USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of genealogy and biography of the state of Pennsylvania with a compendium of history. A record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Volume I > Part 9
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It is computed that on board these vessels and in the prisons near by, more than eleven thousand Americans perished, many of whose names are unknown, and whose sufferings are buried in oblivion. They lingered where no eye of pity witnessed their agony; where no voice whispered consolation: where no tongue could praise their patriotic devotion, or friendly hand could be outstretched in relief-only to pass the weary day and horrible night, unvaried except by new scenes of painful endurance and new infliction of hopeless misery. The hope of death was to them the only consolation which their situation afforded.
William Moore succeeded Reed in the presidency of the supreme executive council in 1781. He had few problems of war to deal with, but the affairs of state and the currency were important questions that must receive attention. In the early part of 1782 Pennsylvania joined with congress and granted a charter to the Bank of North America, and through that medium Morris was enabled to restore the continental credit and give value to its currency. It was the first incorporated bank in the country, and still exists.
In the same year John Dickinson returned to public life, and became a member of the council, and its president. This body was soon after- ward enabled to proclaim to the state the welcome news of peace, the parliamentary treaty having been agreed to and signed. Then the Delaware was cleared of obstructions, and the port of Philadelphia
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was agam opened to the commerce of the world. However, before the final restoration of peace, a considerable number of the Pennsylvania line presented themselves at the doors of congress and the executive council, and made lond demands for payment due them for services. Their temper was such that the council refused to listen, while congress urged that the militia be called out to suppress their riotous demonstra- tions, and failing through Dickinson's objection to such drastic measures that body withdrew from the city and reassembled at Princeton. After the excitement had subsided, congress was requested to return to Philadelphia, but declined to do so, and resumed its sitting at Annapolis.
The importation and keeping of slaves in the state was another matter that came up for disenssion about this time. Slavery had been known and tolerated in Pennsylvania from the founding of the colony. although Pastorius arrayed himself against the practice as early as 1688. The Friends always exclaimed against it, and forbade it among their own people. hi 1705 a duty was imposed on slave importation. and in ign it was forbidden altogether, but the privy council in Eng- land annulled the act. The next year an act levied a tax of £20 on each negro imported, but this, too, failed to become operative. Subsequently the question passed through various stages of discussion and treatment. but with little effect until 1779. when the council suggested the abolition of slavery in a message to the assembly. In March, 1780. George Bry- am's bill for the gradual abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania was passed by a vote of 34 to 21. The census showed 3737 slaves in the state in 1,00, and only 07 in 18.30.
The Revolution was virtually ended with the surrender of Corn- wallis in October. 1781, and thenceforth there were no more active hos- tilities, except the minor depredations of the Indians. In the fall of 1783. peace was formally declared between Great Britain and the re-
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volted colonies, henceforth to be acknowledged by all the world as the United States of America. Thus the unquestioned English authority over the territory of Pennsylvania continued only from the treaty with France in 1763. to that with the United States, in 1783. a little more than twenty years.
In the treaty with Great Britain no provision whatever was made for the Indian allies of that power. The English authorities offered them lands in Canada, but all save a few preferred to live in their former local- ities. The United States government treated them with great modera- tion. Although they had at least twice broken their pledges and without provocation had plunged into war against the colonies, they were readily admitted to the benefits of peace, and were even recognized as owners of the land over which they had ranged before the Revolution.
In October. 1784. a treaty was made at Fort Stanwix (Rome. N. Y.). between three commissioners representing the United States and the sachems of the Six Nations. The Marquis de LaFayette was present and made a speech, although not one of the commissioners. At this treaty Pennsylvania acquired all the Indian lands within its borders not previously purchased. embracing all the northwestern part of the state. This purchase was confirmed by the Delaware and Wyandott Indians. at Fort MeIntosh. by a deed dated January 21. 1785. The last acquisi- tion of lands was called by the whites the "New Purchase," and when the land office was opened in 1785. settlers rapidly flocked up the West Branch valley. Indeed. the return of peace and the purchase of 1784 opened for settlement the whole western portion of the state, and within the next score of years the region was divided into counties. The work of real development was begun, and was carried forward with such earnest vigor that long before the beginning of the nineteenth century
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Pennsylvania had become known as the foremost state in the federal Union.
At the time of which we write the entire population of the state was more than 350,000 inhabitants, and that of the city of Philadelphia about 10,000. It was not only the seat of federal and state governments, the scene of many of the most important events in early American history. buit at that time was the largest and most populous city in the country. It was not until 1810 that New York exceeded Philadelphia in point of population. In that year the former city contained 96,000 inhabitants. and the latter just one thousand less.
