USA > Rhode Island > The "Old Stone Bank" history of Rhode Island, Vol. III > Part 18
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Early in the Spring of 1755, four expeditions were planned by the Colonies; one against the French in Nova Scotia; a second against the French on the Ohio; a third against Crown Point; and the fourth against Niagara. The expedition against Nova Scotia reached the Bay of Fundy in June. The French forts in that province were speedily taken, and the whole region east of the Penobscot fell under British authority. The Ohio cam- paign was conducted by General Brad- dock who, with Colonel George Washing- ton as one of his aids, began his march from Virginia with about two thousand men. Ignorant of Indian warfare, yet too self-confident to receive advice, Braddock urged forward his troops, and when within a few miles of Fort Duquesne was surprised by a small party of French and Indians and suffered a terrible defeat. The expedition against Crown Point, in New York State, at the lower end of Lake Champlain, about twenty five miles northwest of Rutland, Vermont, was led by General William Johnson. This expedition ended at the lower end of Lake George where Fort William Henry was erected, leaving Crown Point for a future campaign. Governor Shirley of Massachusetts commanded the Niagara campaign, but this was abandoned when the news of Braddock's defeat was re- ported.
In 1756, a formal proclamation of war was made and during that year, and the following twelve months, the conflict was carried on without complete victory for either side. In 1758, three expeditions were planned by the English, the first against Louisburg, with a powerful army under General Amherst. After a vigorous resistance, this fortress and the whole island of Cape Breton were surrendered, together with six thousand prisoners, and large supplies of munitions. At the same time the English became masters of what is now Prince Edward Island,
and of the coast from the St. Lawrence to Nova Scotia. The expedition against Ticonderoga, just below Crown Point, was unsuccessful, but shortly after, Colonel Bradstreet's men sailed down Lake Ontario and captured Fort Frontenac. To complete the story of that year, General Forbes finally took over Fort Duquesne, thereafter called Fort Pitt, and eventually Pittsburgh. Peace with the western tribes of Indians was one of the fruits of this victory.
The campaign of 1759 had for its object the conquest of Canada. To this end Gen- eral Amherst was directed to lead one army against Ticonderoga and nearby Crown Point; General Prideaux another against Niagara, and General Wolfe a third against Quebec. In July of that year General Amherst did his job by driving the French out of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Niagara fell after a siege of about three weeks, and, early in the morning of September 13, General Wolfe had drawn up his army on the Plains of Abraham which commanded the city of Quebec. Before noon he gained a victory which decided the fate of France in America. Five days after the battle, Quebec surrendered. Early in September 1760, General Amherst collected eighteen thousand men before Montreal intending to reduce this last stronghold of the French in Canada, when the Governor, perceiving that no effectual resistance could be made, surrendered. With Mon- treal, all Canada fell into the power of the English. Peace was declared in 1763.
What about Rhode Island while all this was happening? If you will try to keep in mind the general continuity of the fore- going brief outline of the struggle between France and England for supremacy in North America, let us delve into a mass of records and attempt to find the highlights of Rhode Island's share in all the excite- ment of those days.
After the disastrous defeat of General Braddock at Fort Duquesne, in 1755, it was seen that a counter blow should be struck to save the whole continent from falling into the hands of the French. Additional forces must be sent against the enemy at Crown Point. Governor Stephen Hopkins of the Rhode Island
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Colony convened the General Assembly by special warrant. Three new companies of fifty men each were raised and hurried forward to Albany in order to reach the army before action should take place. They were joined to the command of Colonel Christopher Harris thus increas- ing the Rhode Island regiment to five hundred and fifty men. This regiment was in the battle near the lower part of Lake George where General Johnson defeated the French and Indians and later built Fort William Henry.
On the same day when this battle took place, Governor Hopkins called another session of the Assembly to raise more troops. This was in September, and, of the three companies raised the month before, two had already gone to Albany. Captain Whiting's company, hitherto delayed, was immediately ordered to embark in a sloop to join the army. With the new levy, four additional companies of fifty men each were raised, and sent forward in all haste to join Colonel Harris' command, making the Rhode Island regiment seven hundred and fifty men, divided into eleven com- panies. The expenses for all this war business fell heavily upon this Colony already weakened financially by the issue of ten thousand pounds in old tenor bills to meet war costs redeemable by taxation in two years. Readers of "Northwest Passage" will be interested to learn that the words "Crown Point" were stamped on the back of these notes.
