The History of the United States of North America, from the plantation of the British Colonies, 'till their revolt and Declaration of Independence

Front matter

THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA. VOL. THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES .IF NORTH AMERICA, PROM THE PLANTATION OF THE BRITISH COLONIES TILL THEIR ASSUMPTION OF NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE. Br JAMES GRAHAME, LL. D. IN FOUR VOLUMES. VOL. IV. SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED AND AMENDED. PHILADELPHIA: LEA AND BLANCHARD. 1845. Filtered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1815, by Lea and Blanchard, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. C A M B E I 0-G E : METCAL.F AND C O M P A N V , PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. I 62 CONTENTS OF THE FOURTH VOLUME.

BOOK X.

(continued.)

Appendix

III. Condition of the North American States — Virginia — New England — Maryland — the Carolinas — New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania — Georgia. — Political Feelings and Ideas in Britain and America. — Benjamin West. — Indian Affairs. — Moravian Missions. . . 121

BOOK XI. PROGRESS OF THE STATES OF NORTH AMERICA, TILL THEIR ASSUMPTION

OF NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.

Chapter I

Relative Position of Britain and her Colonies. — Policy of the British Court — Severe Enforcement of the existing commercial Restrictions — Aggravation of the commercial Restrictions. — Project of the Stamp Act. — Remonstrances of the Americans. — Idea of American Representatives in the House of Commons. — The Stamp Act debated in England — and passed. — Act for quartering British Troops in America. — Proceedings in Massachusetts — and Virginia. — Ferment in America. — Tumults in New England. — The Stamp Officers resign. — Convention at New York. — Political Clubs in America. — Tumult at New York. — Non-importation Agreements. — The Stamp Act disobeyed. — Deliberations in England — Act declaratory of parliamentary Power over America — the Stamp Act repealed. ...... 167

Chapter II

Sentiments of the Americans. — Leading Politicians in America — Randolph — Jefferson — Adams — Hancock — Rutledge, and others. — Renewed Collision between British Prerogative and American Liberty. New York resists the Act for quartering Troops. — Acts of Parliament taxing Tea and other Commodities in America — and suspending the Legislature of New York. — Policy of France. — Progress of American Discontent. — Circular Letter of the Massachusetts Assembly. Governor Bernard's Misrepresentations. — Royal Censure of the Massachusetts Assembly. — Riot at Boston. — Firmness — and Dissolution of the Massachusetts Assembly. — Convention in Massachusetts. Occupation of Boston by British Troops. — Violence of the British Parliament. — Resolutions of the Virginian Assembly — and Concurrence of the other Provinces. — Remonstrance against British Troops in Massachusetts. — Miscellaneous Transactions — Dr. Witherspoon — Dartmouth College — Methodism in America — Origin of Kentucky — Daniel Boon , 04c CONTENTS. VII 358 433

Chapter III

Impolicy of the British Measures. — Affray between the Troops and the People of Boston. — Partial Repeal of the Tea-duty Act — unsatisfactory to the Americans. — Perplexity of the British Ministry. — Tucker's Scheme. — Writers on the American Controversy. — Insurrection of the Regulators in North Carolina. — Resistance in Rhode Island. — Governor Hutchinson. — Proceedings in Massachusetts — and in Virginia. — Attempt of Massachusetts to abolish the Slave-trade — resisted by the British Government. — British Attempt to exact the Tea-duty — successfully resisted in America — tumultuously defuatcd at Boston. — Disclosure of Hutchinson's Letters. — Dismissal of Franklin from the British Service. — Taunting Language in England. — The Shakers. — European Emigrations to America. 305

Chapter IV

Boston Port Bill — and other British Measures — their Effects in America. — Proposition of a general Congress. — Suffolk Resolutions. — Meeting of the first American Congress — its Proceedings. — Transactions in New England. — Proceedings of the British Ministry and Parliament. — Defensive Preparations in America. — Affair of Lexington. — The Americans surprise Ticonderoga and Crown Point. — Battle of Bunker's Hill. — Second American Congress — prepares for War — elects a Commander-in-chief. — George Washington. — Transactions in Virginia. — Progress of Hostilities. — American Invasion of Canada.

