\
THE MEN WHO MADE
THE NATION
THE MEN WHO MADE
THE NATION
AN OUTLINE OF UNITED STATES HISTORY
FROM 1760 TO 1865
<*
BY
EDWIN ERLE SPARKS, PH.D.
ILLUSTRATED WITH MANY REPRODUCTIONS OF CONTEMPORARY
PRINTS, SKETCHES, FACSIMILES, ETC.
Ncfo gorfc
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.
IQOI
All rights reserved
COPYRIGHT, 1900,
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Nortoooti
J. S. Gushing & Co. - Berwick & Smith
Norwood Mass. U.S.A.
PREFATORY NOTE
THIS outline of United States History is based upon
these hypotheses : —
That the unification of the American people is now
sufficiently accomplished to warrant the general reader
in following up the chief events which have overcome
inherent individualism and have by necessity compelled
cooperation.
That a recital of the events in the nation's career
without the persons connected therewith is to the un
trained reader an empty stage. However magnificently
set, it is lifeless without the players. The making of
the nation is the story of the men who made it.
That at any given period of affairs one man will be
found who is master of the situation, and events natu
rally group themselves about him.
That the preeminence of one man at any period does
not detract from the services of the minor characters,
some of whom may become leaders subsequently.
That an intensive and extensive study of the nation's
history can be best secured by making an outline inter
esting and directive.
82858
vi PREFATORY NOTE
That amidst the confusing multitude of details in
the forming of a national character, the reader can
trace the slow, but steady, evolution of a comparatively
harmonious people from the most heterogeneous and
apparently hopeless elements. The process of recon
ciling the inherited prejudices which have rent the Old
World is not yet complete in the New ; but the stern
hand of necessity has wrought the reluctant material
so far that the result may be viewed with pride by
those who read the story.
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO,
December, 1900.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
Benjamin Franklin, the Colonial Agent in England . . T
CHAPTER II
Samuel Adams, the Man of the Town Meeting ... 47
CHAPTER III
John Adams, the Partisan of Independence .... 79
CHAPTER IV
Robert Morris, the Financier of the Revolution . . .119^
CHAPTER V
Alexander Hamilton, the Advocate of Stronger Government , 151
CHAPTER VI
v^George Washington, the First President . . . .181
CHAPTER VII
Thomas Jefferson, the Exponent of Democracy . . . 218
vii
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER VIII
PAQJ5
Henry Clay, the Father of Public Improvements . . . 215
CHAPTER IX
Andrew Jackson, the People's President .... 282
CHAPTER X
Daniel Webster, the Defender of the Constitution . . .318
CHAPTER XI
Horace Greeley, the Anti-slavery Editor .... 347
CHAPTER XII
Abraham Lincoln, a New Type of American .... 378
INDEX 411
TUft puWi/hed, POOR RICHARDS AI.M.
Yeat4 1752. Containing, bei'i '-hitters., a parti
cular Account of the Changes tfit- . :rcuc in ioin,:r
A^es, with the Realons thereof \
r,.<int for regulating the CuirsiTifnc , il»t. Caitn-
»iar, printed at large.
A L S O,
The AMERICAN C O U N T R ^ A L MA N A C K,
For the Year I7C2. fc»v ^j U U M ^-! >. MOO ^ /?.
^d aw^y ori the 18 h ot )<ift month f out <»J the
ANNOUNCEMENT OF POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC IN FRANKLIN'S
PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE
THE MEN WHO MADE
THE NATION
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
CHAPTER I
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, THE COLONIAL AGENT IN ENGLAND
REEDY ISLAND, 7 at night, 8 November, 1764.
MY DEAR SALLY, — We got down here at sunset, having
taken in more live stock at Newcastle, with some other things
we wanted. Our good friends, Mr. Galloway, Mr. Wharton,
and Mr. James, came with me in the ship from Chester to
Newcastle, and went ashore there. It was kind to favor me
with their company as far as they could. The affectionate
leave taken of me by so many friends at Chester was very
endearing. God bless them and all Philadelphia. ...
B. FRANKLIN.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, of Philadelphia, had started on
his third voyage to England. His fruitless errand
under the supposed patronage of Governor Keith, of
Pennsylvania, in 1724, had been followed in 1757 by a
mission as agent of the people of Pennsylvania in their
contest with the heirs of William Penn, proprietors of
that province. After five years of service, he had re
turned, and was now sent back on a similar errand,
having been allowed to remain but two years at home.
On the first of these visits Franklin was an unknown
printer. Before he saw England the second time, Poor
Richard's quaint sayings in Richard Saunders' Almanac
had made its printer-author famous. His experiments
2 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
in the realm of science were known to the reading
world. His complete works had been published in
London. But on this third visit he was destined to
enter the field of political writings, to enlighten England
about her American possessions, and to assist, quite
unintentionally, in divesting her of a portion of these
treasures.
Much information could not be expected in England
concerning these million and a half colonists, scattered
in little groups along a thousand miles of seacoast.
They were in a " new world," surrounded by dense
forests, in constant danger from savages, and with slight
means of inter-communication. Even effective coop
eration was prevented by the racial, religious, and class
differences, which they brought from the old country
and transmitted to their children. Of these sources of
dissension, sectarianism would naturally be the most
difficult to overcome.
The " Established church " of England was strongest
in Virginia. It was under the bishop of London, in
accord with the ecclesiastical law ; it was favored by the
aristocratic ruling class ; it had its glebes and parish
houses ; the salaries of its clergy were arranged by law l
1 In 1696, the annual salary of a clergyman was fixed at 16,000 pounds
of tobacco; for performing a marriage ceremony, 400 pounds; for a fu
neral service, 200 pounds, etc. Variations in crops and quality of tobacco
gave rise to many suits at law, in one of which Patrick Henry gained his
first prominence as an agitator by denouncing this compulsory church sys
tem. See Tyler's " Henry," p. 32. An original account of this " Parson's
Cause," as well as original material on nearly all points in American his
tory, may be found in Hart's " American History told by Contemporaries."
For a presentation of the case from another standpoint, see Meade's " Old
Churches and Families of Virginia," L, 219. For the colonial churches in
general, see Lodge's " History of the American Colonies."
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 3
and paid largely by tithes exacted from the citizens.
These proud churchmen looked down with a kind of scorn
on the " dissenters " in New England. Crossing the ocean
could not heal the breach between Cavalier and Round
head. On the other hand, the Puritan clergymen
compared the severity of their lives with those of the
Virginia clergy, carousing in taverns, attendants upon
horsl|lfcs and cock-fights, and ultimately made ame
nable to the law for drunkenness. Many of the Virginia
rectors were exceptions, and lived most exemplary
lives ; but others were sent over to the colonial livings,
their salaries assured by law, and themselves thus made
independent of their parishioners. In vain the Vir
ginians at times petitioned for the appointment of an
American bishop to correct these " wolves in sheep's
clothing," who " rather by their dissoluteness destroy
than feed their flocks." The Established church was
the product of a state deaf to distant colonies.
The first people of Massachusetts Bay had fled to
escape this state church, but they soon evolved a church
state, membership in the one being contingent on mem
bership in the other. " Casting out heretics " was as man
datory on the new as on the old state, and persecution
raged in both sections. If Massachusetts forbade the
ritual of the Established church, Virginia fined Puritans
who preached within her borders. Each persecuted the
Quaker, or " broadbrim," as John Adams called him.1
The Baptist also suffered in both North and South.
Only two years before independence was declared, five
1 Whittier describes these persecutions in the third, fourth, and fifth
stanzas of " The Pastoral Letter." Thomas Jefferson, in his " Notes on
Virginia," cites the statutes of that colony against the Quaker.
4 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
or six clergymen were in close jail in Virginia for pub
lishing their doctrines, and James Madison was out of
patience with this "diabolical, hell-conceived principle
of persecution." l
In New York, the history of Peter Stuyvesant fining
non-attendants on the Dutch Reformed (or Dutch Cal-
vinist) church was repeated by Governor Fletcher,
under English rule, arranging a tax for building Estab
lished churches and paying their clergymen. The strug
gle in that colony between this state church and the
dissenters, chiefly Presbyterians, continued as a dis
turbing element far into the Revolution. The first fifty
years of the history of South Carolina witnessed a con
stant struggle between the Established churchmen and
the Scotch Presbyterians, during which the former suc
ceeded in barring, for a time, the latter from seats in
the provincial Assembly. The union of church and
state never held in Pennsylvania, where the population
was so divided among Quakers, Presbyterians, and the
numerous sects of the Germans.
Since the ruling element of whatever sect came
from England, the Roman Catholic could not expect
toleration. Until the time of the Revolution, New York
prohibited the exercise of office by priest or Jesuit on
penalty of perpetual imprisonment, an attempt to es
cape being punishable by death. Maryland, although
Roman Catholic by foundation and by the faith of a
majority of her citizens, was given a Protestant church
system in 1692.2 Virginia was especially severe toward
1 Gay's " Madison," p. 13.
2 See Rowland's "Charles Carroll of Carrollton," Vol. L, pp. 4-33.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 5
Roman Catholics, and even Rhode Island at times
refused them the right of the franchise.
