Chapter XIV: Front Matter (14)

"Before the end of 1775 the Continental Congress ordered that
five ships of 32 guns should be built, five of 28, and three
of 24. This order was carried out, and these vessels are the
proper beginning of the navy of the United States. Almost
everyone of them, before the war was over, had been captured,
or burned to avoid capture.
{3230}
But the names of the little fleet will always be of interest
to Americans, and some of those names have always been
preserved on the calendar of the navy. They are the
'Washington,' 'Raleigh,' 'Hancock,' 'Randolph,' 'Warren,'
'Virginia,' 'Trumbull,' 'Effingham,' 'Congress,' 'Providence,'
'Boston,' 'Delaware,' 'Montgomery.' The State of Rhode Island,
at the very outbreak of hostilities, commissioned Abraham
Whipple, who went with his little vessel as far as Bermuda,
and, from his experience in naval warfare earned in the French
War, he was recognized as commodore of the little fleet of
American cruisers. … Meanwhile, every maritime State issued
commissions to privateers, and established admiralty or prize
courts, with power to condemn prizes when brought in.
Legitimate commerce had been largely checked, and … the seamen
of the country, who had formerly been employed in the
fisheries, or in our large foreign trade with the West India
Islands and with Europe, gladly volunteered in the private
service. Till the end of the war the seamen preferred the
privateer service to that of the government. … The larger
maritime States had in commission one or more vessels from the
beginning, but they found the same difficulty which the
Congress found in enlisting seamen, when any bold privateer
captain came into rivalry with them. … As early as the 22d of
December, in 1775, Congress had appointed Esek Hopkins, of
Rhode Island, commander-in-chief of its navy, and had named
four captains besides, with several lieutenants, the first of
whom was John Paul Jones. … On the 10th of October [1776] a
resolution of Congress fixed the rank of captains in the navy,
… Paul Jones eighteenth on a list of twenty-four. Jones was
not pleased that his rank was not higher, but eventually his
achievements were such that his reputation probably now stands
higher as a successful officer than that of any of the
number."

_E. E. Hale,
Naval History of the American Revolution
(Narrative and Critical History of America,
volume 6, chapter 7)._

ALSO IN:
_J. F. Cooper,
Naval History of the United States,
volume 1, chapters 4-6._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (January).
Adoption of a Constitution in New Hampshire.

See NEW HAMPSHIRE: A. D. 1775-1776.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (January-June).
King George's war measures and Paine's "Common Sense."
The setting of the tide of opinion toward national independence.

