 chapters 11 through 13 of a short history of the United States. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Alice and Hester of Athens, Georgia. A short history of the United States by Edward Channing. Section 4. Colonial Union 1760 to 1774. Chapter 11. Britain's colonial system. 103. Early colonial policy. At the outset England's rulers had been very kind to the Englishmen who founded colonies. They gave them great grants of land. They gave them rights of self-government greater than any Englishman living in England enjoyed. They allowed them to manage their own trade and industries as they saw fit. They even permitted them to worship God as their conscience told them to worship him. But as the colonists grew and strengthened riches, Britain's rulers tried to make their trade profitable to British merchants and interfered in their government. On their part the colonists disobeyed the navigation laws and disputed with the royal officials. For years Britain's rulers allowed this to go on but at length near the close of the last French war Mr. Pitt ordered the laws to be enforced. 104. Ritz of assistance 1761. It was a good deal easier to order the laws to be carried out than it was to carry them out. It was almost impossible for the customs officers to prevent goods from being landed contrary to law. When the goods were once on shore it was difficult to seize them so the officers asked the judges to give them Ritz of assistance. Among the leading lawyers of Boston was James Otis. He was the king's law officer in the province but he resigned his office and opposed the granting of the Ritz. He objected to the use of Ritz of assistance because they enabled a customs officer to become a tyrant. Armed with one of them he could go to the house of a man he did not like and search it from attic to cellar turn everything upside down and break open doors and trunks. It made no difference said Otis whether Parliament had said that the Ritz were legal for Parliament could not make an act of tyranny legal. To do that was beyond even the power of Parliament. 105. The Parsons calls 1763. The next important case arose in Virginia and came about in this way. The Virginians made a law regulating the salaries of clergymen in the colony. The king vetoed the law. The Virginians paid no heed to the veto. The clergymen appealed to the courts and the case of one of them was selected for trial. Patrick Henry, a prosperous young lawyer stated the opinions of the Virginians in a speech which made his reputation. The king, he said, had no right to veto a Virginia law that was for the good of the people. To do so was an act of tyranny and the people owed no obedience to a tyrant. The case was decided for the clergymen for the law was clearly on his side. But the jurymen agreed with Henry. They gave the clergymen only one farthing damages and no more clergymen brought cases into the court. The king's veto was openly disobeyed. 106. The king's proclamation of 1763. In the same year that the Parsons calls was decided, the king issued a proclamation which greatly lessened the rights of Virginia and several other colonies to western lands. Some of the old charter lines as those of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia and the Carolinas had extended to the Pacific Ocean. By the treaty of 1763, the king for himself and his subjects abandoned all claim to lands west of the Mississippi River. Now in the proclamation of 1763, he forbade the colonial governors to grant any lands west of the Allegheny Mountains. The western limit of Virginia and the Carolinas was fixed. Their pioneers could not pass the mountains and settle in the fertile valleys of the Ohio and its branches. End of chapter 11. Chapter 12. Taxation without representation. 107. George III and George Greenville. George III became king in 1760. He was a narrow, stupid, well-meaning, ignorant young man of 21. He soon found in George Greenville a narrow, dull, well-meaning lawyer, a man who would do what he was told. So George Greenville became the head of the government. To him, the law was the law. If he wished to do a thing and could find the law for it, he asked for nothing more. His military advisors told him that an army must be kept in America for years. It was Greenville's business to find the money to support this army. Great Britain was burdened with a national debt. The army was to be maintained, partly, at least for the protection of the colonists. Why should they not pay a part of the cost in maintaining it? Parliament was the supreme power in the British Empire. It controlled the king, the church, the army, and the navy. Surely a parliament that had all this power could tax the colonists. At all events, Greenville thought it could, and parliament passed the Stamp Act to tax them. 108. Henry's Resolutions, 1765. The colonists, however, with one voice, declared that parliament had no power to tax them. Taxes, they said, could be voted only by themselves or their representatives. They were represented in their own colonial assemblies and nowhere else. Patrick Henry was now a member of the Virginia Assembly. He had just been elected for the first time. But, as none of the older members of the Assembly proposed any action, Henry Tory leafed from an old law book and wrote on it a set of resolutions. These he presented in a burning speech upholding the rights of Virginians. He said that to tax them by act of parliament was tyranny. Caesar and Tarquin had each his Brutus, Charles I, his Cromwell, and George III treason, treason, shouted the speaker, may profit by their example. Slowly Henry went on. If that be treason, make the most of it. The resolutions were voted. In them, the Virginians declared that they were not subject to act of parliament laying taxes or interfering in the internal affairs of Virginia. 109. Stamp Act Riots, 1765. Until the summer of 1765, the colonists contented themselves with passing resolutions. There was little else they could do. They could not refuse to obey the law because it would not go into effect until November. They could not mob the stamp distributors because no one knew their names. In August, the names of the stamp distributors were published. Now at last it was possible to do something besides passing resolutions. In every colony, the people visited the stamp officers and told them to resign. If they refused, they were mobbed until they resigned. In Boston, the rioters were especially active. They did tested Thomas Hutchinson. He was Lieutenant Governor and Chief Justice and had been active in enforcing the navigation acts. The rioters attacked his house. They broke his furniture, destroyed his clothing, and made a bonfire of his books and papers. 110. The Stamp Act Congress, 1765. Colonial Congresses were no new thing. There had been many meetings of governors and delegates from colonial assemblies. The most important of the early Congresses was the Albany Congress of 1754. It was important because it proposed the plan of union. The plan was drawn up by Benjamin Franklin, but neither the king nor the colonists liked it and it was not adopted. All these earlier Congresses had been summoned by the king's officers to arrange expeditions against the French or to make treaties with the Indians. The Stamp Act Congress was summoned by the colonists to protest against the doings of king and parliament. 111. Work of the Stamp Act Congress. Delegates from nine colonies met at New York in October 1765. They drew up a declaration of the rights and grievances of the colonists. In this paper they declared that the colonists as subject of the British King had their same rights as British subjects living in Britain and were free from taxes except to those which they had given their consent. They claimed for themselves the right of trial by jury which might be denied under the Stamp Act. But the most important thing about the Congress was the fact that nine colonies had put aside their local jealousies and had joined in holding it. 112. Franklin's examination. Born in Boston, Benjamin Franklin ran away from home and settled at Philadelphia. By great exertion and wonderful shrewdness he rose from poverty to be one of the most important men in the city and colony. He was a printer, a newspaper editor, a writer, and a student of science. With kite and string he drew down the lightning from the clouds and showed that lightning was a discharge of electricity. He was now in London as agent for Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. His scientific and literary reputation gave him great influence. He was examined at the bar of the House of Commons. Many questions and answers were arranged beforehand between Franklin and his friends in the house but many questions were answered on the spur of the moment. Before the passage of the Stamp Act the feeling of the colonists toward Britain had been the best in the world so Franklin declared but now he said it was greatly altered. Still an army sent to America would find no rebellion there. It might indeed make one. In conclusion he said the repeal of the act would not make the colonists any more willing to pay taxes. 113. Repeal of the Stamp Act 1766. It chanced at this moment George III and George Greenville fell out. The king dismissed the minister and gave the marquee of Rockingham the headship of a new set of ministers. Now Rockingham and his friends needed aid from somebody to give them strength to outvote Greenville and the Tories. So when the question of what should be done about the Stamp Act came up they listened most attentively to what Mr. Pitt had to say. That great man said that the Stamp Act should be repealed wholly and at once. At the same time another law should be passed declaring that parliament had power to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever. The Rockingham's at once did as Mr. Pitt suggested. The Stamp Act was repealed the declaratory act was passed. In the colonies Pitt was praised as a deliverer. Statues of him were placed in the streets. Pictures of him were hung in public halls. But in reality the passage of the declaratory act was the beginning of more trouble. 