As migration to Massachusetts and Connecticut in
creased, tremendous pressure for citizenship was brought
to bear on the church state and the " half-way covenant "
was agreed upon. It granted church membership and
citizenship privileges without the prerequisites of repent
ance and conversion. Many clergymen refused to abide
by it, and Jonathan Edwards was dismissed from his
pastorate at Northampton, Massachusetts, after twenty-
four years of service. A little later, tithes were per
mitted to be paid to the Established churches in Massa
chusetts. Yet toleration made such slow progress
that so late as 1760 in that colony there were 306
Congregational churches and but 59 of all other denomi
nations, while the membership was as five to one. The
state church in Georgia gradually fell into such ill repute
that John Wesley, in 1736, estimated the dissenters at
one-third the entire population, and in Virginia the
proportion was thought to be one-half. Hence in the
southern colonies the Revolution was accompanied, if
not engendered, by a struggle for religious freedom.1
Elsewhere the fear of an American bishop and an
established church being foisted on the people became
one of the standing complaints against England in the
rising tide of the Revolution.2 The sending officially
1 Jefferson has claimed much credit for the divorce of church and state
in Virginia. Morse's "Jefferson," p. 45. Madison is entitled to a share.
Gay's " Madison," pp. 66-70.
2 One of the English caricatures shows the reception which would be
accorded to a bishop in America. The " Annual Register " (London) for
1765, p. 108, contains Bishop Butler's plan for an American episcopacy.
Franklin wrote an essay on Toleration in Old and New England. See his
PROBABLE RECEPTION OF AN AMERICAN BISHOP
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 7
of a Roman Catholic bishop to the French in Canada
in 1766 seemed to give some foundation to this fear.
With these narrow contests and this persecution in a
new world Franklin had little sympathy. He said :
"When religious people quarrel about religion, or
hungry people about their victuals, it looks as if they
had not much of either among them."1
He was much more concerned about the race differ
ences, and the probable length of time necessary to
evolve a harmonious people from this mass of inherited
prejudices. He regretted especially the non-assimilation
of the Germans in Pennsylvania. " Few of their chil
dren know English. They import many books from
Germany ; and of the six printing offices in the prov
ince, two are entirely German, two half German and
half English, and but two entirely English." Adver
tisements in the Philadelphia newspapers were in both
English and German, as were the street signs. Legal
papers were allowed to be written in either language,
and Franklin sarcastically predicted that it would be
necessary in time to have interpreters in the state Assem
bly to tell the one half what the other half said. Other
writers testified to the superstition of the lower class of
these Germans ; that one might see frequently a bag of
salt tied to a horse's mane to keep the witches away.
A petty warfare went on between them and the Scotch.
Galloway once wrote to Franklin that the Presby
terians of Lancaster county objected to the election of
"Works," Sparks's Edition, Vol. II., p. 112. Also see "Works of John
Adams," Vol. X., p. 185.
1 The quotations from Franklin in this chapter are taken from various
places in Jared Sparks's " Franklin's Works " in ten volumes.
8 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
a candidate for sheriff because he had recently come
from Germany. When he attempted to serve process,
they assaulted him, cut off the ears of his horse, and
compelled him to flee for his life, yet they went. un
punished. At all times a certain antipathy was shown
by the Pennsylvania Quakers toward the Presbyterians,
whom they associated with the persecuting Congrega-
tionalists in New England. The Quakers wished to treat
the Indians kindly ; the Scotch and Scotch-Irish wished
to discipline them. The " Paxton (Paxtang) war " be
tween these factions threatened to add white to Indian
bloodshed until Franklin assumed a dictatorship, and
put an end to it whilst the terrified English governor
lay cowering in Franklin's house.
Germans were introduced also into New York
through Governor Fletcher, but comparatively few
settled in that colony.1 Yet it had fully as discordant
an element in the Netherlanders, or Dutch, along the
Hudson, who had been brought under English control
in 1664. Kalm2 pronounced them " unhospitable, and
never disposed to oblige beyond the prospect of interest " ;
and, since they regarded the New Englanders as influen
tial in their subjugation, " their first and greatest malice
is toward them; while the difference in their natural
disposition and the peculiarities in the manners and
1 They were commonly called " Dutch," possibly because they were of
Teutonic blood, although they came from the Rhine district of Germany
and not from the Netherlands. By contact with the English language,
the present mixture known as " Pennsylvania Dutch " has arisen. The
Germans have made an excellent although conservative contribution to the
citizenship of Pennsylvania.
2 Peter Kalm, the Swedish botanist, made observations on the people
as well as the flora of North America during his visit in 1 748.
BENJAMIN FRANKUN 9
customs of both parties render them obnoxious each to
the other, and afford an infinite fund to a genius for
the malevolent burlesque." In New Jersey, Kalm found
" Low Dutch, Germans, English, Scotch, Irish, and New
Englanders, whose national manners, customs, and char
acter are still preserved, especially among the lower
classes of people, who have little intercourse among any
but those of their own nation." But not alone race ani
mosity produced isolation and decentralization. If inte
rior migration separated friends and neighbors, sectional
feeling immediately sprang up. When the southward
movement peopled the valleys of western Virginia and
North Carolina with Pennsylvanians,1 the Colonial
Magazine of Philadelphia pronounced the state a sieve,
which kept back the stamina of industry and virtue, but
allowed a free passage to those accustomed to vice and
violence.
Added to these discordant race elements was the
generally undesirable class known as " indented ser
vants." Many of them had been redeemed from Eng
lish, Scotch, and German prisons ; others belonged to
the improvident class, and had become indebted for
their passage-money ; only a few would make good
citizens. The act under which they were sent' was
entitled " For the better peopling His Majesty's Planta
tions." They frequently escaped to other colonies and
the frontier, committing crimes, and causing much ex
pense in returning them to those to whom they had
1 Morse's Geography says that of the 3500 militiamen in the Revolu
tionary War from Orange County, North Carolina, every one had migrated
from Pennsylvania. The signers of the Mecklenburg " declaration of
independence " were nearly all Scotch or their descendants who had come
from colonies farther north.
10
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
been bound.1 They caused annoyance to neighboring
colonies and thus added to the feeling already wrought
to a high pitch by the numerous boundary disputes.
\
-SIMON
/*<' 8S -Ail mafters of veffcls, and others, are forbid to
-carry them, or either of tfceip, twty, as the/ ihall anfwc?
it at their peril, j* .
Ran away, -on- the firft of
March <nft* fioitj the fubfcriber, «n Ti-
fttcum Ifitnd, in Chefter county, an Irllh
fervam lad, aheut 16 yean old, named
Jofeph MuUtn, about five feel high,
&ofi brown hair, black eyes, thin face,
down look, and has but very little $o
jfty 5 by hit behaviour he may be taken
for a fool— 4ia<i on when he went away, an old blanket coat,
and homefpun bro*n cloth jacket, with a red lining, gretn
troufers, with patches on tht knees, white yarn ftockingv,
hall worn iioes, with ftrings in them, and an old flopped
hat. Whoever wil^, bring htm home, ihall receive Twenty
Shillings reward, and all rcafojuahle charges paid, by
Jofeph Penrofe.
RUN away from the fub-
fcriber, in Saffafras Neck, Cecil Cbun-
ty, Maryland, a fervant man named
Jofeph Edwards. He was bom in Eng-
land, pretcndr to have been bred up "to
the care of horfes, and to underhand the
management and breaking of colts, is a
talkative impertinent fellow, about to,
years of a_ee. well fet, fw4rj_hy cp
4
a
t
i
n
When the charters were first issued to various com
panies for planting colonies in the new world, no sur-
1 In Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette of Nov. I, 1750, the following
advertisement appears under the heading of " Runaway Servant " :
" Also another servant man, named William Stewart, of a middle size,
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 1 1
veys had been made and parallels of latitude were
frequently used for boundaries. The common practice
was to grant all the seacoast between certain parallels,
extending " up into the land from sea to sea, west and
northwest," or " towards the South Sea (Pacific ocean)
or westward." But many colonizing schemes failed;
others took their places ; and, since every encourage
ment was offered, the same land was given in subsequent
grants until in some places the land was said to be
covered five deep with these claims.1
The charter of Virginia, the earliest, was naturally the
most loosely drawn, and that colony construed " up into
the Land throughout from Sea to Sea, West and North
west" to entitle her to all land lying west of the other
colonies and north of her southern boundary. But such
interpretation was disputed by Massachusetts, whose
land extended "throughout the Mayne Landes there
from the Atlantick and Westerne Sea and Ocean on the
East Parte to the South Sea on the West Parte," and by
Connecticut, which had been granted all lands " as the
Line of the Massachusetts Colony . . . from the said
Narraganset Bay on the East, to the South Sea on the
short brown hair, wore a cap, with a scar on one of his cheeks : Had
on a blue stuff coat, with a red plush cape, lined with dark colour'd linnen,
a brown jacket lined with the same, metal buttons, breeches much the
same, shoes and stockings, about 1 6 or 17 years of age. Whoever appre
hends the said servants, and secures them, so as their master may have
them again, shall have Twenty Shillings for each, and reasonable charges,
paid by me. ROBERT ADAMS."
In the same paper rewards were offered for twenty-one runaway ser
vants, mostly Irish and English. One negro was among the number, but
he had run away with a white servant.
1 These charters may be found in Poore's " Constitutions and Charters."
A resume of the boundary disputes may be found in Donaldson's " Public
Domain," issued as House Exec. Doc. 47, part 4, 46th Cong., 3d Sess.
