USA > Pennsylvania > The history of Pennsylvania : from its discovery by Europeans, to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 > Part 47
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The following short and temperate address to the people, reported by Messrs. Benjamin Rush, M'Kean, Hill, and Smith, was unanimously adopted.
" Friends and countrymen-In obedience to the power we derived from you, we have fixed upon a mode of elect- ing a convention to form a government for the province of Pennsylvania under the authority of the people.
(1) See Note 2 T, Appendix, for the names of the members of this con- ference.
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" Divine Providence is about to grant you a favour, which few people have ever enjoyed before, the privilege of choosing deputies to form a government under which you are to live. We need not inform you of the importance of the trust you are about to commit to them. Your liberty, safety, happi- ness, and every thing that posterity will hold dear to them, to the end of time, will depend upon their deliberations. It becomes you, therefore, to choose such persons only, to act for you, in the ensuing convention, as are distinguished for wisdom, integrity, and a firm attachment to the liberties of this province, as well as to the liberties of the United colo- nies in general.
" In order that your deputies may know your sentiments as fully as possible upon the subject of government, we beg that you would convey to them your wishes and opinions upon that head immediately after their election.
" We have experienced an unexpected unanimity in our councils, and we have the pleasure of observing a growing unanimity among the people of the province. We beg that this brotherly spirit may be cultivated; and that you would remember that the present unsettled state of the province requires that you should show forbearance, charity, and mo- deration to each other. We beg that you would endeavour to remove the prejudices of the weak and ignorant respecting the proposed change in our government, and assure them that it is absolutely necessary to secure property, liberty, and the sacred rights of conscience to every individual in the province.
"The season of the year, and the exigencies of our colony, require despatch in the formation of a regular government. You will not therefore be surprised at our fixing the day for the election of deputies so early as the eighth of next July."
On the very day* that congress adopted the resolution re- commending to the colonies to change their forms of govern- ment, the convention of Virginia resolved unanimously, that their delegates in congress should propose to that body to
* 15th May.
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declare the United colonies free and independent states, ab- solved from all allegiance to or dependence on the king and parliament of Great Britain. The delegates in congress from Pennsylvania, by their instructions of the ninth of Novem- ber, 1775, were expressly commanded to resist this measure, as they had been to oppose every proposition for changing the form of the colonial government. From this restriction they were, however, released by a resolution of the assembly, adopted at the instance of some petitioners from the county of Cumberland, authorizing them* " to concur with the other delegates in congress in forming such further contracts be- tween the United colonies, concluding such treaties with foreign kingdoms and states, and adopting such other mea- sures, as, upon a view of all circumstances, shall be judged necessary for promoting the liberty, safety, and interests of America; reserving to the people of this colony the sole and exclusive right of regulating its internal government and police." The reluctance with which the assembly granted this authority is demonstrated by their concluding observa- tions. " The happiness of these colonies," they said, " has, during the whole course of this fatal controversy, been our first wish; their reconciliation with Great Britain our next. Ardently have we prayed for the accomplishment of both. But if we must renounce the one or the other, we humbly trust in the mercies of the Supreme Governor of the universe, that we shall not stand condemned before his throne, if our choice is determined by that overruling law of self-preserva- tion, which his divine wisdom has thought proper to implant in the hearts of his creatures." The committee which re- ported these instructions consisted of Messrs. Dickenson, Morris, Reed, Clymer, Wilcocks, Pearson, and Smith.
In imitation of the example of the convention of Virginia, the Pennsylvania conference also adopted a declaration of their willingness to concur in a vote of congress to declare the United colonies free and independent states. And they adopted measures for organizing six thousand militia, the
* June 14.
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number assigned to Pennsylvania by congress as her quota of ten thousand militia, who were directed to form a flying camp for the middle colonies. The assembly had endeavoured to effect this object, but from the continued absence of their members, were compelled to declare their inability.
The public mind throughout America was now fully pre- pared for a declaration of independence. The assemblies of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York, which had display- ed the greatest reluctance, and forborne the longest, had now assented to this measure. The proposition was made in congress on the seventh of June, by Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, and seconded by Mr. John Adams, that the " Unit- ed colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; and that all political connexion between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." This resolution was referred to a committee of the whole congress, where it was daily debated.