When the war was ended and the authorities could devote their time to purely civil and political affairs, it was found that many things needed attention. The line between this state and New Jersey was agreed upon, and the islands were annexed according to proximity. Commissioners were appointed to inquire into the cost of opening communication be- tween the Schuylkill and Susquehanna rivers. This, however, was the revival of an old project to unite these waterways, but it was many years later before anything of consequence was really done. The council of censors, provided for by the constitution of 1776, held its first and only septennial session in 1783, and sat from November 10 of that year until September 24. 1784. It reviewed the workings of state government under the first constitution, inquired into the abuses of its provisions. suggested remedy, and otherwise acted as a conservator of the public wel- fare. The question of "citizenship" also required and was given atten- tion. The "test" law was passed in 1777. requiring the oath of allegiance of all persons of more than eighteen years in order to enjoy the full benefits of liberty and citizenship. When first passed. the law was neces- sary, that the government might know beyond question upon whom it could depend during the war. All persons who refused to take the oath
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were regarded as tories, but among them were as loyal men as those who complied with the requirements ; they declined the oath because of con- scientious and religious scruples, but they were placed under the ban of prohibition and suffered in consequence. The repeal of the test law was demanded in 1784. but it was not effected until 1789.
In 1785 Franklin again came into the life of the state, having then returned from his service in Europe. He was elected to the council, was made its president, and served until 1788. Down to this time no man more than Benjamin Franklin had borne so conspicuous and honorable part in serving the interests of his country: no other man knew better than he the needs of America at the time of the Revolution: no other man was more closely in touch with persons high in office and influence either in this country or in Europe ; no other man was or could be more loyal to country than he. During the revolutionary period he was clearly the man of the hour, and it is doubtful if any other could have accom- plished the work done by him. Philadelphia never has forgotten his ser- vices, has never failed to honor his memory, and to this day his monument occupies a conspicuous place in one of the most popular streets of the city.
Franklin came to Philadelphia from Boston, where he was born Jan- mary 17. 1706. Pennsylvania never had any great regard for New England Yankees, especially for the Connecticut claimants who attempted to pre-empt the whole Wyoming valley, but from the beginning Frank- lin seemed to have won his way into the hearts of Philadelphians. He came to the city as a printer, having disagreed with his brother in Bos- ton and started out to make his own way in life. He visited England. worked at his trade, returned to Philadelphia in 1726, and in 1729 be- came editor and proprietor of the "Pennsylvania Gazette." In 1730 he.
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began publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac," which guned wide celeb- rily. The same year he married Deborah Reed.
A fitting tribute to Franklin's life and works belongs to an entire volume: in this place only a brief chronology of leading events can be given. He was clerk in the provincial assembly in 1736: postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737: deputy postmaster general of the British colonies in 1753: agent of the assembly in opposition to the proprietary claim to exemption from taxation. 1757-62: made his wonderful discovery in the science of electricity in 1752, thus gaining membership in the Royal Society, winning the Copley gold medal, and earning the degree of I.L. D., in 1762. from Oxford and Edinburgh : commissioner to Albany conference, 1754: assisted in furnishing transportation for Braddock's army. 1755: was examined before house of commons on state of affairs in the colonies, and assisted in procuring repeal of Stamp Act. 1766: elected to continental congress, 1775 : siger of Declaration of Independ- ence : president of provincial congress which framed constitution of 1776; ambassador to France. 1776-1785 : instrumental in procuring an alliance, with France. 1778: with Adams and Jay, signed treaty with Great Britain, 1783: president of supreme executive council. 1785-88: dele- gate to convention which framed federal constitution 1787 : died in Phil- adelphia. April 17. 1790.
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CHAPTER V.
PENNSYLVANIA AS ONE OF THE UNITED STATES, 1787-1812.
The convention which framed the constitution of the United States was assembled in the state house in Philadelphia. May 25. 1787, and ended its labors September 17. after a stormy session of almost four months. In the convention Pennsylvania was represented by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin. Robert Morris, George Clymer. Thomas Fitz- Simons, Jared Ingersoll. James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris. Dick- inson was there as delegate from Delaware. Washington. also, was present. and presided over the deliberations of the convention. Although eighty-one years old. Franklin was one of the guiding spirits of the con- vention, but on account of his advanced years his speeches were read by Wilson, his associate, friend and co-worker. Franklin proposed daily prayers in the convention, always urged conciliation when the proceed- ings became spirited. advocated representation in congress on the basis of population, and opposed property qualification for representatives.