The second call for troops, in September 1755, made it necessary to make an additional issue of Crown Point bills to the amount of sixty thousand pounds. In October a tax of seventy thousand pounds was levied upon the Colony to redeem a portion of the one hundred and eighty thousand pounds in old tenor bills already issued during the year. One fifth of this tax was assessed on Newport. A census was taken in December showing the Colony to be but little short of forty thousand inhabitants, of whom about thirty-six thousand were whites. The number of men capable of bearing arms was about eight thousand, and of these fifteen hundred were soon engaged in manning privateers. Anxious to do her
part, even at the cost of financial embar- rassment, Rhode Island remained in the forefront of the colonies that were struggling hand in hand with the mother country to preserve English rule in America. Added to all the other burdens of keeping a maximum force of Rhode Islanders in the field, two thousand British soldiers were quartered in Provi- dence during March and April of 1758.
Next in importance, as far as Rhode Island was concerned, came the unsuc- cessful attack upon Ticonderoga in July 1758. This fort was garrisoned by only thirty-six hundred men, but the defences were strong and the brave Montcalm was the commander. The British regulars led the attack followed by the New York colonial forces. The Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island regiments were drawn up three hundred yards in the rear, prepared to support the assailants. The storming party was repulsed, and column after column, advancing to this support were mowed down by the terrific fire of the French. The loss of life was terrific. At the end of an hour the reserves were ordered into action. Colonel Babcock was carried from the field badly wounded and three of his officers were quickly put out of the fighting. The battle lasted four hours when the British commander, Major General Abercrombie, having lost two thousand men killed and wounded, ordered a retreat; and the next day, fell back to Fort William Henry. Unfor- tunately the list of killed and wounded Rhode Islanders in this battle was lost although Colonel Babcock graphically described this action in his official dis- patch to Governor Hopkins.
The rest of the story of Rhode Island's part in the French and Indian War closely follows the preceding general outline of the conflict. Recruits were being raised constantly in this Colony and most of them saw active service in one expedition or another. The paper money trouble was finally settled in the Spring of 1759 when the so-called Crown Point money was called in, its redemption provided for out of billeting money, amounting to six hundred pounds, received from General Amherst. The allowance made to innkeepers hereabouts
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for billeting, or quartering, regular soldiers was finally raised to twenty-five shillings a day, and a fine was imposed upon all who refused to entertain such soldiers when properly assigned to their establish- ments.
Finally, great was the rejoicing in Rhode Island when Quebec was taken. The local General Assembly appointed a day of public thanksgiving. Every- where, bonfires, illuminations, orations, and the voices of prayer and praise attested the joy over this brilliant close of a great campaign. General Amherst,
in behalf of Great Britain, wrote to Rhode Island, complimenting Colonel Babcock in warmest terms.
This account has been pretty much all history with little of human interest or of narrative, but it did treat of a period in American history that has been given too little emphasis in local history books. Perhaps, now the sequence of events may be a bit clearer to many who have heard about the conquest of America, not long before the Revolutionary War, but who knew little about Rhode Island's partici- pation.
THE VICIOUS TRIANGLE
B Y the middle of the eighteenth cen- tury, wherever men had established communities close by the waters of the great bay that penetrated into the growing Colony, as far as the very spot where Roger Williams had proclaimed his principles of complete separation of church and state, there could be heard the pound of the adze and the thud of the axe as great ships took form in the shadows of the forests that supplied their frames, planking, decks and lofty spars. Where no ships were being made for the prosperous traffic in goods, or for the hazardous but lucrative practise called privateering, individuals could be seen packing ponderous sea chests for ap- proaching voyages. Everywhere, young- sters were perfecting themselves in the intricacies of knot-tying and splicing; en- terprising landlubbers were found buy- ing and packing merchandise sought by ready buyers in distant ports; the women went from house to house, seeking news of their own husbands or sons who might be mentioned in a neighbor's letter. Talk of ships and sailors was the chief topic of conversation in these parts as the eighteenth century reached the half-way mark, because the sea had come to be the principal factor in the lives of all Rhode Islanders, rich or poor. Few families then, from Newport to Providence, were not affected in some way by the wealth that the sea brought, the tragedy that it
caused, or by the influences it had upon the hopes and ambitions of the youth of this Colony.
