Chapter 5: Creating a Constitution, 1781-1789
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Letter from Benjamin Lincoln to George Washington,” (1786)
“Letter from Benjamin Lincoln to George Washington,” (1786) Annotation: Historians once characterized the 1780s as the "critical period" in American history, when the new nation, saddled with an inadequate system of government, suffered crippling economic, political, and foreign policy problems that threatened its independence. Although it is possible to exaggerate the country's difficulties during the first years of independence, there can be no doubt that the country did face severe challenges. One problem was the threat of government bankruptcy. The nation owed $160 million in war debts and the Congress had no power to tax and the states rarely sent in more than half of Congress's requisitions. The national currency was worthless. To help pay the government's debt, several members of Congress proposed the imposition of a five percent duty on imports. But because the Articles of Confederation required unanimous approval of legislation, a single state, Rhode Island, was able to block the measure. The country also faced grave foreign policy problems. Spain closed the Mississippi River to American commerce in 1784 and secretly conspired with Westerners (including the famous frontiersman Daniel Boone) to acquire the area that would eventually become Kentucky and Tennessee. Britain retained military posts in the Northwest, in violation of the peace treaty ending the Revolution, and tried to persuade Vermont to become a Canadian province. The economy also posed serious problems. The Revolution had a disruptive impact especially on the South's economy. Planters lost about 60,000 slaves (including about 25,000 slaves in South Carolina and 5,000 in Georgia). -
Primary Sources Battle of Bennington Official Correspondence New
Primary Sources Battle of Bennington Official Correspondence New Hampshire Committee of Safety to General Stark State of New Hampshire, Saturday, July 19th, 1777. To Brigd Genl Jn° Stark,—You are hereby required to repair to Charlestown, N° 4, so as to be there by 24th—Thursday next, to meet and confer with persons appointed by the convention of the State of Vermont relative to the route of the Troops under your Command, their being supplied with Provisions, and future operations—and when the Troops are collected at N°- 4, you are to take the Command of them and march into the State of Vermont, and there act in conjunction with the Troops of that State, or any other of the States, or of the United States, or separately, as it shall appear Expedient to you for the protection of the People or the annoyance of the Enemy, and from time to time as occasion shall require, send Intelligence to the Genl Assembly or Committee of Safety, of your operations, and the manoeuvers of the Enemy. M. Weare. Records of the Council of Safety and Governor and Council of the State of Vermont to which are prefixed the Records of the General Conventions from July 1775 to December 1777 Eliakim Persons Walton ed., vol. 1 (Montpelier: Steam Press, 1873), p. 133. Primary Sources Battle of Bennington Official Correspondence Committee of Safety, Vermont State of New Hampshire, In Committee of Safety, Exeter, July 23d 1777. Hon. Artemas Ward— Sir— Orders issued the last week for one Quarter part of two thirds of the Regiments of militia in this State to march immediately to the assistance of our Friends in the new State of Vermont, under the command of Br. -
Tennessee Counties Named for Patriots & Founding Fathers
Tennessee Counties named for Patriots & Founding Fathers Photo County amed for Anderson County Joseph Anderson (1757-1837), U.S. Senator from TN, and first Comptroller of the U.S. Treasury. During the Revolutionary War, he was an officer in the New Jersey Line of the Continental Army. Bedford County Revolutionary War Officer Thomas Bedford Bledsoe County Anthony Bledsoe (ca 1795-1793), Revolutionary War Soldier, Surveyer, and early settler of Sumner County. Blount County William Blount (1749-1800) was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of North Carolina, the first and only Governor of the Southwest Territory, and was appointed as the Regimental Paymaster of the 3rd NC. Regiment during the Revolutionary War. Davidson County William Lee Davidson (1746-1781) a Brigadier General who died in the Revolutionary War Battle of Cowan’s Ford. DeKalb County Johann de Kalb (1721-1780) A German-born baron who assisted the Continentals during the Revolutionary War Fayette County Marquis de La Fayette (1757-1834) a French aristocrat and military officer who was a General in the Revolutionary War Franklin County Founding Father Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Greene County Nathaniel Greene (1742-1786) Major General in the Continental Army During the Revolutionary War. Hamilton County Founding Father Alexander Hamilton (ca.1755- 1804) Hancock County John Hancock (1737-1794) President of the Continental Congress Hawkins County Benjamin Hawkins (1754-1816) was commissioned as a Colonel in the Continental Army where he served under George Washington for several years as his main French interpreter. Henry County Revolutionary-era Patriot Patrick Henry (1736- 1799) Jackson County Revolutionary War Veteran and President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845). -
