USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York, 1609-1909 > Part 31
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The year 1793 was the year of the Reign of Terror in France. Aristo- cratic rule, which from being careless had come to be heartless, had brought the poorer classes in France to such a condition that revolution was the only alternative. The success of the Revolution in America was one important in- citement to the Revolution in France. It had been successful in America, Why not in France? Supercilious, contemptuous, unfeeling, cruel, the aris- tocracy had brought upon themselves the hatred of the masses. So the Revo- lution in France, counting from the fall of the Bastile, July 14, 1789, to the death of Louis XVI by the guillotine, in January, 1793, was closely corre- spondent to Washington's first term.
Notwithstanding the extremes to which the French revolutionists went they were followed through these four years by the sympathy and applause of a large section of the American people, and especially of those who had been carried away with the eleutheromaniac reasoning of Paine's Rights of Man.
So when Edmond Charles Edouard Genet came with credentials from the New Republic where everybody was a plain "citizen," his landing at Charles- ton was the beginning of an ovation which kept up for several months. At Philadelphia he was received with such lavish expression of sympathy for France that after his credentials as minister had been accepted he. began to issue commissions and letters of marque for privateers, and not only under- took to convert American vessels, with their crews, into French vessels of war, but also to encourage attacks on British vessels in American waters. As Washington had, with the advice of his cabinet, issued a proclamation of neu- trality, in April, 1793, Jefferson, in June, notified Genêt that he must cease arming and equipping privateers in American ports. Genêt, in turn, defied Washington, declaring that he was acting under the treaty of 1778 made with Congress, and that only Congress had the right to deal with him, and demanding that a special session of Congress be called. Washington there- upon demanded the recall of Genet, which, after some delay, was sent. When it came, his party, the Girondists, were no longer in power in France, but were being guillotined by the Jacobins of the mountain. So Citizen Genêt, when he lost his official standing, decided to stay in New York as a private citizen. He married the daughter of Governor Clinton, and resided in the city until his death, in 1836. In the excitement, of which he was the centre, New York was an extensive participant for and against him. There was in the popular mind a hatred of England, which had so recently bent its energies to subjugate and coerce the colonies, and whose jailers had so maltreated many who had suffered in its military prisons. On the other hand, France had acted the part of a friend in the Revolution, and some of its sons had fought for the independence of the colonies. On the other hand, there were ties of blood and of institutions. The language, the social habits, the litera-
L'AMBUSCADE AND CITIZENS GOMPARD AND GENET 305
ture, the commercial methods of the Americans were essentially English. The agitation which had preceded the Revolution had been for rights as English- men. Imbedded in the laws were Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights, the writ of habeas corpus, trial by jury, and an entire jurisprudence transplanted from Britain. In the long run, the greatness of the nation and its commercial in- terests would be best subserved by friendship with the government of what was, to the great majority of the American people, the Mother Country.
But such was not the line of reasoning of a large part of the people. France, fighting for liberty, equality and fraternity, was to the popular mind, a figure truly heroic ; and at first Citizen Genet and his claims to recognition were sympathized with by probably a majority of the people. Many sup- ported him to the last, but there was a revulsion of feeling when his insolence went to the length of defying President Washington.
New York's Anti-Federalists had their part in the agitation. On June 12th the vessel, L'Ambuscade, which had brought Citizen Genet to Charles- ton, arrived in New York. Her captain, Citizen Gompard, and the other officers and crew of the vessel were received and entertained with much enthusiasm, the liberty cap was hoisted on the flagstaff of the Tontine Coffee House, and all true patriots were exhorted to protect it; tricolor cockades were worn and the Marseillaise sung, and New York tried to be as French as possible. Genêt, who visited New York, August 8th, was wel- comed by the ringing of bells and the firing of salutes in honor of the French Republic.
