Pennsylvania, colonial and federal : a history, 1608-1903, Volume Two, Part 12

Author: Jenkins, Howard Malcolm, 1842-1902; Pennsylvania Historical Publishing Association. 4n
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Pennsylvania Historical Pub. Association
Number of Pages: 650


USA > Pennsylvania > Pennsylvania, colonial and federal : a history, 1608-1903, Volume Two > Part 12


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Thus Mifflin, who had been one of the leaders of his party in the beginning, was its pre-eminent leader at its close. Of his


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nine years as Governor it is not difficult to form a fairly intelli- gent judgment ; the whiskey insurrection was the most difficult affair to settle during his entire term in office. He loved and at times seemed to court popularity and was singularly successful in winning and holding the confidence of the people. Yet Mif- flin's public life was subject to criticism and in certain respects he undoubtedly deserved censure, although none of his political opponents charged that he profited by the measures adopted and which were made the subject of scandal during his gubernatorial


career. As the first chief executive of the Commonwealth his was a hard and often unpleasant duty and he was constantly be- sieged with applications in behalf of measures for the advance- ment of both public and private enterprises. So far as lay within his power he is said to have examined into the merits and justice of each of these claims upon the executive favor, and some of them received his approval, while others were rejected by him. He did not originate the laws; the enacting power lay solely with the legislature, and if unwise measures were adopted by a fair majority of the legislature it certainly was not the fault of the Governor if he approved them after the direct representatives of the people had placed them before him for that purpose.


During this formative period of history Mifflin demeaned himself well under trying circumstances; were this not so he could not have retained his hold upon the voting power, twice secure re-election and eventually retire from public office still re- taining not only the esteem, but also the leadership of his political party. Toward the close of his third term the opposing party gained numerical ascendency in the State, and at the next elec- tion its candidate waged a successful contest. It was not his political mis-alliances that overthrew Mifflin's power in the State, but the natural current of political events where two great parties are ever struggling for the supremacy which one only can secure, and having maintained for a time, is sure to be lost to the other.


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CHAPTER VIII.


MCKEAN'S ADMINISTRATION-1799 1808


T HE Republican candidate in 1799 was Thomas Mckean, who for many years had been one of the most prominent figures in the State. No other man then living had such a pictur- esque record. Born in Chester county, the son of Irish parents, he inherited the strong qualities of the Irish race. He was educated by Francis Alison, one of the most distinguished teachers of his day, and afterward studied law in the office of his relative, David Finney, of Newcastle, Delaware, a lawyer of considerable prom- inence. At the age of twenty-two years he was appointed, by the Attorney-General, deputy to prosecute the pleas of the crown in the county of Sussex. In 1756 he was elected clerk of the As- sembly and was re-elected the following year. For four years he was chosen, with Caesar Rodney, to revise and print the laws enacted after 1752. In 1756, also, he was elected a member of As- sembly from the county of Newcastle and was annually returned for seventeen successive years. During the last six years of this period he resided in Philadelphia and frequently informed his con- stituents that he wished to retire. In October, 1779, on the day of the general election in Delaware, he attended at Newcastle, where he addressed his friends, describing the prospects of the country and declining to serve longer as a member of the legislature. On his retirement a committee of six waited on him in behalf of the electors, and requested of him that if he would no longer serve, that he designate seven men whom they might choose to represent


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the county. He expressed his surprise, and while acknowledging the compliment, he begged to be spared the hazard of giving of- fense by making the selection, as he knew not seven, but seventy who were worthy to serve the State in that manner. The com- mittee retired, but again returned, saying that the electors had considered his objections but had unanimously renewed their re- quest, assuring him that instead of offending any individual by so doing, he would confer a favor on the county. He then selected


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Rear of Birmingham Meeting House


And old grave yard which the American army used as a breastworks against the advancing British, battle of Brandywine. Engraved espe- cially for this work from a negative by D. E. Brinton


seven names, all of whom were elected, nor did the lowest on the list lack more than two hundred votes of the eighteen hundred electors who were present.


