USA > New York > Organization of the Revolutionary movement in New York State, 1775-77 > Part 17
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
whole enterprise which suffered a resounding defeat. 3 As a last resort William Smith prevailed upon Governor Tryon to dissolve the colonial assembly and prescribe a polling date for a new house, hoping to obtain a pliant membership which would condemn the Congresses and adopt "overtures for the restoration of harmony." The Whigs accepted the challenge and plunged into an energetic campaign to win the day. Under the conditions of conservative suffrage requirements the Whigs overwhelmed the opposition, handing the Tories a decisive defeat. Although the returns were incomplete with perhaps six seats unaccounted for, the Tories could only claim four as against the Whigs' twenty-four. Before the election, news arrived of the British plan to crush the rebellion by arms in the spring, news which inflamed the province. Tryon and his council were unanimous in conceding the hopelessness of their position and agreed not to permit the assembly to meet unless more favorable word came from Britain to mollify the populace. The new assembly never met and the Tories had lost another battle.
223
Far from being a period of loyalist reaction, the months under discussion witnessed the hardening of opposition to the British and the completion of revolutionary organization on the local level. None of the transactions of the Provincial Congress brought the province closer to submission to the crowz. On the contrary, the halting steps of the Congress carried the people farther down the road to revolution.
The unrelenting Whig press campaign ultimately affected the wavering Provincial Congress. On through the winter and into the spring of 1776 the Whigs continued their propaganda offensivo. This spirit infected the moderate Whigs in the Second Provincial Congress to some degree and the Congress adopted more vigorous policies. Although it would not interdict communication with the British ships in the harbor until Washington demanded it, the Congress did prepare an armed vessel to defend the trade lanes between Sandy Hook and the Delaware River. Moreover, the house set in motion a general anti- Tory policy which empowered the district committees to call out the militia to aid them in disarming the disaffected.
Although there had been considerable discussion in the news- papers on the question of the formation of a new government on permanent basis, the conservatives and moderates in Congress avoided any deliberation on the topic. The Continental Congress, however, precipitated the subject onto the floor of the Third Provincial Congress in May by recommending that all the colonies make provision for stable government. The members split on the question of procedure, but basic to procedure was the element of timing. Those who favored
224
delay supported Gouverneur Morris's proposal for a constitutional convention; those who desired early action backed John Morin Scott's argument that the existing Congress could draft the constitution. Since the Third Congress wished to frame the new government the members modified Morris's plan to call for new authority from the electorate to permit Congress to be the architect of the new lay. Despite the ambiguity of the resolves calling the election in June, the people seem to have assumed that a constitution would be forthcoming when the Fourth Provincial Congress assembled in July.
Closely linked with the question of a constitution was the * problem of independence. £ Letters appearing in the press from January through June indicate that public opinion led the members of Congress in desiring the final break with Britain. By a series of evasions in May and June Congress avoided committing itself, even though at one point it violated its own rules of procedure. Had not most of the city's population migrated, the radicale might have brought popular pressure to bear on the Congress. Notwithstanding congressional reluctance, some of the people in Albany County took matters into their own hands and voted for independence in June.
In any social upheaval as complex as a revolution, the elements conducive to disruption cannot be reduced to any simple all-embracing formula. Similarly, the hesitation of the Whig leaders of New York cannot be ascribed to any single factor. Rather it was the operation of several influences which produced the "trimming" policies associated with the New Yorkers. Tradition and past ties with Britain exerted
a braking influence. There was apprehension over the cost of
225
independence in blood and treasure. There was uncertainty about internal political stability. There was fear, too, fear of defeat and of the customary punishment for treason. Since the colony might be invaded simultaneously from the south and north, the Whig moderates and conservatives felt no over powering urge to place the noosa around their own necks.
As the directing center of the revolutionary movement the Provincial Congress tackled a variety of problems. The manner in which it dealt with some of these problems characterized its conduct until'the Declaration of Independence. In crucial matters, such as raising the line regiments and organizing the militia, the Congress delayed through most of 1775. Although Congress set up the militia establishment in August, defects in training procedures and the election of officers caused the house to amend it in December, 1775.
If raising troops presented difficulties for Congress, thess problems were insignificant when compared with those involving the supplying and equipping of the army. To meet the exigencies of supply, Congress ultimately appointed three officials, a commissary, a clothier and a commissary for military storys. These men employed numarons assistants to carry out their responsibilities. One of the complicating factors was the need to import practically all key items with the exception of food. In addition to confusion and waste, the government suffered from an inadequate transportation system and sky- rocketing prices.