View to the Quiet of His Rural Home
94 American Antiquarian Society. [Oct. A FORGOTTEN PATRIOT. BY HENRY S. N0UU8E. OF self-sacrificing patriots who in troublous times have proved themselves worthy the lasting gratitude of the com- monwealth, very many have found no biographer ; but none seem more completely forgotten, even in the towns of which they were once the ruling spirits, than the officers who led the Massachusetts yeomanry during those tedious campaigns of the French and Indian War, which awoke the British colonies to consciousness of their strength and thereby hastened the founding of the Republic. A few in- cidents in the honorable career of one of these unremem- bered patriots—one whom perhaps diffidence only, pre- vented from being a very conspicuous figure in the battles for independence—I have brought together, and offer as faint, unsatisfying outlines of an eventful and useful life. In "Appleton's Cyclopœdia of American Biography," published in 1889, twenty-two lines are given to General John Whitcomb, nearly every date and statement in which is erroneous. It is alleged therein that he was born "about 1720, and died in 1812"; and the brief narrative is embel- lished with a romantic tale wholly borrowed from the mili- tary experience of a younger brother. Colonel Asa Whitcomb. Biographical notes in volumes XII. and XVIII. of the Essex Institute Historical Collections perpetuate like errors of date. Even in the most voluminous histories of the building of the Eepublic, this general's name is barely, or not at all mentioned. John Whitcomb, or Whetcomb as the family always 1890.] A Forgotten Patriot. -
Benjamin Lincoln to George Washington, 22 February 1787 (Pdf)
Benjamin Lincoln to George Washington, 22 February 1787 Thus far I had written as early as December, and should have forwarded the letter at that time, but had some hopes that the Governour and Council would take some measures for crushing the Insurgents. This however hung in suspence untill the beginning of January. It was then agreed to raise two thousand men in the Counties of Suffolk, Essex, and Middlesex, and four companies of Artillery; twelve hundred men in the County of Hampshire; and twelve hundred men in the County of Worcester. The command of the troops was to be given to me being the first Major General in the State. At this moment, when every part of the system was digested, and nothing remained but the offering the order to raise the men, and carry it into execution, information was received from the Commissary General that the necessary supplies could not be obtained without a considerable sum in cash, which was not within the power of the Treasurer to borrow. On my hearing this from the Governour, I went immediately to a club of the first characters in Boston who met that night, and layed before them a full state of matters, and suggested to them the importance of their becoming loaners of part of their property if they wished to secure the remainder. A Subscription was set on foot in the morning, headed by the Governour. Before night the cloud which twenty four hours before hung over us disappeared as we had an assurance of obtaining the sum we wanted. -
The Impact of Weather on Armies During the American War of Independence, 1775-1781 Jonathan T
Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2011 The Force of Nature: The Impact of Weather on Armies during the American War of Independence, 1775-1781 Jonathan T. Engel Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE FORCE OF NATURE: THE IMPACT OF WEATHER ON ARMIES DURING THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, 1775-1781 By JONATHAN T. ENGEL A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2011 The members of the committee approve the thesis of Jonathan T. Engel defended on March 18, 2011. __________________________________ Sally Hadden Professor Directing Thesis __________________________________ Kristine Harper Committee Member __________________________________ James Jones Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members. ii This thesis is dedicated to the glory of God, who made the world and all things in it, and whose word calms storms. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Colonies may fight for political independence, but no human being can be truly independent, and I have benefitted tremendously from the support and aid of many people. My advisor, Professor Sally Hadden, has helped me understand the mysteries of graduate school, guided me through the process of earning an M.A., and offered valuable feedback as I worked on this project. I likewise thank Professors Kristine Harper and James Jones for serving on my committee and sharing their comments and insights. -
Primary Sources Battle of Bennington Unit