12 THE MEN* WHO MADE THE NATION
West Part." New York also resisted Virginia's preten
sions to the western land on the ground of a treaty with
the Six Nations which gave to that province all the land
lying between the sources of the Great Lakes and the
Cumberland Mountains. But New York was involved in
more pressing difficulties on her eastern side because of
the uncertain outlines of the charter given to the Duke
of York. In the ensuing controversies, Ethan Allen
and his Green Mountain Boys decided the question so
far as a portion of the land was concerned by erecting
an independent state ; but they caused some alarm dur
ing the revolution lest they might ally themselves with
Canada.1 Usually when concerted action was needed,
these conflicts broke out afresh.
The two Carolinas clashed over their common boun
dary line. Georgia was almost entirely carved out of
South Carolina territory, and so engendered a quarrel
which was not settled until the Revolutionary war.
Regardless of protests, Maryland had been given land
claimed by Virginia, extending on the north to the 4<Dth
degree of latitude and on the east to the Atlantic. But,
in turn, the grant given to William Penn deprived
Maryland of a peninsula now the state of Delaware.
1 When Ethan Allen captured Ticonderoga he was still an outlaw with
a price upon his head by proclamation of the royal governor of New York.
The contest between the Green Mountain Boys and New York was really
connected with the struggle for liberty. The epitaph of one of Allen's
associates reads :
" Here William French his Body lies
For Murder his blood for Vengeance cries
King Georg the third his Tory crew
tha with a bawl his head Shot threw
For liberty and his Countrys Good
he Lost his Life his Dearest blood "
— Moore's " Memoir of Colonel Ethan Allen," p. 86.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 13
Penn also claimed that "the 4Oth degree" of north lati
tude meant to begin at the 39th, and therefore demanded
a strip of land one degree wide the entire length of
Maryland, and including the desirable site of the city of
Philadelphia. The dispute ran for half a century, until
a compromise was effected and two competent surveyors,
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, were brought from
England to run the line between the two provinces
(1763-1767). Since it so happened at a later time that
Pennsylvania and all states north found slavery unprofit
able and forbade it, whilst Maryland and all states south
found it profitable and fostered it, the Mason and Dixon
line became, at a later period, the great dividing line
between slavery and freedom.
Penn's charter located the western limit of Pennsyl
vania five degrees (about three hundred miles) from the
eastern line — the Delaware river ; but upon the decision
whether the eastern or western bend of the Delaware
should be taken as a starting point in measuring would
depend whether the junction of the rivers forming the
Ohio belonged to Pennsylvania or Virginia. The con
tention caused arrests, and even bloodshed, and was
raging furiously when the oncoming Revolution was
demanding harmony and peace. Nor was Penn more
fortunate in his northern boundary. In his grant of
1664 he had secured a quit-claim from the Duke of
York, but Connecticut, lapsing her claim to the territory
of present New York, resumed it beyond the Delaware,
and offered land for sale in a strip of northern Penn
sylvania, almost half that province. Settlers who pur
chased land from Pennsylvania in " Wyoming " or
" Susquehanna," as this disputed portion was called,
14 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
found other settlers on the same tract with titles issued
by Connecticut. Lawsuits, ejectments, and battles
marked this controversy, continuing even after the
Revolution, although Pennsylvania was given the land in
1782.
In the light of these conflicts one may appreciate the
belief of England that they would remain an insur
mountable barrier to any colonial union. A member of
the Commons said in debate : " The colonists have been
obliged to recur very frequently to the jurisdiction here
to settle the disputes among their own governments.
New Hampshire and Connecticut have been in blood
about their differences ; Virginia and Maryland rose in
arms against each other." The belief was common that
only the restraining hand of the mother country pre
vented a general civil war. England saw another dis
turbing element in the commercial competition. When
New York endeavored to secure a monopoly of the
trade with the Six Nations, neighboring colonies gave a
grudging assistance, and Virginia tried a counter treaty.
Commercial jealousy was a moving cause of the failure
of the colonies to support each other properly in the
Indian wars, and this very failure cut still deeper the
lines of ill feeling. New York hoped in time, with
her superior harbor, to surpass the larger city of Phila
delphia and also to gain some of the trade which entered
Narragansett and Massachusetts bays. Samuel Rhoads
sounded the alarm of Philadelphia, and suggested canals
as the only means of keeping the interior trade from
"Baltimore Towne." 1 England simply took advantage
1 In a letter to Franklin. Sparks's " Franklin," Vol. VII., p. 519.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 1 5
of this rivalry when she closed the port of Boston in the
Revolution.
A few of the causes have been given which justified
Dr. Joseph Warren in saying that until the time of the
Stamp Act (1765) "the colonies were ever at variance
and foolishly jealous of each other." Franklin thought
this jealousy so strong that although a common defence
had long been felt necessary, they could not form one
among themselves nor agree to ask the mother country
to establish one. He found further barriers in " differ
ent governors, different forms of government, different
laws, different interests, and some of them different
religious persuasions and different manners."1 He had
frequent experience with these local differences. Small
wonder that when he read the eulogy of Voltaire on
the peaceful city of the Quakers where " Discord and
Controversy are unknown," he should have pronounced
it fortunate that while they sat for their portrait to the
able painter, he viewed them at such a favorable dis
tance ; since they were " torn by faction, religious and
civil."
Against this multitude of decentralizing tendencies
there was the offset of a common danger, common pri
vations, and the feeling of a "destiny" for this new
world untainted by the ills of decaying old world gov
ernment. The English formed the ruling class in each
colony and so became a centralizing element. They
spoke a common tongue, inherited similar ideas and
tendencies, and were united in a common voluntary
exile from "home." Legislative measures were sent
1 Sparks's "Franklin," Vol. IV., p. 41.
^\- \ 3 R A «
& OK
\ UNIVET
lYALs
[ann
'tth tii
.•rcfir, ~~ ~~ -^
Ths S'N o w
T R y T O N,
Commander j
Lying at Fiflihuurne's Whurft, w«i,
fail with j;l potiible difpdi, hav.
ing the great-ft part of her cargo*
rciidy. For freight or pafiage, ap,
vSy to jnhn Kid<!,orf,!!d cf-mrtrtnA.-
N. B. To be fold by Jo!-:
*r ^i>'"'f% ^ "hurrr", A neat aflbrtment or
>' "-:'!:i1' pprtid in iaid'vdfd; allb Eng!i
J_ afowd
ccirimsj to Wiiliarn Gtay's, .t the C\-ncrti>"'X; \;
tii^:!!!1:^;!^ ^
For B A R B A I) C)"s diredly,
The Brigantlne '
Rebecca and Mar\\
Daniel England
Commanaer ;
Lying at Morris Morris**
wharff, and has good accom
modations for pafTcngers.
and For freight or paflage, apply to James Weft, or faid
commander on board.
•At his honff, on Arch-rtrect Wharff, oppoCte Mr, Hazard's,
CH O I CE Ciarct in Bottles j and a Variety of Europc.tr, *
Indiu Goods.
For L O N D ON,
The S H i P
Prince WILLIAM,
John Mitchell, Mafter j
One Half of bsr Loading is a!'
ready engaged, and foe- nvill-
tail icitb all convenient SpetJ»
For freight or Pajfage, ap~
to JoH.NjoMifH, ABPL JAMEJ, or faid
f ^/"M i"~5 " '
ADVERTISEMENTS FROM FRANKLIN'S PENNSYLVANIA GAZETIE
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 1 7
" home " for approval or rejection by the king. Frank
lin spoke of being "ordered home" and testified that
natives of Britain in the colonies " were always treated
with a particular regard; to be an Old-England
man was, of itself, a character of some respect, and
gave a kind of rank among us."1 It is one of the
strange inconsistencies in the evolution of the nation
that the treatment received from this beloved mother
country was the great agency which finally overcame
the many discordant elements and prepared the way
for concerted action.
To show Franklin's appreciation of these obstacles to
union one need only examine the efforts he made to
remove them in a peaceful way. In 1744, during the
French-Indian wars, a Spanish privateer sailed up the
Delaware, plundering plantations, and threatening Phil
adelphia. The city was defenceless owing to the un
willingness of the Quaker element in the Assembly to
vote money for warlike purposes.2 Franklin took
advantage of the alarm to plead for a defensive union
of the city and province, wrote a pamphlet on the sub
ject, and in 1747 organized near ten thousand armed
" Associators," who accomplished thus by private means
what had always been thwarted in the Assembly. De
clining the honor of a colonelcy in the Philadelphia
1 The preeminence of the English element in early America is shown
in the present forms of local and general government, laws, and " insti
tutions."
2 In his " Autobiography," Franklin, who saw the good intention beneath
the apparently obstinate nature of the Quakers, relates with much relish
stories of their voting to buy gunpowder under the guise of " grain," and
his suggesting that they buy cannon under the pretence of a " fire-engine."
Sparks's " Franklin," Vol. I., p. 154.
C
1 8 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Associators, because he lacked military training, Frank
lin became a common soldier and stood guard on the
temporary fortifications which had been hastily erected
on the river below the city.
