USA > New Jersey > New Jersey as a colony and as a state; one of the original thirteen > Part 18
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Upon the 1st of November, 1784, Congress met in Trenton, either in the old jail, standing upon the site of the Trenton Banking Company's build- ing, or in Witt's City Tavern, where the Mechan- ics National Bank is now located. Slowly the members convened, and it was not until the first of December that Congress began the discharge of its duties. The question of the site of the federal capital was continually in the air, the Southern States holding out against the Northern and Middle States. In spite of Southern opposi- tion one hundred thousand dollars was appro- priated for buildings, and on the 23d of December an ordinance was introduced, as follows:
Be it ordained by the United States, in Congress assembled, That the resolutions of the 20th instant, respecting the erecting of buildings for the use of congress, be carried into effect without delay; that for this purpose three commissioners be appointed, with full powers to lay out a district not less than two, nor ex- ceeding three miles square on the banks of either side of the Dela- ware, not more than eight miles above or below the lower falls thereof, for a federal town; that they be authorized to purchase
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the soil, or such part of it as they may judge necessary, to be paid at proper installments; to enter into contracts for erecting and completing, in an elegant manner, a federal house for the accommo- dation of congress, and for the executive officers thereof; a house for the use of the president of congress, and suitable buildings for the residence of the secretary of foreign affairs, secretary at war, secretary of congress, secretary of the marine, and officers of the treasury; that the said commissioners be empowered to draw on the treasury of the United States for a sum not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars for the purpose aforesaid; that in choos- ing a situation for the buildings, due regard be had to the accommo- dation of the states with lots for houses for the use of their dele- gates respectively ; that on the 24th day of December instant, con- gress stand adjourned to meet at the city of New York, on the 11th day of January following.
According to the ordinance Congress adjourned the day before Christmas, having acknowledged the attentions of the Legislature of the State and the exertions of the inhabitants of the town in providing the members with accommodations. Congress met in New York on the 11th of Jan- uary, 1785. During February . the three com- missioners on site were chosen, being Philip Schuyler, of New York, Philemon Dickinson, and Robert Morris. Upon Mr. Schuyler's declining, John Brown was put in his place. None of these was a member of Congress. Mr. Dickinson was an inhabitant of Trenton, residing at the " Hermit- age," a mile or so west of the town, and Mr. Morris had an estate on the opposite side of the Dela- ware, now the town of Morrisville, named for him, the eminent " Financier of the Revolution."
Robert Morris, signer of the Declaration of Inde- pendence ; b. In Liverpool, Eng., Jan. 20, 1734; came with big father to Philadelphia, Pa., when thirteen ; became a noted financier ; signed the non-importa- tion agreement 1765; delegate to Congress 1775; 1777-78 ; superintendent of finance 1781-84; member United States constitutional convention 1787 and of the first United States Senate 1788-95 ; d. May 8, 1800. in Philadelphia ; bis son William was the second Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States.
Rol morris.
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With the sitting of Congress in New York, where the body remained until 1788, came the death blow to the plan for a capital at Trenton. The South as a unit was opposed to the idea of the location of a capital north of the Potomac. Even the personal influence of General Washington was brought to bear upon Richard Henry Lee, president of Congress, to whom he wrote from Mount Vernon in February, 1785:
By the time your federal buildings on the banks of the Delaware, along the point of a triangle, are fit for the reception of Congress, it will be found that they are very improperly placed for the seat of the empire, and will have to undergo a second erection in a more convenient one.
But in spite of such interference the citizens of Trenton did not despair, for in May, 1785, Joseph Higbee offered for sale " a valuable tract of land, containing three hundred acres, situate within three miles of Trenton, in the county of Burlington and township of Nottingham, and within a mile of Lamberton, where it is expected the Federal town will be built."
The spring and summer of 1785 were spent by the Southern members of Congress in a success- ful effort to defeat the Trenton capital. In April Congress refused the payment of thirty thousand dollars for federal buildings, the first appro- priation to the commissions under the ordinance of November 23, 1784.
