USA > New Jersey > The New Jersey coast in three centuries; history of the New Jersey coast with genealogical and historic-biographical appendix, Vol. I > Part 15
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But that was the road the members of the Assembly determined to fol- low. In a long and somewhat argumentative reply to the Governor they said :
'We profess ourselves to be the loyal subjects of the King, from whose goodness we hope to be relieved from the present unhappy situa- tion ; that we will do all in our power to preserve that excellent form of government under which we at present live, and that we neither intend to usurp the rights of others, nor suffer any vested in us by the constitu-
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tion to be wrested out of our hands by any person or persons whatever. We sincerely lament the unhappy differences which at present subsist be- tween Great Britain and her Colonies. We shall heartily rejoice to see the time when they shall subside on principles consistent with the rights and interests of both, which we hope is not far off ; and though we cannot con- ceive how the separate petition of one Colony is more likely to succeed than the petitions of all, yet, in order to show our desire to promote so good a purpose by every proper means, we shall make use of the mode pointed out by your Excellency, in hopes that it will meet that attention which you are pleased to assure us will be paid to the representatives of the people."
On the surface these words seemed pleasant enough, but, when the moment for real action came, another spirit appeared to animate the chamber. The Assembly endorsed all that was done in Congress and sup- ported New England in its opposition to Parliament, and, as a result, Franklin in a subsequent message plainly intimated his full realization of the position of the Assembly and "left others to determine" whether he or the Assembly had "consulted the true interests of the people." The As- sembly, in fact, had already passed from his control.
Its position was further emphasized at another meeting of the As- sembly which Franklin convened at Burlington on May 15, 1775. By that time, events had developed with remarkable rapidity. The Province of Massachusetts had been declared in a state of rebellion, ten thousand or more British troops had been massed in and around Boston, the skirmish at Lexington had been fought, and the patriots had taught the British troops a hard lesson, a lesson that was to be emphasized still more strongly on June 17, when the patriots were defeated at Bunker Hill-a defeat that was in reality a victory.
But Bunker Hill was a month off when the New Jersey Legislature met at Burlington to receive a message from Franklin asking considera- tion for the proposals from Lord North and the British Ministry. It was Franklin's last card in his policy of pacification, and he sent a strong . appeal to the Assembly, the gist of which was that New Jersey should act as a separate Colony, should raise for the expenses of the empire just whatever amount its assembly thought fit, and leave the disposal of it to Parliament. At the very outset, however, Franklin found himself in trouble. He had some time before written to Lord Dartmouth to the effect that the New Jersey Assembly was "divided" regarding the adop- tion of the proceedings of the Congress at Philadelphia-one of those lying letters which the royal Governors were wont to send to the home authorities, and which helped to hide from the British powers the real
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sentiments and aspirations of the American people. The letter appeared in the usual process in the "Parliamentary Register," and a copy reached New Jersey in time to be laid before the Burlington Assembly at its open- ing session. The untruthfulness of the letter caused a sensation. The document as appearing in the "Gazette" was ordered entered on the min- utes, and a copy sent to the Governor with a request for an explanation. Franklin denied the correctness of the letter, and the subject was referred to a committee with instructions to report fully at the next session. But that was the last of it. The excitement occasioned by this incident, how- ever, proved disastrous to whatever hopes Franklin may have entertained of weaning New Jersey from its sympathy with the Continental cause. The overtures were firmly yet courteously rejected, and the declaration was flatly made that "we shall pay all proper respect to and abide by the united voice of the Congress on the present occasion." Even then the wish was expressed that the wrongs inflicted on the Colonies might be redressed. In their address, too, the representatives spoke of their duty and attachment to the King, but it was possibly little more than a figure of speech, and Franklin, realizing his utter defeat, permitted the mem- bers to return to their homes without accomplishing anything even in the way of ordinary legislation.
