USA > New York > New York City > History of the New Netherlands, province of New York, and state of New York : to the adoption of the federal Constitution. Vol. I > Part 48
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54
The popular tumults that took place in New York and else- where, were led by men, as is always the case, from the ranks of people, and many of them without property. Such men have in America their fortunes to make, and any abridgment of the liberty by which their future success in the world would be impeded, is an invasion of that which is most dear. On the other hand, men of property are generally more wary. They either have inherited, or by industry accumulated, that which is to produce more, (for
423
CONGRESS IN NEW YORK.
few are content with their present wealth however great,) or that which gives them present ease, enjoyment, and influence. They fear change, and either adhere to the powers that be, although tending to oppression, or hold back and in private encourage those who are yet to achieve fortune, and the reckless who had dissipated it, to mingle in the whirlwind and guide the storm of popular insurrection .*
It is said that the first newspaper established in New Hamp- shire was as late as this year. And that prior to 1750, there were only seven in the American colonies. We have seen that the governours who were sent by England to rule the provinces, were instructed to encourage slavery, and discourage printing. Not- withstanding this care of the mother to blind her children as well as fetter them, there were, in 1765, twenty-six newspapers afloat to diffuse light. It is the press which guides and impels publick opinion : collecting in one living stream the intellectual energy of society, it impels to a never-ceasing improvement, and holding fast that to which man has already attained, insures for man- kind ultimately a higher and a holier destiny.
The wise measures which had been recommended by the con- vention, composed of twenty eight delegates, which met at the city of New York, in the month of October, were effective. This was another great step to American independence. It was the third congress ; and was more, in its form and spirit, like that which was to determine the fate of the colonies. Neither New Hampshire nor North Carolina, Virginia or Georgia, sent delegates; but Mas- - sachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennylvania, Maryland, and South Carolina, were represented in
* On the 1st of November, the riot which destroyed the valuable property of Major James, took place in the evening or night. The house of Major James had been called Ranelagh, and had extensive gardens attached to it; which had been the resort of the citizens, previous to the occupation of the major, the house being a publick place for entertainment. It was on the site of the present corner of Warren and Greenwich streets, upon high ground, overlooking the river. The house stood after the street (Warren) was regulated, or dng down by the side. It was at one time a manufactory of earthen ware : at another, the first Roman Catho- tick place of worship in New York. As late as 1793, there were no houses on the north side of Warren street, and this building was isolated.
The day after the destruction of Major James's property, a paper was read from the balcony of the coffee-house in Wall street, calling upon the inhabitants to turn out and suppress riots. But Sears, who was present, addressed the people, and told them, as was true, that this call upon them, was only to prevent their gaining possession of the stamps. The people cheered him, and promised to stand by him in forcing the lieutenant-governour to deliver them up.
William Gordon, the historian, says, that Mr. James De Lancey, who had joined the popular side in order to secure a seat in the assembly at the next general election, was present at the meeting in the fields on the 6th of November, and was called upon to become one of the committee of correspondence with the other colonies : but excused himself, saying he was already on a committee with the lawyers, respecting the proceedings with stamps. Sears accepted the call.
424
. COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE.
this portentous assembly. The arts of the governours of Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, had prevented those provinces from participating in this measure. The delegates were to be elected by the provincial assemblies, and in these provinces the royal governours, by adjournments, frustrated the wishes of the people. Lieutenant- governour Colden, of New York, had attempted the same expedient ; but the assembly had elected a committee of management, in 1764, to conduct extraordinary business during its adjournment ; this committee counteracted the governour's wishes, and elected repre- sentatives for themselves and their constituents.
The formation of political clubs, in the different provinces, and their establishing a correspondence with each other, prepared the people for that system of committee communication, which was so efficacious in after time.
This assembling of the convention or congress of 1765, at New York, was a most important event for America ; and the people showed that they so considered it, by their approbation of its pro- ceedings. Its language was echoed from one end of the continent to the other.