And, out of all this interest in the sea came something of which Rhode Island can surely find no reason to be proud. While more and more of her stalwart ships carried the fame of Rhode Island to the markets of the world, while fortunes were being made by those who quickly discovered their trading abilities, and while mercenary fighting ships were serving as training schools for Rhode Island's future naval heroes, the traffic in a certain commodity, procured prin- cipally on the coast of Africa, suddenly appeared in this picture of honest trade development, and it was indulged in to such an extent by the local merchants of that time, that the narrator of Rhode Island history finds himself faced with a paradox or incongruity difficult to explain.
Rhode Island, its beginnings established in the name of religious liberty and equality to all men regardless of race, color, or creed, just about a century before the period we are now considering, found itself, with other commonwealths in America and elsewhere, actively and enthusiastically engaged in the exploita- tion of human bondage, a practice that probably originated in the dim, dark ages when savages, in place of massacring their captives, found it more profitable to keep them in servitude. All the
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ancient Oriental nations, of which there is any record, had slaves; later on in history the Greeks held slaves whom they treated mildly, but the Romans used their captive servants with little sympathy or justice. It is recorded in some histories that the African slave trade was started in 1442, but the traffic in negro slaves was of only trifling extent until the sixteenth century.
Rhode Island's connection with slavery goes back to 1696 when it imported for use here at home, a cargo of African slaves. These unfortunate negroes were sold for £30 apiece, but there was no great demand on the part of local pur- chasers. More slaves were brought in annually thereafter from the Barbados, but still there was little enthusiasm shown by local buyers; very likely because Rhode Island was not exactly an agricul- tural colony, and, therefore, had little shortage of farm labor. Long before the arrival of the first slaves, as far back as 1652, Providence and the mainland towns had passed a law against human slavery, whereas, Newport and the rest of the island, at that time governed inde- pendently, passed no such law expressing general sentiment against slavery. Per- haps that was the reason why so few slaves came into Rhode Island, even though the traffic in human beings opened up direct paths to fortunes. The local market was restricted pretty much to Newport.
And Newport found a much more profitable way to make money on slaves than by importing them for sale at home. From about 1739 to 1760 the trade in slaves was at its height among Newport merchants and this is the system, in general, that was followed by many of these merchants who amassed fortunes. At one time during this period, Newport boasted of twenty-five distilleries which were kept very busy manufacturing rum from the sugar and molasses, brought to Rhode Island waters from the West Indies. This rum was shipped directly to Africa, where it was exchanged for slaves captured along the coast or in the jungles; then, these slaves were taken across the ocean to the West Indies and there more molasses and sugar were purchased with the proceeds from the sale
of the slaves. The molasses and sugar then came back to Newport so that a ship completing a voyage under this system followed a triangular course, called various names by historians, so, why not coin a new phrase, "the vicious triangle " ?
What stories could be told, what adventures could be related upon printed pages, or on the screen, if we but knew the facts about what Rhode Island ship- masters and seamen experienced as the ships that hailed from Newport followed "the vicious triangle." The seizure of bewildered negroes, snatched from homes and families on the sun parched shores of Anamboe, or some other strange and distant place, must have held high adventure for some of our daring ances- tors. There must have been great feasts arranged for native chieftains, or head men, who supplied the slaves, men, women and children, made captive in war, or otherwise reduced to subjection; and, it is probable that all did not run smoothly for those who supplied the feasts where terms were discussed and bargains closed. There must have been many dangerous moments when treachery, on either side, entered into the discussions of what one hundred gallons of rum represented in terms of human flesh and blood.