In favour of independence, Messrs. Lee and Adams were the most distinguished speakers, the latter of whom has been characterized as the "ablest advocate" of the measure; and their most formidable opponent was Mr. John Dickenson. The former earnestly appealed to the passions and the reason of their audience. They endeavoured to excite the love of fame by anticipations of the splendid rays of glory which would illustrate the memories of the founders of the first American empire-to arouse their indignation by recapitu- lating the injuries they had sustained, and their fruitless efforts to obtain redress, and to alarm their fears, first for their own safety should they be subjugated and exposed to the vengeance of the ministry, and secondly, for their country, whose corruption and degeneracy would be assured when chained to the destinies of Great Britain. They descanted on the inconsistencies of their present situation, in which their military officers commanded neither respect nor obedi- ence, and their soldiers were destitute of confidence and zeal. Thus enfeebled at home, they would be disregarded abroad, and though foreign nations would gladly avail themselves of the advantages of an unrestricted commercial intercourse with
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independent America, and would promptly coalesce with her to reduce the extravagant and insolent power of Britain, yet they would disdain a union with rebellious subjects, whose slavish fears procrastinated the assumption of that place in the community of nations, which God and nature had destined for them, and towards which their way was now open and direct. Let independence be proclaimed, a new and lofty spirit would animate the people to the most daring deeds, and give them fortitude to endure the greatest misfortunes. The civil power would be steadily and consistently exercised, the army would become confident, patient, and obedient, and foreign nations, undeterred by fears of reconciliation between Great Britain and America, would freely give their aid.
" Why, then," it was said, " do we hesitate to give being to the American republic? Let her arise, not to devastate or conquer, but to re-establish the reign of peace and the Jaws. The eyes of Europe are upon us. She demands of us a living example of freedom, that may contrast by the felicity of the citizens with the ever increasing tyranny which desolates her shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum where the un- happy may find solace, and the persecuted repose."*
In replying to these views, Mr. Dickenson endeavoured to allay the excitement which the advocates of independence had produced. He deprecated the unfortunate influence of popu- lar feeling in seasons of public commotion, when, as he con- tended, the party of wisdom and equity would commonly be found in the minority. He condemned the course of proceed- ing in congress as tumultuous, designed to coerce the opinions of the members, and to drive them precipitately to the most serious and important decisions. "Prudence," he said, "re- quired that they should not abandon certain for uncertain objects. Two hundred years of happiness, and present pros- perity, resulting from English laws, and the union with Great Britain, demonstrated that America could be wisely governed by the king and parliament. It was not as independent, but as subject states, not as a republic, but as a monarchy, that the
Botta.
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colonies had attained to power and greatness. What then," he exclaimed, " is the object of these chimeras hatched in the days of discord and war ? Shall the transports of fury sway us more than the experience of ages, and induce us to destroy, in a moment of anger, the work which had been cemented and tried by time? The restraining power of the king and par- liament was indispensable to protect the colonies from dis- union and civil war; and the most cruel hostility which Britain could wage against them, the surest mode of compelling obedience, would be to leave them a prey to their own jealou- sies and animosities. For, if the dread of English arms were removed, province would rise against province, city against city, and the weapons now assumed to combat the common enemy would be turned against themselves.
"Necessity would then compel them to seek the tutelary power they had rashly abjured: and, if again received under its ægis, it would be no longer as freemen, but as slaves. In their infancy, and without experience, they had given no proof of ability to walk without a guide; and, judging of the future by the past, they must infer, that their concord would not outlive their danger. Even when supported by the powerful hand of England, the colonists had abandoned themselves to discords, and sometimes to violence, from the paltry motives of territorial limits, and distant jurisdictions: what then might they not expect, when their minds were heated, ambition roused, and arms in the hands of all.