"Disastrous news arrived from England before the close of the
winter of 1775-6. The King had opened Parliament with a speech
in which he had denounced the Colonists as rebels, seeking,
with deceitful pretences, to establish an independent empire;
and his Majesty recommended decisive, coercive measures
against them. … The answer to the Royal Address (adopted by a
vote of seventy-six to thirty-three in the Lords, and two
hundred and seventy-eight to one hundred and eight in the
Commons) gave assurances of the firm support of Parliament to
the proposed measures. The very moderately conciliatory
propositions made by the Duke of Richmond, Mr. Burke, and the
Duke of Grafton, were summarily voted down, and not far from
the middle of December the atrocious' Prohibitory Act,' as it
was generally designated, passed. It was, in effect, a
declaration of war, and a war unrestrained by the customs, and
unmitigated by the decencies of civilization. It authorized
the confiscation of American vessels and cargoes, and those of
all nations found trading in American ports. It authorized
British commanders to impress American crews into the British
Navy, and to place them on the same footing with voluntarily
enlisted seamen; that is, to give them a choice between
parricide and being hung at a yardarm! Finally, it referred
all future negotiations to two Commissioners, to be sent out
along with a conquering armament, who were allowed to grant
pardons to individuals and Colonies, on submission, thus
leaving no future alternative opposed to the latter but the
sword, and indicating that henceforth all appeals to King or
Parliament were cut off. … Concurrently with these legislative
steps, the practical ones for carrying on the war, with a
large army, were entered upon. Finding it difficult or
impossible to obtain the necessary recruits at home, and that
the existing English and Irish regiments embarked with such
reluctance that it was necessary to keep a guard upon the
transports 'to keep them from deserting by wholesale,' the
Ministry successively applied to Russia, the States-General,
and finally, several of the German States for mercenaries. …
The infamy of filling up the British armament was reserved for
the Princes of three or four petty German States. … As the
news of these events successively reached the American
Congress and people, in the winter and spring of 1775-6, the
contest took a new coloring. Not only the bold, but the
moderate began now to see the real alternative before them.
And at a critical moment the remedy, and the path to it, were
pointed out by a master hand. 'Common Sense' was published by
Thomas Paine, and a more effective popular appeal never went
to the bosoms of a nation. Its tone, its manner, its biblical
illusions, its avoidance of all openly impassioned appeals to
feeling, and its unanswerable common sense were exquisitely
adapted to the great audience to which it was addressed; and
calm investigation will satisfy the historical student that
its effect in preparing the popular mind for the Declaration
of Independence, exceeded that of any other paper, speech, or
document made to favor it, and it would scarcely be
exaggeration to add, than all other such means put together.
John Adams, with a childish perpetuance, and with a rancor so
vehement that it appears ridiculous, spares no occasion to
underrate Paine's services, and to assault his opinions and
character. … His transparent motive seems to be to decry the
author of a paper which had too much the credit of preparing
the public mind for the Declaration of Independence, a credit
which Mr. Adams was more than anxious to monopolize. Let us be
just. Paine's services in paving the way to the Declaration
are not to be mentioned on the same page with John Adams's.
Moreover, Independence would have been declared, and, perhaps,
nearly as early, had Paine never written. But he did, at a
propitious moment, and with consummate adaptation, write a
paper which went like the arrow which pierces the centre of
the target. Its effect was instantaneous and tremendous. … The
work ran through innumerable editions in America and France.
The world rung with it. … It admits of no doubt that pretty
early in 1776, all the true Whigs in Congress, moderates as
well as ultras, became satisfied of the necessity and
expediency of separation, and that henceforth it was only a
question of time with them.
{3231}
Enactments placing the struggle on the footing of open war,
instead of mere insurrection—issuing letters of marque and
reprisal against the enemies of our commerce—advising the
local authorities to disarm the disaffected—opening the ports
of the country to all nations but Great Britain—directing
negotiations for foreign alliances to be undertaken—were
successively made. Finally, on the 10th of May, a resolution,
prepared by John Adams and R. H. Lee, passed the House,
advising all the Colonies to form governments for themselves;
and in this, unlike preceding instances of giving advice on
the same subject, no limitation of the duration of the
governments to be formed 'to the continuance of the present
dispute' was inserted. This, with a befitting preamble,
written by John Adams, was adopted on the 15th, … and was,
obviously, a long and bold stride in the direction of
independence, and must have been understood by all as its
signal and precursor. … Congress cheered on those whom
peculiar circumstances had rendered more backward, and it
tarried for them a little by the way; on the other hand, it
prudently waited for the prompting of the more forward. Thus
it avoided the appearance of dominating over public
opinion—thus it 'kept front and rear together.' Early in April
(12th), North Carolina 'empowered' her delegates 'to concur
with the delegates of other Colonies in declaring
independency.' At its 'May session' (the day of the month not
appearing in the record under our eye), the General Assembly
of Rhode Island abolished its act of allegiance, and directed
all commissions and legal processes henceforth to issue in the
name and under the authority of the 'Governor and Company.'
The Connecticut General Assembly, which met on the 9th of May,
before its adjournment (date not before us), repealed its act
against high treason, and made the same order with Rhode
Island in regard to legal processes. On the 15th of May,
Virginia took a still more decisive step, by instructing its
delegates in Congress to move for a Declaration of
Independence. … The Virginia delegates in Congress made choice
of Richard H. Lee to move the resolutions contained in their
instructions of May 15th; and he did so on Friday, the 7th day
of June, John Adams seconding them. Their consideration was
postponed until the next day, when they were referred to a
committee of the whole, and debated throughout Saturday and
the succeeding Monday. On the latter day (10th) Congress
resolved: 'That the consideration of the first resolution be
postponed to Monday, the first day of July next; and in the
meanwhile, that no time be lost, in case the Congress agree
thereto, that a committee be appointed to prepare a
declaration to the effect of the said first resolution, which
is in these words: That these Colonies are, and of right ought
to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved
from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all
Political connection between them and the State of Great
Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.'"

_H. S. Randall,
Life of Jefferson,
volume 1, chapter 4._

ALSO IN:
_G. Bancroft,
History of United States
(Author's last revision),
volume 4, chapters 24-28._

_R. Frothingham,
Rise of the Republic,
chapter 11._

_W. C. Rives,
Life and Times of Madison,
volume 1, chapters 4-5._

_American Archives,
series 4, volume 6._

_E. G. Scott,
The Development of Constitutional Liberty in the
English Colonies,
chapter 11._

_C. J. Stille,
Life and Times of John Dickinson,
chapter 5._

See, also, NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1775-1776;
and VIRGINIA: A. D. 1776.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (January-June).
Engagement of hireling Hessians
to reinforce the British arms.