The return, or middle passage, of "the vicious triangle " must have held certain hazards for those who had to act as sea- men and prison guards. The captive women and children were imprisoned between decks in a space less than four feet high, and they were allowed to sit or lie down, while the men were stretched upon their backs and fastened to the decks with shackles, chains and iron rods. Sometimes a ship would carry a cargo of one hundred and twenty-five slaves, and quite often the ocean crossing to the Barbados would take ten weeks, no day or night, no moment ever free from impending danger, for every member of the crew knew full well what would happen if by some miracle, or unforeseen accident, those chains should be loosened, the shackles thrown off, and a mass of desperate men should suddenly surge through an open hatchway.
On the other hand, what pathos, what
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hopeless resignation, what faith in some native dogma or pagan idol might be revealed if we but knew what went on in the minds of those unfortunate human beings as our ancestors transported them far away to a strange land, never to return. How were they captured, what did they say to each other in the stuffy dungeons below decks, what happened to them after they were finally brought into the sunlight and thrown into the slave marts of the Barbados? This whole subject, from many angles, seems to have been neglected or overlooked as a fertile source for imaginative writing, although Rhode Island's connection with slavery is no figment of imagination when one refers to the few available facts on the subject.
By 1763, the Colony of Rhode Island possessed 184 ships many of which were engaged in the slave trade; besides, Rhode Island claimed about 352 ships active in coastwise shipping. For a long period eighteen hundred hogsheads of rum were exported annually from Rhode Island to Africa and exchanged for negroes, and, as stated before, many distilleries were kept
active in the Colony manufacturing the rum for the outbound trips.
Some of the Newport merchants owned slave ships that cost only £1350 each, but one trip would sometimes net a profit of £2000 without taking into account the cargo of ten thousand gallons, or more, of molasses that was loaded at Barbados and brought back to Newport. Slave trading in the recognized, accepted form was carried on extensively until the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Then it became illegal, if the word can be properly used in that sense; and, of course, the traffic was engaged in by Americans until the middle of the nineteenth century, although it had become outlawed long before the conflict that lifted the yoke of servitude from the necks of human beings. No "Uncle Tom's Cabin" could have been written about slave holding in Rhode Island, but the true story of how most of the original slaves found themselves transplanted to a civilized land that bought them, body but not soul, would be an exciting, tragic, emotional epic, with Rhode Island playing a leading, unpar- donable role.
THE CHARTER OF BROWN
S INCE freedom of religion continues to be an important subject of discussion in this world, and since the instrument of authority which established Brown Uni- versity belongs among those documents which are regarded as having recognized man's inherent rights down through the ages, this account will be an attempt to estimate the importance of the Charter of Brown.
Most charters, legislative acts, patents and resolutions are uninteresting subjects for discussion. They are generally com- posed in a formal, legal style with little color or romance in their phrases, sen- tences and paragraphs. The Brown Char- ter is customarily formal and ponderous. But, when the causes and effects of a great document are analyzed in the light of human experience then do we readily find ample subject matter for interesting ob-
servations. The sequence of events that led to the granting of a college charter in Rhode Island, and the history of Brown to this day, offer the writer of human interest accounts a staggering wealth of source material, but, briefly, the story Brown's Charter may be condensed as follows.
Fifteen years or so before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, about three million people scattered among the Eng- lish Colonies in America were beginning to realize that civilization had at last con- quered a wilderness. Forest and stream had been subdued to the uses of man. Except along the frontiers, danger from the Indians was a thing of the past. The population here in America was still chiefly engaged in agriculture, although many towns and cities had grown up and become centers of thought and action.
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Farming was profitable; manufacturing enterprises were small but growing; and commerce on land and sea was extending. The average person was prosperous and wealth was well-distributed. Religion flourished and there was a widespread admiration among all the people in the land for cultural and educational attain- ment. The Colonists suddenly recognized values in training and educating for lead- ership, and so, colleges began to spring up here and there among the rapidly growing Colonies. At this period in American his- tory, it was quite natural that certain religious denominations should sponsor institutions for higher learning, because spiritual leaders were needed, and colleges were the means of training young men for the ministry. In the first century of Eng- lish colonization three colleges had been founded in America - Harvard in 1636, the year when Roger Williams founded Providence; William and Mary College in 1693, Yale in 1701. Then in 1746 ap- peared the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) followed quickly by King's College (now Columbia) in 1754; the University of Pennsylvania in 1755, Brown in 1764; Rutgers in 1766; Dart- mouth in 1769; and the College of Charles- ton in 1785. Most of these institutions were originally controlled by religious bodies; Harvard and Yale by the Congre- gationalists; Princeton by the Presbyte- rians; the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia and William and Mary by the Episcopalians; Rutgers by the Reformed Dutch Church.