When Mckean first appeared in public life, there were two parties-court and country-in Delaware. The court party was composed of the Governor, the office holders and expectants and their friends. As the judges and all the other magistrates held their commissions during the pleasure of the Governor, the court party was preserved strongly by the cohesive power of office, its pleasure and profits. The other party. to which Mckean be- longed, was of a more popular character and more representative


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of the people. Though resigning as a member of the Delaware `Assembly, he had been serving as a member of the Continental Congress ever since 1774. From the first he had been one of the ablest and most zealous members of that body. Nor did he flinch from those duties, arduous as they were, while the contest was waging. Annually elected, he served as a member of that body until February, 1783, eight years and a half. Indeed, he was the only member of the Continental Congress who served without in- termission from its opening in 1774 to the signing of the prelimi- naries of peace in 1783. During a part of this period he was per- forming judicial duty as Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. A firm believer in independence, he was one of the signers of the Declara- tion, and served as a colonel of a regiment of associators of Phila- delphia, and marched at the head of his battalion to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in the summer of 1776, to support General Washing- ton. He proved himself an excellent soldier and a brave, efficient officer.


When nominated for Governor, Mckean had served as chief justice for twenty-two years and was then sixty-four years old. His judicial career had not been the calm, serene life usually asso- ciated with the administration of justice, for he was subject to the bitter attacks of Oswald, the editor of "Freeman's Journal," who was his implacable enemy ; but he was not the only one. Mckean had a strong regard for the dignity of the bench, and was deter- mined to maintain it. He had a high temper too, but so did others of his time, and clashes were frequent ; yet no one questioned his honesty and but few his impartiality. His ability was great and his industry was untiring.


In the formation of the constitution of 1790 he took a leading part. His high judicial position and his acknowledged ability gave him a peculiarly important relation to the work then in hand. Though a member of the Constitutional party, he strongly favored the revision of the constitution of 1776. A thorough Revolution- ist and a leader of his party, his position did not blind him to the


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defects of the constitution and the need of amending it, whatever might be the effect upon his party. In a letter to John Adams in April, 1787, he said : "The balance of the one, the few, and the many, is not well poised in the State; the legislature is too power- ful for the executive and judicial branches of government, besides, it can too easily make laws, and too easily alter or repeal them. We have but one branch in our legislature and are divided into two parties, and they are yet pretty nearly equal in numbers and merit. We must have another branch, and a negative in the ex- ecutive, stability in our laws, and permanency in our magistracy, before we shall be reputable, safe and happy." But in general he disliked innovations, especially in the administration of justice, and he "would avoid tampering with constitutions of government as with edge tools."


His position in the Constitutional Convention separated him, as it did others, from the party with which he had been so long identified, and numerous federal questions arose which still further widened the gulf. Direct taxation was one of these. The Feder- alists had come to believe that the people ought to pay the taxes, for if they did they would be more mindful concerning the ex- penditure of the revenues. If a theory ever looked plausible this one certainly did. It was not right, they said, for the people to pay taxes without knowing it, and they certainly did not by the indirect method. But their opponents knew better; and that the Federal party could hardly enact a law that would more effectually end in their destruction ; so they reprobated it as hateful and anti- Republican, a condition not to be endured. Other federal laws that had the effect to drive men into the Republican party were the alien and sedition laws, which gave the President authority to send obnoxious persons out of the country at pleasure, and to ar- rest others who were accused of speaking or writing disrespect- fully of the government. This legislation was enacted in view of the depredations of the French on American commerce, and the belief that war with France was inevitable.


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Opposed to Mckean was James Ross, who had been a United States Senator, a man of unquestioned character, ability and fitness. He, too, had long served in public life, but in the contest just closed the fortunes of political war were against him. The alien law had set at naught the right of going, saying and doing what- ever the love of liberty prompted ; the sedition law was still worse. But the direct tax law was the most effective. The pockets of the Pennsylvania farmers hitherto had been spared and wheat had brought a good price. But now a new burden came. Had they not rebelled to escape the taxation from Great Britain, and was this tax imposed by the federalists upon farms, houses and mead- ows, the beginning of a system which would soon extend to horses, wagons and plows, or, as the idea was expressed in an election circular, a horse-tax, a cart-tax and a plow-tax? "The love of pelf was completely roused, and many a farmer came to the poll as determined as though his vote meant a solemn determination to remain independent instead of sinking into the hopeless abyss of vassalage."