On the 6th of November, the richer inhabitants of New York judiciously called a meeting of the citizens, and proposed a com- mittee of correspondence with the other colonies. Sears and four others were appointed to this business ; and one of the first fruits of this appointment, was the adoption of a most efficacious measure by the other colonies ; this was to direct the English merchants not to ship goods to the continent, until the repeal of the stamp act, and to adopt a resolution that they would not sell on commis- sion any goods shipped after the first of January, 1766, by any English merchants. The committees circulated this resolution : it was adopted with applause, and the whole continent was united, as one man, in these measures of opposition.
To be clothed in homespun, or in garments which had been discarded, was now honourable and fashionable ; and marriages were no longer licensed, but proclaimed in church by asking the bans.
After a short suspension, the usual business of justice and of commerce was carried on in defiance of the act of parliament. Even the English officers of the customs did not venture to deny clearance to vessels without the aid of stamped paper. In the New York papers, a series of essays were published, denying that the British parliament possessed even the shadow of jurisdiction over America. Clubs were formed-resolutions entered into-assu- rances given to support the defenders of the British constitution.
William Pitt, Lord Chatham, saw that by persisting in the present measures, America must be lost to England, and all the
425
. REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT.
advantages he had proposed to British manufacturers, by prohibit- ing the making of even a hob-nail in America, and to British mer- chants, by the operations of the navigation and other acts, that fettered the commerce of the provinces. He therefore stepped in, and under the mask of a friend to America, reprobated the stamp act-praised the colonists-and prevailed with the government to yield the obnoxious act; at the same time, relying upon the blind- ness which this concession would cause in America, to formally announce the right ; and by taxing certain articles, exercise it; and declare the power to bind the colonies and people of America, as subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever. This acute politician knew that the people of America would be so hurried away in triumph for the apparent victory, that they would not regard the declaration which deprived them of all rights, and bound them slaves to the will of a parliament whose interest it was to oppress the colonies. He gained his point-was hailed as a friend, and statues raised to him; but he did not perceive, that such a mere political deception must be seen through, when the ebullition of the moment had passed, and by men who repressed their indignation or contempt for a time.
Others again, on both sides of the Atlantic, thought that by receding and yielding to the hostile clamours of the colonists, and being content with a declaration of their right to bind those who defied all chains, the government of England virtually surrendered that which it declared was its prerogative. 1766 The bill for the repeal, after much opposition, and with two protests, was carried through the house of lords, and re- ceiving the king's assent, (though it had been declared that his private sentiments were opposed to it) became a law.
This was the end of the first act of the great drama of the Ame- rican revolution. It was the end of the beginning. The people of America applauded ; but the whole force of the British govern- ment, with all its complicated machinery, from the king through his bishops, to the curates, and through the king's ministers to the subalterns of his navy and army, were unanimous in desiring for revenge for what was considered an insult to dignity, monarchical, prelatical, aristocratical, and national.
The traders of England rejoiced, because they thought the door would be open again for their merchandize. Many good men rejoiced, who saw no further than the surface ; but it was a surface . smoothed by oil, while the elements of discord rolled below. The immediate occurrence of a civil war was prevented ; but the cause was not removed. A struggle with an united people was avoided, that by dividing, they might be subdued. And this people was insulted by the Ministry of Great Britain, who directed their tools in America (the governours of provinces,) to remind the VOL I. 54
426
NON-IMPORTATION AGREEMENT.
colonists of the lenity and tenderness, the moderation and forbear- ance, of parliament ; and to call upon them to show their " respect- ful gratitude and cheerful obedience, in return for such a signal display of indulgence and affection !"
Mr. Pownall, who had been governour and commander-in-chief in Massachusetts, Governour of South Carolina, Lieutenant-gover- nour of New Jersey, says, that he loved the colonies, because he knows them-" in their private social relations, there is not a more friendly, and in their political one, a more zealously loyal people, in all his majesty's dominions. When fairly and openly dealt with, there is not a people who has a truer sense of the necessary powers of government." But they were not fairly and openly dealt with '-they were spurned by the country they called home, until they found that they must have a home of their own, and cherish and defend it as other men did.