When the women of Philadelphia presented flags to
the Associators, Franklin supplied the mottoes which
were painted on them. In his newspaper, the Penn
sylvania Gazette, he advocated a more extended union
of the middle provinces against the French, and closed
the article with a rude cut of a snake in thirteen
separate joints, with the suggestive motto "Join or
die ! "
In 1754, he attended a meeting of commissioners from
seven states held at Albany, New York, for the purpose
of treating with the Indians. He suggested a perma
nent union for such purposes, and, of the several plans
suggested looking to that end, his was adopted. But
nothing came of it. He said the American assemblies
thought it had too much (kingly) prerogative, and in
England it was considered too democratic. From that
country came a counter proposition that the money
needed for defence should be raised through a tax
levied by Parliament ; but Franklin replied that being
without representation in Parliament the colonists could
not be taxed by that body.1
Here the matter rested until brought to a test by the
appearance on the throne in 1760 of George III., the
1 Numerous instances attest that this was no new position for many
of the colonies. As early as 1670, the members of the Massachusetts
Court refused to address Parliament concerning a grievance lest they
should thus admit some power of that body over them. The "Diary" of
John Evelyn, a member of the Board of Trade and Plantations, mentions
the plans considered in 1671 for securing the dependency of New England.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 19
last king of England who attempted to control the poli
tics of the country. Endowed with a headstrong nature,
filled with exalted opinions of the king's power and pre
rogative, he willingly followed the advice of his mother
that he indeed should be king ; that he should be unin
fluenced by the old Whig families or the Tory party.
He determined, therefore, to build up a party for him
self, although in so doing he was obliged to meet parlia
mentary corruption with corruption ; to oppose needed
reforms ; to listen to unfortunate schemes ; and to gain
partisans by pensions and titles.
The unpopularity of the Peace of Paris in 1763, which
ended the struggle for the possession of the Mississippi
valley and drove the French from the continent of
North America, produced a crisis in English politics
which gave the new king opportunity of testing his
strength if he could but find cabinet officials sufficiently
subservient. One man had long been fitting himself
for such an opportunity. George Grenville, brother-in-
law to Pitt, had risen rapidly from one government post
to another through a rare courage, business ability, and
persistence, although devoid of that tact and judgment
which should characterize the successful statesman.
Showing no fixed connection with any party and appar
ently no great capacity beyond official routine, he seemed
an ideal candidate for the purposes of the king, and was
invested with the dual office of First Lord of the Treas
ury and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He brought to
his position a knowledge of colonial affairs and an in
dustry which spoke well for his conscientiousness, but
augured ill for the peace of the colonies. The war
just closed had added ^63,000,000 to the national
20 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION*
debt,1 and this grave situation gave Grenville an oppor
tunity of showing his skill.
Although Franklin claimed on behalf of the colonists
that the war had begun in the north over the boundary
between Canada and Nova Scotia and in the west over
the French trading with the Indians — two questions in
which the remaining colonies had no direct interest
— nevertheless Grenville thought America as a whole
should be made to contribute toward the payment of
this war debt. The trade regulations already existing
might bring in sufficient revenue if they could be
enforced and the extensive system of smuggling be
stopped.
" The government " is to the masses an undefined,
shadowy thing, incapable of suffering and of reciprocity,
and with rights protected by political, and not by moral,
laws. A wrong against the government carries no
moral punishment; it need only escape the political
punishment attached. A feeling thus common to man
kind held especially strong among the American colo
nists. They were separated by six weeks of travel from
the seat of authority ; punishment was likely to fail from
the vicissitudes of communication ; many of the chief
customs officers resided habitually in England ; custom
house officials were appointed and paid directly by the
crown; persons accused of violations of custom laws
were tried by admiralty court and often without a jury.
Quite easily the colonists came to consider these offi-
1 Mulhall's " Statistics," p. 262. Adam Smith (" Wealth of Nations,"
Bk. IV., Ch. VII.) estimated the increase at more than ^90,000,000, but
this included the additional land tax and sums borrowed from the sinking
fund. Grenville placed the increase at over ^70,000,000. The total na
tional debt of Great Britain at this time was ,£147,000,000.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 2l
cials as hirelings, to deceive whom was a credit; as
easily, their courts became sources of oppression to be
evaded by any means. Thus the colonists readily grew
into the habit of smuggling, invited by the thousand
miles of coast, and despite the efforts of the customs
guards. It was estimated that of some articles, tea,
for instance, not one pound in ten consumed in the
colonies paid duty. The serenity with which the people
viewed these evasions of the law furnishes a fresh illus
tration of the difficulty of enforcing any measure beyond
the disposition of the people to obey it.
As an aid to the revenue officers in attempting to
execute their unpleasant duty, an act of Charles II.
was declared to be applicable, authorizing the use of
"writs of assistance" in searching for smuggled goods.
These differed from the ordinary search-warrants in not
specifying the house to be searched, and need not be
returned for an accounting to the court from which
they were issued. The searcher could also demand
the assistance of any one in his odious task. One of
the inherited rights claimed by the colonists was that
every man's house was his castle as long as he remained
peacefully within; hence James Otis, the Massachusetts
lawyer, claimed that the writs of assistance were gen
eral, antiquated, and even illegal in the colonies.
Notwithstanding such aids to the officers, so ex
tensive was the smuggling that for thirty years it
had cost annually over ^7000 to collect less than
^3000 revenue from America. In vain were the
officers of men-of-war along the coast given power
of revenue officers. Being untrained to such service,
they made costly blunders, and added little to the
22 THE MEN" WHO MADE THE NATION"
receipts. As a further aid, Grenville decided to main
tain a standing army in America, and a pretext was
easily found in the Indian rising just after the war had
closed. Franklin saw the hollowness of this pretext.
He had heard General Braddock boast, " These savages
may indeed be a formidable enemy to your raw Ameri
can militia, but upon the king's troops and discipline,
sir, it is impossible they should make any headway."
Braddock's fearful experience later had proven the
inefficiency of the regulars as a protection against the
Indians. The provinces could take care of themselves
without the aid of the twenty regiments which Grenville
proposed to put over them. On the effective Bouquet
expedition, there had been but 300 regulars to over 1000
Pennsylvanians. Moreover, in the late war the colonists
had contributed 25,000 men, armed and equipped, had
built forts and defences, had spent some ,£80,000 each
year on the war, and if Great Britain had contributed in
like proportion, there would have been no increase in
the national debt. Parliament had acknowledged this
undue contribution, and had repaid some of the colonies
about two-fifths of it.
An increase of the armed force in the colonies would
mean an increased expenditure and an increased debt.
To avoid this, Grenville conceived the idea of an addi
tional tax. Such a tax would also settle the disputed
question of the right of Parliament to tax the colonists.
Franklin is said to have compared Grenville's making
the colonists pay for an army to be stationed over them
1 Connected with this Braddock expedition were four men who became
generals in the Revolutionary war — Washington, Lee, Gates, and Stephen.
Familiarity with the boasted " regular " had bred proverbial contempt.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 2 3
to the man who wished to thrust a red-hot poker through
another's foot, and, being refused, demanded pay for
heating the poker.
Seeking some easy and equitable form of taxation
which would fall on property, not interfere with existing
private laws, and be inexpensive and sure of collection,
Grenville finally revived the plan -of a stamp tax. It
was a form familiar to England for almost a century
and levied at various times by several American colo
nies. Not a protest was heard against it in England,
and a seemingly unfortunate postponement until the
next session of Parliament gave a year's warning to
the colonies before it was brought up for action. But
the colonies were torn by internal dissensions and had
no agency to act for them. Some Assemblies passed
resolutions. Those of Massachusetts and New York
were sent over, but withheld by the ministry lest their
" most indecent disrespect " should draw from Parliament
" votes of censure and severity toward the offenders."
The resolutions of Pennsylvania, ignoring the claims
of Grenville and Parliament, were entrusted to Franklin
in addition to the more important petition against the
proprietors, and he embarked on his third voyage to
England as has been described. The disturbed condi
tion of Pennsylvania at this time l made him appreciate
1 He had just been defeated for the Assembly. That body had refused
to pay the expenses of his trip to England, and the necessary sum had to
be raised by popular subscription. Several stanzas burlesquing Franklin's
invention of a stove were said to have been written at this time. The last
one runs :
" Let candor then write on his urn;
' Here lies the renowned inventor,
Whose flame to the skies ought to burn,
But inverted descends to the centre.' "
24 THE MEN- WHO MADE THE NATION
keenly the compliment of an escort of three hundred
horsemen to Chester and the good wishes of the friends
who accompanied him on board. He reached England
in December, 1764, and joined the agents of the other
colonies in protesting to Grenville against the proposed
Stamp Tax.1
The Stamp Act, if its results be considered, was the
most important legislation of the century ; yet Burke,
who was in the gallery of the House of Commons,
testified that he had "never heard a more languid
debate. No more than two or three gentlemen, as I
remember, spoke against the act and that with great
reserve and remarkable temper. There was but one
division in the whole progress of the bill ; and the minor
ity did not reach to more than thirty-nine or forty. In
the House of Lords, I do not recollect that there was any
debate or division at all. I am sure there was no pro
test. In fact, the affair passed with so very little noise
that in town they scarcely knew the nature of what you
were doing."2 So little question was there about the
justice or advisability of the measure.
The 117 sections of the Stamp Act designated forty-
three kinds of legal documents which should be written
on stamped paper; and also provided for stamps on
advertisements, almanacs, cards, dice, pamphlets, and
1 The maintenance in England of colonial agents, with duties much like
modern consuls, was quite common among the colonies. In addition to
Pennsylvania, Franklin was later appointed agent for his native colony,
Massachusetts; for New Jersey, through the influence of his son; for
Georgia, possibly through his friend Whitefield, the preacher. His com
bined salary amounted to ^"1200, but being dependent on the Assemblies
and under a governor's veto, was not regularly received.
