414 RIVINGTON'S GAZETTE DESTROYED; OTHER LOYALISTS. time, a paper known as Rivington's Gazette, was published in New York, the policy of which was largely in favor of the government and which annoyed the patriots not a little by its witticisms. These finally became so odious to the patriots that they could stand them no longer, and in November, 1775, Captain Isaac Sears of Connecticut, after the committee of safety had declined to interfere with the publication of the paper, took it upon himself to deal with its proprietor. Collecting a force of light horse from the vicinity of his home, he marched to the city, drew up in front of Rivington's office, and amid the cheers of the crowd completely wrecked the office and carried away the type. Rivington apologized, but narrowly escaped with his life and finally succeeded in reaching a British warship in the harbor. While a large number of the colonists secretly applauded this act, it was publicly denounced as a high-handed proceeding, and a complaint was sent to the next Provincial Congress.* Lamb, City of New York, vol. ii., pp. 49-50, Hildreth, vol. iii., pp. 113-114; Jones, New York in the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 64, 66, 561; Force, American Archives, 4th series, vol. iii., p. 1707, vol. iv., pp. 185, 186, 393, 400, 401, vol. v., p. 439. On the treatment of Loyalists in New York in general, see Flick, Loyalism in New York, chaps. iii.iv. Jay said: For my part I do not approve of the feat, and think it neither argues much wisdom nor much bravery; at any rate if it was to have been done, I wish our own people, and not strangers had taken the liberty of doing it. I confess I am not a little jealous of the honor of the province, and am persuaded that its reputation cannot be maintained without some little In New Governor influence gradually waned and he was finally compelled to take refuge in Fort William and Mary.* In New Jersey, Governor William Franklin gradually lost his power, which was assumed by the patriot Provincial Congress. In January, 1776, Franklin promised not to leave the province, but in June, upon attempting to reconvene the defunct legislature, he was arrested and imprisoned at Burlington and afterward at Windsor, Connecticut, where he remained until exchanged in November, 1778.+ John Penn, governor of Pennsylvania, sincerely sympathized with the patriots, and consequently was leniently dealt with, being allowed gradually to sink into oblivion. In 1777, when Howe was expected at Philadelphia, Penn was arrested and sent to Connecticut, but in 1778, when Howe evacuated the city, he was allowed to return.‡ In October, 1775, Congress came into possession of a letter supposed to have been written by a person of well-known credibility in London, in which it was stated that the British government had planned to gain possession of New York and the Hudson River, and by so doing to open communication between New York and spirit being mingled with its prudence."- Pellew, John Jay, p. 52. Fisher, Struggle for American Independence, vol. i., p. 376. Ibid, pp. 376-377. See also Parton, Life of Benjamin Franklin, vol. ii., pp. 93–98. Fisher, p. 377. LEE AT NEW YORK; TORY ACTIVITIES. Canada. If this plan were successful, the colonies would thus be divided; Massachusetts and the Eastern colonies would be subjected to the inroads of the Indians then in the pay of the British government, while the Middle and Southern colonies would be left to fight the British single-handed. Naturally, no little apprehension was excited among the members of Congress respecting the Hudson, and toward the end of the year, when it became known that the British at Boston were preparing for some secret expedition, Washington at once surmised that the plan of the British was to seize New York. He therefore took immediate steps to meet the emergency, but, as we have seen, instead of making a descent on New York, Clinton, who commanded the expedition, went further south and directed his efforts to the reduction of North Carolina.* Even the New York committee of safety was considered to be lukewarm, and consequently, early in 1776, General Lee was dispatched thither with the Connecticut troops to sustain the authority of Congress in the province and, if possible, to circumvent the machinations of Tryon and the Loyalists.† On his way to * Irving, Life of Washington, vol. ii., p. 152 et seq. Carrington, Battles of the Revolution, pp. 148-149; Journals of Congress, vol. i., p. 220; Force, American Archives, 4th series, vol. iii., pp. 1135, 1400, vol. iv., pp. 604-624, 629, 699, 812, 942-943, 955, 1145, 1506-1507; Gordon, American Revolution, vol. ii., pp. 173, 208, 210 (ed. 415 Carolina, Sir Henry Clinton stopped at New York, supposedly to visit his friend, Tryon, but as Lee said, if this were so it was "the most whimsical piece of civility ever heard of," and his telling of his plans to the enemy "too novel to be credited.""