USA > Maryland > An historical view of the government of Maryland : from its colonization to the present day > Part 42
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will be the most convenient time for a meeting, which time and place, to prevent delay, they are directed to propose.
11. Resolved, unanimously, That this province will break off all trade and dealings with that colony, province, or town, which shall decline or refuse to come into the general plan which may be adopted by the colonies.
12. Resolved, That copies of these resolutions be transmitted to the Commitices of Correspondence for the several colonies, and be also published in the Maryland Gazette."
.The restrictions of the association of 1769, had never been formally rescinded, as to the article of tea, on which the duty was continued ; and if as to this also, they had been relaxed by Tea burning at the practice of the colony after the abandonment of
Annapolis. the other restrictions, they were now revived in all their vigor, without waiting for the sanction of her expected Congress. As to this commodity, which was familiarly called " the detestable weed," the former provisions for prohibiting its importation, were instantly renewed. Many of the proceedings of the county committees of Maryland, occurring during the interval between the assemblage of its convention and the adoption of a new association by the continental congress, manifest the same vigilant and vigorous opposition to its introduction, which charac- terised the course of the colony immediately after the first adoption of the association. One of these instances of opposition is too remarkable to be passed unnoticed. The tea burning at Boston has acquired renown, as an act of unexampled daring at that day in the defence of American liberties: but the tea burning at Annapolis, which occurred in the ensuing fall, far surpasses it in the apparent deliberation and utter carelessness of concealment attending the bold measures which led to its accomplishment. On the 14th of October, 1771, the brig Peggy Stewart arrived at Annapolis, having on board, as a small part of its cargo, seventeen packages of tea, consigned to Thomas Williams and Co. mer- chants of that place. Although it appears that some of the con- signees were not scrupulous about infringements of the associa- tion, they would not venture to incur the public indignation, by landing or paying the duties upon the tea, without consulting the inclinations of some of the committee of Annapolis : but, in the meantime, the vessel was entered, and the duties paid by Mr.
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... Anthony Stewart, a part owner of the vessel. The people, alrea- dy indignant at the very attempt to import it, were incensed be- yond control by the payment of the duties. A meeting of the citizens of Annapolis was immediately convened, by some of the committee of Anne Arundel, at which it was determined that the tea should not be landed; and a committee was accordingly appointed, to prevent its landing, and to superintend the dis- - charge of the remaining cargo. The ultimate disposition of the case was reserved for the consideration of a general county meeting, to be held in a few days thereafter. Apprehensive of the result, Mr. Stewart endeavored to anticipate the purposes of , that meeting, by assenting, under the advice of others, to the destruction of the tea, as the only effectual mode of appeasing public indignation. A meeting of the citizens of Annapolis was now called, in advance of the proposed county meeting, to - which the proposal to land and burn the tea was submitted, as sanctioned by the assent of Mr. Stewart and of the consignees ; but even this would not suffice. Some more exemplary punish- ment was deemed necessary; and the majority determined to re- fer the proposition to the expected county meeting. This meet- ing was held on the 19th of October, and was very fully attend- ed. The subject was then thoroughly investigated by a commit- tec, who recommended the destruction of the tea, and required both of Mr. Stewart and the consignees, a written apology of a most humiliating character. Still the public mind was not satis- fied. The destruction of the vessel itself was now proposed ; and although the proposition was negatived by the meeting, it was yet sustained by many, who avowed their determination to col- lect a force for its accomplishment. In this emergency, Mr. Stewart, acting under the advice of Mr. Carroll of Carrollton, proposed to destroy the vessel with his own hands. The pro- position was, of course, gladly accepted ; and the people repaired in crowds to the water to witness the atonement. Mr. Stewart, accompanied by the consignees, went abeard the vessel, which was run aground at Windmill Point; and there, in the presence of the assembled multitude, with the free will of a fatalist, he set fire to his own vessel, with the tea on board, and expiated his
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offence by their destruction. (28) This instance, in its manifesta- tion of public feeling, is of a character with those which occur- red in other parts of the province; and they evince the preva- lence, throughout it, of the most determined and resistless oppo- sition to the measures of the English government.