2 Hansard's "Debates," Vol. 16, p. 40. Burke's " Works," Bohn Edi
tion, Vol. I., p. 421. See also Burke's "Annual Register."
BENJAMIN
newspapers. The stamps varied in value from a half
penny on a small newspaper to ^10 (about fifty dollars)
on the admission of an attorney to the bar. A college
diploma must bear a stamp worth £2. The execution
\RERlr
STAMPS OF 1765
of the act was given to the Stamp Commissioners of
England to appoint supervisors and distributers of the
stamps and stamped paper in America.1
No one in England could have foreseen the rebellion
which followed and still less have divined the cause.
True, the act bore the startling title that it was just and
necessary to raise a revenue in the plantations of
America "for the expenses of defending, protecting
and securing" them, and that the Parliament gave and
granted the duties described therein ; but a port duty
act of the previous year, bearing the same title, had not
been resisted. Franklin always insisted that the Ameri-
1 The full text of the Stamp Act may be found in Hart's "American
History Leaflets," No. 21. Also in Macdonald's "Select Charters." The
originals of the stamps shown above are in the Smithsonian Institution
26 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
cans could "as well have hindered the sun's setting"
as to have prevented the passage of the act and likewise
claimed that he had done all in his power to prevent
the birth of this " mother of mischief," as he called it.
But when it had become a law, he readily assented
to Grenville's suggestion that it would be more con
venient and agreeable to appoint American agents to
distribute the stamps than to send over strangers for
that purpose. He named his friend and supporter,
John Hughes, of Philadelphia. The other colonial
agents also named distributers for their respective
C>
colonies.1
Pennsylvania fell into a fit of rage over this action of
her agent ; accused him of dereliction of duty in not
preventing the passage of the act ; hinted that he had
first solicited a stamp agency for himself, as one of
the agents, Lee, of Virginia, had done. His house was
threatened by a mob; the "chimes of Christ Church,
which had rung so joyously when the news of his safe
arrival in England reached Philadelphia, now tolled dis
mally for his treachery ; and a broadside was circulated
showing the devil whispering into his ear, " Ben, you
shall be my agent throughout my dominions." So high
rose the storm that Whitefield,2 who had returned to
England, sent back letters testifying to the fidelity of
1 Among the distributers appointed were : Messerve, for New Hamp
shire; Oliver, for Massachusetts; Johnston, for Rhode Island; Ingersoll,
for Connecticut; McEvers, for New York; Coxe, for New Jersey; Hughes,
for Pennsylvania; Mercer, for Virginia; Hood, for Maryland. A complete
list of nineteen agents for all the American colonies was printed in the
Pennsylvania Gazette, Aug. 22, 1765.
2 Franklin, not a church-goer, had been impressed with the preaching
of George Whitefield on his several missionary visits to America, and a
strong friendship had arisen between them.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 27
the unfortunate agent. Galloway thought these letters
would quiet "the Presbyterians."
In the riotous times which followed the arrival of the
stamps in the colonies, the action of Pennsylvania was
moderate, although the cannon at the fort were spiked.
Franklin had suggested to Charles Thomson, of Phila
delphia, the lighting of candles (of industry) during the
night which would follow the Stamp Act ; but Thomson
replied from the colonies that Franklin was much more
likely to hear of "works of darkness." Rebellion was
evident in the blazing piles of stamps and stamped paper;
in the stamps thrown overboard into the harbprs; in the
forced resignations of stamp agents ; even in tti-el-stamps
forcedly replaced on the ships for return to England.
Courts were suspended ; lawyers signed agreements not
to use the stamped paper and not to undertake suits
brought by English merchants. A wag wrote a legal
document on birch bark, claiming that it needed no stamp
since it was neither skin, vellum, parchment, nor paper.
Calm wisdom and cooperation at last suggested a Con
gress which met in New York to protest and to petition
for redress.
The twenty-six newspapers in the colonies were vitally
interested in the stamp tax. Many suspended publica
tion rather than print on stamped paper, placing mourn
ing lines about their last issue, and using a death's
head instead of the stamp. Others, notably the Bos
ton Gazette, defiantly continued publication without the
stamps. Mr. Hall, the partner of Franklin, who edited
the Pennsylvania Gazette in his absence, placed mourn
ing borders about the last number before the act went
into effect. On the next regular day of the Gazette he
28 THE MEAT IV HO MADE THE NAT/ON
issued a small sheet and placed at the head " Remark
able Occurrences " instead of the accustomed heading.
Offo/vr 31, 1765.
The PENNSYLVANIA
<'«**» foreign and
On the next publication day, he used " No Stamped
Paper to be Had," possibly hoping in this way to avoid
punishment.
Remarkable Occurrences,
L— ***: -^ ... . . y
As usual in such disturbances the mob showed its
ugly head. The governor of New York was compelled
to deliver the stamps to the city government, and his
chariot was burned on the Bowling Green. A lawyer
and a physician of Rhode Island fled for refuge on
board a ship for daring to uphold the act. The Boston
mob raged for ten days, pillaging the houses of the state
officers, razing a supposed stamp office, and threatening
officials, while the captain of the militia refused to call
out his men because his drummers were all in the mob.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 29
Persons arrested were promptly released by their friends.
Franklin confessed himself " grieved to hear of such hor
rid, disorders," and promised that the Assemblies would
soon bring the ringleaders to punishment if they could.
Yet when Parliament was hesitating whether to pro
nounce the colonies in rebellion or to withdraw the
Stamp Act, and Franklin was called before the House
of Commons to be questioned on the attitude of the colo
nists, he did not hesitate to say that personally he would
prefer the many debts owing him at home to remain
unrecoverable by law than to have the courts continue
sessions by using the stamped paper.
This examination 1 was turned into a delightful bit of
strategy. Knowing that he was to be called, the subtle
doctor and his friends in the House of Commons pre
arranged certain questions which he could answer and
so justify the position of the colonists. The closing
questions and replies were :
Q. What used to be the pride of the Americans ?
A. To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of
Great Britain.
Q. What is now their pride? A. To wear their old
clothes over again, till they can make new ones.
These friendly questions drew the fire from the hos
tile inquiries, and Burke declared the whole thing re
minded him of a party of schoolboys examining their
master.
The examination may have had some influence in
determining the repeal of the Stamp Act ; but a more
powerful argument was found in the sudden depression
of trade caused by the stubborn determination outlined
1 To be found readily in any edition of Franklin's writings.
30 THE MEN- WHO MADE THE NATION
in the last reply of Franklin. Local " Associators " all
over the colonies vowed to use domestic manufactures
instead of importing them from England ; to use no
mutton so that the wool product might be increased ; to
practise a rigid economy ; and to stimulate American
manufacture in every possible manner. The result was
first felt by the London merchant, then by the English
manufacturer, and in turn by the English workingman.
It undoubtedly added to the labor demonstrations which
marked the year in England.1
When Parliament reconvened in January, 1766, its
tables were covered with petitions. The merchants
asserted that a total annihilation of their trade was
imminent ; that the colonists were not only refusing to
buy goods but were declining to pay for those already
purchased and shipped ; 2 that this indebtedness
amounted to upward of four millions sterling, and its
loss would mean ruin to many. Workmen in all kinds
of industries petitioned for the repeal of an act which
threw them out of employment. Some pointed -to the
experience with the island of Jamaica, where a stamp
act was abandoned after three years of trial. For ten
days the debate continued in the House of Commons,
Pitt going to the extremity of "rejoicing" that the colo
nies had resisted, and .Grenville pleading the justice of
the measure, but blaming its failure on the ministry
1 "There are claimers enough of merit in obtaining the repeal. But if
I live to see you, I will let you know what an escape we had in the be
ginning of the affair and how much we are obliged to what the profane
would call luck and pious Providence." Franklin to Charles Thomson,
" Works," Bigelow Edition, Vol. III., p. 474.
2 Both Washington and FYanklin condemned this expedient as dis
honorable. Franklin's " Works," Sparks Edition, Vol. VII., p. 373 ; " Wash
ington's Life and Writings," Sparks Edition, Vol. II., pp. 351, 395.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 31
which had succeeded his own. He was most bitter
toward the colonists, having moved an amendment to
the King's address, declaring them to be in a state of
rebellion.
So absorbing was the great struggle over American
affairs that " twelve, one, or two o'clock in the morning,
were become the common dining hours of the members,
so late it frequently was before they broke up from
public business." Seats were ticketed at eight in the
morning, and the attendance of members reached over
four hundred. After many arguments "without and
within doors," the repeal was passed by 275 to 167 and
carried up to the House of Lords by over 200 mem
bers, where it passed by 43 majority. In the "Annual
Register," Burke declared the repeal was an event that
caused more universal joy throughout the British domin
ions than perhaps any other that could be remembered.
London houses were illuminated; ships on the Thames
displayed flags; and church bells were rung all night.
The London merchants had spent ^1500 on the peti
tions and in influencing Parliament. They now sent a
vessel along the Atlantic coast to notify all American
traders of the repeal, and they also gave a banquet to
their " friends " in Parliament.
Crowds surrounded the House of Parliament when
the Commons adjourned after passing the repeal, and
cheered the opposition. It was afterward reported that
Grenville was obliged to ask protection from the mob.