Mifflin, who was the first governor of Pennsylvania under the con- stitution of 1790. was a quiet factor in the work of the convention, al- though he was a man of great mental strength, a military leader of re- nown, and was both popular and influential. Morris. the financier of the Revolution, the banker and man of business, proposed Washington's name as presiding officer of the convention, and was active in all the pro- ceedings. Clymer figured chiefly as a man of earnest thought and delib- erate action. He spoke occasionally, and through his influence, aided by Sherman. of Connecticut, the term slave was kept out of the consti- tution. FitzSimons was a business man, a merchant, self-made and
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wealthy. He opened the prohibition of a tax on exports. Ingersoll was a lawyer. learned in his profession. but then comparatively unknown. Later on he gained fame. He was a quiet factor in the deliberations. having little to say, but his influence was felt in the sessions. Wilson was the legal luminary of the convention, the close friend of Franklin, and the peer of any of the delegates. From a legal standpoint he weighed and tested every article and declaration of the constitution. Gouverneur Morris also was a lawyer, and came to Pennsylvania as a New York delegate to the continental congress in 1778. He located in Philadelphia and became a lawyer of prominence. In the convention he served as chairman of the committee on arrangement and style, and. as Shimmell says, he "deserves the credit for the clear and simple language of the constitution."
The federal constitution was adopted September 17. and at the very same time the Pennsylvania assembly was in session on the floor above in the old statehouse on Chestnut street. Yet Pennsylvania was not the first state to ratify the constitution, owing to the opposition of some of its representatives, who found it so unlike their own state constitution that its provisions were not acceptable to them. However, the vote of ratifi- cation was taken December 12. and was carried. 46 to 23. The event occasioned much excitement. and considerable feeling. Public sentiment was divided, and out of the division there grew two political parties. the Federal, whose champions favored ratification, and those opposed. who were variously characterized, but quite generally as the Anti-Federal- ists. Philadelphia was heartily in favor of immediate ratification, and urged it, but the interior county representatives created delay, proposed amendments to be submitted by the assembly to congress. But these measures failed, and soon afterward the opposition was ended.
At this time Pennsylvania was struggling with the subject of con-
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stitutional revision. made necessary by the adoption of the federal con- stitution, and also to meet the changed conditions of the state under the new and improved order of things. The first constitution was adopted in an emergency, when the proprietary government was set aside, and its provisions in many respects were imperfect. Three years of progress had produced many changes in public affairs, and new conditions re- quired a new scheme of government. Naturally, the measure was op- posed, but without avail. Delegates to the convention were chosen in October, 1789, and that body was organized in Philadelphia in Novem- ber, Mifflin, then president of the executive council, presiding. The session was prolonged. every article was debated. and generally opposed. but finally on September 2, 1790. the new constitution was finished. pro- nounced good. and adopted.
The most radical changes were in the executive and legislative branches. The assembly ceased to have the sole right to originate and make laws, the senate having been established as a co-ordinate depart- ment of government, having superseded the supreme executive council, which was abolished. A governor, too, was provided to be elected every three years by the direct votes of the people, and upon him devolved the executive duties of the commonwealth. The former judicial system was continued, with important changes in the tenure of office. The council of censors passed out of existence. The "Bill of Rights' re-enacted the old charter provision that found its way into the first constitution, re- specting freedom of worship, rights of conscience, and exemptions from compulsory contribution for the support of any ministry, or the "propa- gation of the gospel in foreign parts." as was required in some provinces and states.
"The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" became the recognized designation for this jurisdiction under the constitution of 1790. The
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first election for governor was held in that year. The candidates of the respective parties, so far as party considerations then swayed men's minds and governed their votes, were Thomas Mifflin, federalist, who had favored the new constitution, and Arthur St. Clair. " ho, whatever his own sentiments may have been, was selected as his opponent. Both had served with the Americans during the Revolution, and both wore the military title of general. Mifflin was a native Pennsylvanian. St. Clair was of Scotch birth, and came to America in 1758; was a soldier with Wolfe at Quebec, and afterward took sides with the colonists against Great Britain, earning the rank of major-general: was a delegate from Pennsylvania to the continental congress from 1785 to 1787, and one time president of that body : was governor of the "Northwest Territory" from 1789 to 1802: commanded the expedition against the Miami In- dians, which ended in failure, and for which he was censured, although unjustly, for he was sick at the time, and gave his orders from a litter on which he was carried. His candidacy. if successful. was in- tended to be a partial vindication of his military career.
Mifflin for years had been a conspicuous figure in American civil and military history. Moreover, he was popular, although at one time he was charged with misfeasance in his military office. He was of Quaker parentage, well educated, and first engaged in mercantile pur- suits. In 1772 he was in the assembly from Philadelphia, and in 1774 was a delegate to the first continental congress; was appointed major of the first Pennsylvania battalion. and accompanied Washington to Cam- bridge, as aide-de-camp. Hle rose rapidly through the grades of quarter- master general, adjutant general and brigadier general, to that of major general. February 19. 1777. In 1782 he was elected delegate to con- gress, and was its president in 1783: was member and speaker of the legislature in 1785; delegate to the federal constitutional convention in
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1787 ; president of the supreme executive council. 1788-1790: president of the convention which framed the constitution of 1790; and was governor of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1790-1799.