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Here the matter rested until the 22d of Septem- ber, when the appropriation of thirty thousand dollars coming before the house, Mr. Gerry, of Massachusetts, moved to make it the whole sum of one hundred thousand dollars. In the mean- time the action of the Southern members had so influenced Congress that none of the States ex- cept Massachusetts and New Jersey voted for it; upon which, on motion of Mr. Hardy, of Virginia, the item was entirely stricken out of the bill.
Thus died the plan to locate the federal capital within the limits of the State of New Jersey.
Those who had hoped to secure the national capital at Trenton failed to recognize that no government as unstable as that of the confedera- tion could possibly secure a permanent habita- tion. In 1784 any town would have failed to ob- tain so great a prize, because of the jealousies of the States, the real lack of funds, and the undeni- able fact that no permanent capital was needed. Until the asperities, the intensity of sectional spirit, the distrustfulness amounting to hatred, were merged into a sentiment more politically altruistic, a shifting capital satisfied every need if it did not meet every ambitious desire. It was at best one of many problems which the govern- ment of the confederation unsuccessfully at- tempted to solve, but of which the answer lay in the years when a strong central authority should
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wipe away pride, jealousy, and arrogance, and give the United States an existence that was more than a mere name.
Despite the effort during 1784-85 to secure the federal capital New Jersey made additional at- tempts to obtain the desired end. Although the trials were hopeless it is of interest to note that in accordance with the constitution of 1787, which contained a provision implying that the seat of government should be placed in a district " not ex- ceeding ten miles square," New Jersey again made an offer. The convention of New Jersey which ratified the federal constitution recom- mended to the Legislature to enter into the com- petition for the capital, which it did by a vote, September 9, 1788, offering the requisite territory of ten miles square. In September, 1789, Elias Boudinot, in the House of Representatives, once more proposed " the banks of either side of the river Delaware, not more than eight miles above or below the lower falls of Delaware." It failed by a vote of four to forty-six.
Indeed it was as late as December 2, 1801, that the final attempt was made to secure the seat of government in or near Trenton. Upon that date the House of Assembly resolved unanimously :
That the members representing this State, in the congress of the United States, be and they are hereby requested, if congress should resolve to remove, for the purpose of better accommodation, front the city of Washington, to use their best efforts to procure
Elias Boudinot, great-grandson of a French Huguenot, Elias Boudinot; son of Elias ; b. Phila- delphia, Pa., May 2, 1740; read law with Richard Stockton, whose eldest sister he married ; commis- sary-general of the Continental army 1777 ; member Continental Congress 1777 and president 1782; mem- ber Congress 1789-95 ; director United States mint 1793-1806 ; arst president American Bible Society ; founder Cabinet of Natural History at Princeton College 1805 ; d. in Burlington, N. J., Oct. 24, 1821.
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their removal to the city of Trenton; and they are hereby author- ized to proffer, in the name of this State, the State House and other public buildings belonging to the state for the use of congress and their officers, for any length of time that the congress shall wish to occupy them, and that his excellency, the governor, be requested to transmit a copy of this resolution to the members of congress from this state, to be used by them as occasion may offer.
In 1799 Trenton practically became the seat of government, although Congress did not assemble in the town. The presence of yellow fever in Philadelphia had driven the cabinet officers to Trenton, in consequence whereof the secretary of the navy urged President Adams to follow his cabinet, remarking that "the officers are all now at this place, and not badly accommodated." The President was reluctant to come and called to his mind the experience of Congress in finding even " tolerable accommodation " in Trenton.
However, he promised to go by the middle of October, submissively assuring his correspondent " I can and will put up with my private secretary and two domestics only, at the first tavern or first private house I can find." He arrived on the 10th, and on the next day was greeted with fireworks. He found "the inhabitants of Trenton wrought up to a pitch of political enthusiasm that sur- prised him," in the expectation that Louis XVIII would be soon restored to the throne of France. Shortly after this event, the government offices were reestablished in Philadelphia.