The spirit of resistance to tyranny, which ought to have endeared Americans to Englishmen, produced, except in the breasts of a few, a degree of rancour which can only be accounted for, by the sup- position that the people had been accustomed to view the colonists, not as their brethren, but as their property ; and when opposition was made to the Parliament of Great Britain using that property for the benefit of their constituents, it appeared like rebellion, and was termed unnatural ingratitude! Rather than rescind the law called the stamp act, the royal dukes and lords of the royal house- hold were for carrying fire and sword among the rebellious slaves who presumed to claim the rights of English subjects ; and this spirit was encouraged by the bench of bishops .* The inhabitants of New England were prohibited fishing on their coasts; it might starve them into compliance. The Solicitor-general of Scotland said, that to be sure they had no wheat; but they had Indian corn, on which they might subsist full as well as they deserved.t
The distributer appointed for stamps in Maryland, fled to New York, took refuge with Colden in the fort; and on the arrival of Sir Henry Moore, removed to Long Island ; but a number of the New Yorkers crossed over and took him by surprise, and obliged him to sign a resignation of his office, and swear before a magistrate to his renunciation.
In October of this year, the merchants of New York were the first to enter into the famous non-importation agreement, which being followed by those of the other colonies, did more than any one movement, to produce the repeal of the stamp act.
In December, Sir Henry Moore arrived, as was expected, with
* Debates in the house of commons, March 6, 1765.
f Gordon, vol. 2, p. 139.
ยท
427
SIR H. MOORE, GOVERNOUR.
a commission as governour of the province of New York. He was well received.
In less than a month, another parcel of these stamped papers . caused another more moderate exertion of the people's power, though very decisive and summary. A party of the inhabitants went, at midnight, armed, to the wharf where the brig lay, on board of which it was known stamped papers sent for New York and Connecticut had been shipped. They entered the brig, demanded the keys, struck a light, and searched until they found ten boxes filled with these tokens of the affection of Great Britain to Ame- rica. They were soon removed from the brig to a small boat, and rowed up the East River to the ship-yards, which were then where Catharine street now comes to the water. Here the party broke open the boxes, and making a flame with some tar-barrels, the - stamps were added to the bonfire, and their ashes distributed to the winds. This done, the men returned quietly to town and dis- persed.
Major James, whose property had been burned, went to England to tell his story, and Mr. Colden wrote by him to the ministry ; to his letter he was answered, that Sir Henry Moore was then on his way to New York, with increased powers ; among others, to sus- pend members of the council. The minister says, " such times as these may require the exercise of that power, and that it is ex- pected governours should not want firmness to use it boldly, when- ever it may seem useful to the king's service and publick peace."
It was not long before the news arrived, that in March the par- liament had repealed the stamp act. The effect was produced in America that had been foreseen by Lord Chatham. . He advoca- ted the doctrine which declared the British parliament sovereign over the colonies in all cases whatsoever-he died exerting his last spark of life in opposition to American independence ; and yet Americans, having been once persuaded that he was their friend, have continued to this day so to call him. The Assembly of New York had a statue of him made in Europe, and set up here, in Wall street : the British, when they took the city, knocked off the head and one hand : the Americans, when they returned to the city, removed the trunk.
John Adams, our second president, did not think Pitt was other than the friend of Great Britain. In a letter from Mr. Adams to Dr. Jedediah Morse, published by the latter in his annals of the Ame- rican revolution, the American president says : " The resistance in America was so universal and determined, that Great Britain, with all her omnipotence, dared not attempt to enforce her preten- sions ; she saw she could do nothing without her Chatham ; he was called in to command the forlorn hope ; and at the same time, to invent the ruse de guerre." The stamp act was repealed, and the
428
STATUE OF LORD CHATHAM.
statute passed, that parliament was sovereign over the colonies in all cases whatsoever. The repeal of an act, by which they were taxed for stamps upon all legalized contracts, blinded them to the - assertion which announced that they were slaves to the people of Great Britain. Mr. Adams says of Chatham, " He died a martyr to his idol." He fell in the house of lords, with the sovereignty of parliament in his mouth. Yet to this man, truly illustrious as a Briton, did the people of New York erect a statue in Wall street, at the junction of William and Smith streets. It was announced in the journals of the day thus : "A marble pedestrian statue of Lord Chatham was erected in Wall street, on the 7th of September, 1770. The statue was in a Roman habit ; the right hand holding a scroll partly open, on which was incribed, ' Articuli Magna Charte Libertatum.' The left hand is extended, in the attitude of one delivering an oration. On the south side of the pedestal, is the following inscription, cut in marble : ' This statue of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, was erected as a pub- lick testimony of the grateful sense the Colony of New York retains of the many eminent services he rendered to America, particularly in promoting the repeal of the stamp act, Anno Dom. 1770.'"