When the deputies debated the means of financing the revolutionary resistance, they chose paper money. Recourse to taxation almost carried
226
the day, but disagreements over each county's share of the burden blocked the adoption of this alternative. McDongall declared that the landholders wanted to saddle New York Citywith one-third of the taxes, and he would have none of it. Turning from taxation, the Congress voted to issue bills of credit, some L300,000 in two years, In addition the Continental Congress sent New York large quantities of Continental paper.
In its efforts to contain the Tories, the Congress employed specific committees of its members to arrest, try and sentence offenders. However, this delegation of powers did not prevent the house from also hearing complaints and sentencing Tory prisoners. Whenever the occasion demanded, the committees called upon Continental troops, the militia or special ranger companies to do their bidding. The spreading Tory activity in September, 1776 compelled the Convention to create a standing committee for "detecting and defeating conspiracies." During its existence of four months, this committee presided over 500 or more cases. Even this measure did not suffice, and in February, 1777 the Convention replaced the committee with a commission of three non-legislators. The commission functioned until 1778. These blows at the Tories eventually paved the way for the confiscation of Tory property. Although sales of loyalist personalty commenced in February, 1777, the Convention refrained from disposing of the realty, and passed the problem on to the first legislature under the new constitution.
Although New York's delegates in the Continental Congress spoke against immediate independence, the Fourth Provincial Congress
227
promptly ratified the momentous Declaration and transformed itself into a dual legislature and constitutional convention. In their latter capacity the deputies progressed at a snail's pace, not producing a working document until October. Two months later the governmental committee completed a full draft, but did not report
it to the house. The committee revised it three more times before submitting it to the Convention in March.
The eight months delay stirred up discontent and apprehension. Notwithstanding the urgencies of conducting a war, there can be little doubt that political differences were mainly responsible for the protracted labors of the committee. In the main, the conservatives worked most consistently to obstruct rapid accomplishment because they feared radical reformism would carry away the Convention. Possessed of astuteness and perception, they toiled ardously and successfully to prevent a radical victory. The radicals failed to win even a bill of rights which had seemed to be within their grasp in July, 1776.
The newspapers devoted many columns of space to the problem of government which reflected the long-felt desire for basic political change. Included among the reforms were extension of the suffrage, use of the secret ballot, elimination of dual office-holding, annual elections, lower property qualifications for candidacy, abolition of the governor's veto, separation of church and state. If the Convention had adopted all these ideas, the state would have taken & long stride along the road to democracy, but the conservative influence was too strong to permit it.
228
At the outset the December draft inaugurated several major improvements, but in the pro ss of revision the committee modified them. Four provisions remained unaltered: annual assembly elections, secret balloting, no placement in the legislature and no veto power for the governor. Those paying state and county taxes won the right to vote in assembly elections, but the committee revised this clause to extend it to those pajing either tax. On the other hand, the com- mittee raised the qualification for the senatorial and gubernatorial elections from a $40 freehold to a $100 freehold. In the earlier drafts the assembly possessed sole power to choose the treasurer, but the committee modified the section so that the assembly shared the authority with the senate. The later versions sought to increase the governor's powers, but he was to be a weak executive. At most he could nominate civil officials to the legislature and at one point the committee prepared to limit this right by creating a council of state to assist hin. In two points the committee strengthened the executive. £ They granted him the right to prorogue the legislature for a maximum of sixty days a year and to appoint military officials. Most of the more radical innovations did not survive the onslaught from the floor. The Convention presented the people with a revolu- tionary constitution, albeit a conservative one.
The success of the conservatives in the New York Convention strikingly contrasts with the failure of the conservatives in Pena- sylvania. One of the reasons for the radical victory in that state was the loyalist influence among the conservatives who thereby lost
229
their influence in the revolutionary organizations. The ability of the New Yorkers to move flexibly with the pressure for a new govern- ment and independence contributed greatly to the conservative triumph. The past view that a Tory preponderance profoundly affected New York's approach to independence is no longer valid, but it is true that the colony's cautious movement differentiated it from many other colonies.
Despite the large number of Tories in the province, the Whigs won the allegiance of a majority of the people. It was this popular backing that enabled the revolutionaries to construct a movement which carried the colony down the road to statehocd. Although the leadership faltered from time-to-time, it received strong popular support.
