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The Revolutionary Movement in New York, 1773–1777

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The Revolutionary Movement in New York, 1773–1777 University of Kentucky UKnowledge United States History History 1966 The Road to Independence: The Revolutionary Movement in New York, 1773–1777 Bernard Mason State University of New York at Binghamton Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Mason, Bernard, "The Road to Independence: The Revolutionary Movement in New York, 1773–1777" (1966). United States History. 66. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_united_states_history/66 The 'l(qpd to Independence This page intentionally left blank THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE The 'R!_,volutionary ~ovement in :J{£w rork, 1773-1777~ By BERNARD MASON University of Kentucky Press-Lexington 1966 Copyright © 1967 UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY PRESS) LEXINGTON FoR PERMISSION to quote material from the books noted below, the author is grateful to these publishers: Charles Scribner's Sons, for Father Knickerbocker Rebels by Thomas J. Wertenbaker. Copyright 1948 by Charles Scribner's Sons. The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., for John Jay by Frank Monaghan. Copyright 1935 by the Bobbs-Merrill Com­ pany, Inc., renewed 1962 by Frank Monaghan. The Regents of the University of Wisconsin, for The History of Political Parties in the Province of New York J 17 60- 1776) by Carl L. Becker, published by the University of Wisconsin Press. Copyright 1909 by the Regents of the University of Wisconsin. Manufactured in the United States of America. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 66-26691. For my mother Sophie Mason and in memory of my father Louis Mason This page intentionally left blank PREFACE THE HISTORIAN of the Revolution in New York has no simple task in writing about his subject because New York has occupied an ambivalent position in revolutionary his­ tory. A rebel party did commit the colony to independence, but the presence of thousands of loyalists lent credence to the idea in a later age that the revolutionaries represented a minority. Furthermore, a later generation emphasized the Whigs' vacillation in 1775-1776 and attributed it in part to a major loyalist reaction. The effect of this interpretation was to obscure the general spread of hostility to Great Britain. Subsequent historical writing proceeded along these lines and tended to perpetuate an illusory description of the province. The evidence presented in these pages indicates the inadequacy of this view of New York and suggests a dif­ ferent interpretation. A tenable hypothesis which emerges from the data is that the Whigs were a decisive majority. Associated with this proposition are other relationships which yield illuminating insights for the exploration of the Revolution. This book does not offer a strictly chronological treatment of its topic, even though it describes the trend of events from 1773 to 1777. Its point of departure is an analysis that stresses the strengths and weaknesses of the organization of the revolutionary movement. Although the Declaration of Independence was a decisive stage in the growth of the Revo­ lution, in New York independence was only one-half of the great question. The other half, which was not resolved until the spring of 1777, was the nature of the new govern­ ment. However, there was no orderly sequence in these Vlll Preface two matters because Yorkers, leaders and general public alike, were discussing them simultaneously as interrelated problems in the spring of 1776. Therefore, the culmination of the Revolution for these people seemed to occur when the Convention of Representatives of the State of New York adopted the New York Constitution of 1777. One of the problems peculiar to this era is that of classi­ fying individuals according to their political behavior. The problem is "peculiar" because one of the consequences of the friction with Britain was the shattering and regrouping of the existing factions into Whigs (often also denominated Friends of Liberty, Liberty Boys and Sons of Liberty) and Tories (Friends of Government). Historians have usually characterized the factions' leaders as radical, moderate, or conservative but have not explicitly stipulated the criteria by which they arrived at these judgments. A major difficulty with the usage of these terms as indicators of political beliefs is, for example, that a person who might have been a radical in his opposition to the Lord North ministry might have been a moderate on the question of the right of suffrage. One solution is to employ these three words in relation to specific circumstances. Thus, in one context the words indicate attitudes toward resistance to British policies; in another context they designate positions in relation to con­ stitutional problems in the Convention. The radicals in the first context were the men who advocated uncompromising resistance to Britain and demanded that nation's complete retreat on the disputed affairs. During the winter of 1775- 1776 