In the meantime, however, the Committee of Correspondence had called a second convention to meet at Trenton on May 23. This meeting was presided over by Hendrick Fisher. It officially styled itself "the Pro- vincial Congress of New Jersey," and assumed full authority over all branches of the colonial government. Its meetings were opened with prayer, "as becomes the representative body of a Christian community." The delegates claimed and professed allegiance to "his sacred majesty's rightful authority and government," but they sent a message to the Con- tinental Congress, then in session at Philadelphia, declaring their hearty concurrence with what was then done "in the common cause of America." They also asked that body for advice, "That in this first instance of such an Assembly in the Colony, without precedent for their direction, and anxiously desirous to make their provincial measures consistent with the plan, they deemed it necessary by a special deputation to request such ad- vice and assistance as the Congress might be disposed to give." This committee -- William P. Smith and Elias Boudinot-went to Philadelphia, but Congress fought shy of interfering with the domestic affairs of any Colony not actually invaded by British troops.
However, the Provincial Congress went on steadily with its work as best it could. It sent out an individual pledge to the people throughout
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the Colony asking that it might be signed, and so be at once an expression of opinion as well as an endorsement of the doings of the members of the Congress. After reciting briefly the British revenue raising policy and the hostilities in Massachusetts, and expressing an ardent wish for reconciliation with Britain "on constitutional grounds," the signators to the pledge "solemnly associate and resolve under the sacred ties of virtue, honor and love to our country, that we will personally, and so far as our influence extends, endeavor to support and carry into execution whatever measures may be recommended by the Continental and our Provincial Congress for defending our constitution and preserving the same invio- late. We do also further associate and agree, as far as shall be consistent with the measures adopted for American freedom, to support the magis- trates and the other civil officers in the execution of their duty, agreeable to laws of this Colony, and to observe the direction of our Committee (of Correspondence) acting according to the reso- lutions of the Continental and Provincial Congresses ; firmly determined by all means in our power to guard against those disorders and con- fusions to which the peculiar circumstances of the times may expose us."
With implicit faith that this pledge would be signed in numbers enough to warrant their claim to acting in behalf of the people, and as their representatives, the Provincial Congress set about to raise an army so as to be ready to assist the Continental Congress, or to defend the soil of New Jersey in the armed conflict which practically was then being waged. Each township was called upon to furnish at least one company of eighty men, the limit of the fighting age was placed between sixteen and fifty years, and a tax of £10,000 was levied to carry on the work. The Congress then adjourned on June 10, with every detail of news from New England showing that the issue between Massachusetts and the mother country had become clear-cut and determined. There was no turning back, the time for negotiations and parley was over, the citizens had been proclaimed rebels, and vigorous military measures had been brought to bear to crush their aspirations. Both sides had already appealed to the God of Battles, and in spite of one or two seeming reverses that appeal had been answered in a manner favorable to the colonists. The skirmish at Lexington reflected no credit on British arms; Ticonderoga had been captured by Ethan Allen "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress;" these and other events already named pointed to the fact that the long expected crisis had arrived, and that there was to be no voluntary turning back on the part of the Colonists. Britain still hoped that the disaffection could be confined to New England, and there
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exerted all its force, so that Boston became an armed camp under the mili- tary authority of General Gage.
