USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > An historical account of the old State house of Pennsylvania now known as the Hall of Independence > Part 8
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At this Boston meeting it was also, - " Resolved, that it is the determination of this town by all means in their power, to prevent the sale of the teas exported by the East India Company," etc., etc. The Messrs. Clarke, Messrs. Faneuil & Winslow, as well as the Hutchinsons, all consignees of the tea, were evasive in their responses sent to this assemblage, which declared them to be " daringly affrontive to the town." A renewal of a demand for their resignations at another meeting held on 18th November, also resulted in an equivocal reply, which was voted " not satisfactory."
On the 28th, the ship Dartmouth, Captain Hall, eight weeks from London, with 114 chests of the long expected and much talked of tea, " actually arrived and anchored at the Long Wharf; " immediately appeared a notification for every friend of his country, to himself and to posterity, to meet at Faneuil Hall, to take action in the premises - but Faneuil Hall proved too small to hold the multitude which answered the call, and an adjournment was had at the " Old South Meeting House,"- where the sense of the meeting was declared: " That it is the firm resolution of this body, that the tea shall not only be sent back in the same bottom, but that no duty shall be paid thereon." As the consignees had professed a desire to give satisfae- tion to the town, the meeting " out of great tenderness to these persons, notwith- standing the time hitherto expended upon them to no purpose," adjourned over till the next day, the 30th November, in order to receive reply, but that proving no more satisfactory. promises were extorted from the captain of the vessel, then in port, as well as the owner, and effectually to secure their compliance, a watch was then appointed for the Dartmouth, as well as for the expected vessels, to which
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THE PHILADELPHIA "TEA PARTY."
in the papers of the first day of December, and, as it was then hourly expected, the " Americans " were urged to " be wise - be virtuous." On the 27th of September the self-constituted Committee for Tarring and Feathering had issued handbills of the most friendly kind to the pilots on the Delaware River, admonishing them : "Do your duty if perchance you should meet with the (tea) ship Polly, Captain
equally they determined their resolutions should apply; then pledging each other to carry their votes and resolutions into execution at the risk of their lives, they peace- ably adjourned, after thanking those who " came from the adjoining towns for their countenance and union with this body in this exigenee of our affairs," and also Jon- athan Williams, Esq., who presided as Moderator at this meeting.
A few days afterwards arrived the Eleanor, Captain Bruce, with 116 chests, and then the Bearer, Captain Coffin, with 114 chests of tea. A caution was posted up throughout the town, that the granting of a permit to land, while it would betray an inhuman thirst for blood, would also in a great measure accelerate confusion and civil war. No effort was made to land the tea, the consignees themselves having taken refuge in " the Castle," but egress from the harbor was denied, and the alternative of destruction to the tea alone presented itself to the Patriots. At the meeting held on 16th December, - prolonged till candles were brought in, -this fact be- came apparent, wlien suddenly from the gallery of the " Old South," the war whoop was raised by a person disguised as a Mohawk Indian, and a cry, " Boston Harbor a Tea Pot to-night ! " and .. Hurrah for Griffin's Wharf !" A significant motion to adjourn was immediately put and carried, and the populace streamed to the place of rendezvous. A score or more disguised in a sort of mongrel Indian costume, with faces blackened, accompanied by a posse of fifty, boarded the three vessels without molestation, and having broken open the boxes of tea with their "tomahawks," cast the contents into the water, and then dispersed quietly to their homes.
In NEW YORK, intimation was received as early as October 11th, of the con- signment of tea to that port, and on the 15th, at a meeting at the Coffee House, grateful thanks were rendered to the patriotic merchants and masters of vessels in London, for refusing to receive from the East India Company on freight a quantity of tea, etc., in strong contrast with which, one William Kelley, late of New York, and designated as infamous, who had undertaken to advise the sending of the tea to New York, and " the cramming the tea down the throats of his fellow-citizens," was hung and burnt in effigy at the Coffee House, with appropriate labels and insignia to indicate the contempt of the people, and the fate that awaited liim personally if caught. An association termed the Sons of Liberty, was formed, and at a meeting at City Hall, on 29th November, resolutions were passed similar to those of Phila- delphia and Boston, with which cities they "perfectly coneurred," and rejecting the proposition then made by the government, of landing the tea and placing it in the fort, while a warning to the citizens appeared, under the favorite pseudonym of the " Mohawks." against presuming even " to let their stores for the reception of the infernal chains," thus sought to be imposed upon the colonists.