Franklin may have felt some satisfaction in these dem
onstrations, but he was more interested in the descrip
tion which Galloway sent him of the Philadelphia
celebration of the repeal of the Stamp Act. Despite
32 THE MEN- WHO MADE THE NATION
the efforts of the moderates who patrolled the city,
there were fireworks, illuminations, and the firing of
cannon. The next day there was a dinner in the State
House yard. On the king's birthday, a barge called
the " Franklin " was drawn on four wheels through the
streets to the river and launched. It bore a company
up the Schuylkill to an entertainment where 380 people
drank toasts to " Our worthy and faithful agent, Dr.
Franklin." Pennsylvania was corrected in her estimate
of the services of her representative.
Parliament covered its retreat by the " Dependency
Act," 1 which declared that Parliament " had, hath, and
of right ought to have full power and authority to bind
the colonies and people of America subjects of the
Crown of Great Britain in all cases whatsoever " ; a
declaration which Franklin declared would not be ob
jectionable to the colonists as long as no attempt was
made to enforce it. But to the various attempts to
enforce it are due the several events marking the prog
ress of the Revolution.
Moreover, it was in direct opposition to the conten
tion of the colonists that self-representation and self-
taxation were two inherited rights of Englishmen.
Four years before the Stamp Act, James Otis had
spoken public sentiment in words which became pro
verbial, " Taxation without representation is tyranny."
Burke showed the impracticability of a direct represen
tation of the colonies in Parliament because of their
distance,2 and Franklin in time reached the same con-
1 Sometimes in debate called " the Declaratory Act."
2 Burke's " Works," Bohn Edition, Vol. I., p. 259. Adam Smith in the
" Wealth of Nations " (Bk. IV., Ch. VII.) advocated colonial representa-
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 33
elusion. But non-representation was too good a cry to
be abandoned. Parliament contended that the whole
realm was represented and not by divisions thereof.
Proof was found in England in the several " rotten
boroughs" without population but having representa
tives in Parliament, while the manufacturing cities re
cently built up were without representation. Of the
nine million people in England it was estimated that
eight million had no actual vote in electing members of
the House of Commons. From such a system of "vir
tual " representation had sprung the open practice of
buying seats in the Commons from the few voters in
certain of the boroughs ; a practice so generally known
that Franklin says a roar of laughter greeted the sarcas
tic inquiry from a member if a definition of corruption
were needed in the House of Commons. " An egre
gious farce " was his comment when the people of
Oxford were required to receive on their knees the
speaker's reprimand for having turned the tables and
demanded a bribe from their representative for reelec
tion. He thought "the whole nation might be bought
out of the hands of the present bidders (if he would
offer a half million) by the very devil himself." The
"king's friends" fostered this venality and took every
advantage of it.1 This state of affairs could not be
tion, but predicted that in time the seat of empire would be transferred to
America. In 1778, Parliament offered representation to their former colo
nies, but it was too late.
1 Burke's "Thoughts on the Causes of the Present Discontent" (1770)
deals largely with the practices of the king's friends. The " civil list" or
grant to the king was ^800,000 annually; yet in 1769 his ministry asked
for ^"500,000 additional. Some asserted that part of this money was used
for Parliamentary corruption, but could obtain no detailed account of its
expenditure. A cartoon appeared in the London Magazine depicting
D
THE EXTRAVAGANCE OF KING GEORGE III.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 35
hidden from the colonists, and Franklin was justified in
telling the government that although there had been a
time when the colonies would have eagerly accepted
representation, they were now indifferent to it, and the
time was rapidly approaching when they would refuse it.
In the debate on the repeal of the Stamp Act, Lord
Lyttleton in opposition had declared " the same reason
ing extends to all acts of Parliament. The Americans
will find themselves crampt by the Act of Navigation
and oppose that, too." The prediction proved true.
That they had not already opposed by force the various
efforts to regulate their trade was due not alone to their
being unaccustomed to revolutionary methods, but also to
the fact that this practice of commercial restriction was
but a part of the economic doctrine of the age. Adam
Smith had not yet written his " Wealth of Nations,"
and the whole economic system was based on monopo
lies, restrictions, and direct returns. In common with
other colony-planting nations, Great .Britain made her
American colonies profitable by requiring exports and
imports to pass through the mother country ; by forbid
ding the sale of certain " enumerated " commodities,1
save in England ; by prohibiting the importation of
molasses and sugar from any except the British West
Indies ; by forbidding the exportation or even inter
colonial transportation of American cloth and hats so
that a market might be fostered for the manufactures
of England ; by prohibiting the erection of steel forges
King George as a child demanding " more supplies" from his mother,
Britannia.
1 The list of enumerated articles was changed from time to time,
but generally included tobacco, molasses, sugar, rice, copper, and naval
stores.
36 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
or mills for slitting iron into suitable lengths from
which nails could be made by hand. These acts were
framed at different times during a hundred years, and
one law was often necessary to supplement or explain
another, until absurdity was reached l and the colonial
trade must have been entirely cut off if the laws had
been enforced and no compensations given.
But there were compensations. The acts fostered
colonial shipbuilding and gave employment to colonial
sailors. If the importation of molasses was burdened
by duties interfering with the rum manufacture in New
England, rum was also on the protected list. If certain
" enumerated " articles could be sold only in England,
others equally cultivated in the colonies were not enu
merated, and some were even encouraged by a bounty.
If England had a monopoly on the sale of colonial
tobacco, the colonies had a counter monopoly, since
England could buy tobacco nowhere else. Drawbacks 2
mitigated the severity of some of these regulations, as
also did tacit connivance at evasions and subterfuges.
Vessels were allowed openly to carry on forbidden trade,
and sometimes restricted articles were conveyed under
the fiction of necessary ship stores.
For such reasons the colonists endured for years
these restrictions on their commerce, until England tried
to direct them into channels for raising a revenue.
However tyrannical they were when enforced, England
1 Iron and steel mills were declared common nuisances on account of
their noise — in thinly populated America ! To such absurdity grew the
practice of " extending " acts originally applicable to England alone.
2 A drawback is a certain sum repaid by the government upon the
exportation of goods on which an import duty had been paid when they
were brought into the country.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 37
framed them originally for the purpose of retaining a
monopoly over colonies planted on ground belonging to
her by right of discovery and founded through her
agencies.
The agitation resulting from the Stamp Act dispelled
some of the ignorance so frequently manifested con
cerning the American colonies. The blunders of much
of the legislation had been due to this ignorance. It
in turn was due largely to the careless and deficient
reports sent over by the royal governors, many of
whom were appointed for political reasons and were
shifted from one post to another. Franklin enjoyed the
witty remark of Soame Jenyns on being approached
with some measure for the colonies, " I can have no
possible objection to it, provided we have hitherto
signed nothing to the contrary."1
The Stamp Act riots in America went unpunished,
and steps were taken by Parliament not only to remit
the fines imposed for using unstamped paper, but also
to compensate those who had lost property at the
hands of the mob ; yet the Dependency Act remained
among the statutes, and it was unlikely that England
would consent to remain defied by her subjects and
abandon attempts to tax them. Extremists like James
1 The plan of Dean Tucker for protecting the colonists from the Indians
will illustrate the many visionary schemes for dealing with problems at a
distance of three thousand miles. He would have a strip of land one mile
wide all along the western border cleared of woods so that the savages
could not cross unseen. Franklin said the good dean forgot that there
was a night in every twenty-four hours in America. Another theorist
would supply each chief with a costume of savage finery made exclusively
in England, and thus keep the Indians bound to ^ngland. Governor
Bernard thought an American nobility the only agency strong enough to
hold the allegiance of the colonists.
38 THE MEN- WHO MADE THE NATION
Otis had scorned distinctions or grades of taxation ; but
moderates like Franklin could distinguish between an
internal tax, like the Stamp Act, and an external tax.
The one was collected directly and by compulsion, had
a revenue for its sole object, and was clearly illegal ; but
an external tax like an impost duty was collected indi
rectly, the purchase of dutiable goods was optional, and
its object was to regulate and make commerce secure.
Charles Townshend, who had become Chancellor
of the Exchequer in 1766, also scorned these distinc
tions, but he took the Americans at their word and
proposed an external tax, or impost duty, on a few
luxuries — glass, paper, pasteboard, paints, and tea —
supposed not to be produced in sufficient quantities in
the colonies. The revenue expected to be derived from
the act was not above ,£70,000, and it was said that
the London merchants offered to subscribe the entire
amount rather than enter into another controversy with
the Americans. But the remote object of gaining a
revenue was now lost in the immediate question of
power to hold the colonies. This was shown in an
accompanying measure for a board of revenue com
missioners with a machinery entirely independent of
the colonists, and likely to be more efficient in stop
ping smuggling than thrice the twenty regiments pro
posed by Grenville. The proceeds of the duty were
also to be under the direct disposal of the king.
So much regret was felt in England for the hasty
repeal of the Stamp Act — a "fatal compliance,'.' as the
king called it — that the Townshend measures passed
with little opposition. In America, barring some strong
resolutions from Boston, there was no resistance. A
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
39
general era of good feeling seemed at hand. The king
ordered " most healing letters " written to the governors
to be read before the Assemblies ; he was toasted and
his birthdays celebrated as of old ; disorderly resist
ance was a thing of the past. But the colonists had
learned two dangerous lessons — how effective coopera
tion could be made, and how easily they could depend
on home manufactures. Agreements not to import
goods from England were abandoned after the repeal
of the Stamp Act, and trade should have resumed its
R1YBUCMD
former proportions. But in 1767 the exports to Amer
ica were ;£ 1,500,000 below the mark of three years
before. A vessel loaded with glass and nails returned
from Boston for want of a market. A cargo of expen
sive mourning goods was also returned. " Save your
money and save your country," was the motto displayed
in certain newspapers. The economic philosophy of
" Poor Richard," written years before, was bearing fruit.
