"The Boston committee of correspondence has been likened to a political party manager. It provided for regular meetings, consulted with similar bodies in the vicinity, stimulated the spread of committees in surrounding towns, kept up a correspondence with them, prepared political matter for the press, circulated it in newspapers and broadsides, matured political measures, created and guided public sentiment--in short, heated the popular temper to the boiling point of revolution and then drew from it the authority to act."
Standing committees of correspondence.--Aroused by the _Gaspee_ inquiry, the Virginia burgesses on March 12, 1773, adopted resolutions which provided for a standing committee of correspondence and inquiry whose business was "to obtain the most early and authentic intelligence of all such acts and resolutions of the British Parliament, or proceedings of Administration, as may relate to or affect the British colonies in America, and to keep up and maintain a correspondence and communication with our sister colonies, respecting these important considerations; and the result of such their proceedings, from time to time, to lay before this House." The committee was also instructed to obtain information regarding "the principles and authority on which was const.i.tuted a court of inquiry, said to have been lately held in Rhode Island, with powers to transmit persons accused of offences committed in America to places beyond the seas to be tried." The speaker was instructed to transmit to the speakers of the different a.s.semblies of the British colonies on the continent copies of the resolutions, that they might lay them before their a.s.semblies and request them to appoint a person or persons to communicate from time to time with the committee of the burgesses.
The Virginia suggestion was first acted upon by the Rhode Island a.s.sembly, which on May 15 informed Virginia of the appointment of a committee of correspondence. Before the close of the month the a.s.semblies of Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Ma.s.sachusetts had appointed similar committees. The South Carolina a.s.sembly acted in July, Georgia in September, Maryland and Delaware in October, and North Carolina in December. The New York a.s.sembly appointed its committee on January 20, 1774, and New Jersey on February 8. The Pennsylvania a.s.sembly dissolved without taking action.
The committees did not prove to be active agents, because (1) "there was little or nothing for them to do;" (2) they "were chosen from members of the a.s.sembly, all of whom were desirous of going home when the a.s.sembly adjourned"; (3) "the a.s.sembly committees were extremely cautious about acting on their own authority." "However, the choice of such committees was not entirely without result. The popular a.s.sembly in each colony received preliminary testing. Const.i.tutional questions were raised and discussed, and arguments disseminated.... More important still had been the demonstration that a body could be created which might continue to act in successful opposition to the crown when the royal governors dissolved or prorogued the a.s.semblies."
THE TEA CONTROVERSY
Attempted relief of the East India Company.--During this period George III and his ministers took the fatal step of attempting to force tea upon the colonies. The colonists had refrained from using tea which paid a duty and had supplied themselves with smuggled tea from France, Sweden, and Holland. At this time the East India Company was on the verge of bankruptcy, a condition due in part to the loss of American customers. In the company"s warehouses a vast amount of tea had acc.u.mulated. As a measure of relief the directors of the company advised the repeal of the tea duty, but "a course which went direct to the point was not of a nature to find favor with George the Third and his Ministers." Instead they allowed the company a drawback of the entire tea duty in England, but the tea was to be subject to the three penny tax payable in the colonies.
The tea arrives.--George III was soon to learn that he could not force tea down colonial throats. Late in 1773 several tea-laden ships arrived at American ports. In Charleston the agents of the company resigned, and when the duty was not paid, the collector seized the tea and stored it in a damp cellar. In Philadelphia a public meeting resolved that the duty on tea was illegal and persons who a.s.sisted in its being landed were declared public enemies. Under pressure of public opinion the consignees resigned and the captain of the tea vessel wisely decided not to unload his cargo. "When New York learned that the tea-ships allotted to it had been driven by a gale off the coast, men scanned the horizon, like the garrison of Londonderry watching for the English fleet in Lough Foyle, in their fear lest fate should rob them of their opportunity of proving themselves not inferior in mettle to the Bostonians."