Chapter V

Popular Feeling and public Policy in America. — American Negotiations with France. — La Fayette. — Condition of the American Army. — Operations of Washington. — Retreat of the British Army from Boston. — Hostilities in South Carolina. — The Americans declare their Commerce free. — Conduct of the American Quakers. — Proceedings in Congress. — Declaration of American Independence. — Conclusion. NOTES

BOOK X.

(continued.) PROGRESS OF THE STATES OF NORTH AMERICA, TILL THE PEACE OF PARIS, IN 17G3. THE HISTORY or NORTH AMERICA.

BOOK X.

(continued.)

CHAPTER V.

Incapacity of the British Commander in America. — Loss of Fort William Henry. — Dispute between Massachusetts and the British Commander. — State of Parties in New England. — Change of the British Ministry and Measures. — Affairs of Pennsylvania. — Political Exertions of Franklin in England. — Conquest of Cape Breton. — Repulse at Ticonderoga. — Reduction of Fort Frontignac — and Fort Duquesne. — Effect of the British Successes upon the Indians. — Plan of the Campaign of 1759. — Reduction of Ticonderoga — and Crown Point. — Battle of Niagara — and Capture of Fort Niagara. — Siege of Quebec. — Battle of the Heights of Abraham — and Surrender of Quebec. The expectations which had been formed both in Britain and America of a vigorous and successful campaign were com pletely disappointed. If it had been the wish or intention of the British ministers to render the guardian care of the parent state ridiculous and its supremacy odious to the colonists, they could hardly have selected a fitter instrument for the achievement of this sinister purpose than Lord Loudoun.

Devoid of genius, either civil or military ; in carriage at once imperious and undignified ; always hurried, and hurrying others, yet mak ing little progress in the despatch of business ; quick, abrupt, and forward to project and threaten, but infirm, remiss, and mutable in pursuit and execution ; negligent of even the sem blance of public virtue ; impotent against the enemy whom he was sent to destroy ; formidable only to the spirit and liberty VOL. iv. [

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2 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. of the people whom he was commissioned to defend, — he pro voked alternately the disgust, the jealousy, and the contemptuous amazement of the colonists of America.1 In the com mencement of the present year [January, 1757] he repaired to Boston, where he was met by a council composed of the governors of Nova Scotia and of the States of New England. To this council he addressed a speech, in which, with equal insolence and absurdity, he ascribed the public safety to the efforts of the English soldiers, and all the recent successes of the French to the misconduct of the American troops or the provin cial governments. It is unlikely, notwithstanding the arrogance of his disposition and the narrowness of his capacity, that he could have expected to stimulate the Americans to a higher strain of exertion by depreciating their past services, and exalting above their gallant and successful warriors the defeated troops and disgraced commanders of England- Nor, indeed, did he seek to compass any such chimerical purpose.

He required that the governments of New England should contribute only four thousand men, which should be despatched to New York, there to unite with the quotas to be furnished by that province and New Jersey, and thereafter to be conducted by him to an enterprise, which he declared that the interests of the British service forbade him at present to disclose, but which, the council might be assured, would not be uncongenial to the views and sentiments of the people of New England. This moderate requisition, far inferior to the exaction which had been anticipated, served at least to silence the murmurs, though it could not appease the discontent and indignation, created by Lord Loudoun's preliminary remarks ; and the levies he de manded, having been speedily raised, hastened to unite with the 1 " He is like St. George upon a sign-post," said a Philadelphian to Dr. Franklin, — " always on horseback, but never advancing."

When Franklin pressed for reimbursement of certain supplies which he had been employed to procure for the army, Lord Loudoun told him that he could afford to wait, as his employment had doubtless given him ample opportunity of filling his own pockets. Franklin endeavoured to repel this insinuation ; but the integrity to which he pretended was treated by Lord Loudoun as something utterly in credible. " On the whole," says Franklin, " I wondered much how such a man came to be intrusted with so important a business as the conduct of a great army ; but, having since seen more of the great world, and the means of obtaining and motives for giving places and employments, my wonder is di minished." Franklin's Memoirs. CHAP. V.] LOUDOUNS FRUITLESS SCHEMES. 3 contingents drawn from the other provinces at New York, where, early in the spring, the British commander found him self at the head of more than six thousand American troops.