Notwithstanding, however, this opposition and that of the good people of CHARLES- rox, the tea was landed at both places, but stored under the protection of the authorities, the consignees having refused to receive it. The firm stand taken by the citizens rendered it dangerous to attempt to expose it for sale, and it is believed none was sold.
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HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
Ayres," and followed it up, as the vessel was actually reported off Cape May, by an address to the aforesaid captain, which, after a warning to desist from any effort to approach the city with his vessel, plainly promises, in case of his persistence : " A halter around your neck, ten gallons of liquid tar scattered on your pate, with the feathers of a dozen wild geese laid over that to enliven your appearance." In the meantime demands were made upon the commissioners to refuse the consignment. Equivocal responses were at first made by some, but finally they all yielded. A card, addressed to Messrs. James & Drinker, probably received no direct response. These gentlemen, however, had united with their fellow-citizens in protesting against the Stamp Act, and both had signed the non-importation resolutions of 1765; it is not likely, therefore, that such omission proceeded from any want of patriotism.1 The card is still extant.
A CARD.
THE PUBLIC prefent their Compliments to Meffieurs JAMES AND DRINKER. We are informed that You have this day received your commiffion to enflave your native Country ; and, as your frivolous Plea of having received no Advice, relative to the fcandalous Part you were to act, in the TEA-SCHEME, can no longer ferve your purpofe, nor divert our Attention, WE ex- pect and defire You will immediately inform the PUBLIC, by a Line or two to be left at the COFFEE HOUSE, Whether you will, or will not, renounce all Pretenfions to execute that Commif- fion ? .... THAT WE MAY GOVERN OURSELVES ACCORDINGLY. Philadelphia, December 2, 1773.
The strenuous measures thus taken in Philadelphia in anticipation, were justified by the news received, December 24th, from Boston, of
1 Abel James, the head of the firm of James & Drinker, who occupied the house of his father-in-law, Thomas Chalkley, immediately on the wharves, as represented in the old painting of Philadelphia by Peter Cooper, was waited upon by a crowd of citizens, and in response to a demand for his resignation then and there made, he gave the guarantee of his word and property that the tea should not be landed, but that the ship should go back to England; then pointing to his young daughter Rebecca, who stood near him. perched on the head of one of her father's hogsheads, he pledged her (a vivum radium) to the fulfillment of his promise. This young girl in after years married John Thompson, and was the grandmother of ( besides sev- eral esteemed Philadelphians of the same name) John T. and George T. Lewis, gentlemen so well known on the wharves neighboring the transaction above related,
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THE PHILADELPHIA "TEA PARTY.""
what had there occurred ; the announcement was made in an extra of that date : -
" Friday Evening, 5 o'clock.
- " Yefterday, (December 16th), we had a greater meeting of this body than ever, the country coming in from twenty miles round, and every ftep was taken that was practicable for returning the teas. The moment it was known out of doors that Mr. Rotch could not obtain a pafs for his fhip by the caftle, (on the outward voyage), a number of people huzza'd in the ftreet, and in a very little time every ounce of the teas on board of Capts. Hall. Bruce, and Coffin was immerfed in the bay, without the leaft injury to private property. The fpirit of the people on this occafion furprifed all parties who viewed the fcene.
We conceived it to be our duty to afford you the moft early advice of this interefting event by exprefs, which, departing immediately, obliges us to conclude. " BY ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE."
" P. S. - The other veffel, viz : Captain Loring, belonging to Meffrs. Clark, with fifty-eight chefts, was by the act of God, caft afhore on the back of Cape Cod."
On Christmas-day, an express conveying intelligence of the arrival at Chester of the long-expected ship Polly reached Philadelphia. Immediately committees were dispatched to the commander. They succeeded in intercepting him at Gloucester Point, and, requiring him to come on shore, represented the general sentiments of the people, and desired him to accompany them to town to ascertain for himself their temper and resolution.
