USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. II > Part 19
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Colden did not answer promptly, although he afterwards remarked to Judge Livingston that the proposition was agreeable to him.3 A deputa- tion of merchants waited upon and urged him to deliver the stamps to the corporation. He pleaded his oath to the king, and the great con- tempt into which the government would fall by concession. His coun- selors advised him to yield. Still he hesitated. At four o'clock, P. M., a large crowd collected about the City Hall to learn results. The mayor, attended by the aldermen, visited the fort and warned Colden of the
1 This notice is in the Archives of the New York Historical Society.
2 Isaac Roosevelt was a great sugar-refiner, and "a beloved, honored, tried, true, and con- sistent patriot." He died in 1794, aged sixty-eight years.
8 Judge Robert R. Livingston to Monckton, November 8, 1765. 46
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imminent danger of further delay. He was in great distress, and appealed to General Gage for counsel. The latter avowed the belief, that a fire from the fort would be the signal for " an insurrection " and the com- mencement of a civil war. " So," says Bancroft, " the head of the prov- ince, and the military chief of all America, confessing their inability to stop the anarchy, capitulated to the municipal body which represented the people." The promise was obtained that the stamps should be sur- rendered to the corporation. According to the newspapers of the day, the mayor and aldermen, attended " by a prodigious concourse of people of all ranks," soon after proceeded to the fort gate, and received the papers ; 1 the crowd gave three cheers, and after seeing the packages carried to the City Hall, dispersed. Tranquillity was thus restored to the city.
The moderation of General Gage won a testimonial of gratitude from the city authorities, the original of which, in the handwriting of Mayor Cruger, is preserved.
Henceforward nothing was talked of but non-importation. English merchants were notified to ship no more goods to America until the re- peal of the Stamp Act, as American merchants unanimously declined selling on commission after January 1, 1766. A market-place was es- tablished below the exchange for the vending of articles of home manu- facture, to obviate somewhat of the inconvenience of the course pursued.
Sir Henry Moore, the new governor, arrived on the 13th; in the same vessel came a second shipment of stamps. He had been Nov. 13. lieutenant-governor of Jamaica, in the West Indies (his birth- place), where he at one time suppressed an alarming insurrection of the negroes, for which he was honored with a baronetcy by the king.2 He was an easy, sensible, well-bred, gentlemanly man, experienced in busi- ness. One of the first questions he put to the Council was, whether it would be practicable to issue the stamps. These gentlemen were, Chief Justice Horsemanden, Sir William Johnson, George Clarke, William Smith, John Watts, William Walton, Oliver De Lancey, Charles Ward Apthorpe, Joseph Reade, William Alexander (Lord Stirling), and Roger Morris, - the two latter having been added to the board by the Earl of
1 In the minutes of the Common Council of the City of New York may be seen a copy of the mayor's certificate of receipt, promising to take charge and care of stamps, etc., together with formal surrender of the stamps by Lieutenant-Governor Colden, with reasons given.
2 Sir Henry Moore was the grandson of John Moore, who settled in Barbadoes in the reign of Charles II., and, having amassed property, removed to Jamaica. Sir Henry Moore was the only native colonist who was governor of New York. He married the daughter of Chief Justice Long of Jamaica, and sister of Hon. Edward Long, Judge of the Court of Admiralty, and author of the History of Jamaica. N. Y. Col. MSS., VIII. 197. Doc. Hist. N. Y., III. 524 - 527.
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Halifax, in the recent instructions prepared for Moore. They replied un- animously, " No."1 The next question was whether the counselors ap- proved of reducing the fort to its former condition, as he thought it wore " too hostile an appearance in a friend's country," and found that nothing would give greater satisfaction. Colden remonstrated, as he was alarmed for his personal safety if the gates were thrown open, but the fort was dismantled, notwithstanding, and the new governor suspended his power to execute the Stamp Act. The Assembly, which Colden had pro- rogued from time to time for more than a year, came together, and Nov. 14. confirmed the doings of its Congressional committee.
Everybody was in good humor. The citizens sent a congratulatory address to Governor Moore, and on the evening of the following day assembled in the Fields, erected pyramids to his honor, and concluded with a magnificent bonfire.