CHAPTER XXIII THE ROPE OF SAND
T HROUGHOUT the Revolutionary War common hopes and common fears had held the States together in spite of the weakness of the ar- ticles of confederation. Devised, like most of the first State constitutions, for pres- ent needs, the articles had such circumscriptions as to render them ultimately useless in sustain- ing any future form of national growth. Born in times of trial, they served to hold together those commonwealths which had so far sunk pride and jealousy as to consent to any character of union. While the attention of the States was turned to- ward the securing of independence, purely polit- ical methods accomplishing such a consummation were of distinctively secondary importance. But once independence was secured the faults, omissions, and evasions of the articles became all too glaring. The States had but feeble comprehension of the powers, duties, and obliga- tions of a national existence. Among all of them, and particularly in New Jersey, colonial manners, customs, and modes of life still prevailed. De- pendent in a greater or less degree upon the crown, the new born political spirit swung them not only toward independency of the mother coun- try, but independency of one another.
The position of New Jersey during the period of confederation-from the submission of the ar-
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ticles for State ratification to the adoption of the federal constitution-was to a degree different from that of the other commonwealths. Through- out the colonial period no one great center of population had arisen in the colony. Slow- ly but surely New York had absorbed the trade of the eastern division; Philadelphia had drawn to herself the economic vitality of the western por- tion of the colony. Struggle as they might for control of the sea, the ports of Burlington and Perth Amboy could never advance beyond the dignity of shire towns. Throughout the earlier years of the Revolution New Jersey had borne the brunt of the gigantic struggles for the control of the valleys of the Hudson and the Delaware. Her geographical position made her subsidiary to the growing centers of commercial and political pow- er. Yet withal there was in New Jersey an in- tense conservatism, a recognition of her own ca- pacities, which was only intensified by reason of her relation to her greater neighbors. Her ele- ments of population-English, Scotch-Irish, French Huguenot, Dutch, Swedish, Palatinate German-had become partially fused, and were not, as in Pennsylvania, localized and largely un- amalgamated. The pride of the State was strong; even East and West Jersey forgot their old differ- ences when the commonwealth, as such, was sub- jected to adverse criticism or to ridicule.
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As a result of the deliberation of committees appointed by the General Assembly and Council of New Jersey there was entered at large upon the minutes of the former body, under date of June 15, 1778, an " Opinion " which defines the attitude of the State relative to the articles of confedera- tion. In his message to the Legislature delivered upon May 29, 1778, Governor Livingston had urged the Council and House of Assembly to give their " early attention " to a ratification of the articles.
Among the qualifications necessary for dele- gates to Congress no mention was made of any " Oath Test or Declaration " being required other than that taken to uphold the State governments. To this New Jersey desired the addition of some "Test " binding the delegate in his allegiance to the United States, which, "collectively considered, have Interests as well as each particular State." Especially should the delegate " assent to no Vote or Proceeding which may violate the general Con- sideration."
By the sixth and ninth articles the regulation of trade was committed to the separate jurisdic- tions of the States, involving, said New Jersey, " many Difficulties and Embarrassments and be attended with Injustice to some States in the Union." In the opinion of the committee " the sole and exclusive Power of regulating the Trade of
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the United States with foreign Nations ought to be clearly vested in the Congress, and that the Revenue arising from all Duties and Customs im- posed thereon " should be devoted to the establish- ment of a navy for the protection of trade and de- fence of the coast, " and to such other publick and general Purposes as to the Congress shall seem proper and for the common Benefit of the States. This Principle appears to us to be just, and it may be added that a great Security will by this Means be derived to the Union from the Establish- ment of a common and mutual Interest."