"The [British] Cabinet had entertained some hopes of Russian
auxiliaries [application for 20,000 of whom had been made to
the Empress Catherine, who refused them with hardly concealed
scorn], but the negotiation for that object could not be
matured. Early in the year treaties were signed with the
Landgrave of Hesse for taking into British pay 12,000 of his
men; with the Duke of Brunswick and other petty potentates of
Germany for 5,000 more. These little princes, seeing the need
of England, which did not choose to lean, as she might and
should have done, on her own right arm, insisted on obtaining,
and did obtain, most usurious terms. Under the name of
levy-money, there was to be paid to them the price of 30
crowns for every foot-soldier. Under the name of subsidy, each
of their Serene Highnesses was moreover to be indulged with a
yearly sum, irrespective of the pay and subsistence of the
troops; and on the plea that in this case no certain number of
years was stipulated as the term of service, the Landgrave of
Hesse claimed and was promised a double subsidy, namely
450,000 crowns a year. The men were to enter into pay before
they began to march! The subsidies were to be continued for
one full year at least after the war was over and the troops
had returned to their respective homes. Never yet, in short,
was the blood of brave men sold on harder terms. The disgrace
of this transaction to the German Princes who engaged in it
requires little comment. … The ablest by far of the German
Princes at that time, Frederick of Prussia, was not in general
a man of compassionate feelings. He had no especial love or
care for the North American cause. … Yet even Frederick
expressed in strong terms his contempt for the scandalous
man-traffic of his neighbours. It is said that whenever any of
the newly hired Brunswickers or Hessians had to pass through
any portion of his territory he claimed to levy on them the
usual toll as for so many head of cattle, since he said they
had been sold as such! Nor can the British ministry in this
transaction be considered free from blame. … Certain it is
that among the various causes which at this period wrought
upon our trans-Atlantic brethren to renounce their connection
with us, there was none more cogent in their minds than the
news that German mercenaries had been hired and were coming to
fight against them."

_Lord Mahon (Earl Stanhope),
History of England, 1713-1783,
chapter 53 (volume 6)._

"The first German troops to start for America were the
Brunswickers. These marched from Brunswick on February 22d,
1776, 2,282 strong, and were embarked at Stade, near the mouth
of the Elbe. The second division of Brunswickers embarked at
the end of May—about 2,000 men. The first Hessians set out
from Cassel early in March, and were shipped at Bremerlehe,
near the mouth of the Weser. The second division was embarked
in June. Together they numbered between 12,000 and 13,000 men.
{3232}
They were for the most part excellent troops and well
equipped, for the Landgrave's little army was one of the best
in Germany. … The Prince of Waldeck sent his regiment through
Cassel without trouble. The Prince of Hesse-Hanau, the
Margrave of Anspach-Bayreuth, and the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
had a longer road."

_E. J. Lowell,
The Hessians in the Revolutionary War,
chapter 5._

ALSO IN:
_M. von Eelking,
Memoirs of General Riedesel,
volume 1, pages 18-88, and appendix._

_G. Bancroft,
History of the United States
(Author's last revision),
volume 4, chapter 22._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (February).
Flight of the Royal Governor from Georgia.

See GEORGIA: A. D. 1775-1777.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (March).
State government organized and a Constitution adopted in
South Carolina.

See SOUTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1776 (FEBRUARY-APRIL).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (April).
North Carolina the first colony to declare for independence.

See NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1775-1776.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (May).
Rhode Island renounces allegiance to the King.

See RHODE ISLAND: A. D. 1776.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (May).
Popular vote for independence in Massachusetts.

See MASSACHUSETTS: A. D. 1776 (APRIL-MAY).

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (May).
Arnold's retreat from Canada.

See CANADA: A. D. 1775-1776.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (May-June).
Independence declared and Constitution adopted in Virginia.

See VIRGINIA: A. D. 1776.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (June).
The British repulsed at Charleston.

"Early in 1776 the task was assigned to Clinton, who had in
January departed from Boston, … to force and hold the Southern
colonies to their allegiance.

See NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1775-1776.

Cornwallis, with troops, was sent over under convoy of Sir
Peter Parker's fleet, to give Clinton the army he needed. The
fleet did not reach North Carolina till May. In March,
[Charles] Lee, while in New York, had wished to be ordered to
the command in Canada, as 'he was the only general officer on
the continent who could speak and think in French.' He was
disappointed, and ordered farther south. By May he was in
Virginia, ridding the country of Tories, and trying to find
out where Parker intended to land. It was expected that
Clinton would return north to New York in season to operate
with Howe, when he opened the campaign there in the early
summer, as that general expected to do, and the interval for a
diversion farther south was not long. Lee had now gone as far
as Charleston (South Carolina), and taken command in that
neighborhood, while in charge of the little fort at the
entrance of the harbor was William Moultrie, upon whom Lee was
inculcating the necessity of a slow and sure fire, in case it
should prove that Parker's destination, as it might well be,
was to get a foothold in the Southern provinces, and break up
the commerce which fed the rebellion through that harbor. The
people of Charleston had been for some time engaged on their
defences, and 'seem to wish a trial of their mettle,' wrote a
looker-on. The fort in question was built of palmetto logs,
and was unfinished on the land side. Its defenders had four
days' warning, and the neighboring militia were summoned. On
the 4th of June the hostile fleet appeared, and having landed
troops on an adjacent island, it was not till the 27th that
their dispositions were made for an attack. Their ships threw
shot at the fort all day, which did very little damage, while
the return fire was rendered with a precision surprising in
untried artillerists, and seriously damaged the fleet, of
which one ship was grounded and abandoned. The expected land
attack from Clinton's troops, already ashore on Long Island,
was not made. A strong wind had raised the waters of the
channel between that island and Sullivan's Island so high that
it could not be forded, and suitable boats for the passage
were not at hand. A few days later the shattered vessels and
the troops left the neighborhood, and Colonel Moultrie had
leisure to count the cost of his victory, which was twelve
killed and twice as many wounded. The courage of Sergeant
Jasper, in replacing on the bastion a flag which had been shot
away, became at once a household anecdote."