" If union with England gave them means of internal peace, it was not less necessary to procure the respect of foreign powers. Hitherto, their intercourse with the world had been maintained under the name and arms of England. Not as Americans-a people scarce known-but as English- men, they had obtained entrance and favour in foreign ports: separated from her, the nations would treat them with dis- dain, the pirates of Europe and Africa would assail their vessels, massacre their seamen, or subject them to perpetual slavery."
Mr. Dickenson admitted, that the proceedings of the British ministry had, for twelve years, savoured strongly
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of tyranny; but, he asserted, that the nation already repent- ed its course, and was prepared to retrace its steps; that the troops poured on the American shores, were not designed to establish tyranny, but to compel the colonies to subscribe conditions of accommodation. He treated as chimerical the suggestion, that the British government had determined to erect a despotism in America; since her distance from the seat of government, and the nature of the country, and cha- racter of her people, would induce the ministry to found their power on moderation and liberty, rather than on rigour and oppression. He insisted, that an uninterrupted succession of victories and triumphs could alone constrain England to acknowledge American independence, and hope of this was denied by the instability of fortune: if she had smiled at Lex- ington and Boston, she had frowned at Quebec, and on the campaign in Canada.
He contended, that, by changing the object of the war, the union of the people would be destroyed: all could see the necessity of opposing the pretensions of ministers, but not that of fighting for independence. By seeking the dis- memberment of the empire, instead of the revocation of ob- noxious laws, they would justify the ministers, merit the name of rebels, and arm the whole British nation against them. He derided the hope of assistance from foreign nations, who were too deeply interested in the maintainance of peace and tranquillity in their own colonies, to countenance rebellion, even in those of an enemy: and could their assistance be pur- chased, it must be bought too dearly, by large territorial sacri- fices, by surrender of the fisheries, and the most important rights of navigation.
The advantages of a republican form of government had been strongly urged, among the reasons for declaring inde- pendence. Forbearing to inquire what form of government ought to be preferred, Mr. Dickenson insisted that the Eng- lish had found repose in monarchy only : that in popular re- publics, themselves, monarchical power was so indispensable to cement society, that it had been invariably introduced, under some title or other: that, in the English constitution,
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which was the fruit of all anterior time, this power was so tempered, that the monarch was restrained from seizing ab- solute power, whilst the people were preserved from anarchy. In America they would have to dread, should the counter- poise of monarchy be removed, that the democratic power would prostrate all barriers, and involve the state in ruin, and that then they should fulfil the destiny of all ill-balanced democracies, by some ambitious chieftain seizing the reins of government, and annihilating liberty for ever.
Happily, these prophetic denunciations of a sincere but timid patriot have not been fulfilled. He lived to discover that his fears were groundless, and to aid in founding a sys- tem of government, which has insured union, freedom, and tranquillity at home, and a just and sincere respect abroad.
On the first day of July, a vote in committee of the whole was taken in congress, upon the resolution declaratory of in- dependence. It was approved by all the colonies except Pennsylvania and Delaware. Seven of the delegates from the former were present, of whom four voted against it. Mr. Rodney, one of the delegates from the latter, was absent, and the other two, Thomas M'Kean and George Read, were di- vided in opinion, M'Kean voting in favour, and Read against the resolution. At the request of a colony, the proposition, having been reported to the house, was postponed until the next day, when it was finally adopted and entered upon the journals .*
Pending the consideration of this important question, a committee, consisting of Messrs. Jefferson, John Adams, Franklin, Sherman, and R. R. Livingston, was appointed to prepare a declaration of independence. Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson, were appointed a sub-committee, and the ori- ginal draft of this eloquent manifesto was made by Mr. Jefferson. It was adopted by the committee without amend- ment, and reported to congress on the twenty-eighth of June. On the fourth of July, having received some alterations, it was sanctioned by the vote of every colony.t 1
Journals.
t Ibid.