The Sons of Liberty exercised the most consummate vigilance, how- ever. They waited upon Peter De Lancey, Jr., who had returned from England in the same vessel with Sir Henry, qualified as a stamp-dis- tributor in the place of McEvers, and convinced him of the danger of serving in that capacity. He accordingly resigned. Hood, the Maryland refugee, who had been protected by Colden, was known to be at the country-place of the latter on Long Island. He was visited and com- pelled to resign, and also to make oath of the sincerity of his renunciation (28th November). Fearing McEvers might resume his former appoint- ment in case the law should be enforced, he was called upon, December 2, for an actual and perpetual renunciation. The ship Minerva, which was reported to have brought stamps, was boarded at midnight by a large force, and, notwithstanding the commander asserted that the obnoxious docu- ments had been lodged in the fort, it was searched from stem to stern. By secret advices from Philadelphia, it was learned that the stamps were shipped upon a brig, which, appearing soon after, was boarded, and ten packages found, seized, taken on shore to a convenient place and burned. At the same time news came that Lewis Pintard, a New York merchant, had sent to Philadelphia a bond and a Mediterranean pass on stamped paper.2 The person from whom they had been procured was found, and compelled to deliver up all in his possession, which were also set on fire. Pintard, in order to elude the vengeance of the populace, declared on oath that he was not aware the documents were stamped at the time he transmitted them.3
1 Watts to Monckton, November 22, 1765.
2 This pass was a written permission from the Algerians to pass the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea.
3 Leake's Life of General Lamb. Holt's New York Gazette. Letters of Sons of Liberty in Philadelphia to the New York Committee, February 15, 1766.
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" The Custom-House clear vessels out, certifying there are no distribu- tions of stamp paper," wrote John Watts, " which is literally true, all of the distributors hav- ing resigned, and no others to be found hardy enough to ac- cept ; but in this port alone, men-of- war stop the ship- ping, unless a few vessels that steal out by night, which sours the inhabitants greatly, and it's to be feared Captain Ken- nedy and they will be at odds soon, if they are not put upon a footing with their neighbors. The ill-boding aspect of things, cramping of Residence of Hon. John Watts, No. 3 Broadway. trade, suppression of paper money, duties, courts of admiralty, appeals, internal taxes, etc., have rendered people so poor, cross, and desperate, that they don't seem to care who are their masters, or indeed for any masters."
Presently, however, New York rose in such anger, that although the city was the headquarters of the army, the naval commander, alarmed by the prospect of riots, left the road to the ocean once more free, as it had all the while been from every other harbor in the thirteen colonies.
The Ministry of England were amazed at the turn events were taking in America; and the only Ministry bent resolutely upon enforcing the stamp tax had affronted the king and been dismissed from power. The greatest unanimity pervaded the colonies, widely sundered as they were from one another; nothing less than the absolute repeal of the odious law would be tolerated. They deprecated the necessity of declaring independ- ence, and yet abhorred and rejected unconditional submission ; they re- pelled the name of "republican," as a slander upon their loyalty, and spurned "passive obedience." Meanwhile divisions confounded the coun- cils of the English nation, and the mind of the king fluctuated like a
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weather-vane. Rockingham declared that compulsory taxation was the doctrine of absolute monarchy, not of the British Constitution. The rightfulness of the Stamp Act was actually in dispute, and sentiment was about equally divided around the throne. On the 3d of October, the great statesmen of the realm agreed that the American question was too weighty for their decision, and that Parliament must be consulted.
The news which came across the water distressed the king. The sur- render of the stamps at New York to the municipal government of the city, he regarded as "extremely humiliating." "This is undoubtedly the most serious matter that ever came before Parliament," he said, and was impatient to receive a minute report of all that should occur.
There was a succession of stormy debates. Some claimed with great energy that the repeal of the Stamp Act would be a surrender of sover- eignty ; that there would be no submission until there was subjection ; that persons of note and learning had originated the mischief, and had poisoned the common people until they were mad and infatuated ; that New York and Boston would be defenseless against a royal fleet, and, they being brought under, no other town or place could stand out. "I hope," exclaimed the excited Bernard, "that New York will have the honor of being subdued first." He considered the metropolis as the source of the system of politics which pervaded the colonies; and on account of its superior rank and greater professions of resistance, as well as for being headquarters, should be made a shining example.