Such was the condition of affairs when the New Jersey Congress, unable from this Colony's geographical position to initiate any step in the general policy, adjourned, practically to wait for further developments. These soon began to unfold themselves. There was no mistaking the unanimity with which the Colonies supported the doings of the Continental Congress, or the entire sympathy of every one of the Colonies with New England, which, it was felt, was fighting the battle of them all. New England in this supreme crisis certainly justified the confidence of its neighbors. It accepted the defiance of Gage and his troops, and an army of militia variously estimated at 15,000 to 18,000 was raised to confront the 10,000 or more veterans under the British commander. It was a motley throng, ill-armed, undrilled, ignorant of the science of war, and with only the crudest ideas of military discipline; but it had fighting and staying qualities, so that even the defeat at Bunker Hill strengthened the cause it aimed to defend. On the day previous to that event, the Con- tinental Congress had appointed George Washington Commander-in-Chief of the Continental forces, so that there was no longer any ground for the mother country continuing to entertain the cherished dream of profiting by possible disunion. Washington arrived in front of Boston on July 2d, and at once proceeded to drill and equip his troops, to mold the raw militia into a well drilled army. He did not accomplish much in the re- mainder of 1775 except to keep the British cooped up in Boston. How- ever, as he had control of the harbor, it is possible that even Gage under- rated the perilous position in which his troops were placed. Then, some- how there remained in the hearts of many a lingering hope that the strug- gle might even then be averted; that King George, seeing the determina- tion of the colonists, would feel compelled to listen to reason and to redress the grievances which had brought matters to such a pass, and while Wash- ington and Gage watched each other at Boston, a petition was actually sent to the Sovereign again recounting the old, old story of their wrong's and asking for relief.
The petition was sent by Richard Penn, a descendant of the founder of Pennsylvania, but King George refused to receive him or the petition, and his only known answer was a request to Russia to loan him 20,000 men to aid in crushing the impious rebellion. This was the last peti- tion ever sent to England from what is now the United States. While it was pending, Washington did not relax his military arrangements for an instant. He well knew what fate the petition would meet, and that its
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only possible effect would be to give the British more time to perfect their measures of repression. All that winter he kept steadily at work, and al- though he was seemingly accomplishing little, every day saw him tighten- ing his grip on the historic town which had now become the center of the struggle for liberty. In January, 1776, the contemptuous treatment of the petition became known in America, and it also became known that energetic measures had been taken to effectually stamp out the cry for inde- pendence. Parliament declared for war, and 55,000 fighting men were ordered across the Atlantic, and to aid that force King George negotiated and secured some 17,000 additional troops, mainly from Hesse Cassel, Germany. There was no mistaking this sort of answer, all hopes of con- ciliation were abandoned, and Patrick Henry's memorable phrase "Give me liberty, or give me death," became the first watchword of the inchoate nation.
New Jersey's Provincial Congress again assembled on August 5, 1775. If we may judge from its proceedings, the leaders of the Province had by that time abandoned all hope of any peaceful settlement of the trouble, and bent their energies to developing the military strength of the various counties. And here be it observed that it is difficult to account for the notions of some modern historians, chief of whom may be mentioned the late John Fiske, who rather belittles New Jersey's conduct in the supreme moment of the crisis and talks of her half-heartedness in the armed conflict. Certainly New Jersey had a large Quaker population opposed to war upon any grounds, and who consistently disapproved any measures likely to in- volve the shedding of blood, and these people were outspoken in support of their principles. Then, too, Jersey was an agricultural Province, and military movements across a farm were not calculated to put a farmer in good humor-be the military friends or foes. But as a whole, New Jer- sey was steadfast in its loyalty to the Continental Congress, in its deter- mined opposition to Britain, and in its zeal to uphold and strengthen every movement which promised deliverance. Its sacrifices were great ; it gave unstintedly of its treasure and its manhood; it was for a time the battle ground of the opposing forces, its fields were devastated and its industries paralyzed by the warring hosts, but it never wavered in its devotion to the cause of liberty and to the national Congress.
So the first duty which appealed to this session of the Provincial Congress was to still further develop the military resources in its territory. It organized fifty-four companies of sixty-four minute-men-militia, ready to be called into active service at a moment's notice-apportioned them in ten battalions-one each in Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, Monmouth,
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Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Hunterdon and Burlington counties, and one between Gloucester and Salem counties. Cape May and Cumberland coun- ties were represented by independent companies ; Philemon Dickenson and William Livingston were appointed Brigadier Generals, and so the fighting establishment was complete as far as arrangements and orders could make it. The Congress also dealt with the Quaker opposition, deciding that if these people would not themselves fight they should support all the more liberally those who were willing to bear arms, and lend their support in all matters ordered by the Congress, without actually bearing arms.