114. The Townsend Acts 1767. The Rockingham ministers did what Mr. Pitt advised them to do. He then turned them out and made a ministry of his own. He was now Earl of Chatham and his ministry was the Chatham ministry. The most active of the Chatham ministers was Charles Townsend. He had the management of the finances and found them very hard to manage. So he hit upon a scheme of laying duties on wine, oil, glass, lead, painters colors and tea imported to the colonies. Mr. Pitt had said that parliament could regulate colonial trade. The best way to regulate trade was to tax it. At the same time that Townsend brought in this bill he brought in others to reorganize the colonial customs service and make it possible to collect the duties. He even provided that offenses against the revenue laws should be tried by judges appointed directly by the king without being submitted to a jury of any kind. 115. Colonial Opposition 1768. Many years before this parliament had made a law taxing all sugar brought into the continental colonies except sugar that had been made in the British West Indies. Had this law been carried out the trade of Massachusetts and other New England colonies would have been ruined but the law was not enforced. No one tried to enforce it except during the few months of vigor at the time of the arguments about rites of assistance. As taxes were not collected no one cared whether they were legal or not. Now it was plain that this tax and the Townsend duties were to be collected. The Massachusetts House of Representatives drew up a circular letter to the other colonial assemblies asking them to join in opposing the new taxes. The British government ordered the House to recall the letter. It refused and was dissolved. The other colonial assemblies were directed to take no notice of the circular letter. They replied at the first possible moment and were dissolved. 116. The new customs officers at Boston, 1768. The chief office of the new customs organization was fixed at Boston. Soon John Hancock's sloop Liberty sailed into the harbor with a cargo of Madeira wine. As Hancock had no idea of paying the duty the customs officers seized the sloop and towed her under the guns of a warship which was now in the harbor. Crowds of people now collected. They could not recapture the Liberty. They seized one of the warship's votes, carried it to the common, and had a famous bonfire. All this confusion frightened the chief's customs officers. They fled to the castle in the harbor and wrote to the government for soldiers to protect them. 117. The Virginia Resolves of 1769. Parliament now asked the king to have colonists accused of certain crimes brought to England for trial. This aroused the Virginians. They passed a set of resolutions known as the Virginia Resolves of 1769. These resolves asserted, one, that the colonists only had the right to tax the colonists. Two, that the colonists had the right to petition either by themselves or with the people of other colonies. And three, that no colonists ought to be sent to England for trial. 118. Non-importation Agreements 1769. When he learned what was going on, the Governor of Virginia dissolved the assembly. But the members met in the Raleigh Tavern nearby. There George Washington laid before them a written agreement to use. No British goods upon which duties had been paid. They all signed this agreement. Soon the other colonies joined Virginia and the Non-importation Agreement. English merchants found their trade growing smaller and smaller. They could not even collect their debts. For the colonial merchants said that trade in the colonies was so upset by the Townsend Acts that they could not sell their goods or collect the money owing to them. The British merchants petitioned Parliament to repeal the duties and Parliament answered them by repealing all the duties except the tax on T. End of Chapter 12. Chapter 13 Revolution Impending 119. The soldiers at New York and Boston Soldiers had been stationed at New York ever since the end of the French War because that was the most central point on the coast. The New Yorkers did not like to have the soldiers there very well because Parliament expected them to supply the troops with certain things without getting any money in return. The New York Assembly refused to supply them and Parliament suspended the Assembly's sittings. In 1768 two regiments came from New York to Boston to protect the customs officers. 120. The Boston Massacre 1770. There were not enough soldiers at Boston to protect the customs officers if the colonists really wish to hurt them. There were quite enough soldiers at Boston to get themselves and the colonists into trouble. On March 5th 1770 a crowd gathered around the soldiers stationed on King Street. Now State Street. There was snow on the ground and the boys began to throw snow and mud at the soldiers. The crowd grew bolder. Suddenly the soldiers fired on the people. They killed four colonists and wounded several more. Led by Samuel Adams the people demanded the removal of the soldiers to the fort in the harbor. Hutchinson was now governor. He offered to send one regimen out of the town. All or none said Adams and all were sent away. 120. Committees of correspondence. Up to this time the resistance of the colonists had been carried on in a half-hazard sort of way. Now committees of correspondence began to be appointed. These committees were of two kinds. First there were town committees of correspondence. These were invented by Samuel Adams and were first appointed in Massachusetts. But more important were the colonial committees of correspondence. The first of these was appointed by Virginia in 1769. At first few colonies followed Massachusetts and Virginia in appointing committees. But as one act of tyranny succeeded another, other colonies fell into line. By 1775 all the colonies were united by a complete system of committees of correspondence. 122. The t-tax. Of all the towns and duties only the tax on tea was left. It happened that the British East India Company had tons of tea in its London storehouses and was greatly in need of money. The government told the company that it might send tea to America without paying any taxes in England. But the three penny colonial tax would have to be paid in the colonies. In this way the colonists would get their tea cheaper than the people of England. But the colonists were not to be bribed into paying the tax in any such way. The East India Company sent over ship loads of tea. The tea ships were either sent back again or the tea was stored in some safe place where no one could get it. 123. The Boston Tea Party 1773. In Boston things did not go so smoothly. The agents of the East India Company refused to resign. The collector of the customs refused to give the ship's permission to sail away before the tea was landed. Governor Hutchinson refused to give the ship captains a pass to sail by the fort until the collector gave his permission. The commander at the fort refused to allow the ships to sail out of the harbor until they had the necessary papers. The only way to get rid of the tea was to destroy it. A party of patriots dressed as Indians went on board of the ships as they lay at the wharf, broke open the tea boxes, and threw the tea into the harbor. 124. Punishment of Massachusetts 1774. The British King, the British Government, and the mass of the British people were furious when they found out the Boston people had made tea with saltwater. Parliament at once went to work passing acts to punish the colonists. One act put an end to the Constitution of Massachusetts. Another act closed the port of Boston so tightly that the people could not bring hay from Charleston to give to their starving horses. A third act provided that soldiers who fired on the people should be tried in England. A fourth act compelled the colonists to feed and shelter the soldiers employed to punish them. 125. Sympathy with the Bostonians King George thought he could punish the Massachusetts people as much as he wished without the people of the other colonies objecting. It soon appeared that the people of the other colonies sympathized most heartedly with the Bostonians. They sent them sheep and rice, they sent them clothes. George Washington was now a rich man. He offered to raise a thousand men with his own money, march with them to Boston, and rescue the oppressed people from their oppressors. But the time for war had not yet come, although it was not far off. 126. The Quebec Act, 1774. In the same year that parliament passed the four acts to punish Massachusetts, it passed another act which affected the people of other colonies as well as those of Massachusetts. This was the Quebec Act. It provided that the land between the Ohio, the Mississippi, and the Great Lakes should be added to the province of Quebec. Now, this land was claimed by Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. These colonies were to be deprived of their rights to land in that region. The Quebec Act also provided for the establishment of a very strong government in that province. This seemed to be an attack on free institutions. All these things drove the colonists to unite. They resolved to hold a Congress where the leaders of several continental colonies might talk over matters and decide what should be done. 127. The first Continental Congress, 1774. The members of the Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, in 1774 in September. Never, except in the Federal Convention, have so many great men met together. The greatest delegation was that from Virginia. It included George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Richard Henry Lee. From Massachusetts came the two Adamses, John and Samuel. From New York came John Jay. From Pennsylvania, front came John Dickinson. Of all the greatest Americans, only Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were absent. 128. The American Association, 1774. It soon became clear that the members of Congress were opposed to any hasty action. They were not willing to begin war with Great Britain. Instead of so doing, they adopted a Declaration of Rights and formed the American Association. The Declaration of Rights was of slight importance, but the Association was of great importance, as the colonies joining it agreed to buy no more British goods. This policy was to be carried out by the committees of correspondence. Any colony refusing to join the Association should be looked upon as hostile to the liberties of this country and treated as an enemy. The American Association was the real beginning of the American Union. 129. The Association carried out, 1774 to 1775. It was soon evident that Congress informing the Association had done precisely what the people wished to have done. For instance, in Virginia committees were chosen in every county. They examined the merchant's books. They summoned before them persons suspected of disobeying the laws of Congress. Military companies were formed in every county and carried out the orders of the committees. The ordinary courts were entirely disregarded. In fact, the royal government had come to an end in the old dominion. 130. More punishment for Massachusetts. 