About the time of Genet's recall, Chief Justice John Jay had been appointed, in the spring of 1794, as a special envoy to England, to negotiate a treaty of commerce. Britain and the United States had not assumed complete diplomatic relations, and this precluded the appointment of a regular minister, so that the difficulties of Jay's mission were peculiarly try- ing, but he succeeded in negotiating a "Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation between the United States and Great Britain," in 1795. This aroused the greatest excitement, and a perfect storm of invective and abuse swept the country. John Jay was denounced as corrupted with British gold. Orators declaimed against the perfidy which courted the friendship of Britain, the oppressor and foe of America, while deserting France, her friend and recent ally. Jay was burned in effigy, in New York and Phila- delphia ; mass meetings in New York and Boston denounced the treaty. The New York meeting was held in front of the City Hall, and Edward Livingston was called to preside. Mayor Varick and Alexander Hamilton, who tried to control the meeting within bounds, found themselves unable to do so. Hamilton, from the front steps of his home, at the corner of Broad and Wall Streets, tried to address the people, but that statesman, who had
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always before been able to command attention, could get no hearing. Stones flew, and one struck him on the forehead. The secretary thereupon said without excitement, "If you use such striking arguments, I must retire," and quietly went into the house, while the mob rushed to the Bowl- ing Green to burn what purported to be copies of the Jay treaty, and unfurl the French tricolor. Hamilton commenced writing essays under the pen name "Camillus," by which the opinion of the thoughtful was powerfully influenced. The treaty was ratified by the Senate, after some important modifications, was signed by Washington, and one of the first bodies to approve it was the Chamber of Commerce of New York, at a meeting where seventy members were present and only ten adverse votes were cast. Meanwhile Jay, during his absence, and before the treaty had been concluded, had been elected governor of New York. He arrived May 28, 1795, in the height of the storm over the treaty, and on July I, 1795, he was inaugurated governor. He moved from his home, at 113 Broadway, then the highest num- ber on that street, to the Gover- nor's Mansion, south of the Bowl- ing Green, on the block where the new Custom House now stands. WHITE CONDUIT HOUSE The house faced north, and gave Built about 1782 Used first as independent church. Stood on hill at Broadway between Leonard and Anthony Streets a view of tree-lined Broadway, the Common, and fields beyond. In September, 1795, New York was visited by an epidemic of yellow fever, during which 732 persons died from the disease. During the preva- lence of the scourge business was stagnated. An article in the New York Journal, of October 17, 1795, spoke of the visitation as practically over, and congratulated the city on the fact that the mortality among those visited by the disease had not been so great as had been expected, saying: "Not more than one in twenty dies. Those who have died were for the greatest part new residents." Following this visitation, Governor Jay initiated, for the first time in New York, the proclamation of a Thanksgiving Day for this State, which was appointed for Thursday, November 26th, and was specially designated as a day for giving thanks for the cessation of the epi- demic. But a worse visitation came in 1798, when 1524 people died from the disease. It was most virulent along Front Street, and in the neighboring
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section of the city near the low ground, which had been rescued from the river, and bred mosquitoes in most luxurious profusion. Unfortunately, at that day there was no knowledge of the intimate connection of His Viru- lence Stegomyia fasciata with this destructive disease, nor were the people or the physicians any better informed during the much more severe visitation of 1822-1824, nor in that of 1853.
Among the matters of legislation accomplished by the Jay administra- tion was a needed revision of the penal code. The number of offenses pun- ishable with death was greatly reduced. A bill introduced in the legisla- ture, in January, 1796, for the abolition of slavery, was defeated in com- mittee of the whole, by a tie vote, the chairman giving the casting vote against it, but during Jay's second term, in April, 1799, a bill to the same effect was passed. It provided that the exportation of slaves in the State should cease, and that all negroes born in the State after July 4, 1799, should be free. They should, however, be required to serve an apprenticeship until twenty-eight years old, if males, and twenty-five years old, if females. Attempts to abolish slavery had been made before, but had been wrecked on the question of compensation to owners, but this bill, providing, as it did, for gradual emancipation, met with no very great opposition.
A penitentiary was built in New York, in 1796, and in the same year the need for a retreat where sufferers from contagious diseases could receive proper attention without spreading the contagion through the city, led to the selection of Bedloe's Island for the purpose.