230
APPENDIX
The following examples of inaccurate or uncritical use of materials by Flick in his Loyaliem in New York during the American Revolution suggest that a new look at the New York loyalist problem might produce interesting material.
One of Flick's sources, loyalist historian Thomas Jones wrote that the Fritish formed a New York City militia organization in 1779 of 6,000 men. All of these males, he said, vere inhabitants of the city prior to the British occupation. A little arithmetic vill
demonstrate the unreliability of the latter statement. If 6,000 men ages 16 to 50 lived in the city, the city's population would be ca. 30,000. Therefore, the city's populace would be all Tories. Since thousands, a majority, did not return after the American defeat in 1776, the 5,000 militia could not be original inhabitants. Sir Henry Clinton explained that many of the militia were "persons attached to the different army and navy departments consisting of sailors, 1
watermen and others."
According to Flick, "a large part of the 6,000 saamen in the metrop- olis were loyalists." The figure derives from one of Tryon's letters, but the governor noted that they were not all Yorkers. He stated that 6,000 men, partly from New York, composed of landsmen and seamen, partly
1. Jones, op. cit., I, 322-23; Clinton, Am. Rebellion, p. 455.
231
drawn to the colony from the several provinces, had filled the crews of the royal ships. 1 -
In July, 1776 Tryon allegedly began to enlist 1,300 men on Long Island and Staten Island. The source of this fact is the unsupported statement of an inhabitant who did not reveal how he acquired this information. Moreover, the informant in no way indicated how many actually enlisted. Howe remarked to Germain that the governor participated in the Battle of Long Island in August with two companies of New York loyalists. The maximum 2 strength of the company was 57.
When Governor Tryor raided Danbury, Connecticut in 1777, his force supposedly comprised 2,000 Long Islanders. Jones, Flick's source simply stated the raiders numbered 2,000 without identifying them. As it happened, all units were regular British Army corps; no loyalists participated.
Although Flick quotes in part a Tryon County Committee letter to show that half the county is Tory, the implication is not accurate. The Tryon Committee declared that half the people would not bear arms to defend the county against a British invasion because the state had neglected to send troops to sid them. Believing themselves
1. Flick, Loyalism, p. 107; Tryon to Vice-Admiral Arbuthnot, 29 June 1779, NYCD, VIII, 772.
2. Flick, Lovalism, p. 105; Force, op. cit., 5th Ser., I, 120; Hove, Corr., p. 342.
3. Flick, Loyalism, p. 105; Jones, op. cit., I, 177-78; Howe, Corr., p. 391; Serle to Dartmouth, 1 May 177, Stevens, op. cit., XXIV, no. 2059.
232
abandoned by the state to the enemy, half the people were unwilling to sacrifice themselves, their families and their property in vain and so would surrender. This can hardly be tarmed Toryisa. In fact when St. Leger did invade the county in 1777, 700-1,000 men sprang to arms and their determined resistance at Oriskany and Fort Schuyler 1 blocked a union with Burgoyas.
In 1779 William Axtell obtained a commission to recruit 500 loyalists, but this does not prove he did so. Jones, the source, notes that Axtell raised only 30 men, but drew pay and provisions for 2 the 500,
Sincs Long Island, excluding Suffolk, was a Tory stronghold, there are numerons references to the enlistment of loyalists from the area. When added up, the result is curious. Omitting all numbers which do not give a specific county of origin, the total for Kings and Queens is 3,600. The 1771 census credited the two counties with 11,205 or ca. 7 percent of the colony's total. If we allow for a 1776 population of 208,000, the two countiss with 7 percent would have 14,560. The 16-60 age group would number perhaps 3,640
men. We are led to believe, therefore, that the British recruited almost every male in this age bracket into their active units, leaving no militia. Difficult as this may be to accept, it becomes impossible when we consider that Flick also states one-fifth of the Queens militia was Whig. And what about the Kings militial Small
1. Flick, Lovaliaz, p. 110; fryon Committee letter in Jones, op. cit .. I, 700-701.
2. Flick, Loyaliam, p. 112; Jones, op. cit., I, 304-305.
233
as it was, there was more Whig sentiment in the latter county than in Queens. General Sir Henry Clinton doubted the loyalty of "= 1 great part" of the Kings inhabitants.