It was expected by the States of New England, and perhaps was the original purpose of Lord Loudoun himself, that the force thus assembled should be applied to the reduction of Ticon deroga and Crown Point ; but he was induced to depart from this plan, if, indeed, he ever entertained it, by the tidings of an additional armament having been despatched from Britain to Nova Scotia. This armament, consisting of eleven ships of the line, besides transports and bomb-ketches, under the com mand of Admiral Holborne and Commodore Holmes, and con taining six thousand disciplined soldiers, conducted by George, Viscount Howe, arrived accordingly at Halifax [July, 1757], whither Lord Loudoun shortly after repaired, along with the forces he had collected at New York. He now proclaimed his intention of declining for the present all active operations against Crown Point or Ticonderoga, and of uniting his whole dis posable force in an expedition to Cape Breton, for the con quest of Louisburg.

This abandonment of the enterprise on which they had confidently relied was a severe disappointment to the States of New England ; nor was their concern abated by the issue of the design which Lord Loudoun preferably em braced ; for it now appeared that he was totally unacquainted with the condition of the fortress he proposed to subdue ; and his attack upon it was first suspended by the necessity of gaining this preliminary information, and ultimately relinquished in consequence of the result of his inquiries, and of the acces sion of force the place received while these inquiries were pursued. It was found that Louisburg was garrisoned by six thousand regular troops, besides militia, and farther defended by seventeen line-of-battle ships moored in the harbour, and which arrived while the British troops lingered inactively at Halifax.

Lord Loudoun, accounting the armament he com manded unequal to cope with this force, announced that the enterprise must be deferred till the following year ; and having dismissed the provincial troops, he returned in the end of August to New York, there to learn the disaster which his [

BOOK X.

4 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. conduct had occasioned in another quarter, and which crowned the disgrace of this inglorious campaign. 1 Montcalm, the French commander, availing himself of the unskilful movement by which Lord Loudoun withdrew so large a portion of the British force from New York to Halifax, advanced with an army of nine thousand men and laid siege to Fort William Henry, which was garrisoned by nearly three thousand troops, partly English and partly American, com manded by a brave English officer, Colonel Monroe. The security of this important post was supposed to be still farther promoted by the proximity of Fort Edward, which was scarcely fourteen miles from it, and where the English general, Webb, was stationed with a force of four thousand men. Had Webb done his duty, the besiegers might have been repulsed, and Fort William Henry preserved ; but though he received time ly notice of the approach of the enemy, yet, with strange indo lence or timidity, he neither summoned the American governments to aid the place with their militia, nor despatched a single company of his own soldiers to its succour.

Nay, whether or not he desired, so far was he from hoping to avert, its capture, that the only communication he made to Monroe, during the siege, was a letter conveying the faint-hearted coun sel to surrender without delay. [August 9, 1757.] Montcalm, on the other hand, who was endowed with a high degree of mil itary spirit and genius, pressed the assault on Fort William Henry with the utmost vigor and skill. He had inspired his own daring ardor into the French soldiers, and roused the fury and enthusi asm of his Indian auxiliaries by pnn ising revenge proportioned to their losses, and unrestricted plunder as the reward of their conquest.2 After a sharp resistance, which, however, endured only for six days, Monroe, finding that his ammunition was exhausted, and that hopes of relief were desperate, was com- 1 The recent fate of Admiral Byng, whom the British court meanly sacrific ed to popular rage for unsuccessful operation at sea, was supposed to have par alyzed the energy of many British officers at this juncture. 2 " On the very day he invested the place, he sent a letter to Colonel Mon roe, telling him he thought himself obliged in humanity to desire he would surrender the fort, and not provoke the great number of savages in the French army by a vain resistance.

