A history of the American revolution; intended as a reading book for schools

Front matter

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Preface

To render more perfect our knowledge of any particular country or government, together with the •{iolitlcal principles by which they are actuated in ilie management of their national affairs, it is highly important that we should make ourselves acquainted with their origin, and the causes which induced liieir estiibJishment as an independent nation. And when this knowledge relates to our own country, it hccomes doubly important and interesting.

Strange as it may seem, there has never been introduced into our schools, a short, comprehensive, jind cheap history of the American revolution and war — an event which gave birth to an independent nation,- and tilled the gazing w^orld with astonishment — an event which taught the sovereigns of Europe that their system of enslaving the world was ill founded and chimerical; that there was sufficient energy, in at least a part of the human race, to assert their rights, and, thus asserted, to maintain them — an event which ought to be held in sacred remembrance by the citizens of this great republic,

JV PREFACE.

and handed down, from one generation to another, to the lati3st posterity.

The more common accounts of this great and important occurrence, which have been pubUshed, are attached to large and expensive volumes, which cannot . owned but by a small portion of the community, who are favoured with the possession of wealth. These volunies are usually devoted to general subjects, among which, the American revolution is occasionally crowded in ; and, from the magnitude of the volume, it is not unfrequently suffered to remain unmolested in the library, even by those who have been able to purchase it.

And why has the American public been suffered to remain so long without a work of this kind, comprised in such a form that it may be in the possession of every family? This question cannot be answered, without giving the blush to every enlightened American. Shall it be said, that we have not sufficient respect for the exertions of our ancestors, who gloriously offered their blood a willing sacrifice on the altar of Freedom, that we their sons, might enjoy the blessings of liberty and independence ? Humiliating as is such a reflection, yet (from the silence and obscurity in which this subject has been suffered to remain) it appears but too justly to attach itself to us as a people.

That the rising generation be made acquainted with the leading events which produced our separation from the crown of Great Britain, and our es-

PREFACE. V

tablishment as an independent nation, is an object of the utmost importance. The same causes which impelled our forefathers to declare to the world, that "these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states," still continue to urge the necessity of instilling into the minds of our youth the principles of republicanism — a love of liberty — and a hatred and abhorrence of tyranny.

Next to the Bible, the History of the American Revolution is most deservedly entitled to the attention and reverence of the youth of our country. Here they may be made acquainted with the impositions and oppressions to which their ancestors were subject, while these United States were colonies dependent on the British crown. Here may be found a detail of the causes which led to the publication of that sacred instrument, the Declaration of American Independence. Here is preserved and laid down, a narrative of the privations and hardships which our fathers, the soldiers of the revolution, suffered and endured, to maintain and establish that independence.

While in our schools and seminaries of learning, the rising generation are taught those branches of literature which are to fit them for the various duties to be performed under the government, either as officers or private citizens, a history of the origin and principles of that government should not be neglected. A work of this kind has long been wanted in our common schools — and to si^pply this defect, the present volume is intended. It was written 1*

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as early as the year 1795; but was never before published, except in the montlily Jiumbers of a periodical work of that day. From its earl}^ date, and the acknowledged correctness of Dr. Williams as a liistorian, it may be considered as a Uiie and faithful narratiye.

The publisher has spared no pains to make a proper division of the subject into chapters and sections, the better to ht it for the purpose for vrhich it is intended — a reading-book for our common schools. We have also added, at the close of the volume, several orders and addresses of Gen. Wasbington, and other documents published at the conclusion of the war; together with the Constitution of tlie United States, and ail the amendments which liave been made to that instrument since its first adoption. These additions, it is hoped, will contribute to render the work still more useful and interesting.

THE PUBLISHER.

J^ezc-Haven, March, 1624.