Against the establishment of a standing army, sustained by Congress in time of peace, New Jer- sey earnestly protested, being " totally abhorrent from the Ideas and Principles of this State." It was also recommended that " Quotas for Supplies and Aids to be furnished by the several States in Support of the general Treasury " should be " struck once at least in every five Years and of- tener if Circumstances will allow."
In recommending that the "Boundaries and Limits of each State ought to be fully and final- ly fixed and made known," New Jersey sounded a note of warning. By a strange combination of circumstances it was in November-December, 1782, that there assembled in Trenton a congres- sional court which determined the dispute of long standing between Connecticut and Pennsylvania
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concerning the ownership of the northern third of the latter commonwealth, and put an end to the contentions of the Connecticut claimants, which had since 1754 disturbed the settlement of the Wyoming Valley.
" It was ever the constant Expectation of this State," said the " Opinion," "that the Benefits de- rived from a successful Contest were to be gen- eral and proportionate, and that the Property of the common Enemy, falling in Consequence of a prosperous Issue of the War, would belong to the United States, and be appropriated to their Use." The jurisdiction over the vacant and unpatented lands, known as " crown lands," should be vested in the States whose charters or determined limits embrace those lands; but all real property existing in the "Crown of Great Britain " should belong " to the Congress in Trust for the Use and Benefit of the United States. They have fought and bled for it in Proportion to their respective Abilities, and therefore the Reward ought not to be predilec- tionally distributed." Such a course would leave some States-and here came New Jersey's special pleading-sunk under an enormous debt, while others could replace their expenditures from the hard earnings of the whole confederacy.
The ninth article of the articles of confedera- tion provided that requisitions for State militia be proportioned to the number of white inhabit- [Vol. 21
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ants in each commonwealth. In the argument upon this proposition the New Jersey Legislature took a most decided stand. Quoting from the Declaration of Independence the clause that " All Men are created equal," and that they are en- dowed with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the " Opinion " argues the consequence that all inhabitants, " be the Colour of their Complexion what it may," are bound to promote the interests of society accord- ing to their respective abilities. While it might be improper for persons of a particular color to bear arms in the defence of the nation, the refusal of personal liberty being justified by necessity or ex- pediency, yet the proportion of military force should be fixed according to the whole number of inhabitants, from whatever class they might be raised. " In a State where all are white such a commonwealth obtains an undue advantage over a State of mixed population. In order to equalize the quota of State troops called to war a census should be taken every five years."
In this "Opinion " both houses unanimously concurred.
From the beginning New Jersey was placed upon the defensive. Against her and the smaller States the more powerful members of the confed- eration, when not quarreling among themselves, made common cause. The struggle over the
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adopting of the articles continued from 1777 to 1781, and was due to the claims advanced by those States which claimed that, under royal charters, their lands extended from "sea to sea." Such was the attitude of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
To add to this complication, New York had pur- chased the Indian title to the Ohio Valley. New Jersey, whose boundary lines were protected north and south by natural barriers, together with Dela- ware and Maryland, refused to sign the articles of confederation, contending that as England did not own the Mississippi Valley until 1763, and as she drew the " proclamation line " which abrogated the " sea to sea " claims, therefore the six States should release to Congress, for the public good, all right, title, and interest which they might have in the western country. For over three years the quarrel was continued, the States acquiescing one by one until Maryland completed the union on March 2, 1781.
But having been adopted as the result of pro- tracted compromises, the articles of confedera- tion presented the anomaly of a series of debt- ridden States, unused to free political action, dele- gating to a Congress only the powers of declaring war and making peace, establishing an army and navy, contracting debts, issuing money, entering
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into commercial treaties, and essaying the settle- ment of land disputes between or among the States. At best this government was advisory, when each State preserved such inherent rights of sovereignty as it deemed most beneficial for its in- terests. Even the Congress had not power to en- force its own laws. Executive and judicial de- partments there were none, and thus with State representatives which might be recalled at any moment, and with each State allowed only one vote, with nine States necessary to pass any act, the confederation was indeed a " rope of sand."
