USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > History of Independence Hall : from the earliest period to the present time : embracing biographies of the immortal signers of the Declaration of Independence, with historical sketches of the sacred relics preserved in that sanctuary of American freedom > Part 9
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 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America in general Congress assembled, ap- pealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of the States, reject and renounce all allegiance and subjection to the kings of Great Britain, and others who may hereafter claim by, through, or under them ; we utterly dissolve all political connexion which may heretofore have subsisted between us and the Parliament or people of Great Britain ; and finally, we do assert the colonies to be free and independent States ; [Colonies solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies, are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States ;
127
ITS HISTORY AND ASSOCIATIONS.
that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection be- tween them and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved;] and that, as free and independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, [with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence,] we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
----
128
INDEPENDENCE HALL :
CHAPTER X.
REMARKS ON THE DECLARATION.
THE instrument known as the " Declaration of In- dependence," set forth principles more important in character, more beneficial in tendency, and destined to work out a greater result for the happiness and prosperity of the human race, than any political docu- ment or protocol that had ever preceded it. It was in fact, as well as in name, the great Magna Charta of Freedom, inspiring men to act promptly and efficiently in all matters conspiring to advance the cause of political and religious toleration. Its plain unequiv- ocal language, couched in terms of high and heaven- inspired decision of purpose, gave it a potency which caused monarchists to tremble, and the advocates of Liberty and Equal Rights to rejoice. Never did des- potism receive, in all its progress of usurpation, a more signal rebuke, or greater check. That instru- ment, containing the signatures of the representatives of thirteen colonies, although boasting of only three millions of people, interposed a more formidable bar- rier to the career of George III., than all the chevaux- de-frise or enfaladments of military science arrayed against the approaches of an invading army. He looked upon it as dangerous to the perpetuity of kingly regality-to monarchical usurpation.' The principles of Liberty in it had been evolved, and a determined
. . . .
129
ITS HISTORY AND ASSOCIATIONS.
people, reared in the lap of toil and hardy adventure, were to be the efficient executives in carrying them to full and glorious fruition. A portion of the vast struggle had but just developed; other scenes in the bloody drama were now to be enacted. Wider and more trying measures were to be resorted to-the ire of an insulted kingdom against which rebellion in its broadest acceptation had been instigated, was now to be either appeased or successfully resisted-the hitherto considered invincibility of England's military prowess was to be met, and the shafts of her power broken, or three millions of God's rational creatures, endowed with all the attributes and love of freedom that impe- rial monarchs and nobles enjoyed, were to be reduced to a condition worse than slavery, and their repre- sentative leaders executed as felons, by the guillotine, or upon the gallows! Those were the times indeed "that tried men's souls," and nerved them to heroic action. Those were the times in which a determined people exhibited heroism, and vowed by all that was sacred in life, honorable, and manly, to be slaves no longer. And these resolves had been sanctioned by their representatives. Their signatures had been sub- scribed to the Declaration of Independence-and a price was set upon their heads for the act. But rep- resentatives and constituents acted in concert with each other ; defied the powers of despotism, and won the triumphs by which our country has grown to be so great and prosperous.
At a period anterior to the assembling of the Con- vention which drew up and adopted the Declaration, a number of eminent statesmen, among whom was Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry,
-------
130
INDEPENDENCE HALL :
Timothy Dwight and others, had suggested, on various occasions, the necessity of such an instrument, but the subject was treated as rather chimerical. These men saw at once, and had sagacity sufficient to perceive that reconciliation with the mother country was out of the question. And Patrick Henry, as early as 1773, speaking of England, exclaimed :- "She will drive us to extremities; no reconciliation will take place; hostilities will soon commence ; and a desperate and bloody struggle it will be." In reply to a question propounded to him by Col. Overton, if he thought the Colonies sufficiently strong to oppose, successfully, the fleets of Great Britain, Patrick Henry remarked : "I will be candid with you. I doubt whether we shall be able, alone, to cope with so powerful a nation ; but"-rising from his chair with great animation- "where is France? where is Spain ? where is Holland? the natural enemies of Great Britain. Where will they be all this while? Do you suppose they will stand by, idle and indifferent spectators to the con- test? Will Louis XVI. be asleep all this time ? Be- lieve me, no! When Louis XVI. shall be satisfied by our serious opposition and our Declaration of Indepen- dence, that all prospect of reconciliation is gone, then, and not till then, will he furnish us with arms, ammu- nition, and clothing; and not with them only, but he will send his fleets and armies to fight our battles for us ; he will form a treaty with us, offensive and de- fensive, against our unnatural mother. Spain and Holland will join the confederation ! Our indepen- dence will be established ! and we shall take our stand among the nations of the earth !". How these pro- phetic exclamations were subsequently fulfilled, his-
131
ITS HISTORY AND ASSOCIATIONS.