The approach of the end of Washington's second term, with his known intention to retire at that time to private life, lent great importance to the election of 1796, through the country, but was not exceptionally sig- nificant in New York. John Adams, of Massachusetts, Federalist, was elected President, and Thomas Jefferson, Republican, Vice President, a bi- partisan result, practically impossible under the present sytem, but not only possible, but probable, as it was arranged in the original constitution before amendment.
In the State the governor, John Jay, was elected twice as a Federalist candidate, in 1793 and 1798, but in the latter election there were large Republican gains in the legislature, reducing the Federalist majority in the Senate to eight, and gaining a Republican majority in the Assembly of twenty-eight. The leading spirit on the Republican side was Aaron Burr, one of the most brilliant men of the day, and gifted in exceptional degree with the quality of personal magnetism. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, February 6, 1856, son of Rev. Aaron Burr, D.D., second president of Princeton, and of a daughter of Jonathan Edwards, the famous theologian. His father died in 1857 and his mother in 1858, and he was brought up by
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Rev. Timothy Edwards, his maternal uncle, at Elizabethtown, New Jersey; went to Princeton, from which he was graduated with distinguished honors at the head of the Class of 1772; studied theology under Rev. Dr. Bellamy, of Bethlehem, Connecticut, and law, in 1774, with his brother-in-law, Tappan Reeve, at Bethlehem, Connecticut. He served in the Continental Army with distinction from 1775, and had com- mand of a brigade when he resigned in 1779. He began the practice of law in Albany, in 1782, and the same year married Mrs. Theodosia Prevost, widow of a British officer, and their daughter, Theodosia, was born the fol- lowing year. Burr was a member of the State Assembly in 1784-1785, elec- ted attorney-general of the State in 1789, was United States senator from 1791 to 1797, and returned to the State Assembly again from 1797 to 1799, where his leadership of the Republican majority became absolute. His chief opponent was Alexander Hamilton, NEW YORK HOSPITAL and his political ambition looked to- ward a place on the national ticket of the Republican party.
Broadway between Duane and Anthony (Worth) Streets Corner Stone laid 1773; site was then far out of town; used as barracks by the English during their occupation of the city
On December 14, 1799, occurred the death of George Washington. The event was sudden and unexpected, and the mourning was general. The news reached New York on the 19th, and arrangements were made for a public funeral procession and a service at St. Paul's, which was chosen because it was there that Washington held a pew and regularly worshiped during his stay at the Franklin House, in New York. In the procession a funeral urn was carried upon a bier to rep- resent the corpse, followed by the Cincinnati, as chief mourners, other officers of the War of Independence, and the corporation of the city. Preceding the bier were all National and State military and naval forces in the city, mem- bers of all societies and lodges, civil officers of the city, State and Federal governments, consular representatives of the Spanish and British governments, and many others. At St. Paul's, Bishop Provoost read appropriate prayers, and an oration was delivered by Gouverneur Morris.
President Adams issued a proclamation setting apart Washington's Birthday, February 22, 1800, as a day of devotion and prayer, in com-
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memoration of the illustrious soldier and statesman, and on that day all business was suspended in the city. The Cincinnati and the corporation attended the Dutch Church, where they listened to a most eloquent eulogy on Washington, delivered by Dr. William Linn, of that church, who bore reputation as the greatest pulpit orator in the country.
The year 1800 was an exciting one in political matters. Party lines were strictly drawn; the controversies were bitter and rancorous; even within the lines of party were clashing ambitions. The method of choosing the President and Vice President made trouble more than possible. Voters were to cast votes for two persons, who could not be from the same State. The one receiv- ing the highest number of electoral votes should be President, the one receiving the next highest number of votes should be Vice President, and in case of a tie the House of Representatives must decide it. This rule of procedure had worked sufficiently well in the first two elections when the personality of Washington left no doubt about the first place, nor much about the second; but in the third election it had given the presidency to one party and the vice presidency to another, with only three votes difference between them. In 1800 Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, both of the Republican party, were well ahead of the others, but they were tied, each having seventy-three votes, while the other three candidates, all Federalists, were John Adams, sixty-five votes; Charles Cotes Pinckney, sixty-four votes; John Jay, one vote; so although the electoral colleges had met in their several States on December 4th, the result could not be known, and even then the decision had to be reached through a path that might be full of pitfalls. Burr, who had been regarded as the Republican candidate for Vice President, only was charged with intrigue to have himself elected President in the house; some of his par- tisans went so far as to threaten that the northern Republicans would seat him by force if Jefferson were selected. But the decision made Jefferson Pres- ident and Burr Vice President, as after thirty-six ineffectual ballots, James Addison Bayard, of Delaware, a Federalist who had been voting for Burr, changed his vote to Jefferson on the advice of Alexander Hamilton.