The Boston Tea Party.--The Ma.s.sachusetts people had recently been greatly irritated by certain private letters of Hutchinson, Oliver, and Paxton. The letters had been obtained in England by Franklin and had been sent under the seal of secrecy to some of the Ma.s.sachusetts leaders who, however, published them. Before the excitement subsided three tea-laden vessels arrived at Boston. Hutchinson refused to allow the ships to leave until regularly cleared and this could not be done until the entire cargo had been unloaded. A ma.s.s meeting held in the Old South Church resolved that the tea should not be landed, and when the governor ordered the dispersal of the meeting, the bearer of the proclamation met with insult. Neighboring towns agreed to a.s.sist Boston, with force if necessary, and a guard watched the vessels to see that none of the tea was landed. On December 17 the cargo would be seized by the collector for non-payment of duty. On the evening of December 16, fifty or sixty men disguised as Indians boarded the tea ships, rifled the chests, and threw the contents into the bay.
The course of Ma.s.sachusetts.--The British government was being sorely tried by Ma.s.sachusetts. On January 29, 1774, a pet.i.tion of the general court for the removal of Hutchinson and Oliver came before the Privy Council Committee for Foreign Plantations. The pet.i.tion was p.r.o.nounced a seditious doc.u.ment. Franklin was summoned before the committee, was charged with intercepting letters, and was dismissed from the deputy postmaster-generalship. Soon after the Boston Tea Party, the a.s.sembly voted to impeach Justice Oliver for accepting a salary from the crown.
In retaliation Hutchinson dissolved the a.s.sembly and soon left the colony.
LORD NORTH"S COERCIVE POLICY
The intolerable acts.--The revolutionary acts which were taking place in America, especially those in Ma.s.sachusetts, caused deep concern in England. Pitt and Burke favored conciliation as the only means of preserving the empire, but the king insisted upon repression. The ministry speedily adopted a legislative program to punish Ma.s.sachusetts, and parliament legalized the ministerial policy by pa.s.sing the so-called intolerable acts.
Boston Port Act.--The first of these acts closed the port of Boston from June 1, 1774, until such time as "it shall be made to appear to his Majesty, in his privy council, that peace and obedience to the laws shall be so far restored in the said town of Boston, that the trade of _Great Britain_ may safely be carried on there, and his Majesty"s customs duly collected." The king was not to open the port until the inhabitants of Boston had given full satisfaction to the East India Company and to the revenue officers and others who had suffered by the recent outbreaks.
Ma.s.sachusetts Government Act.--By the "regulating act" the people of Ma.s.sachusetts were deprived of most of their chartered rights. After July 1, 1774, the council was to be appointed by the king instead of by the a.s.sembly. The governor was to appoint and remove, without the consent of the council, all judges of the inferior courts, the attorney general, provosts, marshals, and other officers belonging to the council or courts of justice. Sheriffs were also appointed by the governor but could not be removed without the consent of the council. The chief justice and judges of the superior court were to be appointed by the governor, but were to hold their commissions during the king"s pleasure, and they could not be removed unless by order of the crown. Grand and pet.i.t juries were to be summoned by the sheriffs instead of being chosen in town meetings. Except for elections, town meetings were to be called only by consent of the governor and discussion was to be limited to subjects stated in the leave. The people were still allowed to elect the a.s.sembly.
Administration of Justice Act--The third act provided, "That if any inquisition or indictment shall be found, or if any appeal shall be sued or preferred against any person, for murther, or other capital offence, in the province of the _Ma.s.sachusetts Bay_, and it shall appear, by information given upon oath to the governor.., that the fact was committed by the person against whom such inquisition or indictment shall be found, or against whom such appeal shall be sued or preferred..., either in the execution of his duty as a magistrate, for the suppression of riots, or in the support of the laws of revenue, or in acting in his duty as an officer of revenue, or in acting under the direction and order of any magistrate, for the suppression of riots, or for the carrying into effect the laws of revenue, or in aiding and a.s.sisting in any of the cases aforesaid; and if it shall also appear, to the satisfaction of the said governor ... that an indifferent trial cannot be had within the said province, in that case, it shall and may be lawful for the governor ... to direct, with the advice and consent of the council, that the inquisition, indictment, or appeal, shall be tried in some other of his Majesty"s colonies, or in _Great Britain_." The act also made it possible to transport witnesses to the scene of the trial.