The Continental Congress, to which all the colonics were look- ing with the most anxious expectation, assembled at Philadel- Proceedings of phia, on the 5th of September, 1774. The charac- the first Conti- Dental Congress. ter of that Congress, and the results of its delibera- tions, belong peculiarly to the national history, on which they stand in proud relief, as the memorials of an Assembly, evincing more dignity of sentiment and elevation of purpose, than ever . did a Roman senate. Its manifesto of colonial liberties, and its addresses to the king, to the people of Great Britain, and to the colonists themselves, display every where a spirit, as far removed from faction as from submission, as gentle and open to the prof- fers of honorable reconciliation as it was steeled against the me- naces of arbitrary power, as ardently desirous for the restoration of harmony in consistence with public rights, as it was resolved against peace with their abandonment as its condition. The ex- pedient of opposition resorted to by that congress, was that already indicated by public sentiment, and recommended by its success- ful issue in the previous contests of the colonies. A Non-Im- portation Association was adopted, to take effect in the ensuing December, and to exclude the importation of all articles whatso- ever, imported either directly from Great Britain and Ireland, or indirectly by their importation from other places into which they were originally imported from these kingdoms. It prohibited also, the importation of East India teas from any quarter of the world; and to obviate the effects of any importations alrea- dy made, it embraced an agreement not to purchase or consume, after that period, any teas imported on account of the East India company, or on which the duty had been paid, nor, after the ensu- ing March, any East India tea imported under any circumstances. Restrictions upon exportation of as extensive a character, were also embodied in this association : but these were postponed in their
(98) Green's Gazette of 20th and 27th October, 1774. Eddis's Letters, 170 to 184. Life of Carroll, in Biography of Siguers, &c.
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operation until September, 1775; after which period, if the difficul- ties with the mother country were not adjusted, they prohibited the exportation of any article whatsoever, to Great Britain, Ireland, or the West Indies, except rice to Europe. Such were the pro- minent features of this association, which contemplated, in the last resort, an entire cessation of commerce with the mother country and its principal possessions. Of those who established- it, all hoped for its ultimate efficacy ; and many of the most sa- gacious rested upon that hope with entire confidence :. yet there were those amongst them, who even now believed, that the con- troversy must ultimately be decided by the strong hand. (29) It was submitted to a people, expecting its coming, and ready for its adoption ; and it instantly received their almost unanimous approbation.
Under the power reserved by the Maryland Convention io its deputies in congress, it was again convened, by their call, on Association re- the 21st November, 1774; when the proceedings
commended by it, adopted by of the Congress were unanimously approved; and the Maryland Convention. it was declared to be the duty of every inhabitant of the province "to observe strictly and inviolably, and to carry into full execution," the recommended association. If more had been wanting to give efficacy to this declared duty, it was found in the eloquent appeals with which it was enforced by the con- vention at its session in the ensuing month. "As our opposi- tion (say its resolves,) to the settled plan of the British adminis- tration to enslave America, will be strengthened by an union of all ranks of men in this province, we do most earnestly recom- mend that all former differences about religion or politics, and all private animosities and quarrels of every kind, from hence- forth cease, and be for ever buried in oblivion; and we entreat, we conjure every man, by his duty to his God, his country, and his posterity, cordially to unite in defence of our common rights and liberties."
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Thus began the . War of the Revolution, with a system of re- strictions, inconvenient and oppressive to the colonists them- General efficacy selves, although of their own adoption, yet resting of this Associa- for its basis and securities upon public sentiment. tion.
(23) Of the latter class were Patrick Henry and John Adams-seo Ist Pit- kin's U. States, 301.
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It could not have had a more efficient support. Tyrants may humble and oppress, laws may awe; but public sentiment erects its throne in the heart. There installed, it sways with a moral power and energy, which bring tyrants to its footstool, and give to law itself its efficacy. Human institutions are its handmaids : but when they seek to drive it from its throne, they learn, in the sad . experience of their feebleness, that the very power they have wielded was but its derivative. It keeps the lofty place, where men may stand and say with him of old, "Give me but this, and I will move the world." In these widely extended colonies, with institutions so various and pursuits so diversified, public sentiment had now moulded them into one, and ruled su- preme over all. Never was there a dominion more perfect and resistless. Before it had fallen prostrate, all the habits of colo- nial dependence; and the allegiance to England's monarch, established by law and inculcated by education through ages of uninterrupted loyalty, was exchanged for devotion to American liberty. It was surrounded by none of the harsh penalties of law, nor of the pomp and circumstance of judicial tribunals, to strike terror to the souls of the offender. It did but expose him to public censure, as the enemy of his country's liberties : yet in this simple denunciation, there was enough to appal the stoutest heart. As if he were touched with leprosy, all shrank from communion with "the denounced;", and even friends desert- ed. If secure from popular vengeance, he had no refuge from the withering scorn and contempt of his countrymen, but in hu- miliating submission, or ignominious flight from his home. With such sanctions to sustain such a cause, who wonders, that the history of the colonies, at this period, abounds with illustrations of public virtue, for which the world has no parallel?
