USA > New York > The Empire State: a compendious history of the commonwealth of New York > Part 26
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The two fleets anchored within a few hundred yards of each other.
* Copied from a water-color sketch found by the writer among the papers of General Philip Schuyler in 1856. It settled the important question, What was the device on the " Union flag" hoisted over the American camp at Cambridge on January 1st, 1776 ?
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
Arnold determined to retreat to Crown Point that night. Anticipating such a movement, the British flotilla was anchored in a line across the lake to intercept his vessels. The night was intensely dark, heavy clouds having gathered over the sky. At ten o'clock the Americans weighed anchor, and with a stiff breeze from the north the whole flotilla passed through the British line unobserved. The astonished enemy gave chase the next morning. Calms and head winds ensued, and it was not until the morning of the 13th that the fugitives were overtaken. Then another desperate fight ensued for several hours. One of the American vessels (the Washington) was captured, and General Water- bury and her crew were made prisoners. Arnold was on the Congress. When she became shattered almost to a wreck he ran her ashore, with other vessels, a few miles below Crown Point, set them on fire, and escaped.
General Carleton, with Generals Burgoyne and Riedesel (the latter the commander of the Germans), who accompanied the expedition, took possession of Crown Point and held it about a fortnight, but refused to attempt to recapture Ticonderoga. The whole British force sailed down the lake early in November, and went into winter quarters in Canada. Burgoyne soon afterward returned to England. At the end of 1776 Lake Champlain was really at the mercy of the British, and the Ameri- cans had lost all territory acquired since Allen took Ticonderoga.
Early in the struggle British cruisers kept the people on the New England coasts in a state of continual alarm. One of them bombarded and burnt Falmouth (now Portland), in Maine, and other depredations were committed by British armed vessels .- The Continental Congress, perceiving the necessity for meeting this exigency, took measures for creating a navy. At near the close of the year they ordered a consider- able number of armed vessels to be built. Esek Hopkins, of Rhode Island, was appointed the chief naval commander, and in February (1776) he sailed from the Delaware with a little squadron to oppose Lord Dunmore, the fugitive royal governor of Virginia, who was devastating the shores of that province. On January 1st (1776) he had burned Norfolk. Hopkins went on to the Bahama Islands, seized Nassau, and carried off one hundred cannons and a large quantity of stores. The Continental Navy was never powerful, but numerous privateers author- ized by Congress performed efficient service.
Two of the vessels of war ordered by Congress were built at Pough- keepsie, on the Hudson, by Van Zandt, Lawrence & Tudor, who estab- lished a " Continental Ship Yard " there. These were the Congress, twenty-eight guns, and the Montgomery, twenty-four guns. These
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A RACE FOR THE DELAWARE RIVER.
naval constructors were also employed in building the boom composed of timbers and iron chains across the Hudson at Anthony's Nose, at the southern entrance of the Highlands. It was constructed by command of the Committee of Safety appointed by the Provincial Congress. It was completed in the spring of 1777 .*
The military disasters in different parts of New York were partially counterbalanced by brilliant achievements of American soldiers in New Jersey, in the early winter of 1776-77. In the race for the Delaware River between Washington and Cornwallis the former won ; but impor- tant places-Newark, Brunswick, Princeton, and Trenton-fell into the hands of the invader. The little army of Washington continually
LINKS OF THE CHAIN AT WEST POINT.
diminished during his flight across New Jersey, and when he reached the Delaware and crossed the river into Pennsylvania he had scarcely three thousand soldiers left. Republicans in New Jersey seemed para- lyzed in the presence of the British army. Washington had urged Lee to join him with the troops left at North Castle, but he would not do so : and after the little army had crossed the Delaware that officer, who, it is now known, was a traitor to the cause, allowed himself to be made a prisoner in New Jersey and taken to New York.
The procrastinating Howe, feeling sure that he could now capture Philadelphia at any time, ordered Cornwallis to defer the crossing of the river until it should be sufficiently frozen to allow the troops to move
" The boom consisted of a heavy iron chain borne by strong floats. A more powerful boom was stretched across the river from West Point to Constitution Island. The chain was buoyed by logs about sixteen feet in length sharpened at each end, so as to offer little resistance to the tides. To these logs the chain was firmly fastened. Several links of the chain may be seen at West Point surrounding a mortar. The links are made of iron bars two inches and a half square and a little more than three feet in length. Each weighed about one hundred and sixty pounds.