_J. Winsor,
The Conflict Precipitated
(Narrative and Critical History of America.
volume 6, chapter 2)._

_ALSO IN:
H. Flanders,
Life of John Rutledge,
chapter 10
(Lives of the Chief Justices, volume 1)._

_C. B. Hartley,
Life of General William Moultrie
(Heroes and Patriots of the South),
chapter 2._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (June).
Resolutions for Independence.
Making ready for the Declaration.

"Things were now verging on every side to the same point.
North Carolina had conferred the necessary powers to vote for
independence and foreign alliances as early as the 12th of
April. And now came the news from Richard Lee, to Mr. Adams,
that on the very day of the passage of the significant
preamble in congress, the 15th of May, the convention of
Virginia had gone a step further, and had instructed their
delegates to propose independence. Authority to assent to its
natural consequences, a confederation and foreign alliances,
followed as a matter of course. On the other hand, the
convention of Massachusetts had referred the subject back to
the people, to be considered and acted upon at their primary
town meetings, and the responses had been for some time
corning in unequivocally enough. So decided was the feeling
that Joseph Hawley, impatient of the delay, was stimulating
the nowise reluctant Gerry to greater exertions. Perceiving
these encouraging indications in opposite quarters, the
friends of independence now consulted together, and made up
their minds that the moment had come for a final
demonstration. Resolutions, embracing the three great points,
were carefully matured, which it was arranged that Richard
Henry Lee, on behalf of the delegates of Virginia, should
present, and John Adams should second, for Massachusetts. The
movement took place, accordingly, on the 7th of June. It
appears on the journal, recorded with the customary caution,
as follows:

'Certain resolutions respecting independency being moved and
seconded,—Resolved, that the consideration of them be referred
till to-morrow morning; and that the members be enjoined to
attend punctually at ten o'clock, in order to take the same
into their consideration.' It was well that a measure of so
momentous a character should be accompanied with as much of
the forms of notice and special assignment as the body could
properly give it. The record of what passed at the appointed
time has come down to us very barren of details.
{3233}
We only know that the resolutions were referred to the
committee of the whole, where they were debated with great
spirit during that day, Saturday, and again on Monday, the
10th, by which time it had become quite clear that a majority
of the colonies were prepared to adopt the first and leading
resolution. This majority was composed of the four New
England, and three out of the four southern colonies. But it
being deemed unadvisable to place this great act upon so
narrow a basis, and a prospect being held out of securing a
more general concurrence by delaying the decision, a
postponement until the 1st of July was effected by a change of
the votes of two colonies. In the mean while, however, as it
was thought suitable to accompany the act with an elaborate
exposition of the causes which were held to justify it, a
committee was ordered to have in charge the preparation of
such a paper in season for the adjourned debate. … At the same
time that Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin,
Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, all but the last
named being of the movement, were appointed the committee to
prepare a declaration, as mentioned, the congress formally
voted a second committee, with powers to prepare and digest a
form of confederation to be entered into between the colonies;
and yet a third, to mature a plan of treaties to be proposed
to foreign powers. In this compass were included all the
elements of national sovereignty abroad and at home. … The
bulk of opposition now centred in the five middle colonies,
and the pillar upon which it leaned was John Dickinson. But
under the combined assaults conducted by the leading colonies
of Virginia and Massachusetts, it was plain that victory was
become a mere question of time. Jonathan D. Sergeant, who had
left congress to hasten a change in the counsels of New
Jersey, had been so successful in spiriting up the assembly as
to be able to write, on the 15th of June, to Mr. Adams, that
the delegates about to be elected would be on the spot by the
1st of July, the day to which the question had been assigned,
and that they would 'vote plump.' Equally favorable news soon
came from Maryland. … Thus were two States secured. But
Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York yet remained to move. In
the first of these, recourse was had once more to the
so-called committees of conference. … And here, on the 23d of
June, Dr. Benjamin Rush, then a young man, but acting entirely
in sympathy and co-operation with the leaders in congress,
moved and carried the appointment of a committee to declare
the sense of the conference with respect to an independence of
the province on the crown of Great Britain. He and James Smith
were then joined with Thomas McKean, the chairman of the
conference, in a committee, which was ready the next day with
a report affirming the willingness of the deputies of the
conference to concur in a vote declaring the United Colonies
free and independent States. The report was adopted
unanimously, was presented to congress on the 25th, and,
doubtless, had its effect in determining those delegates of
the colony to absent themselves on the final vote, upon whose
resistance its adverse decision depended. As the hesitation of
Delaware was chiefly owing to the feeling that pervaded the
county of Sussex, Mr. Rodney had repaired thither for the
purpose of bringing about a favorable change, in which errand
the news came that he was laboring with success. The delegates
from New York, no longer interposing any active opposition,
yet unwilling to assume a responsibility which their
constituents had not authorized, preferred to withdraw from
participation in the decision. Such was the state of affairs
on the 1st of July, to which day the discussion had been
adjourned. There was then little doubt of an affirmative vote
on the part of all but four colonies."