Contents

CHAPTER I.— Introduction.— State of the colonies after the war of 1763. — Their opinion of themselves. — Their industry and enterprise. — Good g-overnment of themselves. — Speculation on the cause of the war. — Obnoxious bills passed by Parliament. — Agreement not to import British g-oods. . . . . Pctgc 13

CHAPTER n.— Stamp act.— Ferment among- the Americans. — Stamp act repealed. — Opinion of t)^. Franklin. — Spirit of independence manifested. — Duty on Sea, &;c. — Disturbances increase. — Assembly of Massachusetts prorog-ued. , . . . 18

CHAPTER HI.— Tum.ult at Boston.— Dissohition of the assembly. — People form a convention. — Arrival of troops from England. — Parliament address the king. — Affray between the soldiers and Bostonians. — llepeal of duties. — Kew assembly. — Disavowal of the supremacy of parliament. . . .' , 23

Appendix

General Order, issued by Gen. Washington, on the cessation of hostilities. .... 17*7

Address of Congress to Gen. Washington. , JSO

General Washington's Answer. . , i81

Farewell Orders of Gen. Washington to toe armies of the i,

United States. . . . isj !,

The Answer. . . , . ]9g

Address of Gen. Washington to Congress on resigning his military commission. . . . 189

The Answer. . .190

The Constitution of the United States- . . 191

Amendments to the Constitution of the United State*. 20

A

HISTORY

OF THE

Chapter I

Introduction. — State of the colonies after the war of 1763. — Their opinion of themselves. — Their industry and enterprise. — Good government of themselves. — Speculation on the cause of the war. — Obnoxious bills passed by Parlis*. ment. — Agreement not to import British goods.

IT has hitherto been remarked, that the beginning of every political establishment is contemptible. Some few banditti, taking refuge among the marshes on the banks of the Tiber, laid the foundation of the Roman empire : and it may, perhaps, be said, that the turbulence of some North-Americans, and the blunders of some British statesmen, gave birth to this new republic, which, at some future period, bids fair to surpass even the splendour of Rome.

The state of the British colonies at the conclusion of the war in 1763, was such as attracted the attention of all the politicians in Europe. Their flourishing condition at that period was remarkable and striking: their trade had prospered in the midst of ull the difficulties and distresses of a war in which they were so nearly and so immediately concerned. Their population continued on the increase, notwithstanding the ravages and depredations that had been so fiercely carried on by the French, and the iiative Indians in their alliance. They abounded with spirited and active individuals of all de- 2 nominations. They were flushed with the uncommon prosperity that had attended them, in their commercial affairs and military transactions. Hence they were ready for all kinds of undertakings, and saw no limits to their hopes and expectations.

As they entertained the highest opinion of their value and importance, and of the immense benefit that Britain derived from its connexion with them, their notions were adequately high in their own favour. They deemed themselves, not without reason, entitled to every kindness and indulgence which the mother country could bestow.

Although their pretensions did not amount to a perfect equality of advantages and privileges in matters of commerce, yet in those of government they thought themselves fully competent to the task of conducting their domestic concerns, with little or no interference from abroad. Though willing to admit the supremacy of Great Britain, they viewed it with a suspicious eye, and with a marked desire to restrain it within its strict constitutional boundaries.

Their improvements in all the necessary and useful arts, did honour to their industry and ingenuity. Though they did not live in the luxury of Europe, they had all the solid and substantial enjoyments of life, and were not unacquainted with many of its elegancies and refinements.

A circum.stance much to their praise, is, that, notwithstanding their peculiar addiction to those occupations of which lucre is the sole object, they were duly attentive to cultivate the field of learning; and they have, ever since their foundation, been particularly careful to provide for the education of the rising progeny.

Their vast augmentation of internal trade and external commerce, was not merely owing to their position and facility of communication with other parts ; it arose also from their natural turn and temper, full of schemes and projects ; ever aiming at new discoveries, and continually employed in the search of means of improving their condition.

Their enterprise carried tlicm into every quarter from whence profit could be derived. There was scarcely any port of the American hemisphere, to which they had not extended their navigation. They were continually exploring new sources of trade, and were found in every spot where business could be transacted.

To this extensive and incessant application to commerce, they added an equal vigilance in the administration of their affairs at home. Whatever could conduce to the amelioration of the soil they possessed, to the progress of agriculture, or to the improvement of their domestic circumstances, was attended to ^vith so much labour and care, that it may be strictly said, that nature had given them nothing of which they did not make the most.

In the midst of this solicitude and toil in matters of business, the affairs of government were conducted with steadiness, prudence, and lenity, seldom experienced, and never exceeded, in the best regulated countries of Europe.