1774 to 75. George III and his ministers refused to see that the colonies were practically united. On the contrary, they determined to punish the people of Massachusetts still further. Parliament passed acts forbidding the Massachusetts fishermen to catch fish and forbidding the Massachusetts traders to trade with the people of Virginia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and all foreign countries. The Massachusetts colonists were rebels. They should be treated as rebels. General Gage was given more soldiers in order to crush the rebellion. 131. Gage in Massachusetts 1774 to 75. General Gage found he had a good deal to do before he could begin to crush the rebellion. He had to find shelter for his soldiers. He also had to find food for them. The Boston Carpenters would not work for him. He had to bring carpenters from Halifax in New York to do his work. The farmers of eastern Massachusetts were as firm as the Boston Carpenters. They would not sell food to General Gage. So he had to bring food from England and from Halifax. He managed to buy or seize wood to warm the soldiers and hay to feed his horses. But the boats bringing these supplies to Boston were constantly upset in a most unlooked-for way. The colonists on their part elected a provincial congress to take the place of the regular government. The militia was reorganized and military stores gathered together. 132. Lexington and Concord April 19, 1775. Gage had said that with 10,000 men he could march all over Massachusetts. In April 1775 he began to crush the rebellion by sending a strong force to Concord to destroy stores which his spies told him had been collected there. The soldiers began their march in the middle of the night. But Paul Revere and William Dolls were before them. The regulars are coming was the cry. At Lexington the British found few militiamen drawn up on the village green. Someone had fired and a few Americans were killed on the British march to Concord. By this time the militiamen had gathered in large numbers. It was a hot day. The regulars were tired. They stopped to rest. Some of the militiamen attacked the regulars at Concord and when the British started on their homeward march the fighting began in earnest. Behind every wall and bit of rising ground were militiamen. One soldier after another was shot down and left behind. At Lexington the British met reinforcements or they would all have been killed or captured. Soon they started again. Again the fighting began. It continued until the survivors reached a place of safety under the guns of the warships anchored off Charleston. The Americans camped for the night at Cambridge and began the siege of Boston. And of Chapter 13. Chapters 14 and 15 of a short history of the United States. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia. Section 5 Chapter 14 of a short history of the United States by Edward Channing. The War of Independence 1775 to 1783. Chapter 14 Bunker Hill to Trenton 133 advantages of the British. At first sight it seems as if the Americans were very foolish to fight the British. There were five or six times as many people in the British Isles as there were in the continental colonies. The British government had a great standing army. The Americans had no regular army. The British government had a great navy. The Americans had no navy. The British government had quantities of powder, guns and clothing while the Americans had scarcely any military stores of any kind. Indeed there were so few guns in the colonies that one British officer thought if the few colonial gunsmiths could be bribed to go away the Americans would have no guns to fight with after a few months of warfare. 134 advantages of the Americans. All these things were clearly against the Americans but they had some advantages on their side. In the first place America was a long way off from Europe. It was very difficult and very costly to send armies to America and very difficult and very costly to feed the soldiers when they were fighting in America. In the second place the Americans usually fought on the defensive and the country over which the army's fault was made for defense. In New England Hill succeeded Hill. In the middle states River succeeded River. In the south Wilderness succeeded Wilderness. In the third place the Americans had many great soldiers. Washington, Green, Arnold, Morgan and Wayne were better soldiers than any in the British army. 135 disunion among the Americans. We are apt to think of the colonists as united in the contest with the British. In reality the well-to-do, the well-born and the well-educated colonists were as a rule opposed to independence. The opponents of the revolution were strongest into Carolinas and were weakest in New England. 136 siege of Boston. It was most fortunate that the British army was at Boston when the war began for Boston was about as bad a place for an army as could be found. In those days Boston was hardly more than an island connected with the mainland by a strip of gravel. Gage built a fort across the strip of ground. The Americans could not get in but they built a fort at the landward end and the British could not get out. On either side of Boston was a similar peninsula. One of these was called Dorchester Heights. The other was called Charlestown. Both overlooked Boston. To hold that town Gage must possess both Dorchester and Charlestown. If the Americans could occupy only one of these the British would have to abandon Boston. At the same moment Gage made up his mind to seize Dorchester and the Americans determined to occupy the Charlestown hills. The Americans moved first and the first battle was fought for the Charlestown hills. 137 Bunker Hill June 17th 1775. When the seamen on the British men of war waked up on the morning of June 17th the first thing they saw was a redoubt on the top of one of the Charlestown hills. The ships opened fire but in spite of the balls Colonel Prescott walked on top of the breastwork while his men went on digging. Gage sent three or four thousand men across the Charles River to Charlestown to drive the Deering Americans away. It took the whole morning to get them to Charlestown and then they had to eat their dinner. This delay gave the Americans time to send aid to Prescott especially when Stark and his New Hampshire men who posted themselves behind a breastwork of fence rails and hay. At last the British soldiers marched to the attack. When they came within good shooting distance Prescott gave the word to fire. The British line stopped hesitated broke and swept back. Again the soldiers marched to the attack and again they were beaten back. More soldiers came from Boston and a third time a British line marched up the hill. This time it could not be stopped for the Americans had no more powder. They had to give up the heel and escape as well as they could. One half of the British soldiers actually engaged in the assaults were killed or wounded. The Americans were defeated but they were encouraged and were willing to sell Gage as many hills as he wanted at the same price. 138 Washington in command July 1775. The Continental Congress was again sitting at Philadelphia. It took charge of the defense of the colonies. John Adams named Washington for commander in chief and he was elected. Washington took command of the army on Cambridge Common July 3rd 1775. He found everything in confusion. The soldiers of one colony were jealous of the soldiers of other colonies. Officers who had not been promoted were jealous of those who had been promoted. In the winter the army had to be made over. During all this time the people expected Washington to fight but he had not powder enough for half a battle. At last he got supplies in the following way. In the spring of 1775 Ethan Allen and his green mountain boys with the help of the people of western Massachusetts and Connecticut had captured Taken de Roga and Crown Point. These forts were filled with cannon and stores left from the French campaigns. Some of the cannon were now dragged by oxen over the snow and placed in forts around Boston. Captain Manley of the Massachusetts Navy captured a British brig loaded with power. Washington now could attack. He seized and held Dorchester Heights. The British could no longer stay in Boston. They went on board their ships and sailed away. 139 invasion of Canada 1775 to 76. While the siege of Boston was going on the Americans undertook the invasion of Canada. There were very few regular soldiers in Canada in 1775 and the Canadians were not likely to fight very hard for their British masters. So the leaders in Congress thought that if an American force should suddenly appear before Quebec the town might surrender. Montgomery with a small army was sent to capture Montréal and then to march down the St. Lawrence to Quebec. Benedict Arnold led another force through the main woods after tremendous exertions and terrible sufferings he reached Quebec. But the garrison had been warned of his coming. He blockaded the town and waited for Montgomery. The garrison was constantly increased for Arnold was not strong enough to fully blockade the town. At last Montgomery arrived. At night amidst a terrible snowstorm Montgomery and Arnold led their brave followers to the attack. They were beaten back with cruel loss. Montgomery was killed and Arnold was severely wounded. In the spring of 1776 the survivors of this little band of heroes were rescued at the cost of the lives of 5000 American soldiers. 140 British attack on Charleston 1776 In June 1776 a British fleet and army made an attack on Charleston South Carolina. This town has never been taken by attack from the sea. Sandbars guard the entrance of the harbor and the channels through these shoals lead directly to the end of Sullivan's Island. At that point the Americans built a fort of palmetto logs and sand. General Moultrie commanded at the fort and it was named in his honor Fort Moultrie. The British fleet sailed boldly in but the balls from the ship's gun were stopped by the soft palmetto logs. At one time the flag was shot away and fell down outside the fort but Sergeant Jasper rushed out seized the broken staff and again set it up on the rampart. Meantime General Clinton had landed on an island and was trying to cross with the soldiers to the further end of Sullivan's Island but the water was at first too shoal for the bolts. The soldiers jumped overboard to wade. Suddenly the water deepened and they had to jump aboard to save themselves from drowning. All this time the Americans were firing at them from the beach. General Clinton ordered a retreat. The fleet also sailed out. All that could get away and the whole expedition was abandoned. 