Yielding to their wishes, he reached Philadelphia in the evening. An announcement appeared the next morning, December 27th, at nine o'clock : --
" The tea ship having arrived, every inhabitant who wishes to preserve the liberty of America is desired to meet at the State House, this morning, pre- cisely at ten o'clock, to consider what is best to be done in this alarming crisis."
The crowd assembled, according to call, though upon notice of an hour only, is said to be the largest ever, up to that time, collected. The State House being found inadequate, an adjournment to the Square took place. The resolutions that were adopted, were concise and peremptory : -
" Resolved. First. That the tea on board the ship Polly, Captain Ayres, shall not be landed.
and so esteemed as to need no pledges of any kind to fortify to their fellow-citizens their simple word of honor.
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HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
" Second. That Captain Ayres shall neither enter, nor report his vessel at the custom-house.
"Third. That Captain Ayres shall carry back the tea, immediately.
" Fourth. That Captain Ayres shall immediately send a pilot on board his vessel, with orders to take charge of her, and to proceed to Reedy Island next high water.
" Fifth. That the captain shall be allowed to stay in town till to-morrow, to provide necessaries for his voyage.
"Sixth. That he shall then be obliged to leave town and proceed to his vessel, and make the best of his way out of our river and bay.
"Seventh. That a committee of four gentlemen be appointed to see these resolves carried into execution."
The meeting was then informed of the spirit and resolution shown upon this subject by the people of Boston, New York, and Charleston, whereupon it was unanimously, -
" Resolved. That this assembly highly appove of the conduct and spirit of the people of New York, Charleston, and Boston, and return their hearty thanks to the people of Boston for their resolution in destroying the tea, rather than suffer it to be landed."
Though it was computed at the time that there were nearly eight thousand persons present at this meeting, the business was conducted with a degree of order and decorum which showed that the importance of the cause was duly felt.
Captain Ayres having been called out, pledged himself that the public wishes should be complied with, and the very next day he was respectfully attended to the wharf of Messrs. James & Drinker, by a concourse of people, who wished him a good voyage, and, " Thus," says a contemporary account, "this important affair, in which there has been so glorious an exertion of public virtue and spirit, has been brought to a happy issue, by which the force of a law, so obstinately persisted in to the prejudice of the national commerce, for the sake of the principle upon which it is founded (a right of tax- ing the Americans without their consent), has been effectually broken, and the foundations of American liberty more deeply laid than ever."
The repeal of the Tea Tax Act, unlike its predecessor, was not to be thus effected ; rigorous measures were determined upon by the ruling powers of Great Britain.
The enforced return by the Philadelphians of the detested tea, in repudiation of the right of the Parliament to tax the colonists, did not afford the ministry a salient object of attack, but what passed in Bos- lon, the actual destruction of the tea, though done in a most orderly
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THE BOSTON PORT BILL AND UNION.
manner, was declared by a majority in the English Parliament to be an overt act of high treason " proceeding from," says no less a person than Lord Mansfield, " our over lenity and want of foresight." The mother country must assert her authority, and as punishing all the colonies at the same time seems to have been deemed inexpedient, the devoted town of Boston was selected for chastisement, as an example to some, while to others the individual benefits sure to accrue to their ports from the mode selected would allure from the rapidly growing union of the colonies.
While "Divide et impera " became more obviously the axiom of the British Govern- ment, this only en- forced the views of NC the patriots through- NJ out the country, and I, induced its correla- SC tive " Unite or Die " V NE -- the watchword P learned while acting G M on the defensive against the Indians UNITE OR DIE. when unassisted by the mother country. The early emblem, a dissevered rattlesnake, be- came again popular, and no doubt gave the cue to the subsequent Revolutionary flag.
The privileges of Boston, " the ring-leading town." as a harbor were suspended, its port closed against all commerce until it should make amends and promise future obedience to the King and Parliament of England.
But Boston showed no sign of yielding. That town " bore its bur- den with dignity and based its hopes of deliverance upon Union," says its chiefest historian.1
It was not disappointed. Throughout the Colonies there was but one sentiment, the " wound upon the single nerve convulsed the whole body, divulging its vitality." "These acts of the British Parliament are unconstitutional. oppressive, and dangerous to ALL the Amer- ican Colonies, and must be resisted," was the universal cry.
Charles Lee - only recently arrived. though soon to become prom- inent as an advocate with pen and sword of the rights of America-
1 Richard Frothingham, whose valuable Rise of the Republic should be studied by every true American, and kept among his " window books."