Burr became Vice President, but he had lost prestige with his party, so that in 1804, when nominations were made again (the Constitution having meanwhile been amended so as to make the situation of 1800 thereafter im- possible), Burr's name was not even mentioned for the vice presidency, Gov- ernor George Clinton being nominated in his stead. Having failed there, he attempted to secure the nomination for governor of New York, but the party, controlled chiefly by the Clinton and Livingston families, passed him by in favor of Chief Justice Morgan Lewis, brother-in-law of the former chancellor, Robert R. Livingston. He then sought the Federalist nomination, but the most powerful voice in that party was that of Hamilton and Chancellor Lans-
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ing was named as its candidate for governor. When Chancellor Lansing declined to make the race, Burr decided to make the race as an independent, expecting to win some of the Republican (Democratic) vote and the bulk of the Federalist vote, but he miscalculated, for while Hamilton had been socially his friend, he believed Burr to be politically unsafe and unscrupulous. His influence was cast in favor of Lewis, who was elected by an overwhelming majority. Burr had been politically dethroned in the State and nation, and he determined on revenge. He sought occasion of quarrel, and as Hamilton had not been sparing of denunciation of him politically, he seized upon some expressions which had been made by him and challenged him to a duel. Under the foolish code of the day Hamilton could not refuse; so on July II, 1904, in the early morning, they crossed the Hudson to Weehawken, about opposite the present Forty-second Street, shots were exchanged, and Hamilton was mortally wounded by Burr, who was unhurt, as Hamilton had fired his weapon in the air. Hamilton was brought to the city and taken to the home of his friend, William Bayard, where he died the next day, July 12, 1804. Of Burr's future career it is not necessary to go into detail here. He was indicted for murder, but left the city, and after his term as Vice President had ended he engaged in various schemes which resulted in prosecutions for treason and other crimes. His career and that of his daughter Theodosia have furnished the theme for many articles and volumes. After wanderings over Europe he returned in 1812, penniless, to New York, and resumed the practice of law. In 1833, at the age of seventy- seven, he married Madame Jumel, a widow, who owned a consider- able property on Washington Heights, but they soon after were separated. He died in 1836.
Hamilton, whom he slew, lives in history as the most eminent of the early statesmen of New York, if indeed he be not the foremost in its entire history. He was a clear thinker upon political and economic TAMMANY HALL (Second Home) Erected 1812 Southwest Corner Frankfort and Nassau Streets problems and took a lead in an- nouncing the views in favor of a strong central government, to which the State should be subordinate, and even more than Madison or Jay was the formulator of the principles and program of the Federalist party. He was secretary of the treasury under Washington from 1789 to 1795, when he resigned to resume the practice of law. His writings, in nine
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FUNERAL OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON
volumes, are still looked upon as the authoritative announcement of those principles of centralized power that have been the basis of those parties which have been historically opposed by that party of which Jefferson may be said to have been the founder, first under the name of the Republican and later of the Democratic party. Hamilton was not, like Jefferson, a great political leader, for he distrusted the people and they reciprocated the senti- ment to the extent that he did not have a large personal following. His death, however, wrought intense excitement, and the manner of his going created in- dignation in citizens of every political shade, who made haste to express their feeling of sorrow for the loss of this great statesman, who had guided the finances of the country into paths of soundness and safety, and placed its credit on a firm basis, and who was, in addition, the foremost citizen of New York. The funeral took place in Trinity Church, on Saturday, July 14th. In its churchyard is his tombstone which worthily describes him as "The Patriot of Incorruptible Integrity, the Soldier of Approved Valor, the Statesman of Consummate Wisdom."