Mifflin's administration as governor covered a period of nine years -three terms of three years each. The office was new. the scheme of government was untried and in a measure experimental, and there were conflicting political elements in the legislative branches that at times made hard the executive pathway, and disturbed the quiet and welfare of the commonwealth. First, and. perhaps. the most important of the many projects inaugurated about this time, was the system of internal improvements, which contemplated the construction of a series of con- necting navigable waterways extending across the state from east to west, with lateral branches running north and south. affording facilities for travel and transportation to almost every locality. \ system of canals on an equally elaborate plan had been suggested many years before Mifflin's time, and the discussion in 1790 was the revival of an old subject, though on a more modern and practical scale.
There were no canals constructed during Mifflin's term. The execu- tive favored them. the public welfare demanded them. the politicians advocated them, the legislature encouraged them, but the state treasury was not opened for canal expenditures until several years later. The legislature granted charters and franchise rights, and whatever was accomplished was the work of incorporated companies and private cap- ital. Companies also were chartered to construct and operate turnpike roads, and in this respect Pennsylvania was almost the pioneer. This was largely the work of the society for the promotion and improvement of roads and inland navigation. The turnpike between Philadelphia and Lancaster was one of the first of its kind in America.
In 1793 the legislature incorporated the Bank of Pennsylvania, a
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state bank, and subscribed to one-third of the entire capital stock. Branch banks were established in Lancaster, Harrisburg, Reading. Pitts- burg and Easton. This action on the part of the state authorities and legislature always has been censored by certain writers of Pennsylvania Instory, and has been made the subject of volumes of adverse criticism. A glance at the pages of history will disclose that in almost every state. at the time of founding its institutions after the close of the Revolution. the legislature gave aid and support to such enterprises as appeared to be worthy and for the public interest ; and Pennsylvania was no exception to the rule.
The commonwealth did extend financial assistance to banking insti- intions, in an indirect way to turnpike and road corporations, to canal and navigation companies, to railroad and transportation companies. and then herself undertook the gigantic work of constructing a line of navigable canals, with connecting railroads, from the Atlantic sea- hard on the east to Lake Erie on the west. In this great enterprise. the like of which has not often been attempted, the state expended more than thirty-five million dollars, and in return, on sale of its property. received less than one-third of that sum. In other words, the state treas- ury lost in this transaction more than twenty millions; but on the other hand the great commonwealth of Pennsylvania-its people. its business and manufacturing interests, its vast mining interests, and all undertak- ings and enterprises of whatever character. were promoted and benefited beyond calculation.
State aid developed, directly and indirectly, the vast resources of Pennsylvania, and. without that aid, progress in this commonwealth would have been delayed many years. Not one of the early public and internal improvement enterprises undertaken in Pennsylvania proved a profitable investment to its incorporators, and capitalists became cau-
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tious and exacting. Then the state came to the rescue and helped them on to completion ; and in the accomplishment of what was done. it became necessary and convenient for the state to charter the Bank of Pennsylvania, acquire one-third of its stock, and establish branches in other large municipalities, that other business interests than those con- trolled by Philadelphians might also be benefited and promoted.
For this action Pennsylvania has been criticised, and historians have taken opportunity to assail legislators, public officials, and pro- moters with "pens dipped in gall." True, the banking system established in 1793 was not perfect, and was not made satisfactory until after three- quarters of a centruy of experience and enlightened progress; and doubtless there are persons in Pennsylvania to-day who will assert that neither the present systent of national banking nor that carried on under state laws is perfect in its operation. There were abuses of power, mis- direction of funds, schemes and evil practices in connection with the construction and management of the state public works, but in every state and country where politics is made a business, abuses of some sort are expected. This may have been true during the early days of public improvement in Pennsylvania and in other states, but it is quite evident that the practice still exists in every state and government at the beginning of the twentieth century.
One of the most important and at the same time serious events which took place during Mifflin's term as governor, was the so-called "Whisky Insurrection." It directly concerned the inhabitants of the territory west of the Alleghenies, but indirectly its effects were felt throughout the state. In March. 1791, Congress levied a tax of twenty- five cents per gallon on whisky manufactured in the United States. At that time the means of travel across the Alleghenies were limited, and there was little trade between the people west of the mountains and
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those east of the range, and as a consequence the farmers around Pitts- burg had no market for their grain. So they made it into whisky, and found a market at home, or transported it over the mountains on horse- back. As long as there was no tax this could be done with good profit. and the home distilled article produced among the Scotch-Irish settle- ments over the mountains was in excellent repute with the people on the east side.
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