A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 32

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188

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But the people did more than pass resolu- tions: they acted. In New York the Sons of Liberty inaugurated an active movement against the stamps, the citizens declined to ttse the stamped paper when it arrived, forced the agent to resign, hanged in effigy the aged Lieutenant Governor, and determined to im- port no goods from Britain. In Boston they smashed the windows of the stamp agent's house and sacked the mansion of Governor Hutchinson. In Baltimore they burned the agent in effigy and forced him to fly to New York, where he was only permitted to reside on condition that he resign his hated office. So the story ran over the Colonies. The people seemed unanimous in their opposition to the impost, the sale of the stamps became an impossibility, and indeed it seems certain that not a single stamp of that issue was used in the colonies.

The doings in America created a tumult in Parliament, "and never," says May, "was there a Parliament more indifferent to Con- stitutional principles and popular rights." An inquiry was appointed. Franklin, who was examined by the committee, frankly declared that the stamp duties could only be enforced by arms. The sentiment of the sheep-headed ministry was that arms should be used, but the sentiment expressed by Pitt and a few others in favor of the attitude of the Col- onists called a halt in that direction, and, as a result, after the usual winding and unwind- ing of red tape and a display of what has been called circumlocutionary extravagances, the stamp act was repealed. The news of this result was received with wild enthusiasm in

the Colonies and the expressions of devotion and loyalty to the mother land and the Crown were marvelous for their intensity, and, we believe, for their honesty. New York ordered statues of George III and of Pitt. Virginia voted to erect a statue of the Sovereign, and Conway, Barre, Wilkes, Pitt and others be- came popular Colonial idols.

But this state of things did not long con- tinue. The stamp tax was repealed, yet the Colonists soon learned that the act repealing it contained a rider which declared that Parlia- ment had full power over the government of all the Colonies. The sugar tax, a tax for revenue pure and simple, was not repealed. The Mutiny act was made more stringent than ever. and the provisions for the billeting of royal troops more and more oppressive. Sol- diers began to be sent out to America in greater numbers than before and this alone, especially in Massachusetts, carried a profound feeling of distrust. The navigation acts were yearly becoming more obnoxious. The climax of this sort of "baiting the tiger" was reached in 1767, when Charles Townsend brought for- ward in Parliament his scheme for the pacifi- cation of the Colonies and the profit of the mother country. "Our right of taxation," he said, "is indubitable ; yet to prevent mischief I was myself in favor of repealing the Stamp Act. But there can be no objection to port duties on wine, oil and fruits, if allowed to be carried to America directly from Spain and Portugal, on glass, paper, lead and colors and especially on tea. Owing to the high charges in England, America has supplied herself with tea by smuggling it from the Dutch posses- sions; to remedy this duties hitherto levied upon it in England are to be given up and a specific duty collected in America itself."

We need not follow up the details of these proposals. They were adopted by a large ma- jority vote and the trouble with the Colonies at once reached an acute stage. There is no doubt that even the most prominent American loyalist, outside of those in the direct service of the crown, felt that the Colonists were be-

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ing wronged ; but outside of the faint whisper- ings of a few zealots no voice had even then been raised for separation. But the crisis was approaching and events were hurrying to it fast. The taxes, of course, were the feature that strengthened the undercurrent of anti- British sentiment, and taxation without the consent of the taxpayers, or in other words, taxation without representation, the exaction of an income which was not to be expended for local matters, were repudiated on every side.

But the determining factor which devel- oped the Revolution was the presence in the country of the British soldiers. On March 5, 1770, in a scrimmage with the populace, five citizens were killed and six wounded by a squad of soldiers at the Boston Custom House. In answer to the demands of the citizens the soldiers were then removed from the city to Castle William in Boston Harbor. On the previous January there was armed resistance to the British soldiery by a party of the Sons of Liberty in which a sailor was killed on the popular side and at least one soldier was wounded. This shedding of blood magnified what was really only a petty skirmish into a battle, and the historians of New York are proud to claim in the fight at Golden Hill the first battle of the Revolution. But the Revo- lution was even then some years off. Even on December 16, 1773, when the Boston Tea Party threw overboard the tea in the harbor and thus refused to honor the only remain- ing port tax, it was still in the distance.