_J. Q. Adams and C. F. Adams,
Life of John Adams,
volume 1, pages 308-318._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (June).
End of proprietary and royal government in Maryland.

See MARYLAND: A. D. 1776.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (July).
Authorship, adoption and signing
of the Declaration of Independence.

For the last hundred years one of the first facts taught to
any child of American birth is, that Jefferson wrote the
Declaration of Independence. The original draft in his
handwriting was afterward deposited in the State Department.
It shows two or three trifling alterations, interlined in the
handwritings of Franklin and Adams. Otherwise it came before
Congress precisely as Jefferson wrote it. Many years afterward
John Adams gave an account of the way in which Jefferson came
to be the composer of this momentous document, differing
slightly from the story told by Jefferson. But the variance is
immaterial. … Jefferson's statement seems the better entitled
to credit, and what little corroboration is to be obtained for
either narrator is wholly in his favor. He says simply that
when the Committee came together he was pressed by his
colleagues unanimously to undertake the draft; that he did so;
that, when he had prepared it, he submitted it to Dr. Franklin
and Mr. Adams, separately, requesting their corrections,
'which were two or three only and merely verbal,' 'interlined
in their own handwritings'; that the report in this shape was
adopted by the committee, and a 'fair copy,' written out by
Mr. Jefferson, was then laid before Congress. A somewhat more
interesting discussion concerns the question, how Jefferson
came to be named first on the committee, to the entire
exclusion of Lee, to whom, as mover of the resolution,
parliamentary etiquette would have assigned the chairmanship.

See, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (JANUARY-JUNE).

Many explanations have been given, of which some at least
appear the outgrowth of personal likings and dislikings. It is
certain that Jefferson was not only preëminently fitted for
the very difficult task of this peculiar composition, but also
that he was a man without an enemy. His abstinence from any
active share in debate had saved him from giving irritation;
and it is a truth not to be concealed, that there were cabals,
bickerings, heart-burnings, perhaps actual enmities among the
members of that famous body, which, grandly as it looms up,
and rightly too, in the mind's eye, was after all composed of
jarring human ingredients. It was well believed that there was
a faction opposed to Washington, and it was generally
suspected that irascible, vain, and jealous John Adams, then
just rising from the ranks of the people, made in this matter
common cause with the aristocratic Virginian Lees against
their fellow-countrymen. … So it is likely enough that a
timely illness of Lee's wife was a fortunate excuse for
passing him by, and that partly by reason of admitted
aptitude, partly because no risk could be run of any
interference of personal feelings in so weighty a matter,
Jefferson was placed first on the committee, with the natural
result of doing the bulk of its labor.
{3234}
On July 1, pursuant to assignment, Congress, in committee of
the whole, resumed consideration of Mr. Lee's resolution, and
carried it by the votes of nine colonies. South Carolina and
Pennsylvania voted against it. The two delegates from Delaware
were divided. Those from New York said that personally they
were in favor of it and believed their constituents to be so,
but they were hampered by instructions drawn a twelvemonth
since and strictly forbidding any action obstructive of
reconciliation, which was then still desired. The committee
reported, and then Edward Rutledge moved an adjournment to the
next day, when his colleagues, though disapproving the
resolution, would probably join in it for the sake of
unanimity. This motion was carried, and on the day following
the South Carolinians were found to be converted; also a third
member 'had come post from the Delaware counties' and caused
the vote of that colony to be given with the rest;
Pennsylvania changed her vote; and a few days later the
Convention of New York approved the resolution, 'thus
supplying the void occasioned by the withdrawing of her
delegates from the vote.' On the same day, July 2, the House
took up Mr. Jefferson's draft of the Declaration, and debated
it during that and the following day and until a late hour on
July 4. Many verbal changes were made, most of which were
conducive to closer accuracy of statement, and were
improvements. Two or three substantial amendments were made by
the omission of passages; notably there was stricken out a
passage in which George III. was denounced for encouraging the
slave-trade. … No interpolation of any consequence was made.
Jefferson had ample cause to congratulate himself upon this
event of the discussion. … He himself spoke not a word in the
debate. … The burden of argument, from which Jefferson wisely
shrank, was gallantly borne by John Adams, whom Jefferson
gratefully called 'the colossus of that debate.' Jefferson
used afterward to take pleasure in tingeing the real solemnity
of the occasion with a coloring of the ludicrous. The debate,
he said, seemed as though it might run on interminably, and
probably would have done so at a different season of the year.
But the weather was oppressively warm, and the room occupied
by the deputies was hard by a stable, whence the hungry flies
swarmed thick and fierce, alighting on the legs of the
delegates and biting hard through their thin silk stockings.
Treason was preferable to discomfort, and the members voted
for the Declaration and hastened to the table to sign it and
escape from the horse-fly. John Hancock, making his great
familiar signature, jestingly said that John Bull could read
that without spectacles; then, becoming more serious, began to
impress on his comrades the necessity of their 'all hanging
together in this matter.' 'Yes, indeed,' interrupted Franklin,
'we must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang
separately.' … Amid such trifling, concealing grave thoughts,
Jefferson saw his momentous document signed at the close of
that summer afternoon."