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over upon the ice. They were cantoned along the New Jersey side of the river from Trenton to Burlington. A detachment of Germans under Colonel Rall and some British light horse were stationed at Trenton ; and so confident were the British that the inchoate republic was ruined, that Cornwallis prepared to return to England. When Rall sent to General Grant for re-enforcements, the latter said to the mes- senger : " Tell the colonel he is very safe. I will undertake to keep the peace in New Jersey with a corporal's gnard."
Dark, indeed, was the aspect of public affairs for the Republicans at that moment. The frightened Congress had fled from Philadelphia to Baltimore. The public mind was despondent. Recruiting for the army seemed impossible. Terms of service of the soldiers were about to expire, and the army was reduced to seventeen hundred men. Yet Washington, knowing the cause to be just, and relying upon Omnipo- tence, never lost hope. At that gloomy hour he conceived a masterly stroke of military skill. Liberal bounties were offered for recruits, and brought them. Lee's division, under Sullivan, joined him. So, also, did regiments from Ticonderoga. The Pennsylvania militia turned out with considerable alacrity, and the spell-bound people of New Jersey began to recover their senses.
Thus strengthened, Washington resolved to recross the Delaware and smite the enemy at Trenton. He chose Christmas night for the enter- prise, knowing that a large portion of the Germans would probably be disabled by their holiday indulgences.
In a storm of sleet the Americans, two thousand strong, with twenty cannons, crossed the Delaware at night on flat-boats amid thin floating ice, and hoped to reach Trenton before daylight. They could not. The German guards at the outskirts of the village, surprised, were driven in, and gave an alarm. The drums beat to arms, and very soon Colonel Rall and his disordered troops were in the streets. In the sharp skirmish that ensued Rall fell, mortally wounded. His troops, panie- stricken, broke and fled in confusion, but were intercepted by some Pennsylvania riflemen under Colonel Hand and made prisoners. The light horse cseaped. The victory was complete. As a prudential measure Washington immediately recrossed the river with his eaptives and spoils.
The British were astounded, and fell back from the Delaware. Wash- ington's ranks were rapidly filled. Congress had clothed him with the powers of a dictator. He recrossed the Delaware (December 30th), took post at Trenton with about five thousand men, and resolved to act on the offensive. Cornwallis returned to New Jersey, and the British
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BATTLE AT PRINCETON.
and German troops were concentrated at Princeton, only ten miles distant.
On January 2d (1777) Cornwallis, with a strong force, moved against Washington from Princeton. At Trenton they had some skirmishing, when each party encamped for the night upon opposite sides of a small stream. Expecting re-enforcements in the morning, Cornwallis felt sure of his prey. But Washington, with his troops, moved secretly away after midnight, and before sunrise he was engaged in battle near Princeton with the reserved troops who had started to re-enforce Corn- wallis. The battle was short, sharp, and decisive. The brave General Hugh Mercer was mortally wounded, and many other American officers were slain on that snowy field.
When the astonished Cornwallis found that his anticipated prey had escaped, and he heard the booming of cannon at Princeton, he hastened back ; but not a "rebel " was found there. They had won a victory and passed on, and made their way to Morristown, in the hill country of East Jersey, where Washington established his winter quarters.
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Two very important events occurred within the domain of New York during the year 1777, namely : (1) The framing of a constitution for the government of the Commonwealth and the establishment and organization of an independent State government ; (2) A formidable invasion of the State by British troops from Canada, under the command of Lieutenant- General Sir John Burgoyne.
The final movement in their migrations by the Provincial Congress, or, rather, the "Convention of Representatives of the State of New York,"' as that body was now called, occurred in February, 1777, when they adjourned from Poughkeepsie to Kingston. In April, the pre- vious year, the Continental Congress resolved, " That it be recommended to the several Assemblies and Conventions of the United Colonies, where no government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs hath hitherto been established, to adopt such a government as shall, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular, and of America in general."