Such momentous events culminate very slowly,-much more slowly than most people imagine; and the Revolution which gave the United States a place among the nations at- tained its headway from many contributing causes and sources. Each colony had from the time it was freely settled its own legis- lature, with varying degrees of authority, and it was really in these rather than in unpre- meditated outbursts on the part of scattered portions of the people that the spirit of opposi- tion, which led in time to the spirit of '76,

was really fomented and fostered and brought to fruition. We have not space here to refer to the magnificent service rendered to the cause of human liberty by the legislatures of such Colonies as Massachusetts or Virginia, and must confine our study to a brief review of what was done in New York. But that alone will be sufficient to enable a reader to follow the trend of public sentiment until the sword was unsheathed and an appeal for jus- tice gave away to a stern demand for inde- pendence.

From the beginning, almost, of the liis- tory of its legislature, that of New York, as we have already seen, was a series of constant struggle against the incroachments, in one form or another, of the representative of the royal powers. Besides financial matters, a struggle between Episcopalians and Presby- terians, the right of free speech and a free printing press, one standing bone of conten- tion, was that of the independence of the judiciary. In 1761, fresh from the people, the Assembly tried to compel the appointment of Supreme Court Judges, with no limitation except as to good behavior, practically with life appointments; but Cadwallader Colden vetoed the measure and insisted that all judges should hold during the pleasure only of the appointing power. In this he was fully sus- tained by the home authorities ; but the senti- ments of the bar and the people can be un- derstood from the fact that when a Chief Justice had to be appointed it was necessary to seek in Boston an appointee who was will- ing to hold "during his Majesty's pleasure." The Assembly refused to vote the salaries of such judges. On December 11, 1762, the As- sembly memorialized the home Government asking for a royal hearing on the subject of the independence of the courts. But no at- tention was paid, and there followed a series of similar memorials, which if the British au- thorities had not been a squad of addlepates might have shown them in spite of fervent pro- testations of loyalty the direction in which the popular will was tending. The demands

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

of the petitioners seemed to grow in boldness and clearness as they proceeded, and even Colden was fully persuaded of the justice of most of the demands. But he asked the peo- ple to trust the King and continued so to ask until it was only too evident that the King, or whoever from time to time controlled him, had not the slightest idea of granting, except in the way of a temporary subterfuge, any of the demands thus loyally and dutifully made.

On July 9, 1771, William Tryon was trans- ferred to the Governorship of New York front that of North Carolina. Notwithstanding the somewhat ignoble role which he afterward played, when his chair of state was on the quarterdeck of the frigate "Asia," there is no doubt that he was a man of rare executive qualities and seemingly influenced at first by a desire to do some good to the colony over which he was sent to rule. He devoted the most marked attention to local affairs and effected many improvements. But the ghost of taxation continually hovered over the land and seemed to upset every good work suggested or begun. The tax on tea was persisted in by the British Government, and in the hope of breaking through the determination of the people not to use the taxed tea, cargoes were sent to Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston and New York. That movement proved a flat failure in each of the seaports named. In New York the Sons of Liberty, or "Mohawks" as some of them called themselves, watched the ar- rival of the "Nancy," containing the offend- ing cargo, and forbade any pilot guiding such vessel past Sandy Hook, and means were put in readiness to throw the cargo overboard, as was done in Boston, should the ship sur- mount all obstacles and tie up at a.dock. But the ship, expected late in November, did not make its appearance, being driven out of its ·course by a storm. Governor Tryon deter- mined that the tea when it arrived should be delivered to the consignees, "even," as he said, "if it was sprinkled with blood;" but the people lield a public meeting, discussed the

situation, and grimly adjourned "till the ar- rival of the tea ship." On April 7, 1774, Tryon sailed for England for consultation with the home Government, and before his departure was entertained at dinner, at a ball and at receptions, and received any number of loyal addresses, complimentary to himself and his administration, and full of expres- sions of devotion to the King. He reported to the home authorities that New York was at all events a loyal colony. For this we can- not blame him. There were no Atlantic cables in those days. But before he had reached England the Nancy had arrived (April 18) in New York harbor and lay in the lower bay. The Sons of Liberty went on board and ex- plained the situation so forcibly to the captain that he agreed to approach no nearer and turned his helm around en route for the mother land. On the following day another ship, the London, arrived with eighteen chests of tea, being a private venture of its captain, on board. It was confiscated by the local "Mohawks" and the eighteen chests were dumped into the river.