Quartering Act, June 2, 1774.--The fourth law was ent.i.tled "An act for the better providing suitable quarters for officers and soldiers in his Majesty"s service in North America." It provided that, if any officers or soldiers should be without quarters for twenty-four hours after a proper demand had been made, the governor might order that uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, or other buildings be made fit for quarters.
The law was to remain in force until March 24, 1776. Though the act was general in its terms, in reality it was intended "to facilitate the establishment of a temporary military government in Ma.s.sachusetts." Of ominous import was the appointment of General Gage as governor of Ma.s.sachusetts.
The Quebec Act.--The Quebec Act which extended the province of Quebec to the Ohio River also aroused the anger of Ma.s.sachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and Virginia, as it deprived those colonies of large tracts of western lands which they claimed under their ancient charters. It was not intended as a coercive act, but was so considered in the colonies.
THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
Call for a congress.--On May 10 a copy of the Port Act was received in Boston. On the twelfth the committee of correspondence met with eight neighboring committees and recommended non-intercourse with Great Britain. The other colonies were asked to follow the same course. While this was taking place the four additional regiments which Gage had called for began to arrive and on June 1, 1774, the port was blocked by men-of-war. Boston began to receive money and supplies from other towns and colonies, and a new impetus was given to the formation of committees of correspondence. Committees in New York and Philadelphia recommended the appointment of delegates to a general congress. The Virginia burgesses resolved to set aside June 1 as a day of fasting and prayer.
The governor dissolved the house, but the burgesses a.s.sembled on May 27 at the Raleigh Tavern and adopted a resolution calling for a congress.
Copies of the resolution were sent to the other a.s.semblies.
On June 17 the Ma.s.sachusetts a.s.sembly resolved, "That a meeting of committees from several colonies ... is highly expedient and necessary, to consult upon the present state of the colonies, and the miseries to which they are and must be reduced by the operation of certain acts of Parliament respecting America, and to deliberate and determine upon wise and proper measures, to be by them recommended to all the colonies, for the recovery and establishment of their just rights and liberties, civil and religious, and the restoration of union and harmony between Great Britain and the colonies, most ardently desired by all good men: Therefore, resolved, that the Hon. James Bowdoin, Esq., the Hon. Thomas Cushing, Esq., Mr. Samuel Adams and Robert Treat Paine, Esqrs., be appointed a committee ... to meet with such committees or delegates from the other colonies as have been or may be appointed, either by their respective houses of burgesses or representatives, or by convention, or by the committees of correspondence appointed by the respective houses of a.s.sembly, in the city of Philadelphia, or any other place that shall be judged most suitable by the committee, on the 1st day of September next; and that the speaker of the house be directed, in a letter to the speakers of the house of burgesses or representatives in the several colonies, to inform them of the substance of these resolves."
Meeting of the First Continental Congress.--Every colony but Georgia responded to the call. In September over fifty delegates a.s.sembled in Carpenters" Hall at Philadelphia. Among them were John and Samuel Adams of Ma.s.sachusetts, John d.i.c.kinson of Pennsylvania, Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry and George Washington of Virginia, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, John Jay of New York, and Edward and John Rutledge of South Carolina. "The congress of 1774 was not thought of by the people as a congress in the modern legislative sense. It was rather a convention of amba.s.sadors of subordinate, but distinct communities which had found it needful to take counsel of one another regarding a crisis in their common relations to the parent state, in order, if possible, to adopt some common plan of action. It was essentially an advisory or consultative body. In another aspect it may be regarded as the completion of the revolutionary party organization of which the basis was laid in the committees of correspondence."
The Suffolk Resolves approved.--The delegates were soon divided into well-defined groups; the radicals led by Samuel Adams wanted resistance, the conservatives headed by Joseph Galloway favored compromise. The radicals succeeded in getting Congress to approve the resolves recently drawn up in the Suffolk County convention in Ma.s.sachusetts. The resolves declared that no obedience to the recent acts of parliament was due from Ma.s.sachusetts, advised that no money be turned into the treasury by the tax-collectors until the restoration of the const.i.tution, denounced as enemies the king"s councillors who had not resigned, and threatened armed resistance. Congress published these resolves with its resolutions commending the course of Boston.