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HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
could not restrain his surprise that the tyranny over Boston seemed to be resented by the other Colonies in a greater degree than by the Bostonians themselves, while the feeling of the Continent was re- ported to be expressed in the most eloquent words by Washington . " I will raise one thousand men, subsist them at my own expense, and march, myself at their head, for the relief of Boston."
On Friday evening, the 20th of May, in Philadelphia, a meeting of its residents was promptly held to consider " the execrable Port Bill," and it was determined to make the cause of Boston their own ; while they recommended firmness, prudence, and moderation to the inhab- itants of Boston, they gave assurance "that the citizens of Phila- delphia would continue to evince their firm adherence to the cause of American Liberty." In testimony thereof, they then and there appointed a committee of correspondence, consisting of Rev. William Smith (who is now known to have drafted the reply to the Boston committee), Thomas Mifflin, George Clymer, Charles Thomson, and others. They transmitted, says the " Essex Gazette," by the hands of Paul Revere, to Boston, these sentiments of the people, and " their resolution to stand by us to the last extremity." They further ad- vised, in a copy of their letter sent to New York and to the southern colonies, that the first step that ought to be taken was to call a GENE- RAL CONGRESS of all the Colonies.
On the first of June, the day the Boston Port Bill was to go inte operation, the shops were generally closed throughout the city ; a few days afterwards a large meeting of the Manufacturers and Mechanics was held at the State House to express their concurrence with their New York brethren, " and to adopt such measures as will most effec- tually tend to unite us in the common cause of our country, strengthen the hands of our patriotic merchants, and animate and administer relief and solid comfort to our brave and suffering countrymen in the besieged capital of MASSACHUSETTS BAY."
During the last days of the session of the Pennsylvania Assembly, September, 1773, information of a highly important character had been communicated to the House. Virginia announced that that Colony had appointed STANDING COMMITTEES to keep up a correspondence with her sister colonies on all proceedings that might tend to deprive them all of their ancient, legal, and constitutional rights. This com- mittee was composed of (besides others) Peyton Randolph, Richard Bland, Richard Henry Lee, Benjamin Harrison, Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry, Archibald Cary, and Thomas Jefferson. Contem- poraneously were presented from Massachusetts, resolutions concur-
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THE BOSTON PORT BILL AND UNION.
ring in this action and expressive of a grateful sense of the obligation that colony was under to the " House of Burgesses of Virginia, for the vigilance, firmness, and wisdom which they had discovered, at all times, in support of the rights and liberties of the American Colonies." Massachusetts placed upon her committee (among others) Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Elbridge Gerry, Joseph · Hawley ; Connecticut, also concurring, selected William Williams, Samuel H. Parsons, Silas Deane ; Rhode Island notified the appoint- ment of Stephen Hopkins, Metcalf Bowler, Henry Ward, and Henry Marchant. As the Assembly would be dissolved by the charter in a few days thereafter, the Speaker was instructed to reply to these sev- eral Colonies assuring them that Pennsylvania appreciated the impor- tance of cooperation with them in measures to secure the preservation and security of their rights and liberties, but that no measures at that time could be taken in view of dissolution, and that the new Assem- bly would meet in a fortnight.
In accordance with this promise, upon the opening of the session of the new House the Assembly promptly authorized the committee of correspondence - which already existed, and which had existed for very many years - to correspond with the other committees of the various colonies. This committee consisted of the Speaker, Joseph Galloway, Samuel Rhoads, Samuel Miles, William Rodman, Isaac Pearson, and Jolin Morton.
Within a few days, Delaware, too, gave notice of her emphatic con- currence in the measure, appointing Cæsar Rodney, George Read, Thomas Mckean, and others.
Maryland, early in 1774, officially expressed her confidence in the great utility of a PERFECT UNION, stating that on the 15th of Octo- ber, 1773, the committee of that Province had been appointed, con- sisting of Matthew Tilghman, Thomas Johnson, William Paca, Samuel Chase, Edward Lloyd, and others.