As a first object lesson, Franklin adopted an allegorical
design for his note-paper to illustrate the dismemberment
of the British empire. It is reproduced above.
40 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Franklin now predicted that the colonists would be
as willing to pay for one passion as another ; for their
resentment as for their pride. He praised the discreet
silence with which the New Yorkers received the
Townshend acts and wished "the Boston people had
been as quiet." Their resolution had produced "a most
prodigious clamor." Yet to that clamor rather than to
Franklin's policy of quiet development, America owes
her ultimate freedom. Townshend's insidious plan of
placing a duty on a few articles must have succeeded in
bringing the colonies gradually under Parliamentary con
trol had it not been for the " clamor" of certain sentinels,
the loudest of whom was Samuel Adams, the agitator
of Boston. Franklin might have secured commercial
freedom ; Adams secured political freedom as well.
Although receiving much attention from his friends,
Franklin lived quietly at the boarding house of Mrs.
Stevenson, Craven street, near the Strand, with whom
he resided during his combined fifteen years' stay in
England. " I live here as frugally as possible not to
be destitute of the comforts of life, making no dinners
to anybody and contenting myself with a single dish
when I dine alone." So he informed his wife when he
suggested that she should forego " an expensive feasting
wedding " for the approaching marriage of their daughter
Sally, and " fit her out in clothes and furniture not ex
ceeding in the whole five hundred pounds of value."
When the " Associators " disbanded after the Stamp Act
was repealed,1 Franklin celebrated the supposed return
1 Philadelphia citizens resolved in a public meeting to celebrate the
king's coming birthday by dressing in new suits of English manufacture,
and by giving their homespun to the poor.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 41
to English manufactures by sending to his family some
Pompadour satin, brocaded lutestring, gloves, reels for
winding silk, and "a gimcrack corkscrew, which you
must get some brother gimcrack to show you the use
of."
By nature Franklin belonged to the patrician class.
He was intensely devoted to good living, delighted with
good fellowship, fond of hobnobbing with the great, at
tracted by a bright mind in either sex, and carried a
stock of wit and anecdote which made him a welcome
addition to any circle. In general inclination as well as
in his dress, the purely practical overshadowed the
aesthetic. " I must confess that if I could find in any
Italian travels a receipt for making Parmese cheese, it
would give me more satisfaction than a transcript of any
inscription from any old stone whatever." Years before
this time, he had received degrees from both Oxford
and Edinburgh, and the Copley medal for his scientific
researches. These distinctions, no less than his natural
qualities, won for him in England friends like Burke,
Lord Shelburne, the Bishop of St. Asaph, Lord Howe,
Dr. Priestley, and others. Pleasant glimpses of his
daily life are afforded in his letters home; attending a
venison feast "where I have drunk more than a phi
losopher ought " ; accompanying the queen's physician
on a pleasure trip to France; dining with prominent
men and receiving "a great deal of flummery" from
them ; being hugged and kissed after wine by a noble
man who protested that he had never met a man with
whom he was so much in love. Making a tour of
Ireland and Scotland, he was given a seat in the Irish
Parliament by the unanimous vote of the members, and
42 THE MEN IV HO MADE THE NATION
received " an abundance of civilities from the gentry of
both kingdoms." He was chosen a foreign member of
the French Royal Academy, an honor conferred on
only eight men in Europe.
But despite these honors and pleasant associations,
evil days were coming upon him. As time widened
the breach between the colonies and the mother country,
whatever moderate views Franklin might hold, it was
impossible for him to escape suspicion of being too
much in sympathy with the rebels. Efforts were made
to bind him to the crown by hints of an office — some
said the governorship of Pennsylvania — which kept
him for some time dancing attendance on political
leaders, but came to naught. His son was made gov
ernor of New Jersey on the supposition that " what he
is ordered to do, the father cannot well oppose " ; but it
resulted in Franklin adhering more closely to the rebels
and his son being compelled to flee from his governor
ship during the Revolution. For twenty years he had
been one of two deputy postmaster-generals for the
colonies at a joint salary of £600. Covert threats were
now made of removing him, but he refused to take any
hints, being as he said " deficient in the Christian grace
of resignation."
The crisis came in the " Hutchinson letters." One
day in a conversation, a friend in England had insisted
that the laws of which the colonists complained were
"projected, proposed to administration, solicited, and
obtained, by some of the most respectable among the
Americans themselves, as necessary measures for the
welfare of that country." Franklin refused to believe
any one of his countrymen guilty of such a thing. In
BENJAMIN' FRANKLIN 43
proof, the friend submitted letters written between 1767
and 1769 to a private gentleman in England, by Lieu
tenant-governor Hutchinson,1 Secretary Oliver, of Mas
sachusetts, and others. The writers insisted that the
revenue acts could be maintained in America only by
the aid of force ; suggested changes in the Massachu
setts charter which would tend to make that province
less independent ; and strongly urged that some way be
found to "take off the original incendiaries."
Actuated, as he said, only by his duty as agent for
Massachusetts, Franklin requested the letters, and, under
a promise of secrecy, forwarded them to the speaker of
the Assembly of that colony. But it was impossible to
keep secret such evidences of the unfaithfulness, if not
treachery, of high officials, and upon demand of the
Assembly the letters were produced and printed. Reso
lutions were immediately forwarded to Franklin for
presentation demanding the removal of the offenders.
Franklin's agency was still unknown, but the affair led
to a duel between William Whately, to whose deceased
brother the letters had been written, and Mr. Temple,
through whose hands they had probably passed. To
• prevent a second encounter, Franklin confessed his
agency in sending the letters to America, but persisted
in refusing to tell how he obtained them. He further
said that the addresses had been removed before he saw
them.
All the feeling engendered by Franklin's course in
1 Thomas Hutchinson, a graduate of Harvard College, rose through
many colonial offices to the governorship of Massachusetts. As a coura
geous and conscientious official, he was in frequent conflict with the
patriots, as described later. His "Diary and Letters" have been pub
lished by P. O. Hutchinson, and a " Life " by J. K. Hosmer.
44 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
defending the colonies now broke forth. Dr. Samuel
Johnson pronounced him the master of mischief. His
persistent silence concerning the letters, necessary to
shield Mr. Temple, was construed as a confession of
guilt. Whately, acting as executor for his dead brother,
sued Franklin in chancery for obtaining the letters by
illegal means. When the petition for the removal of
~^£^^r j
.
S~ tf
X'
[In the Museum of the British Post Office, London.]
the Massachusetts officials was heard at the Cockpit,
the solicitor-general was allowed to turn aside from the
main issues to abuse Franklin, who stood near by. He
compared him to the bloody African in Dr. Young's
tragedy, hailed him not by his well-known title as a
man of letters, but as " a man of three letters " (Latin
fur, a thief); and branded him as one before whom
men would hide their papers and lock up their escri-
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 45
toires. Two days later the postmaster-general " found
it necessary to dismiss" Franklin from his office as
deputy for the colonies.
During the remaining fifteen months of his stay in
England, closing up his business as agent and turning
it over to his successor, Arthur Lee, Franklin felt him
self estranged from government. He had no further
communication with the ministry, and avoided their
levees. He was momentarily flattered by the apparent
desire of Pitt, now Lord Chatham, for reconciliation,
but disappointed when he saw how selfish the motives
were. Most reluctantly he began to abandon hope of
a reconciliation between the colonies and the mother
country. He had already summed up the situation in
the homely terseness of Poor Richard, " In matrimonial
matches, it is said, when one party is willing, the match
is half made, but when neither party is willing, there is
no great danger of their coming together."
Despairing of further usefulness, he bade farewell to
his friends in England and set sail for Philadelphia,
where he was met by news of the skirmish at Concord
and Lexington. Political rebellion had grown into war.
He was at once elected to the Revolutionary Continental
Congress as a delegate from Pennsylvania.
On this third visit to England he had spent ten years
in the interests of his people, and the changes which
time had wrought in his home and friends were pitiful.
He was bound by many ties to his wife who, as a girl,
had stood on her father's steps laughing at the runaway
printer's apprentice as he walked up the street the morn
ing of his arrival in Philadelphia. He was betrothed to
her when he went to England the first time, but an indif-
46 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
ference grew between them, and she married another.
After he returned, and the unworthy one deserted her,
Franklin married her. She had stood faithfully in the
little stationer's shop for many years before a compe
tence, due largely to her frugality, enabled them to
retire. When a mob threatened the house at the time
of the supposed treachery of Franklin, she sent for
arms, and defended the hearthstone in the absence of
the master, a modern Penelope faithful to her Ulysses.
But when the master returned, she was not there to
greet him. The winter's snow had lain on her grave
in Christ churchyard. Sally, grown to womanhood and
married to Mr. Bache, had taken her mother's place in
the household. Many of Franklin's friends had passed
away, and the Revolution was making sad divisions
among others. He felt himself an old man now in
his seventieth year, but he was destined to give fifteen
years more to the people whose interests he had guarded
so well when he had been their spokesman at the court
of the king.
Oct. 5th (1775) . . . This afternoon arrived (the ship
Pennsylvania Packet) Captain Osborne, from London, in which
came passenger, Dr. Benjamin Franklin, to the satisfaction of
his friends and the lovers of liberty. — Diary of Christopher
Marshall, of Philadelphia.