Brown appeared in the middle of this eighteenth century wave of college-plant- ing because those members of a religious sect who called themselves Baptists de- cided they wanted a college where their sons could be trained to preach the doctrines to which they subscribed. Although none of the American colleges founded by religious denominations, be- fore or at the time of Brown's establish- ment, closed their doors to Baptist boys, it was natural that the Baptists, although comparatively few in numbers at the time, should desire a college of their own. It was the thing to do in those days if a religious denomination hoped to grow and spread its teachings and spiritual influence.
Furthermore Rhode Island was the logical place to establish the first Baptist College because here it was that the denomination had its beginning in Amer- ica. When such a college was first talked of, the denomination was still in the earlier stages of its remarkable growth. Then it was estimated that the total Baptist population in New England was twenty-two thousand, which number was considerably increased by adding mem- bers of the sect living in the Middle and Southern States. Larger, contemporary denominations boasted of the higher learn- ing of their young men, so the Baptist leaders became convinced that, in order to have an educated ministry in America, they must have schools and colleges of their own.
The first step was the establishment, in 1756, of an academy in Hopewell, New Jersey, an institution which ran success- fully for eleven years. The success of Hopewell Academy paved the way for a greater enterprise, the establishment of a Baptist College. At a convention or meet- ing of the Baptist association held at Philadelphia, in 1762, the project of erect- ing on some suitable part of this continent a college or university which should be under the direction and government of the Baptists was discussed, and some plan of procedure was agreed upon. At that meet- ing it was determined that it was prac- ticable and expedient to establish the college in the Colony of Rhode Island where education might be promoted, and superior learning obtained, free of any sectarian religious tests. The individual selected to act as leader in this plan was James Manning, formerly a pupil in Hope- well Academy and a graduate of New Jersey College (Princeton) in the class of 1762. Shortly after receiving his degree he married the daughter of one of Elizabeth- town's chief magistrates, and a month later he was publicly ordained a Baptist minister. In 1763, one year out of college, Manning came to Rhode Island in search of a location and legislative sanction to the plan which he had been delegated to carry out.
When the young graduate from New Jersey College set foot on Rhode Island soil, in the summer of 1763, he came to a
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comparatively prosperous and culturally advanced colony. A century and a quar- ter had passed since Roger Williams had paddled across the Seekonk to the place he called Providence, and established, for the first time in the history of the world, a place that offered absolute religious free- dom to all men, regardless of race, color, creed. When Manning landed at New- port, the old seaport was a busy com- munity of ambitious and wealthy people. Newport and her near neighbor ports on the Bay were sending staunch little ships out on the highways of the sea to capture rich prizes from the enemies of Great Brit- ain, and other ships to carry on peaceful, profitable trade. The slave trade was a big business then, and the smoke was curl- ing from many distillery chimneys, filling the holds and decks of fast-sailing ships with rum, and lining the pockets of traders and sailors with gold. The wealthy sea lords were building spacious dwelling- houses and country villas, and social life was a veritable whirl. Love of literature had already displayed itself in the growth of private libraries and in the founding of the famous Redwood Library, in 1750. Education in Rhode Island as a whole was backward, but Newport had a school- house by 1685, and, in 1710, granted per- mission for keeping a Latin School in part of it. A printing press was set up in 1727 by James Franklin, who five years later began to publish the Gazette, the first newspaper in Rhode Island. Providence was growing and her renown as a center of thought and action was beginning to spread throughout the Colonies and to the foreign lands that did business with traders whose ships sailed from Narra- gansett Bay.
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