* Lee furthermore declared that he would "send word on board of the men-ofwar, that, if they set a house on fire, he would chain a hundred of their friends by the neck, and make the house their funeral pile;"'+-a threat which Lee was just the man to put into execution.‡ Not alone in New York City and the vicinity were the Loyalists particularly strong. Throughout the entire province of New York, and particularly in Tryon County, they possessed considerable strength. In the latter the Johnson family exercised preponderating influence, and there the Tories were in the majority. In January General Schuyler thought it necessary to send a detachment of troops from Albany to disarm the Johnsons and the Highlanders, and to compel them to give hostages. 1788). See also Lee's instructions in Sparks' ed. of Washington's Writings, vol. iii., p. 230. * See Lee's letter to Washington, Sparks, Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. i., p. 140. See also, Lamb, City of New York, vol. ii., pp. 62-64. Irving, Life of Washington, vol. ii., p. 180. On Lee's work preparing for the fortification of New York and vicinity, see Henry P. Johnston, The Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn, in Memoirs of the Long Island Histori cal Society, vol. iii., pp. 48–61. See also Lee's letters to Washington, in Sparks, Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 145–148, 151–154, 156-160. 416 THE JOHNSON FAMILY; PLOT AGAINST WASHINGTON. * Before the troops arrived, however, Guy Johnson had gone to Canada, taking with him most of the Mohawks to serve the British. Sir John Johnson, however, gave his parole that he would not take up arms against the Americans, but he was later suspected of giving aid to the British, and in May, when an attempt was made to place him under arrest, he fled to Canada, raised two battalions of " Royal Greens," and made himself an object of terror along the whole New York frontier. John and Walter Butler and Joseph Brant also fled to Canada. The latter, a wellknown Indian chief, being Guy Johnson's secretary, was also very active in frontier warfare.† In his Life of Washington, Sparks gives an excellent account of the plots of the Tories in the neighborhood of New York, in all of which Governor Tryon was the moving spirit Matters finally came to such a pass that Wash *Lamb, City of New York, vol. ii., pp. 60–61; Irving, Life of Washington, vol. ii., pp. 176-178. † Hildreth, vol. iii., pp. 115-116; Tuckerman, Life of Schuyler, pp. 126-128; Force, American Archives, 4th series, vol. iii., pp. 19, 64, 260, 667668, vol. iv., pp. 827-829, vol. v., pp. 195–196, 772, vol. vi., pp. 493, 511, 538, 643-645, 647, 913, 930, 992, 1442; 5th series, vol. i., p. 866, vol. ii., pp. 385, 404, 1120-1121, vol. iii., pp. 577-578, 582–584; N. Y. Col. Docs., vol. viii., pp. 651, 663-664, 683; Roberts, New York, vol. ii., pp. 406-407. On the Tory activities, see Fleck, Loyalism in New York, chap. v. 66 ington persuaded Congress to appoint a secret committee to arrest and examine persons who were suspected of plotting against the Americans. Up to this time the power of apprehending Tories had been in the hands of the local committees of safety and the civil authorities of the various colonies. The conventions, assemblies, and committees were now authorized, when necessity arose, to employ a militia force from the Continental army. Many Tories were apprehended in New York and on Long Island; some were imprisoned; others disarmed. A deep plot, originating with Governor Tryon, was defeated by a timely and fortunate discovery. His agents were found enlisting men in the American camp, and enticing them with rewards. The infection spread to a considerable extent, and even reached the general's guard, some of whom enlisted. A soldier of the guard was proved guilty by a court martial, and executed.* It was a part of the plot to seize General Washington and convey him to the enemy."+ seq. *Lamb, City of New York, vol. ii., p. 77 et Sparks, Life of Washington, p. 169. See also Irving's account of this matter, Life of Washington, vol. ii., p. 260 et seq.; Force, American Archives, 4th series, vol. vi., pp. 1054, 1058, 10841086, 1101, 1119-1120, 1152, 1431; Moore, Diary of the American Revolution, vol. i., pp. 255–257. CONDITION OF AFFAIRS IN COLONIES. 417 CHAPTER XIII. 1776. INDEPENDENCE DECLARED; STATE GOVERNMENTS FORMED. Peculiar condition of affairs in America - Civil governments formed in New Hampshire, Virginia, South Carolina, and Massachusetts - Judge Drayton's charges to the Grand Jury - North Carolina and South Carolina declare for independence - Instructions to the Virginia delegates Action of the General Assembly of Massachusetts-Action in Rhode Island- - Lee introduces resolution for independence in CongressResolution supported by Adams and opposed by others Instructions to the New York Convention - Action by New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland — Declaration of Independence adopted and signed - Text of the Declaration - Declaration received with approval by army Joy expressed throughout the country - Formation of State governments. Appendix to Chapter XIII.The Declaration of