This was a bold but cautious step in the direction of independence. The people of New York, though Toryism was yet rife among them, favored the recommendation of Congress by a large majority, and pro- ceeded to elect a new Convention .* It assembled at White Plains in
* At that time the State was divided into fourteen counties-namely, New York, Rich- mond, Kings, Queens, Suffolk, Westchester, Duchess, Orange, Ulster, Albany, Tryon, Charlotte, Cumberland, and Gloucester. The last two counties formed a part of the (present) State of Vermont. The following are the names of the members who were present at the session at Kingston and assisted in the formation of a State government for New York :
New York City .- John Jay, James Duane, John Morin Scott, James Beekman, Daniel Dunscomb, Robert Harper, Philip Livingston, Abraham P. Lott, Peter van Zandt, Anthony Rutgers, Evert Bancker, Isaac Stoutenburgh, Isaac Roosevelt, John van Cort- landt, William Denning.
Albany .- Abraham Ten Broeck, Robert Yates, Leonard Gansevoort, Abraham Yates, Jr., John Ten Broeck, John Taylor, Peter R. Livingston, Robert van Rensselaer, Matthew Adgate, Jolın I. Bleecker, Jacob Cuyler.
Duchess .- Robert R. Livingston, Zephaniah Platt, John Schenck, Jonathan Landon, Gilbert Livingston, James Livingston, Henry Schenck.
Ulster .- Christopher Tappen, Matthew Rea, Matthew Cantine, Charles De Witt, Arthur Parks.
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FORMATION OF A STATE CONSTITUTION.
July, for the double purpose of framing a State Constitution and of exer- cising all the powers of government until that duty should be performed.
On August 1st (1776) the Convention appointed a commit- tee to prepare a Constitution. Mr. Jay was made chairman of the committee. The exigencies of public affairs, in which he was deeply engaged, caused con- siderable delay in their work, for almost the entire labor devolved upon him. The draft, in the handwriting of Mr. Jay, was sub- mitted to the Convention on March 12th, 1777. That body were then sitting at Kingston, in a substantial house built of blue limestone, on the corner of Main and Fair streets, which is yet JOHN JAY .* (1886) standing. It was one of the few houses spared by the torches of British incendiaries who burned Kingston in the autumn of the same year.
Westchester .- Pierre van Cortlandt, Gouverneur Morris, Gilbert Drake, Lewis Graham, Ezra Lockwood, Zebediah Mills, Jonathan Platt, Jonathan G. Tompkins.
Orange .- William Allison, Henry Wisner, Jeremiah Clarke, Isaac Sherwood, Joshua H. Smith.
Suffolk .- William Smith, Thomas Treadwell, John Sloss Hobart, Matthias Burnet Miller, Ezra L'Hommedieu.
Queens .- Jonathan Lawrence.
Tryon .- William Harper, Isaac Paris, Mr. Vedder, Jolin Morse, Benjamin Newkirk. Charlotte .- John Williams, Alexander Webster, William Duer.
Cumberland .- Simon Stephens.
Kings, Richmond, and Gloucester were not represented.
* John Jay was born in the city of New York on December 12th, 1745. He entered King's (now Columbia) College when he was fourteen years old, and gave early promise of a brilliant career. He was admitted to the bar in 1768 ; soon became an eminent lawyer ; married a daughter of William Livingston, of New Jersey, in 1774, and joined vigorously in opposition to the measures of the British ministry as a champion of popular rights. He was the youngest member of the first Continental Congress, and was one of the most efficient men in that body. After assisting in the organization of the State of New York, he became president of the Continental Congress, and in 1779 was sent as minister at the Spanish court. He was one of the commissioners to negotiate the Pre- liminary Treaty of Peace in 1782, and the following year he affixed his signature to the definite Treaty. On his return he assumed the duties of chief of the Foreign Depart-
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
The Constitution was under consideration for more than a month. Mr. Jay, on reflecting upon the character and feelings of the members of the Convention, had omitted several important provisions, which he proposed to offer separately as amendments before it should be finally acted upon. That action was taken, in a precipitate manner, on April 20th .* Mr. Jay was then absent in attendance upon his dying mother. Before his return the instrument was adopted, with some additions and
HOUSE IN WHICH THE CONSTITUTION WAS ADOPTED.
omissions, which he regretted. In a letter penned a few days afterward concerning the hurried manner in which this important business had been concluded, Mr. Jay wrote, after pointing out his objections :
" The other parts of the Constitution I approve, and only regret that, like a harvest cut before it was well ripe, some of the grains have shrunk. Exclusive of the clauses which I have mentioned, and which
ment of the Federal Government, and so remained until the National Government was established, in 1789, when he was appointed the first Chief-Justice of the United States. In 1794 he negotiated a new treaty with Great Britain. During his absence he was elected Governor of the State of New York, and held that office until 1801. Gov- ernor Jay died May 17th, 1829.