68
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Two of the members from Pennsylvania, Morris and Dick- enson, were absent; Franklin, Wilson, and Morton, voted for, and Willing and Humphrey against it. To secure the? vote of Delaware, Mr. M'Kean sent an express for Mr. Rod- ney, who, though eighty miles from Philadelphia, arrived in time to unite with him in the vote .*
The declaration was directed to be engrossed, and, on the second of August, 1776, was signed by all the members then present, and by some who were not members at the time of ( its adoption. Among the latter were colonels George Ross and James Smith, Dr. Benjamin Rush, George Clymer, and George Taylor, who had been elected by the Pennsylvania convention, in the place of Messrs. Dickenson, Willing, Humphries, Biddle, and Allen, who had opposed it.
The transition of public feeling, from devoted loyalty, to the invincible desire of independence, appears to have been suddenly effected. But the contemptuous refusal of the king to answer the last petition of congress, and the hostile mea- sures adopted by parliament, had destroyed, not only the hope, but even the desire, of reconciliation. Insult had been added to oppression. A spirited and enlightened people, possessing wealth, and familiar with the use of arms, could not hesitate to disclaim allegiance which fettered their ener- gies, and degraded them in their own eyes, and in the esti- mation of the world. Had there existed, however, no other causes of jealousy and dislike to the parent state, than the late revenue laws, and the means used to enforce them, the declaration of independence would probably have been de- ferred, and more reluctantly made. But, in truth, Anglo- America had, almost unknown to herself, grown into a sepa- rate nation. Her interests were not only no longer identified with those of Great Britain, but had become distinct and op- posed to her policy. That policy, with the most unfeeling disregard for colonial welfare, had, by many laws, circum- scribed the industry and enterprise of the provinces in arts
* Pitkin's U. S. Niles' Reg. vol. 12, p. 305.
.
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and manufactures, and debarred them from the profits justly due to their commercial skill and capital. These restrictions, had not means been found to evade them, would have pro- duced a crisis like that in which the colonies now struggled: they had been deeply felt before the late war with France, but complaints were suppressed, from a sense of inability successfully to resist. Like the fires of a volcano, the indig- nation of the colonists glowed secretly but intensely, acquiring new force daily, and awaiting only some extraneous influ- ence to produce eruption. The war had taught the pro- vinces to appreciate their wealth and military power, and the means to use them; and had accustomed the people to bear taxation for their defence. With this knowledge, the spirit of the colonists had risen, and their complaints were more freely uttered; and now, when called to resistance by every patriotic feeling, they relied with confidence on re- sources which had been thus developed. These were dis- played in the most advantageous lights by able, zealous, and eloquent writers, through newspapers and pamphlets, amongst whom Thomas Paine was eminently distinguished. This author, under the name of " Common Sense," addressed the people in a style adapted to all capacities : he excited the enmity of the religious against a kingly government, by quotations from the Old Testament; animated the proud and the ambitious, by contrasting the narrow island of Great Bri- tain and her present power, with the broad continent of America and its future greatness; and satisfied all, by the most specious arguments, of the advantages and practicability of independence.
The convention for forming a constitution for the state of Pennsylvania, met at Philadelphia, on Monday, the fifteenth of July, and elected Dr. Benjamin Franklin president, colonel George Ross vice-president, John Morris secretary, and Jacob Garrigues assistant-secretary. By solemn resolution, they directed Divine service to be performed before them, by the reverend William White, since bishop of Pennsylvania; and, offering to Almighty God their praises and thanksgiv- ings for the manifold mercies, and the peculiar interposition
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of his special providence, in behalf of the injured and op- pressed United States, they prayed for his divine grace and assistance in the important and arduous task committed to them. (1)
From the instant of its organization, the convention as- sumed the whole political power of the state. Among its first acts, was the appointment of delegates to congress,* and the preparation of their instructions. They were enjoined constant and punctual attendance in congress-to cultivate and strengthen the union of the states, until a just, equal, and perpetual confederation should be effected-to use their ut- most power and influence for the establishment of a navy, which was necessary to every trading nation, and least dan- gerous and expensive to the liberties of mankind. They were forbidden to enter into any treaty with Great Britain or other foreign power, but as free and independent states- and were permitted, when Great Britain should acknowledge the United States free and independent, to treat with her, in conjunction with the other states, concerning peace, amity, and commerce, on just and equal terms.