, An association for such objects, thus recommended, and thus sustained, could not fail to command general observance; and Mode In which in Maryland, the most judicious measures were im- enforced in Ma- ryland. mediately adopted to insure its discreet application. After it had received the sanction of the convention, meetings were assembled in all the counties, and committees were se- lected, amongst whom were distributed the powers and duties proper to give it universal respect and uniformity of operation. Some of these were called Committees of Inspection or Obser-
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vation, to whom it belonged to inquire into and report the facts eof every case of alleged or suspected breach of the association; and others, Committees of Correspondence, who were empow- ered to conrene county meetings, and were charged with the duty of keeping up a correspondence with the other counties. These regulations were attended with the happiest results. Pub- lic feeling; which may sometimes run to riot under the impulse of the best causes, was constantly checked and purified by its operation through these channels; and its dispensations were attended with order and harmony. In this mode the association was sustained in this province until July, 1775; and the relations with the other colonies were kept up, during this interval, by a Provincial Committee of Correspondence, and by the continued appointment of delegates to the General Congress. (30) In the . latter, the most implicit confidence was reposed. It has been 'seen that the instructions to the delegates appointed by the first convention, contemplated only a system of opposition operating upon the commercial connexion of the colonies with the mother country ; but those given by the ensuing conventions of Decem- ber, 1774, and April, 1775, left them free from all restrictions. The former clothed the delegates with general authority "to agree to all such measures as Congress might deem necessary and effec- tual to obtain a redress of American grievances:" which was accompanied, in those of April, with the express declaration of the confidence of the convention "in the wisdom and prudence of the delegates, that they would not proceed to the last ex-
(30) Messrs. Tilghman, Johnson, Goldsborough, Paca, and Chase, the delegates to Congress appointed by the first convention in June, 1774, ap- pear to have been charged with conducting the correspondence with other colonies. But at the session of the Convention in December following, the latter duty was confided to a distinct committee, styled "The Provincial Committee of Correspondence." The persons then appointed to constitute this new committee were, Matthew Tilghman, (who seems to have been the patriarch of the colony, at this eventful period,) John Hall, Samuel Chase, Thomas Johnson, Junr., Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Charles Carroll, bar- rister, and William Paca. The delegates to Congress were appointed for one congress next succeeding the convention at which they were appointed. The gentlemen appointed by the first Convention were continued as such during this period, and to them were added in December, 1774, John Hall .. and Thomas Stone .-
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tremity, unless in their judgments they should be convinced dint such a measure was indispensably necessary for the safety of their common liberties and privileges." The instructions wrto accompanied with the solemn pledge, that the province would carry into execution, to the utmost of its power, all measures re- commended by the General Congress.
Yet even at this early period, when the nation was resting, - with hopes of success, upon this mode of resistance, we disco- Preparations for ver, in the proceedings of the convention, that they hostilities. were already contemplating the probable necessity of one more serious, and were preparing the public mind, and organizing the power of the province, in anticipation of its com- ing. In one of their resolves, at December session, 1774, they announced the determination "that if the late act of parliament 'relative to the Massachusetts-Bay, shall be attempted to be car- ried into execution by force in that colony; or if the assumed power of parliament to tax the colonies shall be attempted to be carried into execution by force in that or any other colony, in in such case this province would support such colony to the utmost of their power." The preparatives to meet this engage- ment were not neglected. The planters generally were request- ed to devote themselves to the culture of flax, hemp, and cotton, and to the preservation of their flocks for the manufacture of woollens. All persons between the ages of 15 and 60 were re- commended to form themselves into companies, to equip them- selves with arms, and to engage in military exercises. It was also enjoined upon the committees of the several counties, to raise, by subscription, or in some other voluntary mode, a speci- fied sum of money for their respective counties, to be expended in the purchase of arms and ammunition, which were to be pre- served under the direction of the committees. From the pro- ceedings in the counties, which have been preserved, these in- junctions appear to have been obeyed with promptness and ala- crity. Military associations were every where formed; arms and ammunition were collected; liberty was the watchword; and citi- zen soldiers were arming for the defence. All gave dreadful note of preparation for the crisis which soon arrived. (31)
(31) Eddis, writing from Maryland in March, 1775, has given us a lively picture of the transactions of this period. "From one Extremity of this
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In the remonstrances of the colonies, and the preparations which ensued, any bat an infatuated ministry might have learned Adoption of a the lesson of forbearance. The calm, settled, stern Provisional. go- vernment. determination, which pervaded this nation, even careless observation might have distinguished, from the faction of the few, or the temporary excitement of the many. When such a spirit rouses to resistance, menaces no longer awe, and even victory does not bring submission. Yet were the English ministry either unaware of the existence of this spirit, or inca- pable of appreciating its character. The efforts of Chatham, of Burke, and of Fuller, were all unavailing to arrest its mad career in the course of colonial oppression : propositions for reconcilia- tion, which offered honorable retreat from its measures, were rejected with disdain: injury was added to injury ; and invective and insult were the arguments addressed to a free and gallant people. The proceedings of the English parliament, during the winter of 1774-'75, dispelled all hopes of speedy and peaceable reconciliation. It was now manifest, that force must be the ar- biter: yet the colonists shrank not from this dread appeal. In the battle of Lexington, the first blow was struck; and, on the instant, started up in arms the American nation for the defence of its liberties. Under the direction of its Congress, its army was organized, Washington was their leader, and hostilities be-
continent to the other, every appearance indicates approaching hostilities. The busy voice of preparation echoes through every settlement; and those who are not zealously infected with the general frenzy, are considered as enemies to the cause of liberty ; and, without regard to any peculiarity of situation, are branded with opprobrious appellations, and pointed out as victims to public resentment. Very considerable subscriptions have been made in every quarter for the relief of the Bostonians ; large sums have likewise been col- lected for the purchase of arms and ammunition ; and persons of all de- nominations are required to associate under military regulations, on pain of the severest censure."