A detachment of your garrison, he said, has lately experienced their cruelty. I have it yet in my power to constrain them, and oblige them to observe a capitulation, as none of them hitherto are killed " Smol lett. CHAP. V] SURRENDER OF FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 5 pelled to surrender the place by a capitulation, of which the terms were far more honorable to the vanquished than the ful filment of them was to the victors. It was conditioned that the garrison should not serve against the French for eighteen months ; that they should march out with the honors of war ; and, retaining their private baggage, be escorted to Fort Ed ward by French troops, as a security against the lawless ferocity of die Indians. But these savages were incensed at the terms which Montcalm (whether swayed by generous respect for a gallant foe, or apprehensive that Webb might be roused at length from his supine indifference) conceded to the gar rison ; and seeing no reason why the French general should postpone the interest of his allies to that of his enemies, were determined, that, if he broke his word with either party, it should not be with them.

Of the scene of cruelty and blood shed which ensued the accounts which have been transmitted are not less uniform and authentic than horrid and disgusting. The only point wrapped in obscurity is how far the French general and his troops were voluntarily or unavoidably spectators of the violation of the treaty they stood pledged to fulfil. According to some accounts, no escort whatever was furnished to the British garrison. According to others, the escort was a mere mockery, both in respect of the numbers of the French guards, and of their willingness to defend their civilized enemies against their savage friends.1 It is certain that the escort, if there was any, proved totally ineffectual ; and this acknowledged circumstance, taken in conjunction with the prior occurrences at Oswego, is sufficient to load the character of Mont calm with an imputation of treachery and dishonor, which, as it has never yet been satisfactorily repelled, seems likely to prove as lasting as his name.

No sooner had the garrison marched out, and surrendered their arms, in reliance upon the pledge of the French general, than a furious and irresistible attack was made upon them by the Indians, who stripped them both of their baggage and their clothes, and murdered or made prisoners of all who attempted resistance. About fifteen hundred 1 It is not uncommon for the historians of remote events to suppose that passionate contemporary statements must be erroneous. Yet, surely, it is ab surd to expect that scenes of atrocious cruelty and injustice should be dispas sionately described either by the victims or by their friends. HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. [

BOOK X.

persons were thus slaughtered or carried into captivity. Such was the lot of eighty men belonging to a New Hampshire regiment, of which the complement was no more than two hun dred. A number of Indian allies of the English, and who had formed part of the garrison, fared still more miserably. They were seized without scruple by their savage enemies, and perished in lingering and barbarous torture. Of the garrison of Fort William Henry scarcely a half were enabled to gain the shelter of Fort Edward in a straggling and wretched con dition. The British colonists were struck with the most painful sur prise and alarm by the tidings of this disaster. Many persons were induced to question the fidelity of General Webb, whose conduct, indeed, though not justly obnoxious to this charge, yet merited the sharpest and most contemptuous censure ; and all were inflamed with the highest indignation by the atrocious breach of Montcalm's treaty with the garrison of Fort Wil liam Henry.

Webb, roused, at length, from his lethargy by the personal fear that fell on him, hastily invoked the succour of the States of New England. The call was promptly obey ed ; and a portion of the militia of Massachusetts and Con necticut was despatched to check the victorious progress of the French, who, it was seared, would not only make an easy con quest of Fort Edward, but penetrate to Albany. So zealously was this service undertaken by Massachusetts, that a large extent of her own frontier was stripped of its defenders and left for a time in a very precarious situation. But Montcalm, whether daunted by this vigorous demonstration, or satisfied with the blow he had struck, and engrossed with the care of improving its propitious influence on the minds of the Indians, refrained from even investing Fort Edward, and made no far ther attempt at present to extend the range of his conquests.

The only additional operation of the French, during the season, was a predatory enterprise in concert with their Indian allies against the flourishing British settlements at German Flats, in the province of New York, and along the Mohawk River, which they utterly wasted with fire and sword. At sea, from a fleet of twenty-one British merchant-vessels, homeward bound from Carolina, they succeeded in making prizes of nine- CHAP. V.] LOUDOUN S DISPUTE WITH MASSACHUSETTS. 7 teen, which were loaded with valuable cargoes.1 Thus ended a campaign which covered Britain and her cabinet and com manders with disgrace, filled her colonies with the most gloomy apprehension and discontent, and showed conquest blazing with full beams on France. By an act of parliament passed this year, the permission formerly granted of importing bar-iron, duty-free, from North America, into the port of Lon don, was extended to every port in Great Britain. 2 Lord Loudoun concluded, as he had commenced, the year, with a proceeding that gave much offence to the Americans, and showed him capable of exerting, in a dispute with their provincial governments, a greater degree of promptitude and energy than he had displayed against the common enemy.