But while thus exercising control, the Provincial Congress did not forget that, like the Continental Congress, it had no actual legal author- ity for its existence. It was really only a development of the situation, something like a war measure which circumstances call into being, but has no vital force beyond the necessities of the moment. So it resolved to clothe itself with ample authority from the only legal source open to it-the mandate of the people. The delegates ordered that an election of deputies be held on September 21, in each county, at which five freeholders should be chosen with full power to represent their county at the meeting of the Provincial Congress to be held in Trenton on October 3. They also or- dered that "during the present unhappy dispute between Great Britain and America" a fresh election of deputies should be held in September of each year, and that once a year each county should elect a board of freeholders to attend to matters of local government and carry out the instructions of the Provincial Congress. Having thus practically arranged their own demise, the representatives adjourned. But they did not forget that work had to be done during the interval before the new Congress could as- semble, and before separating they appointed a Committee of Safety to exercise governmental powers until the newly elected delegates should come together at Trenton. That committee consisted of Hendrick Fisher, Sam- uel Tucker, Isaac Pearson, John Hart, Jonathan D. Sergeant (Treasurer), Azariah Dunham, Peter Schenck, Enos Kelsey, Joseph Borden, Frederick Frelinghuysen and John Schurman.
The new Congress was duly elected, met at the appointed time, and at once became the de facto government of the Province. It changed the membership of the Committee of Safety somewhat, for what reason is not now clearly apparent. Its own work was mainly that of a committee of war. Such business, however, was enough to harass men more ex- perienced in public affairs than were the great majority of those who com- posed the Congress. Up to that time the Province had practically known nothing of war, had only a vague idea of what it meant and what it in-
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-cluded. Show the Jerseymen the foe and they would fight, of that there was no doubt, but the work of raising and maintaining and equipping an armed force was a different matter, a matter that required experience and money. The Jersey Congress honestly followed out the instructions of the Continental body, but its treasury was empty, the drains already made upon the people had begun to tell; the farms then needed the labor of all the men possible, and the scene of hostilities was a long way off, further away than Liverpool is to-day from Sandy Hook. Even when one bat- talion was asked from New Jersey as its share of the troops needed for the invasion of Canada, it was with difficulty that it was raised and equipped. In fact, it was only through the generosity of individuals that Colonel William Maxwell was enabled to sally forth to join the army of ·Canadian invasion, too late, however, to take part in that disastrous cam- paign. Still, the Congress did its best and accomplished much. It as- sumed all the powers of civil government; tried the disaffected, imposed fines, suspended officials, levied taxes, established a Court of Admiralty, and either directly, or through its Committee of Safety, left little for the still existing government de jure, that of Governor Franklin, to attempt.
That official seems to have become dazed during the crisis, and de- veloped into the most supine and helpless of all the contemporary royal Governors, a poor lot, generally. He exhibited neither statesmanship or ·courage, he made no real effort to meet the great emergency or to maintain the dignity of his position, or apparently to stem the tide of independence which was fast rising on every side. The people treated him with evident ·contempt, his hands were tied apparently in equal degree by the bonds of the Provincial Congress and the fetters of his royal instructions, and he dis- played neither wit nor common sense sufficient to free himself from either. His last attempt was a whining appeal to the royal legislature which he summoned to meet on November 16, 1775. In addressing its members he spoke of the determination of the King to restore order, but hoped that, "unfavorable as the prospects are at present, the time will come when men of sense and friends to peace and good order will see the fatal con- sequences of the delusions which have led to the measures the people of America are now pursuing, and that we may yet see the public tranquility re-established on the ground of the terms held out by his Majesty and the Parliament." Then he asked the advice of the representatives as to his own personal safety, as well as the safety of the other officers of the crown. As was expected from such a gathering, the Assembly assured the Gov- ernor that it was loyal to the sovereign, that it had no idea of independence and separation, "have already expressed our detestation of such opinions,"
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their answer ran, and assured the Governor that they did not apprehend any danger as to his safety. But even this Assembly rejected a proposal emanating from Lord Dartmouth, one of the royal Ministers, that the- Governor's salary should be increased along with those of the other Pro- vincial officials, and new houses erected for the lodging of the chief ex -- ecutive and the meetings of the Legislature. So that the Assembly really accomplished nothing, its support of the Governor was little more than lip- service, it could in fact have accomplished little had it tried, and any effort. at real legislation it might have attempted would have brought it in open conflict with the real power-the Provincial Congress. For such a con- flict it had no heart, and it showed its wisdom in avoiding even seemingly to attempt it indirectly. So it maudled and muddled along until Decem -- ber 7, 1775, when it was prorogued and the prorogation still stands.