Another example of New York's loyalism was the Delancey brigade which was to have 1, 500 men from Kings and Queens. Jones vas careful to say only that Delancey held a commission to raise 1,500. The difference was important, since Howe cited the brigade's
strength at 693 in November, 1777 and 707 in May, 1778. The unit records show that ca. 1,095 officers and men served in the brigade, 2
but not all of them were New Yorkers.
In a vein similar to his comment on Tryon County, Flick tagged Lewis Morris's militia regiment as overwhelmingly loyalist, As having only a "colonel's command" of Whigs in it. This is a misconstruction of what Morris wrote to the New York Convention. After the American defeat in Manhattan, Morris stated that "not more than a Colonel's command was left" in his Westchester regiment. But this letter was part of a sorry affair which has to be seen in its entirety in order to evaluate Morris's judgment of his regiment. The Convention had called upon Morris to explain his desertion of his command and flight to Philadelphia. As justification he alleged the units decimation and the disaffection of many of the survivors. The Convention rejected his defense; indeed Morris had refuted himself
1. Flick, Loyalism, pp. 95-112; Clinton, Am. Rebellion, p. 69.
2. Flick, Loyalism, p. 105; Jones, op. cit., I, 264-65; Hovo, Narrative, p. 52; Raymond "Loyalists, " II, 220; Eaton, op. cit., p. 174.
234
in his correspondence. When the Convention ordered his regiment on active service in August, Morris informed Abraham Yates, Jr. that the men reported with "cheerfulness," a most un-Torylike characteristic in this connection. In other areas Tories refused to serve when
called ap for duty. In a private exchange R. R. Livingston and Edward Rutledge bluntly attributed Morris's action to fear, rot to loyalists. Morris's assessment of political loyalties then is 1 highly suspect, since it directly involved his own reputation.
Referring to one of Governor Tryon's letters, Flick comments that Tryon believed the whole province would take up arms for the crown if the British drove out the rebel army. The letter itself does not bear out this interpretation. The governor described &
sortie with 1,000 men into Suffolk in the course of which the people dutifully dissolved their committees and repudiated the resolves of
the congressas. £ He then went on to declare that he thought the whole province would do likewise when the British would destroy the rebel army. Be it noted that both Hove and rebel John Sloss Hobart attrib- uted the submission to compulsion, We may leave this aside. however. For a defenseless people to dissolve revolutionary committees under the menace of 20,000 to 30,000 guns of an army of occupation is not to be equated with voluntarily shouldering arms to defend king and par- 2 liament.
1. Flick, Loyalism, pp. 108-109; Force, op. cit., 5th Ser., III, 211; Jour. Prov. Cong., 1, 666, II, 281; Livingston to Rutledge, 10 October 1776, Entledge to Livingston, 19 October 1776, Bancroft Transcripts: Livingston Papers, NYPL.
2. Flick, Loyalism, p. 100; Tryon to Germain, 28 November 1776, NYCD, VIII, 692; Hobart to Convention, 7 October 1776, Jour. Prov. Cong., I, 671; Howe, Narrative, p. 44.
235
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources
Manuscripts
Columbia University Library
John Jay Letters to General Philip Schuyler, 1777-80. John Jay Papers, Iselin Collection (microfilm). Gouverneur Morris Papers.
Museum of the City of New York
Livingston Papers.
How-York Historical Society
James Duane Papers.
William Duer Papers.
Horatio Gates Papers.
John Lamb Papers.
Livingston Family Papers.
Robert R. Livingston Collection.
Alexander McDougall Papers.
John Mckesson Papers.
New York State. Treasurer'e Accounts, 1775-78.
New York Public Library
Samuel Adams Papers.
American Loyalists. Transcript of the Manuscript Books and Papers of the Commission of Enquiry into the Losses and Services of the American Loyalists held under Acts of Parliament of 23, 25, 26, 28, 29 of George III Preserved amongst the Audit Office Records in the Public Record Office of England, 1783-90.
236
Bancroft Transcripts: Samuel Adams Papers. Bancroft Transcripts: Livingston Papers. Gansevoort-Lansing Collection. Henry Glon Papers. Livingston Family Papers. Gilbert Livingston Papers. Philip Livingston, Letters and Documents. Miscellaneous Papers: Schuyler.
Philip Schuyler Papers. William Smith Papers.
Tayler-Cooper Papers.
Van Cortlandt-Tan Wyck Papers.
Van Rensselaer-Fort Papers. Abraham Yates, Jr. Papers.