141 Long Island in Brooklyn Heights 1776. The very day that the British left Boston Washington ordered five regiments to New York for he well knew that city would be the next point of attack but he need not have been in such a hurry. General Howe the new British commander in chief sailed first to Halifax and did not begin the campaign in New York until the end of August. He then landed his soldiers on Long Island and prepared to drive the Americans away. Marching in a roundabout way he cut the American army in two and captured one part of it. This brought him to the foot of Brooklyn Heights on the top was a fort. Probably Howe could have easily captured it but he had led in the field at Bunker Hill and had had enough of attacking forts defended by Americans so he stopped his soldiers with some difficulty. That night the wind blew a gale and the next day was foggy. The British fleet could not sail into the East River. Skillful fishermen safely ferried the rest of the American army across to New York. When at length the British marched to the attack there was no one left in the fort on Brooklyn Heights. 142 From the Hudson to the Delaware 1776. Even now with his blended fleet and great army Howe could have captured the Americans but he delayed so long that Washington got away in safety. Washington's army was now fast breaking up. Soldiers deserted by the hundreds. A severe action at White Plains only delayed the British advance. The fall of Fort Washington on the end of Manhattan Island destroyed all hope of holding anything near New York. Washington sent one part of his army to secure the highlands of the Hudson while the other part he retired across New Jersey to the southern side of the Delaware River. The end of the war seemed to be in sight. In December 1776 Congress gave the sole direction of the war to Washington and then left Philadelphia for a place of greater safety. 143 Trenton December 26 1776. Washington did not give up. On Christmas night 1776 he crossed the Delaware with a division of his army. A violent snowstorm was raging and the river was full of ice but Washington was there in person and the soldiers crossed. Then the storm changed to sleet and rain but on the soldiers marched. When the Hessian garrison at Trenton looked about them the next morning they saw that Washington and Green held the roads leading inland from the town. Stark and a few soldiers among them James Monroe held the bridge leading over to the Assan pink to the next British post. A few horsemen escaped before Stark could prevent them but all the foot soldiers were killed or captured. A few days later nearly 1,000 prisoners marched through Philadelphia. They were Germans who had been sold by their rulers to Britain's king to fight his battles. They were called Hessians by the Americans because most of them came from the little German state of Hessekassal. 144 Princeton January 1777. Trenton saved the revolution by giving the Americans renewed courage. General Howe sent Lord Cornwallis with a strong force to destroy the Americans. Washington with the main part of his army was now encamped on the southern side of the Assan pink. Cornwallis was on the other bank at Trenton leaving a few men to keep up the campfires and to throw up a slight fort by the bridge over the stream Washington led his army away by night toward Princeton. There he found several regiments hastening to Cornwallis. He drove them away and led his army to the Highlands of New Jersey where he would be free from attack. The British abandoned nearly all their posts in New Jersey and retired to New York. End of Chapter 14 Chapter 15 The Great Declaration and the French Alliance. 145 Growth of the Spirit of Independence The year 1776 is even more to be remembered for the doings of Congress than it is for the doings of the soldiers. The colonists loved England. They spoke of it as home. They were proud of the strength of the British Empire and glad to belong to it but their feelings rapidly changed when the British government declared them to be rebels made war upon them and hired foreign soldiers to kill them. They could no longer be subjects of George III. That was clear enough. They determined to declare themselves to be independent. Virginia led in this movement and the chairman of the Virginia delegation moved a resolution of independence. A committee was appointed to draw up a declaration. 146 The Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776. The most important members of this committee were Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Of these, Jefferson was the youngest and the least known but he had already drawn up a remarkable paper called A Summary View of the Rights of British America. The others asked him to write out a declaration. He sat down without book or notes of any kind and wrote out the great declaration in almost the same form in which it now stands. The other members of the committee proposed a few changes and then reported the declaration to Congress. There was a fierce debate in Congress over the adoption of the Virginia resolution for independence but finally it was adopted. Congress then examined the Declaration of Independence as reported by the committee. It made a few changes in the words and struck out a clause condemning the slave trade. The first paragraph of the declaration contains a short clear statement of the basis of the American system of government. It should be learned by heart by every American boy and girl and always kept in mind. The declaration was adopted on July 4th, 1776. A few copies were printed on July 5th with the signatures of John Hancock and Charles Thompson, President and Secretary of Congress. On August 2nd, 1776, the declaration was signed by the members of Congress. 147, the loss of Philadelphia, 1777. For some months after the Battle of Princeton there was little fighting but in the summer of 1777 Howell set out to capture Philadelphia. Instead of marching across New Jersey he placed his army on board ships and sailed to Chesapeake Bay. As soon as Washington learned what Howell was about he marched to Chad's Ford where the road from Chesapeake Bay to Philadelphia crossed Brandywine Creek. Howell moved his men as if about to attempt to cross the Ford. Meantime he sent Cornwallis with a strong force to cross the creek higher up. Cornwallis surprised the right wing of the American army, drove it back and Washington was compelled to retreat. Howell occupied Philadelphia and captured the forts below the city. Washington tried to surprise a part of the British army which was posted at Germantown but accidents and mist interfered. The Americans then retired to Valley Forge, a strong place in the hills not far from Philadelphia. 148, the army at Valley Forge, 1777 to 78. The sufferings of the soldiers during the following winter can never be overstated. They seldom had more than half enough to eat. Their clothes were in rags. Many of them had no blankets. Many more had no shoes. Washington did all he could do for them but Congress had no money and could not get any. At Valley Forge the soldiers were drilled by Baron Steuben a Prussian veteran. The army took the field in 1778 weak in numbers and poorly clad but what soldiers there were were as good as any soldiers to be found anywhere in the world. During that winter also an attempt was made to dismiss Washington from chief command and to give his place to General Gates but this attempt ended in failure. 149, Burgoyne's March to Saratoga, 1777. While Howell was marching to Philadelphia General Burgoyne was marching southward from Canada. It had been intended that Burgoyne and Howell should seize the line of the Hudson and cut New England off from the other states but the orders reached Howell too late and he went southward to Philadelphia. Burgoyne on his part was fairly successful at first for the Americans abandoned post after post but when he reached the southern end of Lake Champlain and started on his march to the Hudson his troubles began. The way ran through a wilderness. General Shuler had had trees cut down across its woodland paths and had done his work so well that it took Burgoyne about a day to march the mile and a half. This gave the Americans time to gather from all quarters and far his southward way but many of the soldiers had no faith in Shuler and Congress gave the command to General Horatio Gates. 150. Bennington, 1777. Burgoyne had with him many Calvary men but they had no horses. The army too was sadly in need of food so Burgoyne sent a force of dismounted dragoons to Bennington in southern Vermont to seize horses and food. It happened however that General Stark with soldiers from New Hampshire, Vermont and western Massachusetts was nearer Bennington than Burgoyne supposed. They killed or captured all the British soldiers. They then drove back with great loss a second party which Burgoyne had sent to support the first one. 151. Arisconi, 1777. Meantime St. Liger with a large body of Indians and Canadian frontiersmen was marching to join Burgoyne by the way of Lake Ontario and the Mohawk Valley. Near the site of the present city of Rome in New York was Fort Shuler garrisoned by an American force. St. Liger stopped to besiege this fort. The settlers on the Mohawk marched to relieve the garrison and St. Liger defeated them at Arisconi. But his Indians now grew tired of the siege especially when they heard that Arnold with a strong army was coming. St. Liger marched back to Canada and left Burgoyne to his fate. 152. Saratoga, 1777. Marching southward on the western side of the Hudson Burgoyne and his army came upon the Americans in a forest clearing called Freeman's Farm. Led by Daniel Morgan and Benedict Arnold the Americans fought so hard that Burgoyne stopped where he was and fortified the position. This was on September 19th. The army posted itself nearby on Bemis' Heights. For weeks the two armies faced each other. Then on October 7th the Americans attacked. Again, Arnold led his men to victory. They captured a fort in the center of the British line and Burgoyne was obliged to retreat. But when he reached the crossing place of the Hudson to his dismay he found a strong body of New Englanders with artillery on the opposite bank. Gates had followed the retiring British and soon Burgoyne was practically surrounded. His men were starving and on October 17th he surrendered. 