tory itself amply demonstrates. Others there were who doubted, or were rather afraid to come out boldly in defense of freedom. This is evident from the writings of Timothy Dwight. That gentleman says, in his "Travels in New England," vol. 1, p. 159: "In the month of July, 1775, I urged, in conversation with several gentlemen of great respectability, firm Whigs, and my intimate friends, the importance and even the necessity of a Declaration of Independence on the part of the Colonies, and alleged for this measure, the very same arguments which afterward were generally con- sidered as decisive; but found them disposed to give me and my arguments a hostile and contemptuous, in- stead of a cordial reception. Yet, at that time, all the resentment and enthusiasm awakened by the odious measures of Parliament, by the peculiarly obnoxious conduct of the British agents in this country, and by the recent battles of Lexington and Breed's Hill were at the highest pitch. These gentlemen may be con- sidered as the representatives of the great body of the thinking men in this country. A few may, perhaps, be excepted, but none of these durst at that time openly declare their opinions to the public. For my- self, I regarded the die as cast, and the hopes of recon- ciliation as vanished ; and believed the colonists would never be able to defend themselves unless they re- nounced their dependence on Great Britain." This was occasioned, no doubt, by the fact, that " the pride of political birth-right," as Mr. Lossing remarks, "as a child of Great Britain, kept actively alive a loyal spirit; and a separation from the British Empire was a proposition too startling to be readily embraced, or even favorably received, by the great mass of the
132
INDEPENDENCE HALL :
people, who regarded 'Old England' with filial rever ence." Although the arguments of Mr. Dwight might have been convincing in character, yet the proper time had not come-for, when intelligence reached America that the king had declared the colonists rebels-that thousands of German troops had been en- gaged by Parliament to come hither and assist in the work of subjugating a people struggling for right and justice-and that the British government was col- lecting all its mighty energies, for the purpose of striking a blow of such intensity as to scatter into fragments every vestige of the rightful claims of the colonists to enjoy the prerogatives granted them by Magna Charta, a deep and solemn conviction seized the minds of the people that the last hope of recon- ciliation had faded away, and that unbending re- sistance or absolute slavery was the only alternative left them. The bonds of filial affection were rudely severed by the unnatural parent, and the deserted and outraged children were driven by necessity to seek protection beneath a palladium of their own con- struction. Hence, they saw an imperative duty in urging their representatives to declare for Freedom- and so they did declare.
Watson informs us that this Declaration was not actually signed on the 4th of July, "nor was there that intrepid and concurrent enthusiasm in all the members of Congress which has generally been in- puted." The facts, he states, as he obtained them from Judge Mckean, were, that, "on the 1st of July, the question of Independence was taken in committee of the whole, when the entire seven delegates from Penn- sylvania voted against it, and Delaware. which had
133
ITS HISTORY AND ASSOCIATIONS.
but two members present, divided. These were the only States which so demurred! It was at this crisis that Judge Mckean sent an express for Cæsar Rod- ney, the other member from Delaware; and soon after his arrival, the important question was put, when Mr. Rodney arose, and in a few words, said, he spoke the voice of his constituents and his own, in casting his vote for Independence, On the 4th of July, five rep- resentatives from Pennsylvania gave their votes three to two in favor of the declaration." No one actually signed the document on that day, it was merely ordered to be engrossed on parchment. It was subse- quently read from the steps of the State House to the populace, who received it with unbounded applause ; they soon afterward retired, and commenced preparing for the awful conflict shortly to follow. The alacrity with which they responded to the call of freedom's voice, subsequent history has spread before our eyes in an unquenchable blaze of glory.