The contest between Mckean and Ross was very bitter, but at the polls Mckean was an easy victor. Of all who had contrib- uted to his success, William Duane, the editor of the "Aurora," had been the most efficient. For a considerable period he exercised far greater political power than any other editor, and Jefferson as- scribed to him the success of the Republican party in 1800.


With the election of Mckean there was at once a lively com- motion concerning the disposition of the offices, and for the first time in the history of the State the Governor found himself con- fronted with a new and perplexing question. There never had been any radical change in the offices during the long period of provin- cial rule, while the party of the Revolution, after the war, with the single exception of Dickinson's term, had been in power until now. But now for the first time the political axe was to be swung ; McKean knew how to swing it, and the work suited his strong nature. It is true that Mckean's opponents had set a strong ex-


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ample in harsh measures of governing and if the Republicans were too imaginary in calling it the "Reign of Terror," they could point to a long list of arbitrary and oppressive laws passed by the oppo- sition party and the resistance to the popular will in order to retain power. The last was to preserve a constitution which the major- ity of the people never liked, and which they hated more and more until it was finally supplanted by another by methods hardly less revolutionary. These things every one knew, and for them there was no defense. For twenty-five years the Republicans had waited ; at last they were again in power. And yet it was not the same men who were in power in 1776; it was not the conservative element, or, if otherwise, the conservatives had materially changed, of which fact the position of James Wilson in the Constitutional Convention is a good illustration. From conservatives they had become believers in the rights of the States, and either did or as- sumed to regard with fear the exercise of federal power. They were the guardians of State rights and the people's rights as op- posed to the federal government, and now in complete control of the political powers of the State, it was proposed to fill the offices with Republicans, a proceeding in which Duane was a conspicuous figure, and one also that afforded him an opportunity to gratify his long-cherished ambition, and thereby to inaugurate a custom in the disposition of political patronage that has been followed even to the present day. In a letter to Jefferson early in January, 1801, he wrote: "It is, at least, imprudent to foster spies continually about one's self. I am only sorry that I did not displace ten or eleven more, for it is not right to put a dagger in the hands of an assassin." Six months later he wrote to the President concerning the office-holders in Delaware: "It appears that the anti-Repub- licans, even those in office, are as hostile as ever, though not so insolent. To overcome them they must be shaven from their offices, where their great strength lieth ; their disposition for mis- chief may remain, but the power of doing it will be gone. It is out of the common order of nature to prefer enemies to friends."


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LaFayette


French volunteer in American Revolution; pur. chased and armed a vessel at his own expense for use in Revolutionary war; appointed major- general in Continental army, 1777; instrumental in sending 6,000 French troops to aid Washing- ton; made a tour of America, 1784; visited President Monroe upon invitation, 1824


McKean's Administration


As this was the first radical change, it perhaps caused more criticism than any subsequent action of the same nature. And yet the office-holders could hardly have hoped to escape.


The federal direct tax law had been enacted in 1798, and it led to an insurrection known in history as "Fries's Rebellion," which occurred in eastern Pennsylvania. The troubles between the United States and France at this time assumed the form of active hostilities, and James McHenry, secretary of war, began to organize the army. The President was given authority to borrow $5,000,000, and $2,000,000 more was to be raised by a new and odious tax. This tax was direct, and fell upon houses, lands, and slaves. For every slave between the ages of twelve and fifty years, fifty cents was to be required of the owner. For every house valued at from $200 to $500, twenty cents per hun- dred dollars was required; while the tax was thirty cents per one hundred dollars on houses valued at from $500 to $1,000. There were but few slaves in Pennsylvania, and as a result, the tax fell mainly on houses and lands. The value of the houses was de- termined by counting the number and measuring the size of the windows. Houses with but few and small windows were rated lower ; and in order to save the tax, the farmers usually had small windows in their houses. Pennsylvania's share of the tax was $237.177.72. To collect this amount, the State was divided into nine districts, with the following collectors :