SOUTHERN VIEW OF HALLS OF JUSTICE Centre Street, 1812
C H A PTER T HIR
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BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY FULTON AND STEAM NAVIGATION THE SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN
Richard Varick, who became mayor in 1789, was a member of the Federalist party, and therefore following the elections of 1800, which made practically a clean sweep for the Republicans, Edward Livingston was appointed mayor, in 1801. The census of 1800 showed the city to contain 60,515 inhabitants. It had many municipal needs, one of which was a new City Hall. In 1802 there was a call for plans on the competitive principle, a premium being offered for the most acceptable plans, and the award was given to Messrs. Macomb and Mangin. On September 20, 1803, the corner stone was laid by Mayor Livingston, in the presence of the members of the corporation and a few others, most of the citizens having left town because of the return of yellow fever. The material chosen for the building was white marble from quarries in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, which was used for the south front and the sides, but some economic soul in the Common Council argued that it was very unlikely that more than a few houses would be built north of the structure, and proposed that red sandstone should be used on the north front to save expense, and the motion prevailed. It was fin- ished in 1812, at a cost of half a million dollars, and has been used ever since; although in the few changes made, one has been to put in a back wall of the same material as the rest of the building. From an architectural stand- point it is still, though surrounded beyond the circling park by colossal sky- scrapers, one of the most attractive buildings in New York.
Mayor Livingston resigned his office in 1803, and De Witt Clinton was appointed to the place. His uncle, George Clinton, who was the first State governor of New York, from 1777 to 1795, was again governor (being the first of the series of Democratic-Republicans holding the office) from 1801 to 1804. DeWitt Clinton was born at Little Britain, Orange County, New York, March 2, 1769. He was the first graduate of Columbia College under that name, gaining high honors for his scholarship, and after studying law with Samuel. Jones, in New York City, was admitted to the bar in 1788, and he became one of the most successful members of his profession, but was especially known for his vigor and success in politics, and particularly was attached to the political fortunes of his uncle. He was elected from New York City to the Assembly, in 1797, and to the State Senate in 1798, and also became a member of the State Council of Appointment. During his terms in the legislature he showed ability as a constructive statesman,
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heading movements for the abolition of slavery and of imprisonment for debt in the State. He was elected United States senator in January, 1802, being then but thirty-three years of age, but resigned after a little more than a year's service, to accept from his uncle the office of mayor of New York. This office he held, with the ex- ception of two years, until 1815.
It was during the admin- istration of DeWitt Clinton as mayor, and largely through his efforts, that our public school system, the most im- portant institution of our re- public, had its beginnings in OLD VIEW OF CITY HALL New York. The germ of the idea dates back to 1802, when some ladies belonging to the Society of Friends established, with a fund contributed from their own means, a free school for girls. Although only for one sex, its benefits were so apparent that it set other minds to thinking how they could be extended. Among those who had thought most deeply on the subject were Thomas Eddy and John Murray, who called a meeting of those who would unite to provide means for the edu- cation of those hitherto neglected, to meet at the house of John Murray, in Pearl Street. Besides Messrs. Murray and Eddy, there were present at the meeting Samuel Osgood, Brockholst Livingston, Samuel Miller, Joseph Con- stant, Thomas Pearsall, Thomas Franklin, Matthew Clarkson, Leonard Bleecker, Samuel Russell and William Edgar. That meeting, after passing a resolution setting forth the need and public importance of free education, appointed a committee to devise plans to carry the idea into execution, which reported, a week later, to a second meeting, recommending that a memorial be sent to the legislature on the subject. A petition was therefore drawn up, signed by one hundred leading citizens, and sent to the legislature, February 25, 1805. On April 9, following, the legislature passed "An Act to Incorporate the Society instituted in the City of New York, for the Establishment of a Free School for the Education of Poor Children, who do not belong to or are not provided for by, any religious society." Thirty-seven incorpo- rators were named in the bill, headed by Mayor DeWitt Clinton, and including many other prominent names, two especially notable being those of Daniel D. Tompkins and Dr. Samuel Latham Mitchill. The bill provided for the management of the society by thirteen trustees, and the first board, named
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