" If England does not repeal the Stamp Act, we will repeal it our- selves," rang out from America upon the opening of the new year. 1766. The Sons of Liberty in New York, at their regular meeting on the Jan. 7. 7th of January, resolved, that " there was safety for the colonies only in firm union of the whole "; and that they themselves "would go to the last extremity, and venture their lives and fortunes, effectually to prevent the Stamp Act."
On the 14th, in the midst of a long discussion, Pitt unexpectedly entered the Chamber of Parliament. He was in feeble health, Jan. 14. and it had been a long time since he had been there. All eyes
were directed towards the venerable man of sixty, who had said, if he " could crawl or be carried, he would deliver his mind and heart upon the state of America." Nugent was just at the moment insisting that the honor and dignity of the kingdom obliged the compulsory execution of the Stamp Act. When he had finished, Pitt arose in his place; the agents from the colonies in the gallery gazed upon him as if he were their guardian angel. His speech, abounding in strong, bold argument, subtle sarcasm, and singular power, was reported by Moffat of Rhode Island, and
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shortly was within the reach of every reading man in America. A pause ensued when he ceased, and then Conway arose ; he not only endorsed the views of Pitt, but believed the latter expressed the sentiments of nearly all the king's servants, and wished it might be the unanimous opinion of the House. Grenville, who, sitting next but one to Pitt, had writhed under the lash, came to his feet and spoke warmly in favor of his pet scheme. "The seditious spirit of the colonies owes its birth to the factious spirit in this House," he said with emphasis ; and with much heat attempted to wipe off the aspersions cast upon his own con- duct. Several members arose after him, but the House clamored for Pitt, who seemed to rise. A point of order was decided in his favor, and the walls resounded with "Go on, go on !" The assemblage was hushed into breathless silence ; floods of light poured from his eyes, and his voice trembled with feeling and passion, as he answered to the charge of having given birth to sedition in America. "Sorry am I," said he, "to hear the liberty of speech in this House imputed as a crime. But the imputation shall not discourage me. It is a liberty I mean to exercise. No gentleman ought to be afraid to exercise it. I rejoice that America has resisted." The whole House started as though hands had been joined and an elec- tric spark had darted through them all. He repeated the assertion, and went on to show the impolicy of all the proceedings of the late Ministry, adding : -
" Upon the whole, I will beg leave to tell the House what is really my opinion. It is that the Stamp Act be repealed, absolutely, totally, and immediately ; that. the reason for the repeal be assigned, because it was founded on an erroneous principle ; at the same time let the sovereign authority of this country over the colonies be asserted in as strong terms as can be devised, and be made to extend to every point of legislation, that we may bind their trade, confine their manu- factures, and exercise every power whatsoever, except that of taking their money out of their pockets without their consent."
He spoke like a man inspired, and his words swayed events. But the question of the repeal of the Stamp Act was far from being settled. It was argued and reargued, and the question of right came up; only three, or rather Pitt alone, " debated strenuously the rights of America," against more than as many hundred. One long winter night wore away, until four o'clock in the morning, when "the resolution passed for England's right to do what the treasury pleased with three millions of freemen in America." Thus the colonists were henceforward excisable and taxable at the mercy of Parliament.
The spring days were on the wing, and yet the Lords of England were
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discussing the Repeal Bill. Pitt hobbled into the house on crutches, swathed in flannels, such was his zeal to defend America. He never spoke without fascinating his audience. Edmund Burke won undying fame through his friendship for the colonies. The repeal finally prevailed. On the morning of March 18, the king went in state to Westmin- March 18. ster, and gave his assent, among other bills, to what he ever after
regarded as the wellspring of all his sorrows, "the fatal repeal of the Stamp Act." He returned amid the shouts and huzzas of the applauding multitude. There was a public dinner of the friends of America in honor of the event; Bow bells were set ringing, and on the Thames the ships displayed their colors. At night a bonfire was kindled and houses illu- minated in many parts of the city.