-
-
-
429
CONTROVERSY WITH NEW HAMPSHIRE.
CHAPTER XXVII.
New Hampshire grants-Unanimity in opposing the stamp act- Triumph at its repeal-Liberty-poles-English project for rais- ing a revenue from the colonics-Charles Townsend.
BEFORE recounting the effects of the repeal of the stamp act upon the people of New York, the subject of the New Hampshire grants must be attended too .*
After the conquest of Canada and cessation of military opera- tions in America, the New Hampshire men and their governour, recommenced their intrusions on the province of New York.
During the war, a road had been cut from Charlestown, in New Hampshire, to Lake Champlain, for communication with Crown Point, and the fertility of the lands had been witnessed by many who marched or travelled that way. The possession was eagerly sought after, says the historian of Vermont, by adventurers and speculators. Governour Wentworth was as willing to make a fortune by selling at wholesale prices, as the speculators were eager to buy, and accumulate money by selling at retail ; so by, and with the advice of his council, a survey was directed of lands on the west side of Connecticut River. During the year 1761, not less than sixty townships of six miles square, were granted on the west side of this river ; the whole number of grants in one or two years more, amounted to one hundred and thirty-eight ; and their extent was from Connecticut River to what was esteemed twenty miles east of Hudson's river, so far as that extended to the north- ward ; and after that, as far west as the eastern shore of Lake Cham- plain ; and, Williams continues, " Wentworth had an opportunity to accumulate a large fortune, by the fees and donations," certainly not bribes, which attended the business, and by a reserve of five hundred acres, which he made in every township for himself.
But in addition to the legal right of the province of New York to this territory, there was now a king's lieutenant-governour who had succeeded to the management of its affairs, who had as keen a relish for accumulation as Wentworth, and certainly was autho-
" On this subject I shall use Williams's History of Vermont.
-
-
430
CONTROVERSY WITH NEW HAMPSHIRE.
rized to stop these intrusions both by the original grant from Charles II to his brother, the Duke of York, and the undisputed claim of the colony to the territory, until New Hampshire, or her governour, set up the puerile claim founded on the boundary line prescribed in 1741, between Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Mr. Colden, when surveyor-general, had found out the value of these lands between the Hudson, or the lake, and the boundary line. The proceedings of his brother governour troubled him, and he issued his proclamation, December 28th, 1763, reci- ting the original grants to the Duke of York, and claiming jurisdiction as far east as Connecticut River. The sheriff of Albany was ordered to make return of the names of all persons who had intruded under the colour of grants from New Hamp- shire. This proclamation was met three months after by a pro- clamation from Wentworth, declaring the grant to the Duke of York obsolete, and insisting that New Hampshire extended as far west as Massachusetts, or Connecticut. The matter in dispute was referred to the King of Great Britain, George II, and he de- cided in favour of New York.
Mr. Williams, in his History of Vermont, says, that in the re- presentation of New York to the king, it was said, " that it would be greatly to the convenience and advantage of the people who were settled west of Connecticut river, to be annexed to New York, and that the people were desirous to be included in that government."
In a note he further says, that the inhabitants complained that a petition was presented to the king, signed with their names, but unknown to them. This accusation of fraud on the part of New York, was not proved. He further says, that the people holding lands by grant from New Hampshire did not suppose that this de- cision of Great Britain, would affect their titles, but would only operate from the time it was made. That it rather confirmed their titles. Because, in the decision of the king, it was said, that the western bank of Connecticut River was ordered and declared to be the boundary of New York. They chose to interpret this " to be," as relating only to the future.