- 12
134
INDEPENDENCE HALL :
CHAPTER XI.
JOHN HANCOCK.
"Lo! the mighty hath fallen ! that form, once the fear Of the heart of the Hebrew, is stretched on its bier ! On the blood-deluged ground it lies heedless and pale ; Weep, children of Assur, weep, tremble and wail !"
AMONG the inspiring associations connected with Independence Hall, are the portrait and historical recollections of that stern old hero, JOHN HANCOCK. He was one of Massachusetts' noblest children, and afforded an exalted example of devotedness to the cause of Independence. The town of Quincy, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, claims him as her son, for it was in that place he first gazed upon the busy world of humanity, in 1737. From that time to the close of his eventful life, in October, 1793, the world has been an admirer of his versatility of genius, and blessed by the boldness of his public spirit and principles of enlarged philanthropy. He was indeed a great man, and his name will forever stand part and parcel of the "Declaration of Independence." Han- cock, whose bold signature first strikes the eye in glancing over that charter of American freedom, was, perhaps, all things considered, one of the most re- markable men of the age. He put most at risk in the sanguinary struggle for American freedom, so far as
-
-
135
ITS HISTORY AND ASSOCIATIONS.
fortune and its appearances were concerned, for he was then the richest man in the country. He in- herited the business of a millionaire uncle, and was the Abbott Lawrence of his day. When he was first elected to the Provincial Legislature, Adams said to a friend : "Boston has done a wise thing to-day-she's made that young man's fortune her own." And this was literally fulfilled, for he devoted it all to the pub- lic use. The contrast between Hancock and Adams was very great. Adams was quite poor, and held in great contempt the style and show of fortune-Han- cock kept a magnificent equipage, such as was then unknown in America. His apparel was embroidered with gold and silver-he drove his six beautiful bays -he was exceedingly fond of dancing, music, routes, parties, rich wines, dinners, and all that kind of thing called elegant pleasures. How he estimated the goods of fortune and its concomitants, is illustrated by the following anecdote :- "During the siege of Boston, Gen. Washington consulted Congress as to the pro- priety of bombarding the town. Hancock was Presi- dent, and after the reading of Washington's letter, a motion was made to go into committee of the whole to enable Mr. Hancock to give his opinion, as he was deeply interested-all his property being in houses and real estate. He left the chair, and addressed the chairman as follows: 'It is true, sir, that nearly all I have in the world is in the town of Boston, but if the expulsion of the British troops and the liberty of my country demand that they be burned to ashes, issue the order, AND LET THE CANNON BLAZE AWAY !' "
In the earlier stages of John Hancock's existence- who had been supplied with a collegiate education at
136
INDEPENDENCE HALL :
Harvard College-at the age of seventeen he was taken under the guardianship of a pious uncle, who made him a clerk in his counting-room, where he soon be- came acquainted with the various routine of com- mercial business. His uncle was so well pleased with the rapid advancement and honest habits of his nephew, that in the year 1760 he entrusted him with a mission to England to transact some very important business. On that occasion young Hancock was present at the funeral rites of king George II., and also witnessed the ceremonies of investing his successor, George III., with the insignia of royalty. His stay in England won for him many warm friends, both in a social and business capacity. It was necessary, however, for him to make his visit of short duration, and he returned with much regret to Boston. Soon after his arrival home his uncle was taken ill and died, leaving him at the age of twenty-six the sole possessor of his princely fortune-the largest, perhaps, of any man in the Prov- ince of Massachusetts. Possessed of an extraordinary mind, and deeply conversant with political science, he soon after this solemn event, abandoned commercial enterprises and business pursuits of all kinds, and devoted himself to the politics of the day. In prin- ciple he was devotedly democratic, but liberal in his views. He was chosen a member of the Provincial Assembly from Boston in 1766, and was in conse- quence thrown into intercourse and acquaintanceship with such men as Samuel Adams, James Otis, and Thomas Cushing.