A plan of union.--The conservatives favored a plan of union proposed by Galloway, which provided for a crown appointed president-general and a council of deputies chosen every three years by the legislatures. The acts of the council were to be subject to parliamentary veto and acts of parliament relating to the colonies might be vetoed by the council. The plan was defeated by a narrow margin.
The Declaration and Resolves.--On September 7 a committee of two from each colony had been appointed to draw up a statement of the rights of the colonies, instances of their violation, and means of restoring them.
Agreement on the committee"s report was reached on October 14. The declaration of grievances thus adopted complained that parliament had imposed taxes upon them and under various pretences, but in fact for the purpose of raising revenue, had established a board of commissioners with unconst.i.tutional powers, and had extended the jurisdiction of the admiralty courts, not only for collecting duties, but for trial of causes arising merely within the body of a county. Complaint was also made that judges had been made dependent on the crown for salaries, that standing armies had been kept in times of peace, and that the removal to distant places for trial of prisoners charged with treason and certain other crimes had been legalized. The intolerable acts were described as "impolitic, unjust, and cruel, as well as unconst.i.tutional." Other complaints were the dissolution of a.s.semblies when they attempted to deliberate on grievances, and treating with contempt pet.i.tions for redress.
Congress accordingly resolved that the inhabitants of the English colonies in North America were "ent.i.tled to life, liberty and property: and they had never ceded to any foreign power whatever, a right to dispose of either without their consent;" that they were ent.i.tled to the same rights as their ancestors; "that the foundation of English liberty, and of all free government, is a right in the people to partic.i.p.ate in their legislative council: and as the English colonies are not represented ... in the British parliament, they are ent.i.tled to a free and exclusive power of legislation in their several provincial legislatures, where their right of representation can alone be preserved, in all cases of taxation and internal policy, subject only to the negative of their sovereign." For the mutual interests of both countries they consented to parliamentary regulation of external commerce. The right of trial by their peers of the vicinage, rights confirmed by royal charters and secured by provincial codes, and the right of a.s.sembly and pet.i.tion were a.s.serted. Keeping of a standing army in time of peace without the consent of the legislature of the colony where the army was kept was declared illegal. The exercise of legislative power by a crown appointed council was declared "unconst.i.tutional, dangerous and destructive to the freedom of American legislation."
"All and each of which the ... deputies, in behalf of themselves, and their const.i.tuents, do claim, demand, and insist on, as their indubitable rights and liberties; which cannot be legally taken from them, altered or abridged by any power whatever, without their own consent, by their representatives in their several provincial legislatures."
The acts pa.s.sed by parliament since 1763 to which they were opposed were then enumerated. "To these grievous acts and measures, Americans cannot submit, but in hopes their fellow subjects in Great-Britain will, on a region of them, restore us to that state, in which both countries found happiness and prosperity, we have for the present, only resolved to pursue the following peaceable measures: 1. To enter into a non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation agreement or a.s.sociation. 2. To prepare an address to the people of Great-Britain, and a memorial to the inhabitants of British America: and 3. To prepare a loyal address to his majesty, agreeable to resolutions already entered into."
Non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation.--By commercial restrictions the delegates hoped to force the British government to change its policy. On September 22 Congress voted to request colonial merchants and others not to place orders for British goods and to delay or suspend orders already sent until Congress could make known its policy. Five days later it resolved that from December 1 there should be no importation of goods from Great Britain or Ireland, or of British or Irish make, and that such goods be neither used nor purchased. On September 30 it was resolved that exportation to Great Britain. Ireland, and the British West Indies ought to cease after September 10, 1775, unless grievances were redressed, and a committee was appointed to formulate a plan for the enforcement of non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation.