153. The French Alliance, 1778. Burgoyne's defeat made the French think that the Americans would win their independence. So Dr. Franklin, who was at Paris, was told that France would recognize the independence of the United States, would make treaties with the new nation and give aid openly. Great Britain at once declared war on France. The French lent large sums of money to the United States. They sent large armies and splendid fleets to America. Their aid greatly shortened the struggle for independence, but the Americans would probably have won without French aid. 154. Monmouth, 1778. The first result of the French Alliance was the retreat of the British from Philadelphia to New York. As Sir Henry Clinton, the new British commander, led his army across the jerseys, Washington determined to strike it a blow. This he did near Monmouth. The attack was a failure owing to the treason of General Charles Lee who led the advance. Washington reached the front only in time to prevent a dreadful disaster, but he could not bring about victory and Clinton seized the first moment to continue his march to New York. There were other expeditions and battles in the north, but none of these had any important effect on the outcome of the war. 155. Clark's Western Campaign, 1778-79. The Virginians had long taken great interest in the western country. There were hardy pioneers across the mountains and begun the settlement of Kentucky. The Virginians now determined to conquer the British posts in the country northwest of the Ohio. The command was given to George Rogers Clark. Gathering a strong band of hardy frontiersmen, he set out on his dangerous expedition. He seized the posts in Illinois and Vincent surrendered to him. Then the British governor of the northwest came from Detroit with a large force and recaptured Vincent's. Clark set out from Illinois to surprise the British. It was the middle of the winter in some places the snow lay deep on the ground. Then came the early floods. For days the Americans marched and watered up to their waists. At night they saw some little hill where they could sleep on dry ground, then on again through the flood. They surprised the British garrison at Vincent's and forced it to surrender. That was the end of the contest for the northwest. 156. Arnold and Andre, 1780. Of all the leaders under Washington none was abler in battle than Benedict Arnold. Unhappily, he was always in trouble about money. He was distrusted by Congress and was not promoted. At Siratoga he quarreled with Gates and was dismissed from his command. Later he became military governor of Philadelphia and was censured by Washington for his doings there. He then secured the command of West Point and offered to surrender the post to the British. Major Andre, of Clinton's staff, met Arnold to arrange the final details. On his return journey to New York Andre was arrested and taken before Washington. The American commander asked his generals if Andre was a spy. They replied that Andre was a spy and he was hanged. Arnold escaped to New York and became a general in the British Army. End of chapter 15. Chapters 16 and 17 of a short history of the United States. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia. A short history of the United States by Edward Channing. Chapter 16. Independence. 157. Fall of Charleston, 1780. It seemed quite certain that Clinton could not conquer the northern states with the forces given him. In the south there were many loyalists. Resistance might not be so stiff there. At all events Clinton decided to attempt the conquest of the south. Savannah was easily seized 1778 and the French and Americans could not retake it in 1779. In the spring of 1780 Clinton with a large army landed on the coast between Savannah and Charleston. He marched over to Charleston and besieged it from the land side. The Americans held out for a long time but they were finally forced to surrender. Clinton then sailed back to New York and left Lord Cornwallis the further conquest of the Carolinas. 158. Gate defeat at Camden 1780. Cornwallis had little trouble in occupying the greater part of South Carolina. There was no one to oppose him for the American army had been captured with Charleston. Another small army was got together in North Carolina and the command given to Gates, the victor at Saratoga. One night both Gates and Cornwallis set out to attack the others camp. The two armies met at Daybreak, the British having the best position. But this really made no difference for Gates' Virginia militia men ran away before the British came within fighting distance. The North Carolina militia followed the Virginians. Only the regulars from Maryland and Delaware were left. They fought on like heroes until their leader, General John DeKalb, fell with 17 wounds. Then the survivors surrendered. Gates himself had been carried far to the rear by the rush of the fleeing militia. 159. Kings Mountain October 1780. Cornwallis now thought that resistance surely was at an end. He sent an expedition to the settlements on the lower slopes of the Allegheny Mountains to get recruits for there were many loyalists in that region. Suddenly from the mountains and from the settlements in Tennessee rode a body of armed frontiersmen. They found the British soldiers encamped on the top of Kings Mountain. In about an hour they had killed or captured every British soldier. 160. The Cowpins 1781. General Green was now sent to the south to take charge of the resistance to Cornwallis. A great soldier and a great organizer, Green found that he needed all his abilities. His coming gave new spirits to the survivors of Gates' army. He gathered militia from all directions and marched toward Cornwallis. Dividing his army into two parts he sent General Daniel Morgan to threaten Cornwallis from one direction while he threatened him from another direction. Cornwallis at once became uneasy and sent Tarleton to drive Morgan away but the hero of many hard fought battles was not easily frightened. He drew up his little force so skillfully that in a very few minutes the British were nearly all killed or captured. 161. The Guilford Campaign 1781. Cornwallis now made a desperate attempt to capture the Americans but Green and Morgan joined forces and marched diagonally across North Carolina. Cornwallis followed so closely that frequently the two armies seemed to be one. When, however, the river Dan was reached there was an end of marching for Green had caused all the boats to be collected at one spot. His men crossed and kept the boats on their side of the river. Soon Green found himself strong enough to cross the river again to North Carolina. He took up a very strong position near Guilford Courthouse. Cornwallis attacked. The Americans made a splendid defense before Green ordered a retreat but and the British won the battle of Guilford but their loss was so great that another victory of the same kind would have destroyed the British army. As it was, Green had dealt it such a blow that Cornwallis left his wounded at Guilford and set out as fast as he could for the Seacoast. Green pursued him for some distance and then marched southward to Camden. 162. Green's later campaigns. At Hopcrocks Hill near Camden the British soldiers who had been left behind by Cornwallis attacked Green but he beat them off and began the siege of a fort on the frontier of South Carolina. The British then marched up from Charleston and Green had to fall back. Then the British marked back to Charleston and abandoned the interior of South Carolina to the Americans. There was only one more battle in the south at Utah Springs. Green was defeated there too but the British abandoned the rest of the Carolinas in Georgia with the exception of Savannah and Charleston. In these wonderful campaigns with a few good soldiers, Green had forced the British from the southern states. He had lost every battle. He had won every campaign. 163. Cornwallis in Virginia 1781. There were already two small armies in Virginia. The British under Arnold, the Americans under Lafayette. Cornwallis now marched northward from Wilmington and added the troops in Virginia to his own force. Arnold he sent to New York. Cornwallis then set out to capture Lafayette and his men. Together they marched from Saltwater across Virginia to the mountains and then they marched back to Saltwater again. Cornwallis had called Lafayette the boy and had declared that quote the boy should not escape him. Finally Cornwallis fortified Yorktown and Lafayette settled down at Williamsburg and there they still were in September 1781. 164. Plans of the Allies. In 1780 the French government had sent over a strong army under Rauschenbaugh. It was landed at Newport. It remained there a year to protect the vessels in which it had come from France from a capture by a stronger British fleet that had once appeared off the mouth of the harbor. Another French fleet and another French army were in the West Indies. In the summer of 1781 it became possible to unite all these French forces and with the Americans to strike a crushing blow at the British. Just at this moment Cornwallis shut himself up in Yorktown and was determined to beseech him there. 165. Yorktown September to October 1781. Rauschenbaugh led his men to New York enjoying the main American army. Washington now took command of the Allied forces. He pretended that he was about to attack New York and deceived Clinton so completely that Clinton ordered Cornwallis to send some of his soldiers to New York. But the Allies were marching southward through Philadelphia before Clinton realized what they were about. The French West India fleet under Degrasse reached one end of the Chesapeake Bay at the same time the Allies reached the other end. The British fleet attacked it and was beaten off. There was now no hope for Cornwallis. No help could reach him by sea. The soldiers of the Allies outnumbered him two to one. On October 17, 1781 four years to a day since the surrender of Burgoyne a drummer boy appeared on the rampart of Yorktown and beat a parley. Two days later the British soldiers marched out to the good old British tune of The World Turned Upside Down and laid down their arms. 166. The Treaty of Peace 1783. This disaster put an end to British hopes of conquering America but it was not until 1783 that Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay brought the negotiations for peace to an end. Great Britain acknowledged the independence of the United States. The territory of the United States was defined as extending from the Great Lakes to the 31st parallel of latitude and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. Spain had joined the United States in France in the war. Spanish soldiers had conquered Florida and Spain kept Florida at the peace. In this way Spanish, Florida, and Louisiana surrounded the United States on the south and the west. British territory bounded the United States on the north and the northeast. And a chapter 15. Part 6. The Critical Period 1783 to 1789. Chapter 17. The Confederation 1783 to 1787. 