In the general joy the fact was unnoticed that the king had affixed his seal to the Mutiny Bill, with the objectionable American clauses of the last year ; and also to the Act declaratory of the supreme power of Parlia- ment over America in all cases whatsoever.
Swift vessels hurried across the Atlantic with the tidings. On the 20th of May, the news was announced in New York, and the city May 29. "ran mad " with gladness. On the 4th of June, the anniversary June 4. of the birth of the king, an ox was roasted in the Fields (City Hall Park), twenty-five barrels of strong beer were provided, and a hogshead of rum, with the necessary ingredients for making it into punch. A pole was erected, at the top of which were suspended twenty-five tar-barrels ; twenty-five cannon were ranged near by, and, amid the thunder of artillery, and the music of the band playing " God save the King," the standard of England was displayed, greeted by deafening shouts. The jubilee was attended by Sir Henry Moore, by the gentlemen of the council, by the mayor and aldermen of the city, and by the military officers then in New York.
Such was the gratitude and good feeling, that at a large gathering short- ly after, at the coffee-house, it was resolved to petition the As- sembly to cause a statue to be erected to Pitt. John Cruger brought June 23. the matter before the House, and it was received with favor. Money was appropriated : but provision was first made for the erection of an eques- trian statue of King George III. in bronze, because of his benignity and condescension 1; the one of Pitt to be in brass.
It was not long, however, before the chains which had been concealed in the concessions of Great Britain began to show themselves. Sir Henry communicated to the Assembly that he was instructed to enforce the Mu- tiny Act, which required America to furnish free quarters for the king's
1 The statue of George III. (by Wilton, the celebrated statuary of London) was erected on the Bowling Green in 1770; that of Hon. William Pitt (by the same artist) in Wall Street, during the same year, in marble, however, instead of brass.
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troops. This was, in theory, worse than the Stamp Act. It threw the burden upon the colony which chanced to be the headquarters of the army. New York was that colony, and was in the dilemma of submitting imme- diately and unconditionally to the authority of Parliament or taking the lead in a new career of resistance. The Assembly responded with a lim- ited Supply Bill, which displeased the governor, and which the king re- fused to receive.
The soldiers in the barracks partook of the spirit of their officers, and were excessively insolent over the triumph of the citizens. On Aug. 10. the 10th of August they cut down the liberty-pole which had been peaceably erected in June. The next evening a large number of persons assembled to reinstate it. The soldiers hovered about, interrupted pro- ceedings, and finally assaulted the unarmed people with drawn bayonets ; the latter retreated, but several were wounded, among whom were Isaac Sears and John Berrien. A complaint was entered, and the case tried before Mayor Cruger. The British officers refused to reprimand their men, but the flagstaff was again erected, without molestation, the mili- tary being restrained, as was supposed, by order of the governor. It stood until the 23d of September, when it was again prostrated. Two Sept. 23. days after, the people met and re-erected it. The soldiers did not interfere ; but they vented their ill-nature in so many irritating ways that the Billeting Act never found favor in New York.
The Assembly had been prorogued to the 7th of October, and after- wards to the 6th of November. On the 17th, Governor Moore
Nov. 17. communicated the king's veto of the limited Supply Bill, also the instructions of Lord Shelburne, who emphatically declared that his royal master expected and required obedience to the Acts of the Legislature of Great Britain. It was four weeks before the House replied; and then the tone of its message was very aggravating to the royal govern- Dec. 15. ment. It had exercised its own discretion, and contributed to the supply of two battalions and one company of artillery, refusing to be "guilty of a breach of trust," by imposing heavier burdens than the peo- ple could support.1 It met the declaration of the supreme power of Parliament by "the principle of the supreme power of the people in all cases whatsoever."
Spring brought fresh disturbances to the metropolis. The anniver-
1767. sary of the repeal of the Stamp Act was celebrated with enthusi- March 18. asm. As the soldiers could not endure the sight of processions in which they had no part, they stole out at night and cut down the liberty-
1 Address of the Assembly to Governor Moore, William Nicoll, speaker, delivered Decem- ber 18, 1766. Holt's New York Gazette, 1251, December 24, 1766.