_J. T. Morse, Jr.,
Thomas Jefferson,
chapter 3._

"The statements relative to signing the Declaration are
conflicting. Jefferson states that it was signed generally on
the 4th (Memoirs i, 94), and he in other places reiterates
this statement, but this manuscript is not known to be extant.
… According to the journals, Congress, on the 19th of July,
resolved that the 'declaration, passed on the 4th, be fairly
engrossed on parchment, with the title and style of "The
unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of
America," and that the same, when engrossed, be signed by
every member of Congress.' On the 2d day of August, the
journals say, 'The Declaration being engrossed, and compared
at the table, was signed by the members.' … This manuscript is
preserved in the office of the Secretary of State."

_R. Frothingham,
The Rise of the Republic,
page 545 and foot-note._

"Because statesmen like Dickinson and communities like
Maryland were slow in believing that the right moment for a
declaration of independence had come, the preposterous theory
has been suggested that the American Revolution was the work
of an unscrupulous and desperate minority, which, through
intrigue mingled with violence, succeeded in forcing the
reluctant majority to sanction its measures. Such a
misconception has its root in an utter failure to comprehend
the peculiar character of American political life, like the
kindred misconception which ascribes the rebellion of the
colonies to a sordid unwillingness to bear their due share of
the expenses of the British Empire. It is like the
misunderstanding which saw an angry mob in every town-meeting
of the people of Boston, and characterized as a 'riot' every
deliberate expression of public opinion. No one who is
familiar with the essential features of American political
life can for a moment suppose that the Declaration of
Independence was brought about by any less weighty force than
the settled conviction of the people that the priceless
treasure of self-government could be preserved by no other
means. It was but slowly that this unwelcome conviction grew
upon the people; and owing to local differences of
circumstances it grew more slowly in some places than in
others. Prescient leaders, too, like the Adamses and Franklin
and Lee, made up their minds sooner than other people. Even
those conservatives who resisted to the last, even such men as
John Dickinson and Robert Morris, were fully agreed with their
opponents as to the principle at issue between Great Britain
and America, and nothing would have satisfied them short of
the total abandonment by Great Britain of her pretensions to
impose taxes and revoke charters. Upon this fundamental point
there was very little difference of opinion in America. As to
the related question of independence, the decision, when once
reached, was everywhere alike the reasonable result of free
and open discussion; and the best possible illustration of
this is the fact that not even in the darkest days of the war
already begun did any state deliberately propose to reconsider
its action in the matter. The hand once put to the plough,
there was no turning back."

_J. Fiske,
The American Revolution,
chapter 4 (volume 1). _

ALSO IN:
_G. Bancroft,
History of the United States
(Author's last revision),
volume 4, chapter 28._

_H. S. Randall,
Life of Jefferson,
volume 1, chapter 5._

_C. F. Adams,
Life of John Adams,
chapter 4._

_J. Madison,
Papers,
volume 1, pages 9-27._

_J. Sanderson,
Biographies of the Signers of the Declaration._

See, also, INDEPENDENCE HALL.

{3235}

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (July).
Text of the Declaration of Independence.

The following is the text of the great manifesto:

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for
one people to dissolve the political bands which have
connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of
the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of
Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to
the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the
causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments
are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed,
will dictate that Governments long established should not be
changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all
experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to
suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves
by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when
a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably
the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off
such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
security.—Such has been the patient sufferance of these
Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them
to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of
the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated
injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the
establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To
prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has
refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary
for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass
Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in
their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when
so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He
has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the
right of Representation in the Legislature, a right
inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has
called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public
Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into
compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative
Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his
invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a
long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be
elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of
Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their
exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all
the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States;
for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of
Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their
migration hither, and raising the conditions of new
Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration
of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing
Judiciary Powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will
alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and
payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New
Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our
People, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in
times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our
legislature. He has affected to render the Military
independent of and superior to the Civil Power. He has
combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign
to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving
his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For
quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For
protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any
Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these
States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us
in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For
transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended
offences: For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a
neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary
government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at
once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same
absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our
Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering
fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our
own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power
to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated
Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and
waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our
Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our
people. He is at this time transporting large armies of
foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation
and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty &
perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and
totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has
constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas
to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners
of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their
Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and
has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers,
the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is
an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and
conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have
Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated
Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A
Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may
define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People.
Nor have We been wanting in attention to our Brittish
brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by
their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over
us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our
emigration and settlement here.
{3236}
We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and
we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to
disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt
our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to
the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore,
acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation,
and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War,
in Peace Friends. We, therefore, the Representatives of the
united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled,
appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude
of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the
good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare,
That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free
and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all
Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political
connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and
ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and
Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude
Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all
other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right
do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm
reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually
pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred
Honor.