New York State Library
Alexander Hamilton Papers (microfilm of Library of Congress collection).
Legislative Papers.
Miscellaneous Mss .: Dutchess County petitions, Walter Livingston, Philip Livingston, Robert R. Livingston, Philip Schuyler.
New York State. Treasurer's Journal, 1775-82.
Broadsidos
New-York Historical Society.
New York Public Library.
Newspapers and Periodicals
Hartford: Connecticut Courant.
London: The Remembrancer.
4
1
237
New Haven: Connecticut Journal. New London: Connecticut Gazette.
New York: American Citizen.
: New York Columbian.
: Constitutional Gazette.
: Daily Advertiser.
: Diary.
: New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury.
: New-York Journal.
: New-York Packet.
: Rivington's New-York Gazetteer.
Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Gazette.
: Pennsylvania Journal.
: Pennsylvania Packet.
Official Records
Carter, Nathaniel H. and William L. Stone, reporters. Reports of the Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of 1821. Assembled for the Purpose of Amending the Constitution of the State of New York. Albany, 1821.
Fernow, Berthold, ed. "Calendar of Council Minutes, 1668-1783." New York State Library Bulletin 58, March, 1902.
Torce, Peter, od. American Archives. 9 vols. Washington, 1837-53.
Ford, Worthington C. and Gaillard Hunt, eds. Journals of the Continental Congress. 34 vols. Washington, 1904-37.
Frey, Samuel L., ed. £ The Minute Book of the Committee of Safety of Tryon County. New York, 1905.
Great Britain. £ Calendar of Home Office Papers of the Reign of George
III. 1773-75. London, 1899.
- Historical Manuscripts Commission. Fourteenth Raport Appendix Part X (Manuscripta of the Earl of Dartmouth). London.
1895.
238
Historical Manuscripts Commission. Report on the Manu- scripts of Mrs. Stopfora-Sackville of Drayton House, North- amptonabire. £ 2 vols. London, 1904-10.
Lincoln, Charles Z., od. £ State of New York, Messages from the Governors. 1683-1906. 11 vols. Albany, 1909.
New York. Calender of Historical Manuscripts Relating to the War of the Revolution, in the Office of the Secretary of State. 2 vols. Albany, 1868.
Calendar of New York Colonial Manuscripts Indoreed Land Papers in the Office of the Secretary of State of New York. Albany, 1864.
New York State. Journal of the Assembly, 1777-88.
Journal of the Senate, 1777-88.
Journals of the Provincial Congress, Provincial Convention. Committee of Safety and Council of Safety of the State of New York, 1775-77. 2 vols. Albany, 1842.
. Laws of the State of New York Passed at the Sessions of the Legislature Held in the Years 1777-88. 3 vols. Albany, 1886.
New York in the Revolution as Colony and State. 2nd ed., Albany, 1898.
. Supplement. Albany, 1901.
O' Callaghan, Edmund B., ed. Documentary History of the State of New York. 4 vols. Albany, 1850-57.
O' Callaghan, Edmund B., ed. Documents Relative to the Colonial
History of the State of New York. 15 vols. Albany, 1856.
Pennsylvania Archives, Ist Series. 12 vols. Philadelphia, 1852-56.
Shannon, J., compiler. Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York 1868. New York, 1868.
Sullivan, J., ed. Minutes of the Albany Committee of Correspondence. 1775-78 and Minutes of the Schenectady Committee, 1775-79. 2 vols. Albany, 1923, 1925,
Miscellaneous Published Materiale
Adams, Charles F., ed. Works of John Adams. 10 vols. Boston, 1850-56.
239
Boyd, Julian P. at al., eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. 14
vola. Princeton, 1950 ----.
Burgoyne, General John. A State of the Expedition from Canada an Laid Before the House of Commons. London, 1780.
Burnett, Edmund C., od. Letters of Members of the Continental
Congress. 8 Tols. Washington, 1921-36.
Carter, Clarence E., ed. The Correspondence of General Thomas Gare with the Secretaries of State, and with the War Office and the Treasury, 1763-75. 2 Yols. New Haven, 1931, 1933.
Clinton, George. Public Papers of George Clinton, First Governor of New York. 10 vols. Albany, 1899-1914.
Clinton, General Sir Henry. The American Rebellion, edited by William B. Willcox. New Haven, 1954.
Connecticut Historical Society Collections. Hartford, 1669 --- ,
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.