Tryon had not long returned to the Colony when a meeting was held in the Fields (New York City Hall Park) to protest against the act of Parliament which closed the port of Boston and a call for a Continental Congress was indorsed. That Congress met in Phila- delphia September 5, 1774, and from it ema- nated that declaration of rights which threw aside the gossamer veil of loyalty that had up till then covered the proceedings of the Colonial leaders. To the people of Great Britain it said :

"If you are determined that your ministers shall wantonly sport with the rights of man- kind; if neither the voice of Justice, the dic- tates of Law, the principles of the Constitu- tion, nor the suggestions of Humanity can restrain your hands from shedding human blood in such an impious cause, we must then tell you that we will never submit to be hewers of wood or drawers of water for any ministry or nation in the world."

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THE ANTE-REVOLUTION STRUGGLE.

There was no mistaking these words; but when they reached Britain the answer was principally an increase in the military forces and preparations for augmenting the military strength. The home Government seemed to hold to the belief that the storm centre was New England-Boston mainly-and that if any signs of rebellion were there crushed the submission of the other colonies would be easy. But, although neither side seemed to be fully aware of it, the die had been cast and the Colonies were arrayed against the old land. The Congress was weak, its rep- resentative quality was by no means of the best, its authority had no legal foundation, its edicts could not be sustained by force ; but, weak and irresponsible as it was, it came from the people and it proved strong enough to carry the new cause-the now freely hailed cause of liberty and independence-over the initiatory stages of the struggle.

In New York, as elsewhere, it was now felt that the die was fairly cast and the peo- ple ranged themselves into Patriots or Tories according to their bent. On Manhattan Island and throughout the State the former vastly outnumbered the latter. As usual the Tories found their supporters among the wealthier classes, the landed gentry in the country and the prosperous merchants in the towns. This was evident particularly in the New York Assembly, where, by a majority of one, it was decided not to consider the proceedings of Congress, and even so ordinary a piece of politeness as a vote of thanks to the provin- cial delegate, proposed by General Woodhull; was voted down. That Assembly adjourned on April 3, 1775, for a month, but it never met again. Events rushed on with irresistible force and the lines became more and more sharply drawn. After the skirmish of Lex- ington became known a Committee of Safety was organized at Albany and it sanctioned the formation of four companies of militia. In New York a Committee of One Hundred is- sued a call for a Provincial Congress and April 19 was afterward declared as the day

on which Royal authority had ceased in the Commonwealth of New York. That Pro- vincial Congress, which assembled May 22, 1775, assumed all the powers of a governing body, the old Tory Assembly was buried ignominiously by the sheer force of public sentiment, and under the presidency of Gen- eral Woodhull essayed the task of direct- ing the energies of the Patriots so as to win success for the new movement not only in New York but over all the land.

That Provincial Congress, in spite of the popular enthusiasm, had a most difficult part to play. Its powers rested on no foundation but the will of the people, expressed in what in ordinary times would be regarded as a loose and illegal fashion. It apportioned its representatives over the commonwealth as it thought just, ordered the election or selection of delegates in places not represented and filled vacancies as best it could for districts, notably many on Long Island, where the majority of Tories was so great that no. selection could be made in any fashion that might be called popular, or where the delegates selected actually refused to serve either because their convictions were not in sympathy with those of the patriots, or be- cause they honestly believed they did not rep- resent the views of those supposed to be their constituents.

The representatives of Long Island in the Provincial Congress were as follows :

Suffolk county - Nathaniel Woodhull, John Sloss Hobart, Thomas Treadwell, John Foster, Ezra L'Hommedieu, Thomas Wick- ham, Selah Strong.