First district, Israel Wheeler. Second district, Paul Zantzenger. Third district, Seth Chapman. Fourth district, Collingson Reed. Fifth district, Jacob Eyerly. Sixth district, Michael Schmyser. Seventh district, Thomas Grant, Jr. Eighth district, Samuel Davidson. Ninth district, Isaac Jenkinson.


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The third district was composed of Bucks and Montgomery counties, and the fifth district of Northampton, Luzerne and Wayne counties. The assessors and collectors of the tax found very little difficulty and opposition until the eastern part of the State was reached. It was in the counties of Bucks, Montgomery and Northampton, almost within sight of the federal capital, that the opposition became alarming, arising from the fact that the German people did not understand the law. Many a farmer knew nothing of the tax until the assessor came around. The people remembered the old hearth tax of Germany, and they thought this measure was a revival of it.


Any measure resembling this system of the old world was, of course, very unpopular among these people, who had once experienced its oppression. They were Republicans in politics, and were determined that the tax should not be collected. Women set dogs on the assessors, and poured scalding water on them when they attempted to measure the windows. In a number of townships, associations of the people were formed in order to prevent the officers from performing their duty. The spirit of opposition was expressed at many public township meetings called for the purpose. In a number of cases resolutions in writing were entered into, forewarning the officers, and many times ac- companied by threats. The officers of the law took great pains to calm the fears of the people. For this purpose, the law was read, and explained ; but the opposition continued, and it amounted to actual resistance. In many places, violence was actually used and the assessors were taken and imprisoned by armed parties. The insurrection rose to such a height that it became necessary to compel the execution of the laws, and warrants were issued against, certain persons and served upon them. Headquarters were appointed for the prisoners at Bethlehem, but a number of persons marched there and demanded the release of the prisoners. The operations of the mob were so hostile that the marshals could offer no resistance, so the prisoners were released.


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The leading spirit in this opposition to the government was John Fries, a farmer's son, born in Hatfield township, Mont- gomery county, in 1750. He learned the cooper trade, and in 1770 married Mary Brunner, of Whitemarsh township. In 1775 Fries removed to Lower Milford township, Bucks county. He saw service in the Revolution, having enlisted in the Lower Mil- ford Associated Company in 1775. He also helped to put down the Whiskey Insurrection in Western Pennsylvania. After settling in Bucks county, Fries became a traveling auctioneer, and he journeyed from village to village, engaged in this employment. He and his dog, Whiskey, were familiar figures in every country store. He could speak German fluently, and in his rounds had excellent opportunities to denounce the tax. Being so well known, his words had great influence, and he naturally became the leader of the opposition party. John Fries was present at a meeting held in February, 1798, at the public house of Jacob Kline, near the point of union of the four counties, Montgomery, Bucks, Lehigh and Berks. Fries assisted in drawing up a paper in opposition to the tax, which received fifty-five names. He also pledged himself to raise 700 men to resist the tax. His expres- sions against the law were very violent. and he threatened to shoot one of the assessors, Mr. Foulke. through the legs if he proceeded to assess the houses. Fries and his partisans con- tinued to follow and persecute a number of the assessors, chasing them from township to township, in parties of fifty or sixty, most of them armed, and carrying a drum and fife. Fries was armed with a large horse pistol, and a man named Kuyder assisted him in command. Learning that the marshal had taken a number of prisoners, the rioters determined to rescue them, and the people of the surrounding country were invited to assist in the work. Fries drew up a paper at his own house setting forth their design, and the next morning more than twenty followers appeared in arms. They then set out for Bethlehem to release the prisoners. The marshal was intimidated, and the imprisoned rioters were


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released. After this affair at Bethlehem, Fries often avowed his opposition to the law, and justified the outrage, and when a meeting was held in Lower Milford to choose assessors he ap- peared as violent as ever.