Very different was the interpretation of New York. She knew that this had always been the boundary since the province had the name ; and that the governour of New Hampshire had granted and sold that which belonged to New York. In consequence, the dis- trict was divided into four counties : the south-west annexed to Albany ; the north-west called Charlotte : and to the east of the mountain, the counties of Cumberland and Gloucester were formed. The settlers were required to surrender the illegal grants, and take out grants from New York. Some complied-many refused- and here was fostered that enmity between New York and the
-
431
UNANIMITY AGAINST STAMP ACT.
people, not only of this territory, but of New Hampshire-nay combined with former disputes for boundaries -- with all New England-enmity which we shall see entering into publick and pri- vate transactions and opinions from that time, almost to the pre- sent day.
We have seen that not only the claims of the Dutch settlers were disregarded by the English, but their actual possessions in- truded upon : and that the conflicting rights given by grants, dic- tated by ignorance, carelessness, or cupidity, caused quarrels, strife, and ill-blood, between New York, Massachusetts, and Connec- ticut, in times subsequent to the Dutch dominions : and the pre- tensions of New Hampshire, and the grasping selfishness of Benning Wentworth, caused contentions which in the sequel portended civil war, and even as we shall see, symptoms of a disaffection by which this territory, under our consideration, might have been thrown into the arms of the open enemies of the United States.
The stamp act absorbed every other consideration; and the measures for resistance were universal through the colonies. If Great Britain had persisted, there would have been no such divis- ion as appeared ten years after. In the City of New York, the officers of the king's government stood alone. Their immediate connexions only appeared as moderators. " The sons of liberty" were the rulers. On hearing that Lewis Pintard, merchant, had sent a bond, on stamped paper, with a Mediterranean pass, to Philadelphia, they demanded the name of the person who had delivered said bond, which being obtained, they made him deliver all such in his possession : not content with this, they made him commit the papers to the flames in the presence of thousands. Mr. Pintard made oath before Whitehead Hicks, that when he sent the bond to Philadelphia, he did not know that it was stamped. On another occasion, the sons of liberty were informed, at a stated meeting, that Lieutenant Hallam, of his majesty's ship, the Garland, had used disrespectful expressions relative to Americans. , He was waited upon, and required to make concessions. He denied the words; but those who heard them made oath accord- ingly. He was again waited uron, and having again denied the words, refused satisfaction. He was thereupon informed that he would be safe as long as he made an asylum of his majesty's ship ; but that he must not appear on shore.
At Albany, the same spirit was manifested as at New York and elsewhere. Henry Van Schaick made oath that he had never applied for the office of stamp distributer to James McEvers or any other person ; nor would he ever accept the same. Others, to. pacify the people, took similar oaths. Mr. Cuyler confessed that
432
TRIUMPH AT ITS REPEAL.
he had made application, but took an oath not to accept. Others did the same .*
1766 In March, the stamp act was repealed, the king having assented thereto on the 19th of that month ; and in May, the news was received in New York.
The people of America were so delighted by the repeal of the stamp act, that they took no notice of the declaration of parliament accompanying it. They had resisted ; Great Britain had retracted -they triumphed. But of all places, New York seemed to rejoice most. We have seen, that they erected a statue to Pitt ; but they likewise set up an image to his most gracious majesty, George the Third ! They ordered these statues to be made in Europe, during the ebullition of gratitude for not having the collar and chain put on, seeming to forget that fear alone prevented the attempt to rivet the irons by force. These statues were ordered; but before they were set up, the eyes of most men in America were freed from the films created by European jugglers. Still, the people believed then, and long after, that Lord Chatham was their friend, and huz- zaed when the image was placed at the junction of William and Smith streets, in Wall street ; but when the Bowling Green was prepared by the iron railing, still standing, and the equestrian statue of George the Third appeared in the centre, mounted on a marble pedestal, the event was celebrated only by his officers and their dependants : it was soon tumbled to the dust, and has been so for- gotten, that grave writers have said, the statue that once stood in the Bowling Green of New York, was that of George the Second.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.