167. Problems of Peace. The war was over but the future of the American nation was still uncertain. Indeed one can hardly say that there was an American nation in 1783 while the war lasted a sense of danger bound together the people of the different states. But as soon as this peril ceased their old jealousies and self-seekings came back. There was no national government to smooth over these differences and to compel the states to act justly towards one another. There was indeed the Congress of the Confederation but it is absurd to speak of it as a national government. 168. The Articles of Confederation 1781. The Continental Congress began drawing up the Articles of Confederation in June 1776. But there were long delays and each month's delay made it more impossible to form a strong government. It fell out in this way that the Congress of the Confederation had no real power. It could not make a state or an individual pay money or do anything at all. In the course of a few years Congress asked the states to give it over six million dollars to pay the debts and expenses of the United States. It received about a million dollars and was fortunate to get that. 169. A Time of Distress It is not right to speak too harshly of the refusal of the state governments to give Congress the money it asked for as the people of the states were in great distress and had no money to give. As soon as peace was declared British merchants sent over great quantities of goods. People bought these goods for everyone thought that good times were coming now that the war was over. But the British government did everything it could do to prevent the coming of good times. The prosperity of the northern states was largely based on profitable trade with the West Indies. The British government put an end to that trade. No gold and silver came to the United States from the West Indies while gold and silver constantly went out of the country to pay debts due to British merchants. Soon gold and silver grew scarce and those who had any promptly hid it. The real reason of all this trouble was the lack of a strong national government which could have compelled the British government to open its ports to American commerce. But the people only saw that money was scarce and called upon the state legislatures to give them paper money. 170. Paper Money Most of the state legislatures did what they were asked to do. They printed quantities of paper money. They paid the public expenses with it and sometimes lent it to individuals without much security for its repayment. Before long this paper money began to grow less valuable. For instance on a certain day a man could buy a bag of flour for five dollars. In three months time a bag of flour might cost him ten dollars. Soon it became difficult to buy flour for any number of paper dollars. 171. Tender Laws The people then clamored for tender laws. These were laws which would make it lawful for them to tender or offer paper money in exchange for flour or other things. In some cases it was made lawful to tender paper money and payments of debts which had been made when gold and silver were still in use. The merchants now shut up their shops and business was almost ceased. The lawyers only were busy. For those to whom the money was owed tried to get it paid before the paper money became utterly worthless. The courts were crowded and the prisons were filled with poor debtors. 172. Stay Laws Now the cry was for stay laws. These were laws to prevent those to whom money was due from enforcing their rights. These laws promptly put an end to whatever business was left. The only way that any business could be carried on was by barter. For example a man who had a bushel of wheat that he did not want for his family would exchange it for three or four bushels of potatoes or four or five days of labor. In some states the legislators passed very severe laws to compel people to receive paper money. In one state, indeed, no one could vote who would not receive paper money. 173. Shays Rebellion 1786-87 In Massachusetts especially the discontent was very great. The people were angry with the judges for sending men to prison who did not pay their debts. Crowds of armed men visited the judges and compelled them to close the courts. The leader in this movement was Daniel Shays. He even threatened to seize the United States arsenal at Springfield. By this time Governor Baldoin and General Lincoln had also gathered a small force of soldiers. In the midst of winter through snowstorms and over terrible roads Lincoln marched with his men. He drove Shays from place to place, captured his followers, and put down the rebellion. There were risings in other states especially in North Carolina, but Shays' rebellion in Massachusetts was the most important of them all because it convinced the New Englanders that a stronger national government was necessary. 174. Claims to Western lands The confederation seemed to be falling to pieces that it did not actually fall to pieces was largely due to the fact that all the states were interested in the settlement of the region northwest of the Ohio River. It will be well to stop a moment and see how this came about. Under their old charters Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia had claims to lands west of the Alleghenies. Between 1763 and 1776 the British government had paid slight heed to these claims, but Daniel Boone and other colonists had settled west of the mountains and what are now the states of Kentucky and Tennessee. When the revolution began the states having claims to Western lands at once put them forward and New York also claimed a right to about one half of the disputed territory. Naturally the states that had no claims to these lands had quite different views. The Marylanders, for example, thought that the Western lands should be regarded as national territory and used for the common benefit. Maryland refused to join the confederation until New York had ceded her claims to the United States and Virginia had proposed a session of the territory claimed by her. 175. The land sessions. In 1784 Virginia gave up her claims to the land northwest of the Ohio River with the exception of certain large tracks which she reserved for her veteran soldiers. Massachusetts ceded her claims in 1785. The next year 1786 Connecticut gave up her claims but she reserved a large tract of land directly west of Pennsylvania. This was called the Connecticut Reserve or more often the Western Reserve. South Carolina and North Carolina ceded their lands in 1787 and 1790 and finally Georgia gave up her claims to Western lands in 1802. 176. Passage of the Ordinance of 1787. What should be done with the lands which in this way had come into the possession of the people of all the states? It was quite impossible to divide these lands among the people of the 13 states. They never could have agreed as to the amount due to each state. In 1785 Congress took the first step. It passed a law or an ordinance for the government of the territory northwest of the Ohio River. This ordinance wasn't perfect and few persons immigrated to the west. There were many persons who wished to immigrate from the old states to the new region but they were unwilling to go unless they felt sure they would not be treated by Congress as the British government had treated the people of the original states. Dr. Cutler of Massachusetts laid these matters before Congress and did his work so well that Congress passed the new ordinance. This was in 1787. The ordinance is therefore called the Ordinance of 1787. It was so well suited to its purpose that nearly all the territories of the United States have been settled and governed under its provisions. It will be well to study this great document at more length. 177. The Ordinance of 1787. In the first place the ordinance provided for the formation of one territory to be called the territory northwest of the Ohio. But it is more often called the Northwest Territory or simply the Old Northwest. At first it was to be governed by the persons appointed by Congress but it was further provided that when settlers should arrive in sufficient numbers they should enjoy self-government. When fully settled the territory should be divided into five states. These should be admitted to the confederation on a footing of equality with the original states. The settlers in the territory should enjoy full rights of citizenship. Education should be encouraged. Slavery should never be permitted. This last provision is especially important as it saved the Northwest to freedom. In this way a new political organization was invented. It was called a territory. It was really a colony but it differed from all other colonies because in time it would become a state on a footing of entire equality with the parent states. End of chapter 17. Chapter 18 and 19 of a short history of the United States. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia. A short history of the United States by Edward Channing. Chapter 18. The making of the Constitution. 1787 to 1789. 178. Necessity for a new government. At this very moment a convention was making a constitution to put an end to the confederation itself. It was quite clear that something must be done or the state soon would be fighting one another. Attempt after attempt had been made to amend the articles of confederation so as to give Congress more power. But every attempt had failed because the consent of every state was required to amend the articles. And one state or another had objected to every amendment that had been proposed. It was while affairs were in this condition that the Federal Convention met at Philadelphia in May 1787. 179. James Madison. Of all the members of the convention James Madison of Virginia best deserves the title of Father of the Constitution. He drew up the Virginia plan which was adopted as the basis of the new constitution. He spoke convincingly for the plan in the convention. He did more than anyone else to secure the ratification of the constitution by Virginia. He kept a careful set of notes of the debates of the convention which show us precisely how the constitution was made. With Alexander Hamilton and John Jay he wrote a series of papers which is called The Federalist and is still the best guide to the constitution. 