During that memorable winter of 1775-6, the Provincial Congress kept on steadily with its work of building up its army, consolidating its re- sources, computing its strength, and dealing with whatever elements of disaffection to its authority that manifested themselves. On February 6, 1776, it elected William Livingston, John DeHart, Richard Smith, John. Cooper and Jonathan D. Sergeant as its representatives in the Continental Congress, and its instructions to them left no doubt that the Province was more anxious than ever to uphold the power of the delegates in what had become the central pivot around which the drama of independence was being unfolded.
That drama was now rushing on with impetuous rapidity, and the - winter had barely passed and spring begun before New Jersey found her- self, instead of an isolated and out-of-the-way section of the struggling forces of freedom, one of the central scenes in the story. The noises of the armed struggle were no longer to reach her from afar, but the sounds were close at hand, and soon, very soon, she was to send the echoes of the - struggle on her own soil throughout all the land.
On March 17, 1776, the British army, as the result of Washington's masterly campaign of defense during the winter, was compelled to evacu- ate Boston. Sir William Howe, who commanded the forces, in agreement with the terms of capitulation, carried with him all his munitions and sailed away, some thought to Nova Scotia, but about that there was then some dubiety. But wherever he went, Boston was free, the American military prestige had been more than sustained, a splendid and tangible victory hrad been won by Washington's militia bands over an army of British veteran troops, and the people throughout the Colonies, as the grand news grad- ually reached them, went wild with joy.
Washington instinctively felt that the next movement of the British
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forces would be directed against New York, the possession of which in- cluded the mastery of the lower Hudson, and in accordance with old- fashioned military ideas the Hudson was the key to the entire situation. So soon as the evacuation of Boston was completed, the American forces were removed to New York, where an elaborate scheme of fortification had been partly prepared and put in readiness by General Lee. The forces arrived on Manhattan Island carly in April, the Commander-in-Chief reaching the city on the 14th, and the system of defense was at once ex- tended and strengthened in every way so as to protect the passages of the Hudson. The Continental troops were now in full control; not 'a single British soldier was in any of the Colonies south of the St. Lawrence, and, while it was felt that much was yet to be accomplished, that the enemy was only gathering up his forces and arranging place for a more pro- tracted and deadly struggle, still, in spite of the discouragement of the Canadian expedition, there was an assurance of victory in all that had been done, and, inspired by what was really one of the most wonderful campaigns of the century -- for the siege and capitulation of Boston were really a campaign-the last lingering desire for any connection with Brit- ain was openly abandoned in the Continental Congress. That body on June 7th had presented to it a motion by Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, acting under the instructions of his own State, that "these Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States." That motion was carried, and Thomas Jefferson was appointed chairman of a committee to draw up a Declaration of Independence. That immortal document with which Jefferson's name will ever be associated as the author, was even then drafted out and lying in his desk, and it needed but the few corrections and additions suggested by his committee colleagues, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston, to make it ready for submission to the representatives of the people. In Congress it was thoroughly discussed and further amended in a few unimportant points, and at two o'clock on the afternoon of July 4, 1776, was agreed to and signed by the members. The signatories from New Jersey were Richard Stockton, Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart and Abraham Clark, who had all been elected as representatives to the Con- gress only a few weeks before.
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