The a.s.sociation.--On October 20 the delegates adopted the "a.s.sociation"
which provided that after December 1 British or Irish goods, East India tea, mola.s.ses, syrups, paneles, coffee, and pimento from the British plantations or from Dominica, wines from Madeira or the Western Islands, and foreign indigo should not be imported into British America. It was agreed that slaves should not be imported or purchased after December 1, and slave traders were not to be allowed to rent vessels or purchase goods. Non-exportation was not to be put into force until September 10, 1775, but if redress had not been obtained by that time, American goods would be cut off from Great Britain, Ireland, or the West Indies. Rice, however, might be exported to Europe. Congress agreed to encourage frugality, economy, and industry, to promote agriculture, the arts, and manufactures, especially of wool, and to discourage extravagance and dissipation. Merchants and manufacturers were not to raise prices. A committee in each county, city, and town was to observe the conduct of persons, and if violations of the a.s.sociation were discovered, the truth was to be published in the newspapers. If any colony did not accede to the a.s.sociation, intercourse with that colony was to be cut off.
Attempts to obtain cooperation of other Colonies.--Congress also made an effort to obtain the cooperation of neighboring colonies by an address to the people of Quebec and by letters to the inhabitants of St. Johns, Nova Scotia, Georgia, and East and West Florida. A memorial to the people of British America, an address to the people of Great Britain, and a pet.i.tion to the king were also prepared. May 10, 1775, was set as the date for the a.s.sembly of another congress, and on October 26 the First Continental Congress dissolved.
North"s conciliatory resolution.--In January, 1775, parliament began consideration of the pet.i.tion to the king and other papers relating to America. Chatham moved the withdrawal of the troops from Boston but the motion was defeated. On February 1 he presented a plan of conciliation based upon mutual concessions, but this was also rejected. On February 20 Lord North undertook the unexpected role of conciliator by a resolution which was considered in committee of the whole and pa.s.sed by the commons a week later. The resolution provided "that when the Governour, Council, and a.s.sembly, or General Court, of any ... colonies in _America_, shall propose to make provision ... for contributing their proportion to the common defence, (such proportion to be raised under the authority of the General Court, or General a.s.sembly, of such Province or Colony, and disposable by Parliament,) and shall engage to make provision also for the support of the Civil Government, and the Administration of Justice, in such Province or Colony, it will be proper, if such proposal shall be approved by his Majesty and ...
Parliament ... to forbear, in respect of such Province or Colony, to levy any Duty, Tax, or a.s.sessment, or to impose any farther Duty, Tax, or a.s.sessment, except only such Duties as it may be expedient to continue to levy or to impose for the regulation of commerce; the nett produce of the Duties last mentioned to be carried to the account of such Province or Colony respectively."
The Restraining Act.--The effect of North"s resolution was nullified by the Restraining Act, which, in spite of Burke"s powerful speech on conciliation, became law on March 13. This act confined the commerce of the New England colonies to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British West Indies, and prohibited the New Englanders from fishing in the northern fisheries, until "the trade and commerce of his Majesty"s subjects may be carried on without interruption." In April the act was extended to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina. The British government thus closed the door of conciliation and made the American Revolution inevitable.
READINGS
Adams, J., _Works_, II, 337-517; Adams, S., _Writing_, II-III; Becker, C.L., _Beginnings of the American People_, 202-253; Beer, G.L., _British Colonial Policy, 1754-1765_, 72-315; Bigelow, J., _The Life of Benjamin Franklin_, II, 7-337; Channing, E., _A History of the United States_, III, 29-154; d.i.c.kinson, J., _Writings_, in Historical Society of Pennsylvania, _Memoirs_, XIV, 307-406; Doyle, J.A., "The Quarrel with Great Britain, 1761-1776," in _Cambridge Modern History_, VII, 148-208; Fisher, S.G., _The Struggle for American Independence_, I, 1-300; Frothingham, Richard, _The Rise of the Republic_, 158-455; Henry, W.W., _Patrick Henry_, I, 24-357; Howard, G.E., _Preliminaries of the Revolution_; Hutchinson, P.O., _The Diary and Letters of his Excellency Thomas Hutchinson_, I; Johnson, E.R., _History of Domestic and Foreign Commerce of the United States_, I, 84-121; _Journals of the Continental Congress_, I (Worthington C. Ford, ed.); Lecky, W.E.H., _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, III, 290-460; Lincoln, C.H., _The Revolutionary Movement in Pennsylvania, 1760-1776_; MacDonald, William, _Select Charters_, 272-396; Trevelyan, G.O., _The American Revolution_, Part I, 1-253; Tyler, M.C., _Literary History of the American Revolution_, I; _Patrick Henry_, 32-134; Van Tyne, C.H., _The American Revolution_, 3-24; Becker, C.L., _The Eve of the Revolution_; Eckenrode, H.J., _The Revolution in Virginia_; Schlesinger, A.M., _The Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution, 1763-1776_.