180. Other Fathers of the Constitution. George Washington was chosen as president of the convention. He made a few speeches but the speeches that he made were very important. And the mere fact that he approved the constitution had a tremendous influence throughout the country. The oldest man in the convention was Benjamin Franklin. His long experience in politics and diplomacy with his natural shrewdness made him an unrivaled manager of men. From all the states came able men. In fact with the exception of John Adams, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson the strongest men in political life were in the federal convention. Never in the history of the world have so many great political leaders learned students of politics and shrewd businessmen gathered together. The result of their labors was the most marvelous product of political wisdom that the world has ever seen. 181. Plans for a national government. As soon as the convention was in working order Governor Randolph of Virginia presented Madison's plan for a national government. Charles Pinkney of South Carolina also brought forward a plan. His scheme was more detailed than Madison's plan was but like it it provided for a government with supreme legislative, executive and judicial powers. On May 30th the convention voted that a national government ought to be established consisting of a supreme legislative, executive and judiciary. It next decided that the legislative department should consist of two houses but when the delegates began to talk over the details they began to disagree. 182. Disagreement as to representation. The Virginia plan proposed that representation in one branch of the new Congress should be divided among the states according to the amount of money each state paid into the national treasury or according to the number of free inhabitants of each state. The Delaware delegates at once said they must withdraw. In June Governor Patterson of New Jersey brought forward a plan which had been drawn up by the delegates from the smaller states. It is always called however the New Jersey plan. It proposed simply to amend the Articles of Confederation so as to give Congress more power. After a long debate the New Jersey plan was rejected. 183. The compromise as to representation. The discussion now turned on the question of representation in the two houses of Congress. After a long debate and a good deal of excitement Benjamin Franklin and Roger Sherman proposed a compromise. This was the members of the house of representatives should be apportioned among the states according to their population and should be elected directly by the people. In the Senate they proposed that each state regardless of size population or wealth should have two members. The senators representing the states would fittingly be chosen by the state legislatures. It was agreed that the states should be equally represented in the Senate but it was difficult to reach a conclusion as to the apportionment of representatives in the House. 184. Compromise as to apportionment. Should the members of the House of Representatives be distributed among the states according to population? At first sight the answer seemed to be perfectly clear but the real question was should slaves who had no vote be counted as part of the population? It was finally agreed that slaves should be counted as three-fifths of their real number. This rule was called the federal ratio. The result of this rule was to give the southern slave states representation in Congress out of all proportion to their voting population. 185. Compromise as to the slave trade. When the subject of the powers to be given to Congress came to be discussed there was even greater excitement. The Northerners wanted Congress to have the power to regulate commerce but the Southerners opposed it because they feared Congress would use this power to put an end to the slave trade. John Rutledge of South Carolina even went so far as to say unless this question was settled in favor of the slaveholders the slave states would not be parties to the union. In the end this matter also was compromised by providing that Congress could not prohibit the slave trade until 1808. These were the three great compromises but there were compromises on so many smaller points that we cannot even mention them here. 186. Franklin's prophecy. It was with a feeling of real relief that the delegates finally came to the end of their labors. As they were putting their names to the Constitution Franklin pointed to a rising sun that was painted on the wall behind the presiding officer's chair. He said that painters often found it difficult to show the difference between a rising sun and a setting sun. I have often and often said the old statesman looked at that behind the president without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting but now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun and so indeed it has proved to be. 187. The Constitution. It will be well now to note some of the points in which the new constitution was unlike the old articles of confederation. In the first place the government of the confederation had to do only with the states. The new government would deal directly with individuals. For instance when the old congress needed money it called on the states to get it. If a state refused to give any money Congress could remonstrate and that was all. The new government could order individuals to pay taxes. Anyone who refused to pay his tax would be tried in a United States court and compelled to pay or go to prison. In the second place the old government had almost no executive powers. The new government would have a very strong executive in the person of the president of the United States. 188. The Supreme Court. But the greatest difference of all was to be found in the Supreme Court of the United States provided in the Constitution. The new congress would have very large powers of making laws but the words defining these powers were very hard to understand. It was the duty of the Supreme Court to say what these words meant. Now the judges of the Supreme Court are very independent. It is almost impossible to remove a judge of this court and the Constitution provides that his salary cannot be reduced while he holds office. It fell out that under the lead of Chief Justice John Marshall the Supreme Court defined the doubtful words in the Constitution so as to give the greatest amount of power to the Congress of the United States. As the laws of the United States are the supreme laws of the land it will be seen how important this action of the Supreme Court has been. 189. Objections to the Constitution. The great strength of the Constitution alarmed many people. Patrick Henry declared that the government under the new Constitution would be a national government and not a federal government at all. Other persons objected to the Constitution because it took the control of affairs out of the hands of the people. For example the senators were chosen by the state legislators and the president was to be elected in a roundabout way by presidential electors. Others objected to the Constitution because there was no bill of rights attached to it. They pointed out for instance that there was nothing in the Constitution to prevent Congress from passing laws to destroy the freedom of press. Finally a great many people objected to the Constitution because there was no provision in it reserving to the states or to the people those powers that were not expressly given to the new government. 190. The first ten amendments. These defects seem to be so grave that patriots like Patrick Henry, R. H. Lee, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock could not bring themselves to vote for its adoption. Conventions of delegates were elected by the people of the several states to ratify or to reject the Constitution. The excitement was intense. It seemed as if the Constitution would not be adopted but a way was found out of the difficulty. It was suggested that the conventions should consent to the adoption of the Constitution but should at the same time propose amendments which would do away with many of these objections. This was done. The first Congress under the Constitution and the state legislatures adopted most of these amendments and they became a part of the Constitution. There were ten amendments in all and they should be studied as carefully as the Constitution itself is studied. 191. The Constitution adopted. 1787-88. In June 1788 New Hampshire and Virginia adopted the Constitution. They were the ninth and tenth states to take this action. The Constitution provided that it should go into effect when it should be adopted by nine states. That is, of course, it should go into effect only between those states. Preparations were now made for the organization of the new government but this took some time. Washington was unanimously elected president and was inaugurated in April 1789. By that time North Carolina and Rhode Island were the only states which had not adopted the Constitution and come under the new roof as it was called. In a year or two they adopted it also and the union of the 13 original states was complete. End of chapter 18. Part 7. The Federalist Supremacy 1789-1801. Chapter 19. Organization of the Government. 192. Washington elected president. In the early years under the Constitution the presidents and vice presidents were elected in the following manner. First each state chose presidential electors usually by vote of its legislature. Then the electors of each state came together and voted for two persons without saying which of the two should be president. When all the electoral votes were counted the person having the largest number provided that it was more than half of the whole number of electoral votes was declared president. The person having the next largest number became vice president. At the first election every elector voted for Washington. John Adams received the next largest number of votes and became vice president. 193. Washington's journey to New York. At 10 o'clock on the morning of April 14th 1789 Washington left Mount Vernon and set out for New York. Wherever he passed the people poured forth to greet him. At Trenton, New Jersey a triumphal arch had been erected. The schoolgirls strewed flowers in its path and sang an ode written for the occasion. A barge manned by 13 pilots met him at the water's edge and bore him safely to New York. 194. The first inauguration April 30th 1789. Long before the time set for the inauguration ceremonies the streets around Federal Hall were closely packed with sightseers. Washington and a suit of velvet with white silk stockings came out on the balcony and took the oath of office ordered in the Constitution. I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Cannon roared forth a salute and Chancellor Livingston turned to the people and proclaimed Long Live George Washington President of the United States. Re-entering the hall Washington read a simple and solemn address. 