The inhabitants of this country had felt the op- pressive exaction and tyranny of Great Britain several years before Mr. Hancock took an active part in po-
137
ITS HISTORY AND ASSOCIATIONS.
litical matters, and feelings of resistance were already aroused. He came upon the theatre of public life, therefore, under circumstances sufficiently extraor- dinary and exciting to fill his ardent youthful mind with strong sentiments of patriotism. It is said that young Hancock imbibed the principles of liberty from his infancy, and hence such feelings were as familiar to him as "household words." When the exigencies of the time demanded exhibitions of such feelings and sentiments as Mr. Hancock possessed, no patriot was readier or more earnest in their manifestation. The obnoxious measures adopted by Parliament toward the Colonies, which succeeded the "Stamp Act," Mr. Hancock regarded as the ultima thule of tyranny, and resolved not to submit to them. He was at that time a member of the Provincial Legislature, and was in- strumental in inducing his colleagues to unite with him against them. The proposition of non-importa- tion measures was first made by him, and he advo- cated the necessity of them with such ardor that they were adopted by the other Colonies. These measures produced a powerful effect upon the home govern- ment, and caused it to enforce more rigidly than ever her tyrannous exactions. At length open resistance became universal, and Hancock's name was conspicu- ously prominent in the commotions that agitated Bos- ton for more than eight years. History informs us that one of the earliest acts of open resistance, was on the occasion of the seizure of the sloop Liberty, be- longing to Mr. Hancock, by the Custom House offi- cers, under the plea that she was loaded with goods contrary to the revenue laws. The people were greatly exasperated; they beat the officers with clubs, 12*
138
INDEPENDENCE HALL :
and obliged them to fly to Castle William, at the en trance of Boston Harbor, for safety. They also burned the Collector's boat, and committed other acts of vio- lence. These transactions gave the royal governor an excuse he wished for to introduce British troops into the city. This measure excited the indignation of the people to the highest pitch, and almost daily quarrels took place in the streets between the citizens and the soldiers, which finally resulted in the death of three Americans, in March, 1770, by shots from soldiers' muskets-an event known as The Boston Massacre. So popular a leader in the colonial rebellion had Han- cock become, that offended royalty excluded him from the terms of general pardon which Parliament made in 1775. Samuel Adams was also excluded as an arch-rebel. The night preceding the battle of Lex- ington, Hancock and Adams lodged together, in that village. An armed party was sent by Governor Gage te arrest them; and they narrowly escaped, for as the soldiers entered one door, they went out through another. During the commotion known as the " Ten Riot," Mr. Hancock was exceedingly active and bold ; and on the anniversary of the " Boston Massacre," in March, 1774, he delivered a severe speech against the aggressive disposition of the British Government. The popularity of John Hancock had now become odious to the officers of the home government, for when he was, in 1767, elected a member of the Ex- ecutive Council, the Governor rejected him .* In 1774
For some unknown reason, however, he was subsequently received into the Council. Governor Bernard had tried in vain to win him from the cause of the patriots. In 1767, before his election to the Council, he had complimented him with a Lieu-
139
ITS HISTORY AND ASSOCIATIONS.
the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts unanimously elected him their President. The same year he was chosen delegate to the Continental Congress, and was re-elected to the same station in 1775. It was some time during the summer of that year, that Peyton Randolph vacated the Presidential chair of that body, and John Hancock was selected in his place. This was a position of the most exalted character in the gift of the American people. In that office he put forth some of his most valuable labors-for he was acting in that position on the ever memorable 4th of July, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was adopted, and the old "State House Bell" pealed forth "liberty throughout the land, and to all the inhab- itants thereof." As President of that Congress he first signed that Declaration, and with his signature alone it first went forth to the world.
