chap. viii.
180. In the spring of 1779, and in the fall of 1781, the legislature of Massachusetts addressed memorials to their representatives in Congress
169
A TREATY OF PEACE CONCLUDED.
was selected for that purpose.1 Thus two treaties were in CHAP. progress at the same time, both of which aimed at an adjust- IV. 1782.
ment of difficulties and the restoration of peace.
The separate negotiations, as might have been anticipated, clashed with each other in several particulars ; and that with America was delayed for a time by the illness of Franklin and points of form in the commission of Oswald. The cession of Canada was utterly refused ; but as this was not, with Frank- lin, the sine qua non, it was quietly dropped ; a treaty was arranged upon different terms ; and the preliminary or provis- ional articles were signed, at Paris, by the four American Nov.30. commissioners, on one side, and Mr. Oswald, on the other.2 These articles were brought before Parliament in the winter, Jan. 27. 1783. and the opposition against them was peculiarly bitter. But government had gone too far to fall back with grace; and the new administration labored so zealously and successfully that, early in the fall, three definitive treaties - with America, Sept. 3. France, and Spain - were signed ; the former at Paris, and the two others at Versailles.3
on the subject of the fisheries, in which the New England States were interested ; and these memorials were laid before Congress, and acted upon, and the subject referred to their en- voys in Europe. Sparks's Franklin, ix. 128-141 ; Bradford, ii. 214; Aus- tin's Life of Gerry, i. 287-293, 371.
1 Sparks's Washington, viii. 540 ; Sparks's Franklin, ix. 270, 271; Bos- ton Gazette for Aug. 19, 1782; Di- plomacy of the U. S. 165 ; Lord Ma- hon's Hist. Eng. vii. 180.
2 Boston Gazette for April 7 and 14, 1783; Heath's Mems. 362; Di- plomacy of the U. S. 171; Lord Ma- hon's Hist. Eng. vii. 200.
3 J. Adams to E. Gerry, Sept. 3, 1783, in Austin's Life of Gerry, i. 381; Sparks's Franklin, ix. 435 ; Diplomatic Corresp. x .; Diplomacy of the U. S. 171-174; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vii. 207, 208. “ When
the definitive treaty was laid before Congress," says Austin, Life of Gerry, i. 380, " it was, with singular proprie- ty, committed to those of its mem- bers who, in 1776, had signed the Declaration of Independence. Three only remained. Mr. Jefferson, the draughtsman of that Declaration, was chairman of that committee.
Mr. Gerry was next named, and after him Mr. Ellery, of Rhode Island. Mr. Read, of South Carolina, and Mr. Hawkins, of North Carolina, complet- ed the requisite number. It was the happy fortune of this committee to report to Congress that the objects of their sacrifices were at length accom- plished ; that the sovereignty, free- dom, and independence of the United States were recognized ; and that the painful struggle which had thus far attended their existence as a nation was now happily at an end."
170
CLOSE OF THE WAR.
CHAP. IV. Thus the war of the revolution was happily ended. The colonies of England were wrested from her grasp, and the 1783. era of AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE was established. Without doubt, there were some who regretted the prospect of the ces- sation of arms. War, with the mercenary, is a trade which he follows with fiendish delight ; and to flesh his sword in the bodies of the innocent, to delight "in bloody deaths and rav- ishments,"-
" Nor children's tears nor mothers' groans respecting," -
to rove for plunder, and blast the earth with the mildew of famine, are to him more sweet than to behold "bruised arms hung up for monuments, stern alarums changed to merry meetings," and every man and every woman, freed from the fury and curse of the destroyer, singing with ecstasy the gay notes of peace. It should be remembered, however, that if war, to the Christian, is a "rank imposthume," and if the natural instinct of the benevolent heart revolts from its hor- rors, there are cases in which it is justifiable ; and the aspira- tions for a higher freedom than was attainable under the cir- cumstances in which they were placed, and the consciousness that this could be effected only by resisting the aggressions of England, will probably be deemed a sufficient justification for the course of the colonists.
It was "glad tidings" to America that peace was declared. Every countenance was radiant with smiles ; and the procla- mation, when read in the different cities, was hailed by the people with tumultuous cheers. Bells were rung ; cannon were fired ; bonfires blazed ; and, in the evening, the houses
1 The tented camps a soldier charm, Those sounds of war which mothers Trumpets and fifes his bosom warm ; fear. FRANCIS's Horace, Ode L Their mingled sounds with joy he hears -
171
CLOSE OF THE WAR.
were brilliantly illuminated. It seemed as if all were in- CHAP. spired with new life; and, in the hour of triumph, how IV. proudly the soldiery, who had fought for their country, re- 1783. counted the perilous scenes they had witnessed, and, looking to Heaven with grateful emotions, poured out their offerings of gratitude to God ! To view such a scene with indifference is impossible ; and if the story of the revolution, notwithstand- ing its drawbacks, becomes to us ever a "thrice told tale," or ceases to arouse us to emulate the virtues and admire the heroism of those who achieved the independence of our coun- try, then, may we be assured, the day of our downfall is rap- idly approaching, and we are becoming unworthy of the con- tinued enjoyment of the blessings of liberty, now so widely diffused throughout our land.
CHAPTER V.
ADOPTION OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION. PROCEEDINGS OF THE GOVERNMENT. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
CHAP. V.
THE renunciation of allegiance to the crown of Great Britain rendered it necessary for all the American colonies to 1776. establish, as soon as practicable, independent governments, for the protection of the people and the security of their inter- ests. Hence, in the midst of the war of the revolution, the citizens of Massachusetts were called upon to deliberate upon their civil affairs. As the several states were considered sov- ereign, as well as independent, and as the supreme authority resided in the legislature in each state, and each claimed the right to exercise sovereign power within its own jurisdiction, - yielding due respect to the advice and recommendations of the General Congress, - it became an important question what system of government should be adopted, and how that system should be framed and adjusted. In Massachusetts, there was no necessity for a hasty decision of this question. The charter, it is true, was no longer in force ; nor was there any obligation to abide by its requirements. But few altera- tions had been made in consequence of the renunciation of allegiance to the crown, and the forms of the old government were substantially preserved. The office of governor was vacant ; but the duties of that office were performed by the Executive Council, and no great difficulties had been hitherto experienced from the want of a chief magistrate. Defects were not felt as serious evils, while there were greater evils demanding attention. But these defects might increase ; and
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