195. The first cabinet Washington appointed Thomas Jefferson Secretary of State. Since writing the great declaration Jefferson had been Governor of Virginia and American Minister at Paris. The Secretary of the Treasury was Alexander Hamilton. Born in the British West Indies he had come to New York to attend King's College now Columbia University. For Secretary of War Washington selected Henry Knox. He had been Chief of Artillery during the Revolution. Since then he had been head of the War Department. Edward Randolph became Attorney General. He had introduced the Virginia Plan of Union into the Federal Convention but he had not signed the Constitution in its final form. These four officers formed the cabinet. There was also a Postmaster General but his office was of slight importance at the time. 196. Appointments to office. The president now appointed the necessary officers to execute the national laws. These were mostly men who had been prominent in the Revolutionary War. For instance John Jay was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and General Lincoln was appointed the collector of customs at Boston. It was in having officers of its own to carry out its laws that the new government seemed to the people to be so unlike the old government. Formerly if Congress wanted anything done it called on the states to do it. Now Congress by law authorized the United State officials to do their tasks. The difference was a very great one and it took the people some time to realize what a great change had been made. 197. The question of titles. The first fiercely contested debate in the new Congress was over the question of titles. John Adams the Vice President and the presiding officer of the Senate began the conflict by asking the Senate how he should address the President. One Senator suggested that the President should be entitled his Patriotic Majesty. Other Senators proposed that he should be addressed as Your Highness the President of the United States and Protector of their Liberties. Fortunately the House of Representatives had the first chance to address Washington and simply called him Mr. President of the United States. 198. Ceremonies and Progresses. Washington liked a good deal of ceremony and was stiff and aristocratic. He soon gave receptions or levies as they were called. To these only persons who had tickets were admitted. Washington stood on one side of the room and bowed stiffly to each guest as he was announced. When all were assembled the entrance doors were closed. The President then slowly walked around the room saying something pleasant to each person. In 1789 he made a journey through New England. Everywhere he was received by Guards of Honor and was splendidly entertained. At one place an old man greeted him with God Bless Your Majesty. This was all natural enough for Washington was first in the hearts of his countrymen. But many good men were afraid that the new government would turn out to really be a monarchy. 199. The First Tariff Act 1789. The first important business that Congress took in hand was a bill for raising revenue and a lively debate began. Representatives from New England and the middle states wanted protection from their commerce and their struggling manufacturers. Representatives from the southern states opposed all protective duties as harmful to agriculture which was the only important pursuit of the Southerners. But the Southerners would have been glad to have a duty placed on hemp. This the New Englanders opposed because it would increase the cost of rigging ships. The Pennsylvanians were eager for a duty on iron and steel. But the New Englanders opposed this duty because it would add to the cost of building a ship. And the Southerners opposed it because it would increase the cost of agricultural tools. And so it was as to nearly every duty that was proposed. But duties must be laid and the only thing that could be done was to compromise in every direction. Each section got something that it wanted, gave up a great deal that it wanted, and agreed to something that it did not want at all. And so it has been with every tariff act from that day to this. 200. The First Census 1791. The Constitution provided that representatives should be distributed among the states according to population as modified by the federal ratio. To do this, it was necessary to find out how many people there were in each state. In 1791, the First Census was taken. By that time, both North Carolina and Rhode Island had joined the Union, and Vermont had not been admitted as the 14th state. It appeared that there were nearly 4 million people in the United States, or not as many as 100 years later lived around the shores of New York Harbor. There were then about 700,000 slaves in the country. Of these, only 50,000 were in the states north of Maryland. The country, therefore, was already divided into two sections. One where slavery was of little importance, and another where it was of great importance. 201. The New States. The first new state to be admitted to the Union was Vermont. 1791. The land which formed this state was claimed by New Hampshire and by New York. But during the Revolution, the Green Mountain Boys had declared themselves independent and had drawn up a constitution. They now applied to Congress for admission to the Union as a separate state. The next year, Kentucky came into the Union. This was originally part of Virginia, and the colonists had brought their slaves with them to their new homes. Kentucky, therefore, was a slave state. Vermont was a free state, and its constitution forbade slavery. 202. The National Debt. The national debt was the price of independence. During the war, Congress had been too poor to pay gold and silver for what it needed to carry on the war, so it had given promises to pay at some future time. These promises to pay were called by various names as bonds, certificates of indebtedness, and paper money. Taken together, they formed what was called the domestic debt because it was owed to persons living in the United States. There was also a foreign debt. This was owed to the King of France and to other foreigners who had lent money to the United States. 203. Hamilton's Financial Policy. Alexander Hamilton was the ablest secretary of the Treasury the United States has ever had. To give people confidence in the new government, he proposed to redeem the old certificates and bonds, dollar for dollar, in new bonds. To this plan there was violent objection. Most of the original holders of the certificates and bonds had sold them long ago. They were now mainly held by speculators who had paid about 30 or 40 cents for each dollar. Why should the speculator get one dollar for that which had cost him only 30 or 40 cents? Hamilton insisted that his plan was the only way to place the public credit on a firm foundation and it was finally adopted. 204. Assumption of State Debt. A further part of Hamilton's original scheme aroused even greater opposition. During the Revolutionary War, the states too had become heavily in debt. They had furnished soldiers and supplies to Congress. Some of them had undertaken expeditions at their own expense. Virginia, for example, had borne all the costs of Clark's conquest to the Northwest. She had later ceded nearly all her rights in the Congress territory to the United States. These debts had been incurred for the benefit of the people as a whole. Would it not then be fair for the people of the United States as a whole to pay them? Hamilton thought that it would. It chanced, however, that the Northern states had a much larger debt than had the Southern states. One result of Hamilton's scheme would be to relieve the Northern states of a part of their burdens and to increase the burdens of the Southern states. The Southerners therefore were strongly opposed to the plan. The North Carolina representatives reached New York just in time to vote against it and that part of Hamilton's plan was defeated. 205. The National Capital. In these days of fast express trains, it makes little difference whether one is going to Philadelphia or to Baltimore. Only a few hours more or less in a comfortable railroad car. But in 1791, it made a great deal of difference whether one were going to Philadelphia or to Baltimore. Traveling was especially hard in the South. There were few roads or taverns in that part of the country and those few were bad. The Southerners were anxious to have the National Capital as far south as possible. They were also opposed to the assumption of the state debts by the National Government. Now it happened that the Northerners were in favor of the assumption of the debts and did not care very much where the National Capital might be. In the end, Jefferson and Hamilton made a deal, the first of its kind in our history. Enough Southerners voted for the assumption bill to pass it. The Northerners on their part agreed that the temporary seat of government should be at Philadelphia and at the permanent seat of government on the Potomac. Virginia and Maryland at once seated enough land to form a federal district. This was called the District of Columbia. Soon, preparations were begun to build a capital city there, the city of Washington. 2SX, the first bank of the United States. Two parts of Hamilton's plan were now adopted. To the third part of his scheme, there was even more opposition. This was the establishment of a great bank of the United States. The government in 1790 had no place in which to keep its money. Instead of establishing government treasuries, Hamilton wanted a great national bank controlled by the government. This bank could establish branches in important cities. The government's money could be deposited at any of these branches and could be paid out by checks sent from the treasury. Furthermore, people could buy a part of the stock of the bank with the new bonds of the United States. This would make the people more eager to own the bonds and so would increase their price. For all these reasons, Hamilton thought the bank would be very useful and therefore necessary and proper for carrying out all of the powers given by the Constitution to the national government. Jefferson, however, thought that the words necessary and proper meant necessary and not useful. The bank was not necessary according to the ordinary use of the word. Congress, therefore, had no business to establish it. After thinking the matter over, Washington signed the bill and it became a law. But Jefferson had sounded the alarm. Many persons agreed with him. Many others agreed with Hamilton. Two great political parties were formed and began the contest for power that has been going on ever since. End of chapter 19.