* On April 22d the Constitution was published by the reading of it to the members of the Convention and the people by Robert Benson, the secretary, in front of the court. honse in Kingston. Benson stood upon a barrel, and his clear voice was distinctly heard by the multitude. Three thousand copies of the document were printed by Jolm Holt, at Fishkill, for distribution.
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FEATURES OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION.
I wish had been added, another material one has been omitted-namely, a direction that all persons holding office under the government should swear allegiance to it, and renounce all allegiance and subjection to foreign kings, princes, and States, in all matters, ecclesiastical as well as civil. I should also have been for a clause against the continuance of domestic slavery, and for the support and encouragement of literature." Because of Mr. Jay's temporary absence from the Convention it is probable that the State of New York was deprived of the honor of
PUBLISHING THE CONSTITUTION.
setting the first example in America of the voluntary abolition of slavery. Among the most prominent features of the Constitution, and which were subsequently eliminated from it by revisions and amendments, were (1) a provision for a Council of Appointment, composed of the governor and four Senators, the latter chosen by the Assembly to serve for two years. This Council appointed nearly all officers, excepting the chancellor and Supreme Court judges. The term of office of their appointees depended upon the will of the Council ; (2) a Council of
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
Revision, composed of the governor, the chancellor, and Supreme Court judges, whose duty it was to revise all bills about to be passed into laws by the Legislature ; (3) a property qualification to enable a citizen to exercise the right of the elective franchise, and requiring Senators to be freeholders ; giving power to the governor to prorogne the Legislature.
Unlike the more democratic usage of to-day, no provision was made for the submission of the Constitution to the judgment of the people, and the latter had no opportunity to discuss its provisions or form an opinion of it until it was too late to do so. The Convention was urged by the " Union Mechanics," of New York City, to submit it to the people ; but as the members of the Convention were anxions to return home, and public affairs required a speedy organization of a State govern- ment, this fundamental law of the State was put forth, the product of the representatives only of the people.
In the full history of these movements toward the perfecting the Constitution of the State of New York is developed much of the phi- losophy of that progress which marks so distinctly the onward career of our Commonwealth. From the old Dutch laws, sometimes narrow and despotic, but usually marked by a sound and expansive policy, have evolved, by degrees, the enlightened features of the present Constitution of the State. In it we may trace the growth of the benevolent principles of human equality and the correct appreciation in the public mind of the rights of man.
Provision was made for putting the State Government into active operation immediately." Robert R. Livingston was appointed by the Convention, Chancellor ; John Jay, Chief-Justice ; Robert Yates, Jr., and John Sloss Hobart, puisne justices, and Egbert Benson, Attorney- General. The benches of the courts of the several counties were filled. A Council of Safety was appointed, composed of John Morin Scott. ' Robert R. Livingston, Charles Tappen, Abraham Yates, Jr., Gouverneur Morris, Zephaniah Platt, John Jay, Charles De Witt, Robert Harper, Jacob Cuyler, Thomas Treadwell, J. Sloss Hobart, and Jonathan G. Tompkins. To this Council were confided all the powers of the State, to be exercised without control, until superseded by the regularly con- stituted authorities.
The Convention also appointed a sort of Vigilance Committee, for
* A committee composed of John Jay, Robert R. Livingston, Gouverneur Morris, John Morin Scott, Abraham Yates, and Jolin Sloss Hobart was appointed to report a plan for organizing the State Government. Fifteen of the members of the Convention were empowered to govern the State until an election could be held for the State officers. They constituted a board called the Council of Safety.
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A VIGILANCE COMMITTEE APPOINTED.
"inquiring into and detecting and defeating all conspiracies that may be formed in the State against the liberties of America." John Jay was the first chairman. They were empowered to send for persons and papers ; to call out the militia in the several counties for suppressing insurrection ; to apprehend, secure, or remove persons whom they might judge dangerous to the State ; to make the necessary drafts upon the treasury ; to enjoin secrecy upon their members and the persons they employed. They were empowered to raise and officer two hundred and twenty men, and to avail themselves of their service whenever the committee might see fit.