Kings county-Henry Williams, Nicholas Cowenhoven.

Queens county-Jacob Blackwell, Jonathan Lawrence, Samuel Townsend, Joseph Rob- inson.

The Provincial Congress at once plunged into warlike measures. On May 29 a letter was received from John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, at Philadelphia,. directing it to take all steps necessary to de-

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

fend the "City and Province," and on the fol- lowing day it indorsed the views submitted in the resolution of Congress which accompanied Hancock's letter and "resolved that it be rec- ommended to the inhabitants of this Colony in general immediately to furnish themselves with necessary arms and ammunition, to use all diligence to perfect themselves in the mil- itary art, and if necessary to form themselves into companies for that purpose." From that time on until the close of hostilities the Pro- vincial Congress was in more or less complete control of the popular government of New York.

George Washington received an address from the Provincial body on June 25, 1775, as he passed through New York to take con- mand of the Continental force in Massachu- setts, but the same body, at the time it agreed to honor Washington, learned that Governor Tryon was at the Sandy Hook and showed an equal readiness to honor him ; so that the door of peace was not altogether fast. But events were hurrying to their logical conclusion with a rush which no signs of halting on the part of any body of men could stop for an instant.

On June 30 Tryon again assumed the duties of the Governorship and old Governor Colden retired forever from official life, al- though his services to his King, such as they were, continued to the end of his career. In spite of the presence of the representative of royalty the Colony raised its quota of 3,000 men, as called for by the Continental Con- gress, and had received as its share of mil- itary leaders four major generals and eight brigadier generals. On August 22 Captain Isaac Sears was ordered to take the guns from the Battery, but a broadside from the frigate "Asia" killed three of his men and for the time being put a stop to that proceeding. When the Provincial Congress adjourned, a Com- mittee of Safety carried on the Government, and the preparations for the approaching struggle were carried on with such force and made such headway that on October 19, 1775, Governor Tryon, for his personal safety, took

refuge on the sloop of war "Halifax," and from then until after the battle of Long Island the gubernatorial headquarters contin- ued on the quarter deck of the "Duchess of Gordon," the "Asia" or some other of his Britannic Majesty's vessels in the harbor of New York. To give Tryon his due he had even then seen the futility of the struggle on the lines determined by Britain, and as early as July 4, 1775, wrote to Lord Dartmouth that "oceans of blood may be spilled, but in my opinion America will never receive Parlia- mentary taxation." The second Provincial Congress met December 6, of that year.

The full list of delegates designated for the first Provincial Congress from each of the three counties of Long Island was as follows :

Suffolk county-Nathaniel Woodhull, John Sloss Hobart, Ezra L'Hommedieu, William Smith, Thomas Wickham, Thomas Tredwell, David Gelston, John Foster, James Havens, Selah Strong, Thomas Deering.

Queens county-Jacob Blackwell, Captain Jonathan Lawrence, Daniel Rapalje, Zebulon Williams, Joseph French, Joseph Robinson, Nathaniel Tom, Thomas Hicks, Richard Thorn.

Kings county-Johannis E. Lott, Henry Williams, J. Remsen, Richard Stillwell, Theo- dorus Polhemus, John Lefferts, Nicholas Cow- enhoven, John Vanderbilt.

As will be seen from a comparison of these names with those given in the records of the Provincial Congress, only a few attended of those here presented. In fact, in spite of the undoubted influence of General Woodhull, Long Island continued to be a thorn in the side of the Provincial assembly. Several of those delegates named above absolutely re- fused to serve. Thomas Hicks, of Little Neck, a Quaker, declined to share in Congress, on the advice of "several leading men" who as- sured him that Hempstead wished to remain at peace with all men. Thomas French, the delegate from Jamaica, based his refusal on the ground of his conviction that the people in his bailiwick were opposed to the Congress

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THE. ANTE-REVOLUTION STRUGGLE.

and to being represented in it. Nicholas Cow- enhoven, who was, if anything, lukewarm in his devotion to the Patriot cause, publicly de- clared at the beginning that his constituency of Flatbush desired to take no part in the Congress, and afterward narrowly escaped ex- ecution by order of Washington as a spy. He was one of the most pronounced "trimmers" of his time. Theodorus Polhemus did not ap- pear at the Congress until three months after his election, and then was permitted to sit