CHAPTER XXIV
FROM LEXINGTON TO INDEPENDENCE (1775-1776)
THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES
Enforcement of the a.s.sociation.--The a.s.sociation adopted by the Continental Congress was approved throughout the colonies. In county and town meetings, in a.s.semblies, provincial congresses, or special conventions, the patriot party expressed its approval. Though the New York a.s.sembly refused to sanction the proceedings of Congress, the committee of correspondence and many counties chose inspection committees. In Georgia the patriots had a difficult time, but when the provincial congress a.s.sembled at Savannah in March, 1775, forty-five of the deputies ratified the a.s.sociation and local inspection committees were formed.
Military preparations.--Throughout the colonies military preparations were in progress. In October, 1774, Charles Lee wrote from Philadelphia to an English n.o.bleman, "Virginia, Rhode Island and Carolina are forming corps. Ma.s.sachusetts Bay has long had a sufficient number instructed to become instructive of the rest. Even this Quakering province is following the example." In December the provincial convention of Maryland recommended that all males between the ages of sixteen and fifty should form themselves into military companies. Delaware made provision for the arming and drilling of militia. Connecticut ordered the towns to double their military supplies, and Rhode Islanders seized forty-four cannon from the Newport batteries.
Whigs, neutrals, and Tories.--In spite of the military ardor thus displayed, public opinion was by no means a unit. In general the people were divided into three groups, patriots, neutrals, and Loyalists. Among the patriots, or Whigs as they were called, was a small group of ultra-radicals who favored independence. A great majority of the Whigs stood for strenuous opposition to British policy but not for independence. The neutrals in the main presented three shades of opinion: those with patriot sympathies but who were still wavering, those who were indifferent or were religiously opposed to violence, and those who had Loyalist leanings but had not made a definite decision.
The third great group was composed of Loyalists or Tories. These were not all of like mind, one portion being openly in favor of the king but not ready to take up arms, the rest being openly belligerent. As the Revolution progressed shadings within groups gradually disappeared, wavering neutrals linked themselves with patriots or Loyalists, and sections became distinctly Whig or Tory.
Even before the adoption of the a.s.sociation, ill feeling showed itself.
As Howard says, "Tarring and featherings was becoming the order of the day.... Loyalists were bitterly stigmatized as Tories and traitors, and the cause of liberty was sullied by acts of intolerance and persecution." Channing says, "The story of tarring and featherings, riotings and burnings becomes monotonous, almost as much so as the reading of the papers that poured forth from counties, towns, conventions, meetings, congresses, and private individuals."
Revolution in Ma.s.sachusetts.--The people of Ma.s.sachusetts refused to submit to the Regulating Act. The "mandamus" councillors were threatened with violence and either declined the appointment or resigned, and the courts were unable to sit. On September 1, 1774, Gage sent soldiers to seize some powder stored near Boston and a rumor spread that the war ships had fired on Boston. The militia began to gather from neighboring counties, and Israel Putnam summoned the Connecticut militia to march to the a.s.sistance of Boston.
Gage refused to allow the meeting of the a.s.sembly called for October 5, but most of the representatives met at Salem where they declared themselves a provincial congress. A few days later the congress moved to Concord and then to Cambridge. It appointed a committee of safety which was empowered to call out the militia, and other committees attended to the collecting of stores and general defence. After the gathering of the second provincial congress on February 1, 1775, the committee of safety under the leadership of John Hanc.o.c.k and Joseph Warren was authorized to distribute arms.