But of all defects which marked the articles of confederation the two most serious were the in- ability of Congress to levy taxes and its lack of power to regulate trade. So much of the Revolu- tionary spirit as had been spent in protest against the economic policy of the British crown was ren- dered of no avail by reason of State jealousies.
Distrustful of one another, the States refused to rely upon the judgment of Congress, and at- tempted individually to regulate matters of the utmost concern to their mutual interests. Al- though the debt of the Revolution had been in- curred for the benefit of all, the commonwealths, viewing the matter in the light of moral obliga- tions, treated disdainfully the repeated calls made by Congress. With no power to tax the States Congress, between 1782 and 1786, pled for
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$6,000,000, of which only $1,000,000 was forwarded to the national treasury. New Jersey had been disposed to contribute her earlier quotas, but the weakness of the central government had reacted upon the Legislature. Late in 1785 the State ab- solutely refused to contribute her quota, $136,000, to the treasury of the confederation, declared that Congress had redressed none of her grievances, and declared that she would assert her independ- ence,-sentiments expressed in the Legislature and by the people.
The crisis, as is shown by John Bach McMas- ter in his "History of the People of the United States," brought a committee of Congress to New Jersey in March, 1786, to reason with the New Jersey Legislature. The argument was advanced that the State was in honor bound to pay her quotas, and that her drastic policy, urging other States to like measures, not only weakened the confederation in the eyes of the world, but would destroy the few vestiges of power the confeder- ation possessed. Those who looked toward the establishment of a federal government well real- ized its force. On the frontier the Indians, in- cited by the British, were preparing for massacre; at sea American commerce was being assailed by the British and by the Moors. New Jersey, on March 17, with evident self-satisfaction, rescinded her resolution of February 20, 1786, wherein she
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refused to pay her proportionate share of federal expenses, declaring she did not desire to embar- rass Congress-but did not pay the requisition.
Bad as was this situation it was only intensified by the inability of Congress to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. The close of the Revolu- tion found New Jersey destitute of manufactures of importance. The earlier policy of the crown in stifling trade, and the constant warfare on her soil, had closed such industries as struggled through the long years of oppression and neglect. Emerging into an era of peace, manufacturers were met with a flood of English goods. These were sent to New Jersey and the other States at the close of the war, drawing from the country a good portion of specie then in circulation. With neither manufactories nor money New Jersey re- sorted to the panacea for all economic evils-the issuance of tons of paper money and the circula- tion of debased copper coins which have passed into history under the name of " Horse Heads."
Yet the policy of New Jersey, so far as paper money was concerned, was the policy of Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The usual argu- ments favoring soft-money were advanced, and the State attempted, in 1786, to meet the de- mands of its citizens. One hundred thousand pounds was emitted and taken to New York and
KEEP WITHIN
COMPASS
T. & W.Merecem Print 93 Gold St.
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Philadelphia to pay debts, which, being refused in the commercial centers, was sent back to the State, where, in spite of its being "legal tender," it soon depreciated in value.
As a phase of this disastrous situation New York and New Jersey engaged in a quarrel grow- ing out of the sale of food supplies in the City of New York. The farmers of New Jersey had es- tablished an industry in furnishing products to the markets of the metropolis. With the sole pur- pose of preventing the movement of "hard money " from the city toward New Jersey the Leg- islature of New York enacted that every small ves- sel from New Jersey should be entered and cleared from the port of New York, as foreign vessels were required to do. In retaliation the New Jersey Legislature laid a tax of thirty pounds per month upon the Sandy Hook lighthouse, then the prop- erty of that city, in which shape the matter stood until the adoption of the federal constitution.
While New Jersey, in common with her sister States, was ridiculing the Congress, and, failing to secure the prompt attendance of her own dele- gates, she had undertaken during the period of confederation to regulate her internal affairs in accordance with the evident wishes of her people. The States-rights sentiment was an unquestioned factor in New Jersey politics of the early part of this period, and was only restrained on account of
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