The Tory sympathies of the majority of the people in Kings and Queens and of a respectable minority in Suffolk had long caused uneasiness in the Patriot ranks, and the Continental Congress, the Provincial Con- gress, as well as the various Whig Commit- tees of Safety, dealt more or less hastily with it from time to time. General Lee attempted extreme measures, and even Washington at one time entertained the belief that it was nec- essary for the success of his cause that the

REDOUBT IN VALLEY GROVE, 1776.

because no one else from Kings was on hand, and his sphere and powers as a delegate were circumscribed. Briefly, it may be said that Queens and Kings counties were at the best only slimly represented in the Patriot councils, while Suffolk county was, for a time at least, as prominent by the number and influence of its delegates as any of the political divisions of the Commonwealth. To the second Pro- vincial Congress Queens did not even name a delegate ; but neither for that matter did Rich- mond, although the reason for the latter's com" plete abandonment of the Loyalists is evident to every reader of the history of the period.

Long Island Loyalists should be exterminated by forcible removal from their homes. The Whigs, even in places in Kings and Queens where they were in a very decided minority, made up their lack of numbers by their ag- gressiveness and boldness, by the outspoken manner in which they upheld their principles and by the reckless use of derogatory ad- jectives and uproarious nouns in their de- scriptions of those whose views did not coin- cide with their own. Arrests began to be made by order of Congress more with the view of showing the Loyalists the power of that body than with any idea at first of inflicting

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

serious punishment ; but it was soon evident that harsher measures were required.

On September 16, 1775, Congress passed a disarmament resolution, directing that "all arms as are fit for the use of troops in this Colony which shall be in the hands of any person who has not signed the General Asso- ciation," should be seized. Although general in its terms, it was in reality directed against the Loyalists of Long Island, who were known as having been recently well stocked with arms, and no time was lost in putting the resolution into effect. For several days the confiscators carried out their mission with- out encountering much opposition, but at the same time without accomplishing much in the way of results; then the opposition grew so strong that to persevere would have precipi- tated an actual conflict, and that, just at that juncture, the Patriots were anxious to avoid, as an open quarrel in the ranks of the Col- onists would have only added to the perplexi- ties of the Continental leaders, and might even have proved fatal to the cause they had at heart. So the disarming party was allowed to dissipate itself into a state of desuetude.

Before the close of the year, however, the Provincial Congress formally declared Kings and Queens counties in a state of insurrection and asked the advice of the Continental Con- gress as to what measures should be taken in the premises. The sending of troops to the island was urged, and it is significant that the suggestion was made that if troops were em- ployed they should be selected from outside the State. Congress at once took up the mat- ter and ordered Colonel Heard with 600 militia from New Jersey and two companies from Lord Stirling's regulars under Major De Hart to proceed to Long Island and sub- duc or pacify the Tories there. The orders of Congress were imperative. Everyone was to be disarmed who had shown any opposi- ticn to Whig rule, and whoever objected was to be arrested. Queens county was singled out as the scene of his operations, for it was thought that, with it in line or quiescent,

the patriotism of Suffolk would be strength- ened while that of Kings would have oppor- tunity to assert itself. Accordingly Colonel Heard was given a list of twenty-six citizens of Queens who were to be arrested anyhow, and a list of 788 citizens who had voted against sending deputies to the Provincial Congress was ordered to be published, so that they might be known as traitors. Says Field : "All who in the exercise of the natural and legal right of voting according to their own judgment and conscience had given their names against the election of deputies were placed under the ban of the Revolutionary Government and deprived of every right and privilege which the laws could give them. Nearly 800 freeholders of Queens were thus put out of protection of the law. All per- sons were forbidden to trade or hold inter- course with them; they were subject to ar- rest and imprisonment the moment they crossed the boundary of the county; no law- yer was to defend them when accused, or prosecute any claim for debt, or suit for pro- tection from outrage or robbery."

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 32

Author: Ross, Peter. cn Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1188

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188