Gov ernor Pownall, having been apprized that a British regiment was to be stationed at Boston, communicated this information to the General Court of Massachusetts, which ordered accommodations to be provided for one thousand men at Castle William, a fortified place on a small island facing the town, in terms which plainly expressed their understanding that this was not a measure of necessary obedience, but a voluntary disbursement on the national account. Soon afterwards, a number of officers, who repaired to Boston from Nova Scotia for the purpose of recruiting their regiments, finding that this service was impeded by their residence in barracks at the castle, required the justices of the peace to quarter and billet them upon the citizens, in conformity with the practice in the parent state, and the provisions of the act of parliament by which that practice was commanded.

The justices, however, refused to comply with this requisition, as they considered that the act of parliament did not extend to America, and that they had no authority to grant billets without the sanction of the legislative assembly of the province. The officers, thereupon, complained to Lord Loudoun, who signified in peremptory terms his commands that the justices should grant the accom modation required from them ; declaring, that, in his opinion, the act of parliament did extend to America, and to every 1 Trumbull. Minot. Belknap. Franklin's Memoirs. Carver's Travels in America. Smollett. Dwight's Travels. 2 See Note I., at the end of the volume. [

BOOK X.

8 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. part of his Majesty's dominions where the public exigencies might oblige him to send troops either for the defence of his territories or the security of his people. His arguments failing to produce any impression on the magistracy or legislature of the province, he was provoked to assume a still higher tone ; and at length [November 15, 1757] acquainted Governor Pownall that the patience and gentleness which he had hitherto employed were exhausted ; that he had no leisure for farther parley, but, having already sufficiently confuted the reasoning of the provincials, he was prepared to adopt more vigorous meas ures for obtaining their obedience, and preventing the whole continent from being thrown into confusion by their factious ob stinacy. The justices, he said, might yet avert this extremity by immediately performing their duty, to which no act of assem bly could lend additional sanction ; and accordingly he had in structed his messenger to remain forty-eight hours in Boston, to ascertain and report if they improved or neglected the opportunity.

If the messenger, on his return, should report that the provincial authorities were still refractory, he protested that he would instantly give orders to three battalions of British troops, which he had in New York, Long Island, and Connecticut, to march upon and occupy Boston ; and if more were wanting, he had two other battalions in New Jersey, besides a body of troops in Pennsylvania, at hand to support them. The provincial authorities, though alarmed by this communication, and anxious to avoid the collision with which it menaced them, were averse to yield to force what they had refused to argument. Hoping at once to satisfy Lord Loudoun and pre serve their privileges, the assembly passed a law [December 6], of which the provisions were somewhat, though by no means entirely, similar to the act of parliament in question.

Their conduct served rather to incense than to appease the British commander, who immediately signified his displeasure to Pow nall ; observing, that the assembly had no proper concern with the dispute, and that " in time of war the rules and customs of war must govern " ; and acquainting him that the troops had received their orders and were already advancing upon Boston. A rash demonstration ; not more odious to the colonists than humiliating to the arms of Britain, whose troops, driven from CHAP. V] LOUDOUN'S DISPUTE WITH MASSACHUSETTS. their outposts, and defeated by the enemy, were now exhibited in the act of a retrograde movement against the people whom they were sent to protect, and whose militia had in reality pro tected them. The assembly of Massachusetts, undaunted by this emergency, voted an address to the governor, which breathed the genuine spirit of their forefathers.

They again affirmed that the act of parliament to which the controversy had reference did not extend to the British colonies and plantations ; and added, that they had, therefore, enlarged the barracks at the castle, in order that the British troops might not be devoid of suitable accommodation, and had also framed a law for the convenience of the recruiting service, with as close conformity to the act of parliament as the nature and condition of the country and its inhabitants would admit. They maintained that the law which they had enacted was requisite to enable the provincial magistrates to execute the powers which it conferred upon them, and declared that they were always willing to adopt such regulations when the troops to be quartered or recruited were necessary for their protection and defence.