The great labour of forming the constitution was not com- pleted until Saturday, the twenty-eighth day of September. On that day it was read in convention for the last time, signed by the president and every member, and committed to the charge of the council of safety, with directions to deliver it to the general assembly of the state, at their first meeting, immediately after they should have chosen their speaker. The history of the formation of that instrument, and exposi- tion of its character, does not fall within the limits allotted for this volume.
The power of the assembly had been in a great measure taken away by the conference, and was, as already men- tioned, wholly assumed by the convention. The people had
(1) For the names of the members of convention, see Note 2 U, Appen- dix.
* Names of delegates: Messrs. Franklin, Morton, Morris, Wilson, George Ross, James Smith, Benjamin Rush, George Clymer, and George Taylor, esqrs.
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become suspicious of the design of many of its members, and impatient of the olden forms. The military association of the city and liberties of Philadelphia, by its board of offi- cers, and committee of privates, openly denied its power, and protested against its exercise in the nomination of briga- dier-generals of militia, whose appointment by the colony had been recommended by congress. In their protest, the board of officers preserved regard for decorum; but the privates re- proached the assembly with the religious sentiments of the Quaker members, and with devotion to Great Britain. This was unjust: for though many members of the house wanted that ardent zeal which distinguished the leading patriots, the resolutions of congress were always carried into effect, so far as the assembly possessed the means.
On the fourteenth of June, the house adjourned to the twenty-sixth of August: in the meantime independence was declared: when the day to which the house stood adjourned had arrived, a quorum did not appear; and, after two days, they adjourned until the twenty-third of September. On that day, a quorum assembled, but no other business was done, save reading and approving the report of the commit- tee on public accounts, and reprobating certain ordinances passed by the convention-imposing a state tax, and a contri- bution from non-associators, and authorizing the arrest and imprisonment of suspicious persons-as assumptions of power, unwarranted by the instructions from the people, and dangerous to freedom : their reprobation was just, for no body, other than the assembly, was vested with such power. The con- vention was created for the express, and, as may be gathered from the resolutions of the conference, for the exclusive, pur- pose of framing a constitution. But amid revolutions, as amid arms, the laws are powerless. Ordinary remedies are not applicable to extraordinary cases. Forms, and minor rights, usefully regarded in peace, must yield to the stern exigencies of necessity, requiring instant adaptation of means to resist or avert calamities, which the delays of discussion would make irremediable.
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The assembly of the province of Pennsylvania, however, distinguished, for nearly a century, by the love of order and devotion to liberty, expired on the twenty-sixth of Septem- ber, 1776, breathing remonstrances against the violations of the rights of the people.(1)
(1) For names of members of the assembly and other officers, see note 2 X, Appendix.
CHAPTER XXII.
Review of the province. ... Government .... How constituted .... Legislative powers ···· Judiciary ···· Supreme courts· ·· Courts of common pleas ···· Quarter sessions .... Admiralty courts .... Land office .... Officers of the government ···· Laws .... Derived from England ···· In relation to personal rights .... Naturalization ···· Freemen and slaves ···· Servants ···· Politi- cal rights ···· Religious rights ···· Relative rights .... Laws re- lative to real estate ···· Personal estate ···· Remedies ···· Pre- ventive and compensatory ···· Arrest ···· Forms of action .... Trial ···· Sanction of evidence ···· Execution· ··· Insolvents .... Criminal laws ···· Merit of Penn in relation thereto .... Pun- ishments ···· Change of criminal code ···· Religion ··· · Quakers ..... Episcopalians· ··· Roman catholics ····· Presbyterians ···· Baptists· ··· Menonists ···· Dunkards ···· Swenckfelders ···· So- ciety of the woman in the wilderness .... Unitas Fratrum or Moravians .... Finance of Pennsylvania .... Commerce and manufactures ···· Literature and science ···· Early establish- ment of schools ···· Printing .... College .... Philosophical so- ciety .... Literary men .... Mathematics and astronomy .... Botany and natural history .... Medicine .... Moral and natu- ral philosophy .... Poetry.
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