men of this stripe were publicly contending for sep­ aration from the mother country. The moderates con­ demned the North ministry but kept a sharp vigil for means of compromise. Nonetheless, the moderates sponsored poli­ cies that steadily widened the gap between New York and Britain. On the question of independence they publicly favored delay but privately conceded in June, 1776, the Preface lX necessity of the separation. Although the conservatives opposed ministerial measures, they also rejected vigorous opposition to those measures. The conservatives might have acquiesced in Lord North's conciliation proposals of 1775 or the Howe Olive Branch of 1776. When the formal break occurred in July, the conservatives discountenanced inde­ pendence. Many men moved from one category to another under the pressure of events. Alexander McDougall by the spring of 1776 had broken with his radical associates and was firmly in the moderate camp. On the other hand, John Jay gradually abandoned his conservative position in 1775 for that of the moderates. In the second context the lines of differentiation are much less clearly drawn than in the first. The radicals in the Con­ vention sought to obtain a constitution that would allow maximum participation of the male citizenry on all levels of government. Although the moderates were not ready to go this far, their proposals would have given the middle and small landholders much greater weight in the govern­ ment than those of the conservatives. An initial objective of the conservatives was to minimize political change and to preserve the power and influence of the wealthy in the gov­ ernmental structure. However, the exigencies of politics compelled both moderates and conservatives to shift ground, so that there were occasions when many moderates were indistinguishable from conservatives. My debts to others are numerous and it is a pleasure to acknowledge them. Professor Richard B. Morris, Professor Chilton Williamson, and Dean Harold C. Syrett contributed indispensable criticism from which I have benefited greatly. If the results are not commensurate with their efforts, the fault is mine and not theirs. My colleagues, Professors Amy Gilbert, Albert V. House and Bernard F. Huppe, took the time and trouble to read critically the manuscript. I owe a special debt to Professor Alfred B. Rollins, Jr., for his X Preface perspicacious comments and encouragement. Naturally all errors of omission and commission are mine alone. I am grateful to the Research Foundation of the State University of New York and the Harpur College Foundation for financial assistance. The invaluable help of the library staffs of the institutions hereinafter cited is acknowledged with gratitude. These acknowledgments would be incom­ plete without mention of the unflagging aid, never-failing good humor and encouragement of my wife Marjorie. State University of New York at Binghamton April, 1966 BERNARD MASON CONTENTS Preface page vii 1. Introduction 2. Royal Influence in New York 42 3. Division into Tory and Whig 62 4. Crystallization of the Revolutionary Spirit 100 5. The Tide Sets for Independence 134 6. Government prior to the Constitution of 1777 178 7. Making Haste Slowly: Framing the Constitution 213 8. Reconsiderations 250 Appendix 254 A N ole on Sources 258 Index 265 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN NOTES Cal. Hist. Mss. New York, Calendar of Historical Manuscripts Relat­ ing to the War of the Revolution, in the Office of the Secretary of State (2 vols.; Albany, 1868) Cal. H. 0. Papers Great Britain, Calendar of Home Office Papers of the Reign of George Ill, 1773-1775 (London, 1899) Const. Gaz. Constitutional Gazette (New York) CUL Columbia University Library FDRL Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library Hist. Mss. Com. Great Britain, Historical Manuscripts Commission, Fourteenth Report, Appendix Part X (Manuscripts of the Earl of Dartmouth) (London, 1895) Jour. Prov. Gong. New York State, journals of the Provincial Congress, Provincial Convention, Committee of Safety and Coun­ cil of Safety of the State of New York, 1775-1777 (2 vols.; Albany, 1842) Min. of Conv. Minutes of the Convention which formed the Consti­ tution of the State of New York, n.d., Abraham Yates, Jr., Papers, New York Public Library. N.Y.G. New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury :\!YHS New-York Historical Society N.Y.J. New York journal N.Y.P. New York Packet :\!YPL New York Public Library :\!YSL :\lew York State Library Pa. Jour. Pennsylvania journal (Philadelphia) Riv. Gaz. Rivington's New-York Gazetteer Smith, Memoirs Historical Memoirs of the Province of New York, William Smith Papers, New York Public Library Stopford Mss. Great Britain, Historical Manuscripts Commission, Report on the Manuscripts of Mrs. StoPford-Sackville of Drayton House, Northamptonshire (2 vols.; Lon­ don, 1904-1910) ONE Introduction f." ~ HISTORY has bequeathed to posterity a strik­ ~..._}) ingly incongruous image of New York in the era of the American Revolution at which later gener­ ations have gazed in some perplexity.
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