This formidable committee was kept in active existence during the war, and its powers were employed with energy. A vast number of arrests, imprisonments, and banishments from the State or to within the British lines at New York were made by it. Many Tories and their families were sent into the city of New York from the rural districts ; others were expelled from the State, and others were required to give security to a pledge to reside within prescribed limits. Occasionally the jails and even the churches were crowded with prisoners, and many were sent to jails in Connecticut for safe keeping. Among the latter was the Mayor of New York."
The Convention defined the crime of treason against the State, and imposed the penalty. of death upon the offender. They established a system of confiscation ; and soon after the Constitution was adopted a law was passed requiring an oath of allegiance to the State. All persons refusing to take such oath were sent within the" British lines or were exchanged for prisoners of war. An act of attainder was passed, together with an act for the " forfeiture and sale of the estates of persons
* This committee was timely, for the southern portion of the State was so strongly Tory in sentiment that at one time the inhabitants were on the point of open opposition to Congress before the entry of the British troops into New York City. Governor Tryon resumed his authority as supreme ruler. He received the congratulations of the loyal inhabitants signed by Daniel Hommanden, Oliver de Lancey, and nine hundred and forty-six others. They also addressed the brothers Howe, as peace commissioners, praying that reconciliation and general loyalty might be restored. A similar address was made to the governor and the commissioners in October, signed by David Colden and two thou- sand one hundred and eighty-four inhabitants of Queens County. On the 20th of the same month the committee of Suffolk County dissolved, disclaimed and rejected the orders of Congress, and declared themselves " desirous to obey the legal authority of government, hoping that the governor would pass by their former misconduct and be graciously pleased to protect them, agreeably to the laws of the province." The disaffected every- where began to correspond with the enemy, and authority was given to county com- mittees to arrest and punislı them.
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
who liad adhered to the enemy, and for declaring the sovereignty of the State in respect to all property within it."*
The Convention adjourned in May. The Council of Safety imme- diately ordered an election of a Legislature and State officers. The returns were made to the Council early in July. General George Clinton was chosen governor, and Pierre van Cortlandt lieutenant-governor. Clinton held the position by successive elections until 1795, when he was succeeded by John Jay. He was installed in office on July 30th, at Kingston. Being then actively engaged in command of the New York militia, he did not quit the field until the defeat of Burgoyne, in the fall, but discharged his civil duties by correspondence with the Council of Safety, which body was continued until the full organization of the State Government, in the spring of 1778.
The first meeting of the Legislature of New York took place at King- ston, t when Walter Livingston was chosen Speaker of the Assembly. Pierre van Cortlandt, the lieutenant-governor, presided over the Senate. John Morin Scott was chosen Secretary of State, and Comfort Sands Auditor-General.
Thus was completed by the process of evolution the transformation of the alternate Dutch and English province of New York into an inde- pendent commonwealth. It formed a constituent of the then inchoate nation which has become the mightiest power on the earth. New York
* The persons subjected to special attention under this law were : John Murray, Earl of Dunmore ; William Tryon, governor ; John Watts, Oliver de Lancey, Hugh Wallace, Henry White, John Harris Cruger, William Axtell, Roger Morris, late members of the Council ; George Duncan Ludlow and Thomas James, late justices of the Supreme Court ; John Taber Kempe, late attorney-general ; William Bayard, Robert Bayard, James de Lancey, David Matthews (late Mayor of New York), James Jauncey, George Folliot, Thomas White, William McAdam, Isaac Low, Miles Sherbrooke, Alexander Wallace, John Weatherhead, Rev. Charles Inglis, rector of Trinity Church, and Margaretta, his wife ; Sir John Johnson, Guy Johnson, Daniel Claas (son-in-law of Sir William Jolinson), John Butler, John Joost Herkimer, Frederick Philipse, Senior and Junior ; David Colden, Daniel Kissam, Gabriel Ludlow, Philip Skene, Andrew P. Skene, Benjamin Seaman, Christopher Billop, Beverly Robinson, Senior and Junior ; Malcomn Morrison, John Kane, Abraham C. Cuyler, Robert Leake, Edward Jesup, Ebenezer Jesup, Peter Dubois, Thomas H. Barclay, Susannah Robinson and her sister, May Morris, John Rapelje, George Morrison, Richard Floyd, Parker Wyckham, Henry Lloyd, and Sir Henry Clinton.
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