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pole. The next day the people assembled and erected another, secured with iron bands. No sooner was the city asleep, than the soldiers made an attempt to fell it without success. On the night of the 20th they tried to blow it up with gunpowder, but failed. The citizens March 20. resolved to guard the pole on the night of the 21st, and when the March 21. soldiers appeared they drove them back. On the night of the 22d March 22. the soldiers came out with loaded muskets, and, when near the pole, faced about and fired a volley towards the house where the Sons of Liberty held their meetings. Two balls took effect in the building; one passed through it, and another lodged in the timbers. This daring outrage brought out the commander of the forces, who ordered the soldiers to retire.
George III. and his Lords denounced New York as " rebellious." Amer- ica was the theme in all companies, social and political. The freedom of the New York press, the action of the New York Assembly, the defiant attitude of the Sons of Liberty, and the petition of the New York mer- chants, provoked universal apprehension. The latter (just received) was temperate in expression, but it enumerated some of the useless grievances of the Acts of Trade, and prayed for the free exportation of lumber, and an easier exchange of products with the West Indies. It was read by one and another, and interpreted as fresh evidence that nothing would give satisfaction to the colonies but a repeal of all restrictions on trade, and freedom from all subordination and dependence. The king talked more than ever. He was oblivious to every consideration of wisdom and expediency. He told Shelburne that the time had come when the laws must be enforced. But Parliament was in a desperate conflict within it- self. Rockingham declared that neither he nor his friends would join in anything severe against America. Pitt was in the country, broken in health, and his eclipse encouraged the wonderful and volatile Townshend, whose ruling passion was present success, to devise schemes of personal ambition. He could never resist applause, and was sure to pay the great- est court wherever political appearances were the most inviting. He dic- tated to the Ministry. His brilliant oratory took inspiration from pass- ing events. " Are we to pay infinite taxes and the colonies none ?" he asked. " Are we to be burdened that they may be eased ? "
News came that Massachusetts through her Legislature had given a formal defiance to Parliament, and was lending her influence to March 28. sustain New York in resisting the Billeting Act. On the 30th, March 30. the Lords wearied themselves all day in scolding at the colonies with in- discriminate bitterness ; and the next day, and the next. It was pro- posed by some to make New York an example that might terrify all the others. "If we do not act with vigor," cried Townshend, " the colonies will very soon be lost forever."
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Plan after plan was discussed. Day after day wore away. On the
13th of May, Townshend entered the House of Commons with the May 13. air of a man of business. By special order the doors were closed against every agent of the colonies and every American merchant. He opened the debate with an appearance of candor; the colonies had all been refractory, but New York had added impudence. He proposed to proceed against New York, and New York alone. He moved that New York, having directly disobeyed Parliament, should be deprived of the power of legislation until submission was secured.
Taking advantage of the anarchy in the Ministry, he perfected a bill, and, in the course of a few weeks, pushed it through both Houses, by which New York was disfranchised. At the same time he introduced a new system of taxation, which stung the colonies into rash words and rasher proceedings. Duties were tacked upon articles of the first necessity, a Board of Customs established in Boston, Writs of Assistance legalized, some of the colonial charters abrogated because the people enjoyed too much freedom under them, an independent support provided for the crown officers, and places henceforward to be filled by men born in Eng- land, who were willing to exact implicit obedience from the Americans.
The New York Assembly, foreseeing the storm, and without recog- nizing the binding force of the British statute, conformed so far to its provisions as to appropriate a sum of money for the use of the army, without specifications, and then continued in the exercise of its powers as if nothing had happened. This partial concession created violent divisions, the governor esteeming it a politic dodge, and the radical Sons of Liberty determining to resist unto the bitter end; when, therefore, the Assembly was dissolved (its septennial limitation having expired) in
1768. February, 1768, a hotly contested election followed. The city
Feb. 11. members chosen were, James Jauncey, Philip Livingston, Jacob Walton, and James De Lancey. The latter was at the time in England.
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