John Hancock.
New Hampshire
Josiah Bartlett,
Wm. Whipple,
Matthew Thornton.
Massachusetts Bay
Saml. Adams, John Adams, Robt. Treat Paine,
Elbridge Gerry.
Rhode Island
Step. Hopkins, William Ellery.
Connecticut.
Roger Sherman, Sam'el Huntington, Wm. Williams,
Oliver Wolcott.
New York
Wm. Floyd, Phil. Livingston, Frans. Lewis, Lewis Morris.
New Jersey
Richd. Stockton, Jno. Witherspoon, Fras. Hopkinson,
John Hart, Abra. Clark.
Pennsylvania
Robt. Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benja. Franklin, John Morton,
Geo. Clymer, Jas. Smith, Geo. Taylor, James Wilson,
Geo. Ross.
Delaware.
Cæsar Rodney, Geo. Read, Tho. M'Kean.
Maryland
Samuel Chase, Wm. Paca, Thos. Stone,
Charles Carroll of Carrollton.
Virginia.
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Th Jefferson,
Benja. Harrison, Thos. Ne]son, jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee,
Carter Braxton.
North Carolina.
Wm. Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn.
South Carolina.
Edward Rutledge, Thos. Heyward, Junr.,
Thomas Lynch, Junr., Arthur Middleton.
Georgia.
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, Geo. Walton."

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (July).
Constitutional effect of the Declaration of Independence.

"The Declaration of Independence did not create thirteen
sovereign states, but the representatives of the people
declared that the former English colonies, under the name
which they had assumed of the United States of America,
became, from the 4th day of July, 1776, a sovereign state and
a member of the family of nations, recognized by the law of
nations; and further, that the people would support their
representatives with their blood and treasure, in their
endeavor to make this declaration a universally recognized
fact. Neither congress nor the people relied in this upon any
positive right belonging either to the individual colonies
or to the colonies as a whole. Rather did the Declaration of
Independence and the war destroy all existing political jural
relations, and seek their moral justification in the right of
revolution inherent in every people in extreme emergencies. …
Political theories had nothing to do with this development of
things. It was the natural result of given circumstances and
was an accomplished fact before anyone thought of the legal
consequences which might subsequently be deduced from it."

_H. von Holst,
Constitutional and Political History of the United States,
volume 1, chapter 1._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (July).
Independence declared in New Jersey
and Governor Franklin arrested.

See NEW JERSEY: A. D. 1774-1776.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (August).
The struggle for New York and the Hudson.
Battle of Long Island.