In another of July, 1775, referring more particularly to the condition of this province, be remarks-" The inhabitants of this province are incorporat- ed under military regulations, and apply the greater part of their time to the different branches of discipline. In Annapolis, there are two complete companies ; in Baltimore, seven ; and in every district of this province, the majority of the people are actually under arms : almost every hat is decorat- ed with a cockade ; and the churlish drum and fife are the only music of the times."
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gan. The period of probation had passed away; and with it now departed all the remaining energies of the old forms of go- vernment. Tolerated in their helpless inefficiency, whilst there was yet hope of reconciliation through pacific measures, they had retained the form of power without its substance. They were now sinecures, occupying powers which were wanted by the colonies for their own defence ; and the people were prepared to shake them off as incumbrances. In some of the colonies, the inhabitants cast themselves upon, and were directed by, the ad- vice of Congress, in the adoption of new governments : that of Maryland was re-organized by its people upon their own respon- sibility. At the convention of July, 1775, a temporary form of government was established in this province, which endured un- til the adoption of the present state government; as the precur- sor of which, it still claims our remembrance.
The objects and obligations of that government were fully dis- closed in the following Articles of Association, which formed its basis :
"The long premeditated, and now avowed design of the Bri- tish government, to raise a revenue from the property of the co- Synopsis of the lonists without their consent, on the gift, grant, and Provisional Go-
vernment. disposition of the commons of Great Britain; the arbitrary, and vindictive statutes, passed under color of punish- ing a riot, to subdue by military force, and by famine, the Massa- . chusetts-Bay; the unlimited power assumed by parliament to al- ter the, charter of that province, and the constitution of all the colonies, thereby destroying the essential securities of the lives, liberties, and properties of the colonists; the commencement of hostilities by the ministerial forces, and the cruel prosecution of the war against the people of the Massachusetts-Bay, followed by General Gage's proclamation, declaring almost the whole of the inhabitants of the united colonies, by name or description, rebels and traitors, are sufficient causes to arm a free people in defence of their liberty, and to justify resistance, no longer dictated by prudence merely, but by necessity, and leave no alternative but base subinission or manly opposition to uncontrollable tyranny. The Congress chose the latter, and for the express purpose of securing and defending the united colonies, and preserving them in safety, against all attempts to carry the above mentioned acts
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into execution by force of arms, resolved, that the said colonies be immediately put into a state of defence, and now supports, at the joint expense, an army to restrain the further violence, and repel the future attacks; of a disappointed and exasperated enemy.
We, therefore, inhabitants of the province of Maryland, firm- ly persuaded that it is necessary and justifiable to repel force by force, do approve of the opposition by arms to the British troops, employed to enforce obedience to the late acts and statutes of the British parliament, for raising a revenue in America, and al- tering and changing the charter and constitution of the Massa- chusetts-Bay, and for destroying the essential securities for the lives, liberties, and properties of the subjects in the united colo- nies. And WE do unite and associate, as one band, and firmly and solemnly engage and pledge ourselves to each other, and to America, that we will, to the utmost of our power, promote and support the present opposition, carrying on, as well by arms, as by the continental association restraining our commerce.
And as in these times of public danger, and until a reconcilia- tion with Great Britain on constitutional principles is effected, . (an event, we most ardently wish, may soon take place,) the ener- gy of government may be greatly impaired, so that even zeal un- restrained may be productive of anarchy and confusion ; we do in like manner unite, associate, and solemnly engage in main- tenance of good order, and the public peace, to support the civil power in the due execution of the laws, so far as may be con- sistent with the present plan of opposition; and to defend with our utmost power all persons from every species of outrage to themselves or their property, and to prevent any punishment from being inflicted on any offenders, other than such as shall be adjudged by the civil magistrate, the continental congress, our convention, council of safety, or committees of observation."
To procure the general adoption of this Association, copies of it were to be transmitted to the counties, and to be borne about to the inhabitants for subscription by persons specially appointed in each county, for that purpose, by its committee of observa- tion. The subscribed copies were then to be returned to the 53
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