At the State House. in the yard, there was assembled on Saturday, the 18th of June, a general meeting of citizens which pledged the city of Philadelphia to the common cause of liberty, and ultimately secured the State. Thomas Willing and John Dickinson were made joint-chair- men, and under their auspices and those of the Rev. William Smith, a series of spirited resolutions were passed, declaring the act for clos- ing the port of Boston unconstitutional and oppressive, and dangerous to the liberties of the other Colonies as well as to Massachusetts ; af- firming that a Congress of deputies from the several Colonies was the most probable and proper mode of procuring relief, and appointing a
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HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
committee to correspond with the "Sister Colonies " as well as with the other counties of Pennsylvania. A subscription was also raised at this meeting for the relief of the sufferers in Boston.
In introducing these resolutions, Dr. Smith referred to the impor- tance of the deliberations, as they were then called upon to decide " whether the breach with the country from which we are descended shall be irreparably widened, or whether ways and means upon con- stitutional grounds, may not yet be found for closing that breach," and he invited free expression of opinion, deprecating at the same time any " hissing or clapping," etc.
A committee was appointed to carry out the intent of the meeting. During the following winter a shipment was made of hundreds of barrels of flour, and of " ship stuff," with information that it was only a part of the subscriptions procured in Philadelphia " which amounts at present to about two thousand pounds; " that the contributions from the country, and of different townships of Pennsylvania, would be forwarded as might be prescribed by the Boston Committee ; concluding with " tenderly feeling for the inexpressibly distressed situation of your town, and wishing an happy and speedy issue from the exertions of tyranny to the full enjoyment of peace, liberty, and security."
The Assembly of Pennsylvania was not in session ; it had ad- journed on January 22d, 1774, to meet on 12th September. Efforts to induce the Governor to call a special session proving fruitless, applica- tion was made by the Committee to the Speaker to address circular letters individually to the members inviting them to Philadelphia, to which request he consented ; but the Governor, either from expediency, under these circumstances, or from necessity, -assigning the Indian troubles as a cause, -- formally called a special session of the. Legis- lature for July 18th, following. Whereupon the committee fixed the 15th as the time, and Carpenter's Hall as the place for meeting in convention of committees from every county of the Province, believ- ing this, as they say, to be the most effective means towards a Union ; they appeal to the public spirit of Pennsylvania, instancing that "all the Colonies from South Carolina to New Hampshire seem ani- mated with one spirit in the common cause, and consider this as the proper crisis for having our differences with the mother country brought to some certain issue, and our liberties fixed upon a perma- nent foundation."
Already a Congress of Delegates from all the Colonies had been sug- gested by " a Philadelphian," in March, 1773. A spirited appeal ir
----
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A CONGRESS ADVOCATED.
favor of it followed in the Boston Gazette, and Samuel Adams boldly advocated it about the same time; but now it was demanded uni- versally.
The popular committees in New York and Williamsburg, with one accord, addressed communications similar to that of the Phila- delphia Committee already cited, to the Boston Committee in favor of its immediate call, and requested them to appoint the time and place.
The Massachusetts Assembly, on 17th June, with their door locked, and while the Governor's secretary on the outside was reading through the key-hole the proclamation dissolving them, had fixed the 1st of September following as the time, and Philadelphia as the place ; and at the same time appointed their own delegates, five in number, James Bowdoin, Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine.
Rhode Island, too, had, on 20th June, officially responded, " it is the opinion of this Assembly that a firm and inviolable Union of all the colonies in counsels and in measures, is absolutely necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties."
And now, during this "called " short session of five days of the Pennsylvania Assembly, the walls of that very room, destined to witness its full development, listened to a debate which unquestion- ably laid the corner stone of that empire which had been foretold seven years before.
It was July 19, 1774 ; Virginia, the Old Dominion, through the pens of Peyton Randolph, Robert Carter Nicholas, and Dudley Digges, spoke :
" The propriety of appointing Deputies from the several colonies of British America to meet annually in general congress, appears to be a measure ex. tremely important and extensively useful. as it tends so effectually to obtain the wisdom of the whole in every case of general concern with respect to the unhappy dispute with our mother country. We are desired to obtain your sentiments on this subject which you will be pleased to furnish us with, being very desirous of communicating to you the opinion and conduct of the late rep- resentatives on the present posture of American affairs as quickly as possible, we beg leave to refer you to a future letter in which we shall more fully ex- press our sentiments on those subjects."
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