They protested that they were entitled to all the rights and liberties of Eng lishmen ; that by the provincial charter there was committed to them every power and privilege correspondent to a free and unrestricted administration of their own domestic government ; and that as they were supported under all difficulties and animated to resist an invading enemy to their last breath by the consciousness of enjoying these advantages, so they would be proportionally dispirited and enfeebled by the loss or diminu tion of them. In conclusion, they declared that it would doubtless be a great misfortune to them, if their adherence to these rights and privileges should deprive them of the esteem of Lord Loudoun ; but that they would still have the satisfac tion of reflecting that both in their words and actions they had been governed by a sense of duty to his Majesty, and of fidelity to the trust reposed in them by their countrymen.

This language, at once so spirited, temperate, and judicious, probably saved the province from a scene fraught with mischief and peril to its liberties. Expressions of fear or humiliation would have tempted Lord Loudoun to persevere ; while dem onstrations of resistance would have deprived him of any VOL iv. [

BOOK X.

10 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. decent pretext for receding. The address of the assembly was forwarded to him by Governor Pownall, who farther tendered his own personal assurance that the colonists had honestly endeavoured to give to the recruiting service every facility which was compatible with the peculiar circumstances of the country. This assurance, unless interpreted with very con siderable latitude, was hardly correct ; for, doubtless, with the Americans, the quartering of British regiments in their towns, and the attempts to recruit them from the colonial population, were generally unpopular. In every part of America, the superiority arrogated by the British troops over the provincial forces created disgust ; and the Puritan and republican sentiments of the New Englanders in particular were offended by the loose manners of the English officers, and the conversion of their own fellow-citizens into the disciplined stipendiaries of monarchical authority.

Lord Loudoun, nevertheless, though perfectly aware that no alteration of circumstances had oc curred since he commanded the troops to march, thought proper to lay hold of the overture for reconciliation which was thus afforded ; and accordingly hastened to signify, in a despatch to Pownall [December 6], that, as he could now "depend on the assembly making the point of quarters easy in all time com ing," he had countermanded his previous orders for the military occupation of Boston. He condescended at the same time to make some courteous remarks on the zeal which the province displayed for his Majesty's service ; but withal, he complained that the assembly seemed willing to enter into a dispute upon the necessity of a provincial law to enforce a British act of parliament. The communication of Lord Loudoun's despatch to the General Court of Massachusetts produced from this body a remarkable message to the governor, which at a later period attracted a good deal of controversial criticism ; very different meanings being attached to it by the friends of American liberty, and by the individual, and the political partisans of the individual, who composed it.

In this message, which was the composition of Thomas Hutchinson, — a gentleman of consideration, who had filled high official situations in Massa chusetts for several years, and has already been introduced to CHAP. V] LOUDOUN'S DISPUTE WITH MASSACHUSETTS. our notice, which he will farther engage in circumstances more interesting, — the two houses (the assembly and council) com posing the General Court, after thanking the governor for his good offices in their behalf, denied the justice of Lord Lou doun's complaint ; and protested that their legislative ordinance was intended not to give force to an act of parliament, but to regulate a case to which no act of parliament was applicable. "We are willing," they declared, "by a due exercise of the powers of civil government (and we have the pleasure of see ing your Excellency concur with us) to remove, as much as may be, all pretence of the necessity of military government.

Such measures, we are sure, will never be disapproved by the parliament of Great Britain, our dependence upon which we never had a desire or thought of lessening." " The authority of all acts of parliament," they affirmed, "which concern the colonies and extend to them, is ever acknowledged in all the courts of law, and made the rule of all judicial proceedings in the province. There is not a member of the General Court, and we know no inhabitant within the bounds of the government, that ever questioned this authority. To prevent any ill consequences which may arise from an opinion of our holding such principles, we now utterly disavow them, as we should readily have done at any time past, if there had been occasion for it ; and we pray that his Lordship may be acquainted there with, that we may appear in a true light, and that no impres sions may remain to our disadvantage."