In consequence of ill health, Mr. Hancock resigned the office of President of Congress in 1777, with a view of passing the remainder of his life in the retire- ment of his domestic circle; but his countrymen re- garded his public services too highly to allow him the pleasure, and he was, therefore, soon afterward elected a member of the Convention to form a Constitution for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. His labors in that Convention were marked with his usual bold- ness, and " upon him was first conferred the honor, under the instrument of their adoption, of being Gov- ernor of the Province; or State." This office he held for five consecutive years, by annual election. He
tenant's commission, but Hancock, seeing clearly the nefarious design which it but half concealed, tore up the commission in the presence of the people.
..
-
1
140
INDEPENDENCE HALL :
declined the office for two years, but afterward ac- cepted, and filled that position until his death, in 1793. He was Governor during the exciting period of the adoption of the Federal Constitution, and its final ratification by the several States; "and his wisdom and firmness proved greatly salutary in restraining those lawless acts which a spirit of disaffection toward the general government had engendered in New En- gland-particularly in Massachusetts and New Hamp- . shire." John Hancock acted in many other official capacities, and always with vigor and decision of cha- racter. But as years passed, he assumed the appear- ance of advanced age. One who saw him in 1782, says that he had been repeatedly and severely afflicted with gout, probably owing in part to the custom of drinking punch-a common practice in high circles in those days. As recollected at that time, Hancock was nearly six feet in height and of thin person, stooping a little, and apparently enfeebled by disease. Ilis manners were very gracious, of the old style, a dignified complaisance. His face had been very handsome. Dress was adapted quite as much to the ornamental as useful. Gentlemen wore wigs when abroad, and commonly caps when at home. At this time, about noon, Hancock was dressed in a red velvet cap, within which was one of fine linen. The latter was turned up over the lower edge of the velvet one, two or three inches. He wore a blue damask gown lined with silk, a white satin embroidered waistcoat, black satin small-clothes, white silk stockings and red morocco slippers. It was a general practice in genteel families to have a tankard of punch made in the morning and placed in a cooler when the season -
141
ITS HISTORY AND ASSOCIATIONS.
required it. At this visit, Hancock took from the cooler standing on the hearth a full tankard, and drank first himself and then offered it to those present. On one occasion, at a banquet, when Hancock was pres- ent, there were not less than fifty or sixty at table, but the host did not sit at meat with them. He ate at a little side-table, and sat on a wheel-chair, in which he wheeled himself about the general table to speak with his guests. This was because of his gout, of which he made a political as well as social excuse for doing as he pleased. On the occasion in question, when the guests were in the height of an animated con- versation, and just as the cloth was withdrawn, they were interrupted by a tremendous crash. A servant, in removing a cut-glass epergne, which formed the central ornament of the table, let it fall, and it was dashed in a thousand pieces. An awkward silence fell upon the company, who hardly knew how to treat the acci- dent, when Hancock relieved their embarrassment by cheerfully exclaiming, "James, break as much as you like, but don't make such a confounded noise about it !" And under cover of the laugh this excited, the fragments were removed, and the talk went on as if nothing had happened. This, evidently, was the presence of mind of true good breeding. His apparel was sumptuously embroidered with gold, silver, lace and other decorations fashionable among men of for- tune of that period. He wore a scarlet coat with ruffles on his sleeves, which soon became the prevait- ing fashion; and it is related of Dr. Nathan Jacques, the famous pedestrian of West Newbury, that he passed all the way from that place to Boston in one
142
INDEPENDENCE HALL :
day, to procure cloth for a coat like that of John Han- cock, and returned with it under his arm, on foot.
Such were the character, habits, and customs of this distinguished man. We have the biography of no greater political hero ; and to his efforts, in a great de- gree, we owe the prosperity and happiness of our great and rapidly advancing country. He was mar- ried in 1773 to a Miss Quincy, a relative of the Adamses, by whom he had one son. This child, how- ever, died at an early age; and, ripe for the tomb, with honors of an exalted character on his head and full of years, in October, 1793, John Hancock paid the debt of nature, and was laid calmly to rest among the graves of his fathers, leaving an example well worthy of emulation of young men of the rising generation.
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.