Such was the situation of the British colonies in general throughout North-America, and of the New-England provinces in particular, when the pacification above m.entioned opened one of the most remarkable scenes that ever commanded the attention of the world.

In treating of the American revolution, it has become a fashion with the English writers, to ascribe that event to the successful intrigues of the French governmenL Instead of contemplating it with the characteristic philosophy of their country; as the result of a contest between the desire of power, and the abhorrence of oppression, they have sought the origin of the evil in any source rather than their own misconduct ; and have endeavoured, at once, to hush the reproaches of tlieir political conscience, and to gratify the cravings of their national animosity, in wild conjectures of a scheme formed by their neighbours to divide the British empire.

and in declamatory invectives against the Gallic faith and honour.

Thus it has been repeatedly asserted, that the French having long viewed, with equal envy and apprehension, the flourishing state of the colonies which Britain had founded in America, began Immediately after the peace of Paris, to carry into execution their project for separating those colonies from the mother country. Secret emissaries, it is said, were employed in spreading dissatisfaction among the colonists ; and the effects produced by these machinating spirits are described to have been a rapid diminution of that peculiar warmth of attachment, which the inhabitants of North-America had hitherto demonstrated for the mother country ; the excitement of a jealousy which led them to view her rather in the light of a sovereign than of a parent ; and the introduction of a hostile policy, which taught them to examine, with a scrupulous nicety, the nature of those ties that rendered them parts of her empire.

That such emissaries were ever employed, is a fact unsupported by any document which the purity of historical truth can admit ; and, although the effects here described have certainly appeared, it must be remembered, that their appearance followed, but did not precede, the attempts of Britain upon the rights and liberties of America. By mere artifice and adch'ess, to have alienated the affections of the colonists from their mother country, at the close of a war in which their interests and feelings had been interwoven with more than usual strenii'th and energy, was a task of infinite difficulty, not surely to be accomplished in the short period between the declaration of peace in 176 1 , and the promulgation of the first obnoxious acts of the British parliament in 1764.

But, if we trace these effects to another cause — to a love of liberty, and a quick sense of injury, their appearance will be natural and just, consistent with the American character, and coresponding with the conduct which was displaved in all the vicissitudes that attended the revolt.

In March, 1764, a bill was passed, by which heavy duties were laid on goods imported by the colonists from such West India islands as did not belong to Great Britain ; at the same time that these duties were to be paid into the exchequer in specie : and in the same session another bill was framed, to restrain the currency of paper money in the colonies themselves. Not only the principle of taxation, but the mode of collection, was con-, sidered as an unconstitutional and oppressive innovation ; for the penalties incurred by an infraction of the acts of parliament, might be recovered in the courts of admiralty, before a single judge, (whose salary was the fruit of the forfeitures he decreed,) without trial by jury, or any of tlie other benefits of common law jurisprudence.

These acts, coming so close to each other, threw the whole continent into the utmost ferment. Vehement remonstrances were made to the ministry, and evci-y argument made use of that reason or ingenuity couid suggest, but to no pui^ose. Their reasoning, however, convinced a great number of people in Britain ; and thus the American cause came to be considered as the cause of liberty.

The Americans, finding all argumentation vain, at last united in an agreement to import no more of the manufactures of Great Britain, but to encourage, to the utmost of their power, every thing of that kind among themselves. Thus the British manufacturers alio became a party against the ministry, and did not fail to express their resentment in the strongest terms ; but the ministry were not to be so easily daunted, and therefore proceeded to the last step of their intended plan, which was to lay on stamp duties throughout the continent. Previous to this, indeed, several regulations were passed in favour of the commerce of the colonies ; but they had now imbibed such unfavourable sentiments of the British ministry, that they paid very little regard to any thing pretended to be done in their favour; or, if these acts made any favourable impression, it was quickly obliterated by the news of the stamp act.

The reason given for this act, so exceedingly obnox- 2*

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ious, was, that a sum might be raised sufficient for the defence of the colonies against a foreign enemy ; but this pretence was so far from giving any satisfaction to the Americans, that it excited their indignation to the utmost degree. They not only asserted that they were abundantly able to defend themselves against any foreign enemy, but denied that the British parliament had any right to tax them at all.