Independence. The position of the colonies at this time was somewhat singular. Ostensibly they were still subject to a ruler on the other side of the ocean, but for ten years they had more or less openly disobeyed his commands. They had refused to comply with the mandates of the king's Parliament and, instead, had zealously adhered to a domestic government which had been denounced by their ruler as a traitorous usurpation. They had raised an army to repel the invasion of his troops and to drive them out of the country; they had actually engaged in hostilities with the royal armies and had also invaded territory adjacent to the colonies which belonged to the very king of whom they were supposed to be loyal subjects. "The very men who were engaged in acts of rebellion shrunk from the name of rebels. In the tribunals, justice was still administered in the name of the king, and prayers were every day offered up for the preservation and welfare of a prince whose authority was not only ignored, but against whom a determined and obstinate contest was maintained. The colonists pretended that they only desired to resume their ancient relations, and reëstablish the royal government in its original shape, when in fact the republican system had long been introduced. They declared it to be their wish to arrive at a certain end, while they recurred to every means which tended to conduct them to the contrary one." It was obvious that such a condition of affairs could not long exist, and it was plain that the colonists must choose one of the two alternatives, submission to the royal authority or absolute independence. The greater portion of the people were decidedly in favor of the latter alternative, considering it the only resource left to them. There were, it is true, a portion of the inhabitants, numerically almost as large as the other, who could not easily reconcile themselves to an absolute separation from the 418 DIVERSITY OF SENTIMENT. mother country. Many of these American Whigs never yielded up their opinion on the subject, like John J. Zubly, a member of Continental Congress from Georgia; others, like John Dickinson, Robert Robert Morris, James Wilson, and William Smith, finally and reluctantly acquiesced in the measures for independence and made great sacrifices in its support. These men feared that once the sword were drawn, no one could tell when it would be sheathed; they feared that the inhabitants of the various colonies could not coalesce under an efficient general government, and that, even should they gain independence, a period of anarchy would ensue, the ultimate outcome of which would be a despotism worse than that from which they were now endeavoring to escape. They doubted that their countrymen would persevere in their efforts for independence and apprehended that in case these efforts should result in success, the future of the country would be less happy than under past and present conditions. There were also a large number who were not possessed of sufficient boldness or stamina to openly espouse the cause of the revolution, and they shrank from the bold measures which had been proposed by their more hardy compatriots.* Most of them. * Writing to Pickering, John Adams says: "It soon became rumored about the city [Philadelphia] that John Adams was for independence. The Quakers and proprietary gentlemen took the alarm; represented me as the worst of men; the true-blue sons of liberty pitied me; all put me dreaded the power of England and feared that she would ultimately crush the revolution and subject the colonists to even harsher measures than those against which they were now fighting. A few others, from motives of self-interest, or because they wished to curry the good-will of Parliament, or expected to receive certain favors from the royal government, refused to concur in the move ment toward ment toward independence. Still others had only recently come from England and had not yet imbibed the spirit of independence nor exchanged their European ideas for American; consequently they strongly opposed the radical measures of Congress.* However, the great bulk of the people, especially the spirited and independent part of the community, were surprisingly unanimous in favoring the attempt to sever the ties with England, and once the idea had been thoroughly grasped by the general body of the people, it was not to be expected that they would forsake the principles so boldly asserted without a long and arduous struggle. Meanwhile several of the colonies under a kind of coventry. I was avoided, like a man infected with the leprosy. I walked the streets of Philadelphia in solitude, borne down by the weight of care and unpopularity. But every ship, for the ensuing year, brought us fresh proof of the truth of my prophesies, and one after another became convinced of the necessity of independence."— Works, vol. ii., p. 513. * See Tyler, Literary History of the American Revolution, vol. i., p. 475 et seq. See also Lorenzo Sabine, American Loyalists; Van Tyne, Loyalists in the Revolution. |