The government became greatly alarmed at these proceed- ings. The President issued a proclamation commanding the riot- ers to disperse. He also called upon the Governor and militia of Pennsylvania to assist in maintaining order. Governor Mifflin issued a proclamation, March 14, 1799, and on March 20 James McHenry, secretary of war, ordered out the cavalry from Phila- delphia, Chester, Montgomery, Bucks and Lancaster counties. Under the command of General MacPherson, the militia and cavalry encamped at Springhouse, Montgomery county. Here General MacPherson issued a proclamation to the rioters. It was a lengthy exposition of the nature of the constitution, and the extent of the federal powers. Proceeding to Quakertown, the army began to make arrests, and to scour the country in search of rioters.


After releasing the prisoners at Bethlehem, Fries returned to his old employment, and was arrested while holding a vendue. At the cry of soldiers, he leaped to the ground and fled to a swamp. He was arrested for treason, and, with some thirty others, was taken to Philadelphia for trial.


The case of Fries was called up in the Federal court at Phila- delphia on April 30, 1799. His lawyers were Alexander J. Dallas and Messrs. Ewing and Lewis; while Messrs. Rawle and Sitgreave were the counsel for the United States. Fries's lawyers argued that the offense amounted only to riot, and that it should be tried in the local courts. This point was not accepted by the court, and the case proceeded to trial. The verdict was guilty ; but as it appeared after the verdict that one of the jury, previous to being empaneled, had expressed the opinion that Fries ought to be hung, a new trial was granted. The second trial was called for April 29. 1800. At the former trial, Fries's lawyers argued


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at great length that the offense was only riot, and not treason. They cited many cases in support of their view. But the court relied upon the definition of treason in the constitution : "Treason shall consist in levying war against the United States, or in aiding or abetting her enemies." Fries's counsel then refused to appear further in the case. He was again declared guilty; the Friday for the hanging was named, and the sheriff's posse was selected. The cause of Fries was espoused by the old Republican party, and by a number of newspapers throughout the State. The "Aurora" denounced the action of the officers, and charged that the army lived in free quarters on the inhabitants. The "Adler," a Ger- man paper published at Reading, also condemned the course of the government, and claimed that the troops imposed upon the people as they marched through the country. Discussion on the subject became so bitter that it entered into national and State politics and became an important issue.


In the meantime, national political affairs were so developing that President Adams was led to pardon John Fries. Our coun- try became involved in hostilities with France on account of the refusal to declare war on England. The ratification of Jay's treaty with Great Britain gave offense to France. The result of the "X, Y, Z" mission to France produced a division in the cabinet. The alien and sedition laws had also made Adams unpopular ; and, as the time for the presidential election was drawing near, he felt the necessity of making a stroke which would tend to quiet the great opposition that was arising. To help accomplish this result, Adams pardoned John Fries. There is a story that Mrs. Fries interceded with the President for the pardon of her husband. Some claim that she appeared before Adams with her seven chil- dren, weeping and imploring for the pardon, and he became so affected that he could not refuse it.


The appearance of the large military force in the German dis- trict, and the numerous arrests and trials, finally subdued the people. Dr. Muhlenberg and others then went through the


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counties explaining the law to them in the German language. After once understanding the nature of the law, they immediately became obedient, proving that they had been urged into deeds of violence by the misrepresentations of unscrupulous leaders.


The action of the President in enforcing the law with the mili- tary turned a large number of persons against the Federal party. and Jefferson and the Republicans came into power the following year with a large majority behind them. The result might have been the same had the law not been passed, but the law and its enforcement contributed more than any other thing to overthrow the Federalists. In Bucks and Northampton counties, the scene of recent disturbances, the vote was of a most decisive character against the law and those who had sought to enforce it. On them at least, the presidential clemency was wholly lost. The closing scene in this affair was acted during the early days of Governor McKean's administration, and as Mifflin also was nearing the end of his long public career.




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