Primary Sources Battle of Bennington Unit: Massachusetts Militia, Col. Simonds, Capt. Michael Holcomb James Holcomb Pension Application of James Holcomb R 5128 Holcomb was born 8 June 1764 and is thus 12 years old (!) when he first enlisted on 4 March 1777 in Sheffield, MA, for one year as a waiter in the Company commanded by his uncle Capt. Michael Holcomb. In April or May 1778, he enlisted as a fifer in Capt. Deming’s Massachusetts Militia Company. “That he attended his uncle in every alarm until some time in August when the Company were ordered to Bennington in Vermont […] arriving at the latter place on the 15th of the same month – that on the 16th his company joined the other Berkshire militia under the command of Col. Symonds – that on the 17th an engagement took place between a detachment of the British troops under the command of Col. Baum and Brechman, and the Americans under general Stark and Col. Warner, that he himself was not in the action, having with some others been left to take care of some baggage – that he thinks about seven Hundred prisoners were taken and that he believes the whole or a greater part of them were Germans having never found one of them able to converse in English. That he attended his uncle the Captain who was one of the guard appointed for that purpose in conducting the prisoners into the County of Berkshire, where they were billeted amongst the inhabitants”. From there he marches with his uncle to Stillwater. In May 1781, just before his 17th birthday, he enlisted for nine months in Capt. -
Henry Knox and the Forging of Bureaucratic Autonomy
Henry Knox and the Forging of Bureaucratic Autonomy Stephen J. Rockwell As the Officer who is at the head of that [War] department is a branch of the Executive, and called to its Councils upon interesting questions of National importance[,] he ought to be a man, not only of competent skill in the science of War, but possessing a general knowledge of political subjects, of known attachment to the Government we have chosen, and of proved integrity. 1 So wrote President George Washington to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney in January 1794. Washington was expecting the resignation of his trusted former artillery commander and longtime secretary of war, Henry Knox, who had shepherded the War Department through the Confederation government, across the gap between the Confederation and government under the Constitution, and through tense negotiations and major military Secretary of War Henry Knox losses with Indian nations in the South and the Old Northwest. In writing to Pinckney, Washington emphasized how complex the job of a department head had become, just a few years into the new government. The successful department head required policy expertise, political acumen, general wisdom, networked loyalty to the government and its other officials, and personal integrity. Stephen J. Rockwell is a professor of Political Science at St. Joseph’s College, Patchogue, New York. This essay is based on a paper given at the annual conference of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, Philadelphia, PA, July 2017. He wishes to thank Lindsay Chervinsky, Joanne Freeman, Gautham Rao, Kate Brown, Jerry Landry, and Benjamin Guterman for their questions, comments, and suggestions. -
Bloody Bound Brook & the Lost Hessian
by Bob Mayers It would not be until the end of World War II that a diary was rediscovered that shed new light on the importance of the Battle of Bound Brook. t dawn on Palm Sunday, April 13, 1777, in the third year of the American Revolution, a Hessian captain with his company of thirty Jaegers Afaltered and fell as intense musket and cannon fire tore into them from an American redoubt. They were fearlessly attempting a frontal assault over a stone bridge that crossed the Bound Brook at a New Jersey riverbank hamlet of the same name. The Hessians—German mercenaries—were the most deadly light infantry in the world at the time. These elite special forces were feared by their American opponents. Armed with short carbine- type German hunting rifles, they dressed in green and brown to blend in with their surroundings, unlike the blazing red wool uniforms of their British allies. That, morning the small unit of Jaegers was the advanced party of a British force of 4,000 men. These Redcoat invaders were attempting a surprise attack on an exposed front line outpost on the Raritan River. It was defended by a garrison of 500 Continental troops who were responsible for guarding the three bridges that crossed the Raritan River that were likely to be used by the British in moves against Washington’s main army at Captain Johann Ewald Morristown. C. A. Jensen, after a drawing by H. The Hessian commander, Captain Johann Ewald, sensed that J. Aldenrath something was dreadfully wrong. Although his rangers were especially combat-trained for both rugged terrain and urban fighting, they were outnumbered and outgunned; they were being slaughtered as they charged into the thick gunfire at the fortification. -
Political Discourse and the Pennsylvania Constitution, 1776 - 1790