"Washington had been informed, early in January, that General
Sir Henry Clinton had sailed from Boston, with a considerable
body of troops, on a secret expedition. Apprehending that the
city of New York was his destination, he immediately
dispatched General Charles Lee to Connecticut to raise troops,
and to proceed to that city to watch and oppose Clinton
wherever he might attempt to land. Six weeks before the
evacuation of Boston [March 17, 1776], Lee had encamped near
New York with twelve hundred militia. Already the Sons of
Liberty had been busy, and overt acts of rebellion had been
committed by them. They had seized the cannons at Fort George,
and driven Tryon, the royal governor, on board the Asia, a
British armed vessel in the harbor. In March, Clinton arrived
at Sandy Hook, just outside New York harbor, and on the same
day, the watchful Lee providentially entered the city. The
movement, although without a knowledge of Clinton's position,
was timely, for it kept him at bay. Foiled in his attempt upon
New York, that commander sailed southward. … The destination
of Howe, when he left Boston, was also unknown to Washington.
Supposing he, too, would proceed to New York, he put the main
body of his army in motion toward that city, as soon as he had
placed Boston in a state of security. He arrived in New York
about the middle of April [April 14], and proceeded at once to
fortify the town and vicinity, and also the passes of the
Hudson Highlands, fifty miles above. In the mean while,
General Lee, who had been appointed to command the American
forces in the South, had left his troops in the charge of
General Lord Stirling [March 7], and was hastening toward the
Carolinas to watch the movements of Clinton, arouse the Whigs,
and gather an army there. … Pursuant to instructions, General
Howe proceeded toward New York, to meet General Clinton and
Parker's fleet. He left Halifax on the 11th of June, [1776],
and arrived at Sandy Hook on the 29th. On the 2d of July he
took possession of Staten Island, where he was joined by Sir
Henry Clinton [July 11], from the South, and his brother,
Admiral Lord Howe [July 12], with a fleet and a large land
force, from England. Before the first of August, other vessels
arrived with a part of the Hessian troops, and on that day,
almost 30,000 soldiers, many of them tried veterans, stood
ready to fall upon the republican army of 17,000 men, mostly
militia, which lay intrenched in New York and vicinity, less
than a dozen miles distant. The grand object in view was the
seizure of New York and the country along the Hudson, so as to
keep open a communication with Canada, separate the patriots of
New England from those of the other states, and to overrun the
most populous portion of the revolted colonies.
{3237}
This was the military plan, arranged by ministers. They had
also prepared instructions to their commanding generals, to be
pacific, if the Americans appeared disposed to submit. Lord
Howe and his brother, the general, were commissioned to 'grant
pardon to all who deserved mercy,' and to treat for peace, but
only on terms of absolute submission on the part of the
colonies, to the will of the King and parliament. After making
a foolish display of arrogance and weakness, in addressing
General Washington as a private gentleman, and being assured
that the Americans had been guilty of no offense requiring a
'pardon' at their hands, they prepared to strike an immediate
and effective blow. The British army was accordingly put in
motion on the morning of the 22d of August [1776], and during
that day, 10,000 effective men, and forty pieces of cannon,
were landed on the western end of Long Island, between the
present Fort Hamilton and Gravesend village. Already
detachments of Americans under General Sullivan, occupied a
fortified camp at Brooklyn, opposite New York, and guarded
seven passes on a range of hills which extend from the Narrows
to the village of Jamaica. When intelligence of the landing of
the invading army reached Washington, he sent General Putnam,
with large reinforcements, to take the chief command on Long
Island; and to prepare to meet the enemy. The American troops
on the island now [August 26], numbered about 5,000. The
British moved in three divisions. The left, under General
Grant, marched along the shore toward Gowanus; the right,
under Clinton and Cornwallis, toward the interior of the
island; and the center, composed chiefly of Hessians, under De
Heister, marched up the Flatbush road, south of the hills.
Clinton moved under cover of night, and before dawn on the
morning of the 27th, he had gained possession of the Jamaica
pass, near the present East New York. At the same time, Grant
was pressing forward along the shore of New York Bay, and at
day-break, he encountered Lord Stirling, where the monuments
of Greenwood cemetery now dot the hills. De Heister advanced
from Flatbush at the same hour, and attacked Sullivan, who,
having no suspicions of the movements of Clinton, was watching
the Flatbush Pass. A bloody conflict ensued, and while it was
progressing, Clinton descended from the wooded hills, by the
way of Bedford, to gain Sullivan's rear. As soon as the latter
perceived his peril, he ordered a retreat to the American
lines at Brooklyn. It was too late; Clinton drove him back
upon the Hessian bayonets, and after fighting desperately,
hand to hand, with the foe in front and rear, and losing a
greater portion of his men, Sullivan was compelled to
surrender. As usual, misfortunes did not come single. While
these disasters were occurring on the left, Cornwallis
descended the port-road to Gowanus, and attacked Stirling.
They fought desperately, until Stirling was made prisoner.
Many of his troops were drowned while endeavoring to escape
across the Gowanus Creek, as the tide was rising; and a large
number were captured. At noon the victory for the British was
complete. About 500 Americans were killed or wounded, and
1,100 were made prisoners. These were soon suffering dreadful
horrors in prisons and prison-ships, at New York. The British
loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, was 367. It was with
the deepest anguish that Washington had viewed, from New York,
the destruction of his troops, yet he dared not weaken his
power in the city, by sending reinforcements to aid them. He
crossed over on the following morning [August 28], with
Mifflin, who had come down from the upper end of York island
with a thousand troops, and was gratified to find the enemy
encamped in front of Putnam's lines, and delaying an attack,
until the British fleet should co-operate with him. This delay
allowed Washington time to form and execute a plan for the
salvation of the remainder of the army, now too weak to resist
an assault with any hope of success. Under cover of a heavy
fog, which fell upon the hostile camps at midnight of the
29th, and continued until the morning of the 30th, he silently
withdrew them from the camp, and, unperceived by the British,
they all crossed over to New York in safety, carrying
everything with them but their heavy cannons. … Howe, who felt
sure of his prey, was greatly mortified, and prepared to make
an immediate attack upon New York, before the Americans should
become reinforced, or should escape from it."

_B. J. Lossing,
Family History of the United States,
period 5, chapter 3._

ALSO IN:
_H. P. Johnston,
The Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn,
chapters 1-5,
(Members of Long Island History Society, volume 3)._

_T. W. Field,
The Battle of Long island
(Members of Long Island History Society, volume 2)._

_W. A. Duer,
Life of Wm. Alexander, Earl of Stirling,
chapter 5._

_J. Fiske,
The American Revolution,
chapter 5 (volume 1)._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (September).
Quiet death of proprietary government in Pennsylvania
and adoption of a State Constitution.

See PENNSYLVANIA: A. D. 1776.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (September-November).
The struggle for New York and the Hudson.
Successes of the British.
Washington's retreat into New Jersey.