Virtuous Democrats, Liberal Aristocrats: Political Discourse and the Pennsylvania Constitution, 1776 - 1790 Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung des Grades eines Doktors der Philosophie im Fachbereich 10 – Neuere Philologien der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität zu Frankfurt am Main vorgelegt von Thomas W. Clark aus Frankfurt am Main 2001 If we can agree where the liberty and freedom of the people lies, that will do all. - Colonel Ireton, The Putney Debates But, notwithstanding this almost unanimous agreement in favour of liberty, neither were all disposed to go the same lenghts for it, nor were they perfectly in unison in the idea annexed to it. - Alexander Graydon, Memoirs of a Life, Chiefly passed in Pennsylvania Fraud lurks in generals. There is not a more unintelligible word in the English language than republicanism. - John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren CONTENTS PREFACE vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xi 1. PART I REVOLUTIONARY PARADIGMS 1.1 Ex Uno Plures or The American Revolution as a Discourse Community 1 1.1.1 Truth and Difference, Republicans and Scholars 1 1.1.2 Revolutionary Pennsylvania as a Discourse Community 18 1.2 Revolutionary Ideology between Republicanism and Liberalism 36 1.2.1 Liberalism Versus Republicanism 36 1.2.2 Classical Republicanism 42 1.2.3 Liberalism 55 1.2.4 Transformation, Opposition, Permeation 61 1.3 Social as Political Conflict: The Few, the Many, the People 75 1.3.1 Rhetoric, Reality, and Radicalism 75 1.3.2 The Discourse of Popular Sovereignty 87 1.3.3 Limiting and Affirming the People: an Exemplary Analysis 96 1.4 Deference to Diversity: Politics and Society in Pennsylvania 105 1.4.1 Quaker Conflict and Hegemony 107 1.4.2 Ethnocultural Pluralism, Sectionalism and the Politics of Heterogeneity 115 1.4.3 Social Diversity and the Emergence of Popular Radicalism 124 1.4.4 Power Struggles, 1776-1790 136 2. -
Trophies and Plunder: After the Battle of Bennington
Trophies and Plunder: After the Battle of Bennington The seizure of “plunder” and its sale for distribution to troops routinely occurred during the Revolutionary War. The Battle of Bennington provides a closer look at how “plunder” worked and some of the complications it entailed. By Michael P. Gabriel1 s night fell on August 16, 1777, General John Stark’s militia and Green Mountain Boys army had won a resounding victory near Walloomsac, New York, defeating two German forces in what is known as the Battle of Bennington. In addition to capturing over seven hundred prisoners, Stark and his men recovered an enor- mous amount of equipment that littered the battlefield. While the main details of the battle are well known, what became of this equipment is less so. Many soldiers kept trophies of their participation in the victory, while Stark presented some items to Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire to commemorate the battle. He also sent some military equipment to the Continental Army. However, most of the items were sold as “plunder” at public auctions or vendue and the proceeds distrib- . Michael P. Gabriel is Professor of History at Kutztown University. He is the author or editor of three books on the American Revolutionary War, including The Battle of Bennington: Soldiers and Civilians (2012). Vermont History Vol. 87, No. 2 (Summer/Fall 2019): 111–125. © 2019 by the Vermont Historical Society. ISSN: 0042-4161; on-line ISSN: 1544-3043 112 . Southeast view from the Bennington Battlefield circa 1900. Note the Bennington Battle Monument on the far right. (From the author’s collection). -
Make America Great Again for Your Kids and Grandkids
1 Make America Great Again 2 for your Kids and Grandkids 3 4 5 6 7 What really made America, and life, great: Partial adoption of 1 8 property rights and Capitalism in America, and after WWII, much 9 of the world, led to historically unprecedented increases in innovation and 10 the average wealth. Prior to 1776, most people were slaves or serfs, lived 2 3 11 on less than $3 per day , and had no running water, adequate hygiene , 4 12 or other necessities. 13 1 Behold the power of Capitalism: While England's GDP per Capita grew 300% between 1270 and 1775 (505 years), benefitting from the country's semi-adoption of reason during the Age of Reason and adoption of imperialistic mercantilism, when England partially adopted property rights in the subsequent 240 years, GDP per Capita grew 15,000% in about half the time, even as the great empire lost its imperialistic holdings and colonies. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gdp-per-capita-in-the-uk-since-1270 2 Historically, incomes were, statistically speaking, not normally distributed, since, far from being determined by a semi-free market, they were determined by government theft, apprenticeship, and birth. 3 It was Capitalism's mass development, promotion, and distribution of the infrastructure necessary for hygiene that's nearly doubled life expectancy in the last 100 years – not medical care or agricultural practices as some have theorized. https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy 4 https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/the-economic-history-of-the-last-2000-years-part- ii/258762/; CC BY-ND 1 Of 211 h 7_4_19 w.ott 14 15 16 17 Behold the power of Capitalism: Partial adoption of property 18 rights in the United States, and after WWII, much of the world, freed 5 19 most men from slavery and serfdom.