CHAPTER II
SAMUEL ADAMS, THE MAN OF THE TOWN MEETING
AT a Meeting of the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of
the Town of Boston duly Qualified and lawfully warned in
Publick Town Meeting Assembled at Faneuil Hall on Monday
the twelfth day of March Anno Dom. 1753.
It was Voted, That Mr John Tudor, Mr John Ruddock, Mr
Samuel Adams, Foster Hutchinson Esqr, Mr Harrison Gray,
Mr Oxenbridge Thacher, and Mr William Cooper, or the
Major part of them, be and they hereby are appointed a
Committee to Visit the Publick Schools in the Town the
Year ensuing at such times as they shall think proper, to See
what Number of Children are in each School, to Enquire into
their behavior and Attendance, and the Government and Regu
lation they are under, and they are desired to make Report
hereon at the General Town Meeting in March next. — From
the Boston Town Records, 1753.
THE town meeting is the primordial germ of Saxon
organization. Reduced almost to a state of nature in
the wilderness of the new world, the first comers
reverted to early types and turned instinctively to this
form of self-government. Their charters gave to them
home rule, together with the title to certain unoccupied
lands. Divided and redivided into towns as the growth
of population demanded, the people of New England
multiplied the number of .town meetings and so uncon
sciously created a cooperative agency which placed that
47
48 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
region foremost in resisting Parliamentary coercion and
control.
Assembling annually in March and at such other times
as necessity might demand, a moderator (chairman) was
chosen either by " a written Vote " or by " a handy
Vote," the town clerk opened his minute book, and the
varied business before the meeting was begun. l Even
in time of peace, urgent matters were not wanting.
They embraced such questions as the employment of a
school usher or master and determining the amount of
his salary ; paying the sexton for ringing the church
bell at eleven and nine o'clock each working day and at
an alarm of fire ; letting the town land ; cleaning the
town wells ; arranging taxes and appointing assessors ;
receiving and considering petitions ; determining " some
Method to prevent negroes keeping Hogs," and devis
ing " some method to prevent the firing of Chimneys."
As the villages within the towns grew into cities and
the petty details of administration increased, the town
meeting began gradually to pave the way for modern
representative government by entrusting certain tasks to
elected officers. In addition to the selectmen, there
were chosen overseers of the poor, a county register and
treasurer, wardens, fire-wards, town treasurer, " clercks
of the markets," constables, collectors of taxes, sur
veyors of boards, fence viewers, sealers of leather,
informers of deer, cullers of staves, hog-reeves, haywards,
scavengers, surveyors of wheat, assay masters, keepers
of the granary, and surveyors of highways.
1 The Town Records of Boston have been fully reprinted and are to be
found in any general library. Those for many other towns have been
reprinted in part.
SAMUEL ADAMS 49
Among these petty officials of Boston as well as on
the rolls of more important places, one finds frequently
the name of the elder Samuel Adams. He was always
an anti-government man, noted for his quarrels with the
royal governor, and for his leadership among the com
mon people. Although a maltster by occupation, his
political efforts placed him at the head of the caulkers'
club, organized among the shipyard and seafaring
people, from which the word "caucus" is said to be
derived. His obituary notice in the Boston Gazette of
March, 1748, marks him as " one who well understood
and rightly pursued the civil and religious interests of the
people; a true New England Man; an honest Patriot."
As such he had been rejected by the royal governor of
Massachusetts when the Assembly by a large vote had
chosen him to the governor's council.
If anything further than this example were needed to
make the younger Samuel Adams a non-government
man, it came after his father's death when the sheriff
seized upon the remnant of the once large brewing
plant to satisfy claimants on a " land " bank of which
his father had been director. The issuance by the
bank of notes as paper money had been stopped by the
king because they depreciated in value and disturbed
the colonial finances. The action had been thought
unjust by many at the time ; and now when the holders
of the old claims turned to the law, Samuel Adams
initiated his later Revolutionary tactics by appearing at
the sale and browbeating the sheriff and intending pur
chasers. Thus he saved his property, and a later act of
Assembly outlawed the bank claims. However, royal
government in the colonies had made a mortal enemy.
5O THE MEN IV HO MADE THE NATION
Samuel Adams first appears in the records of the
Boston town meetings in 1753, as shown in the extract
at the head of this chapter. In the humble offices of
school examiner and of scavenger, 1 he began that
career which eventually earned for him the title of " the
man of the town meeting." Perhaps so early as this
he realized what a powerful political engine the town
meeting could be made. It was the voice of popular
will. It had been heard when Grenville's policy
threatened the colonies with perpetual taxation, and it
had rejoiced when the Stamp Act was repealed. Now
when it was found that taxation was to be renewed
quietly in the Townshend Acts, Samuel Adams devoted
his time to keeping the public aroused and the feeling
of resistance alive through the medium of the town
meeting.
The result was disastrous to him financially. While
other men were in the counting room or in the fac
tory, this indifferent maltster was at the shipyards or at
the ropewalks talking politics. His father, despairing
of the hope of a clergyman's career for Samuel,
had given him ;£iooo to embark in business just
after he was graduated from Harvard. The business
soon failed. After his father's death, the son continued
the brewing business near Bull Wharf at the lower end
of Summer street ; but the property faded away until
all was lost save the adjacent residence on Purchase
street. A companion declared that " his time is all
employed in public service." The people were grateful.
They repaired his dwelling, built him a new barn, and at
1 The duties of scavenger were much like those of a health officer of
the present day.
SAMUEL ADAMS 51
one time fitted him with an entire new wardrobe from
wig to shoes and silver shoe buckles, and placed in his
pocket fifteen or twenty Johannes.1
For many years he was dependent upon his .£100
salary as the clerk of the Massachusetts Assembly.
Yet Governor Hutchinson testified that " such is the
obstinacy and inflexible disposition of the man that
he never would be conciliated by any office or gift
whatever." The governor also said that "his chief
dependency is the town meeting in Boston, where he
originates the measures which are followed by the rest
of the towns." Because of his activity in drawing up
resolutions and instructions, in serving on protesting
committees, and in presiding over and addressing town
meetings, the governor dubbed him " the chief incen
diary of the province," " the Master of the Puppets,"
and the " all in all."
The first Monday in November, 1772, Samuel Adams
arose in a town meeting to move the appointment of a
committee to correspond with the committees of other
towns so that the danger of one might become the con
cern of all. The plan dated back in England to the
Stuart troubles. The suggestion for such committees
had come spontaneously from various parts of the colo
nies.2 It was indicative of the common demand for a
1 Wells's " Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams," Vol. II.,
pp. 207-212.
2 The arguments of the several claimants to the honor of originating
the committees of correspondence are set forth in Wells's " Samuel Adams,"
Vol. I., pp. 496-497; in Wirt's "Patrick Henry," p. 105; in Tucker's
"Jefferson," Vol. I., pp. 52-55; in Randall's "Jefferson," Vol. I., pp. 78-
81, and in the North American Review for March, 1818. A good claim
is also made for the New York Assembly by Dawson in his " Sons of
Liberty."
52 THE MEAT WHO MADE THE NATION
general agency. The scheme was destined to become a
powerful part of the Revolutionary machinery, although
small at first. Daniel Leonard denounced the idea as
"the foulest, subtlest, and most venomous serpent ever
issued from the egg of sedition. I saw," said he, " the
small seed when it was planted ; it was a grain of mus
tard. I have watched the plant until it has become a
great tree." John Adams afterward asked,1 " Did not
every colony, nay, every county, city, hundred, and town,
upon the whole continent, adopt the measure, I had
almost said, as if it had been a revelation from above,
as the happiest means of cementing the union and acting
in concert ? " There was soon a network of communi
cation over what before had been isolated colonies.
When the Townshend measures were passed, Samuel
Adams remembered the effect of the agreement not to
import goods from England in 1765. It had largely
caused the repeal of the Stamp Act. But it was diffi
cult to revive and to keep alive such " associations."
Importers who signed an agreement not to bring over
any more goods from England virtually committed busi
ness suicide. The reward of a clear conscience was
likely to prove a poor return to most men for the ruin
of their fortunes and the impending poverty of their
children. When the merchants of Philadelphia, for
instance, refused to bid on making uniforms for the
royal troops, a merchant of New York broke the agree
ment and made a handsome profit from the contract.
The Boston traders were better kept in line through the
watchfulness of Samuel Adams and his fellows. When
1 " Works of John Adams," Vol. IV., p. 34.
SAMUEL ADAMS
53
persuasion failed, harsher measures were resorted to. In
timidating handbills were circulated, begging all patriots
not to patronize
the offending firm,
or a post bearing a
pointing hand was
erected in front of
the obstinate mer
chant's door.
In many of the
newspapers of New
England, there ap
peared poetry in
tended to encour
age the people in
economizing and in
using home manu
factures.
IMPORT £#; at the
I North Side <f the TOWN-HOUSE,
: and Oppo/ife the Tffun-Pump, in
Corn-biff, BOSTON.
It is defircd that the Soxs and
DAUGHTERS of L IB ERTr,
would not buy anyone thing of
him, for in fo doing they will bring
Difgrucv u|x>n dvn.fifait and their
i for o*r and cv&\ AMEN
"Ladies, throw aside your topknots of pride,
Wear none but your own country's linen ;
Of economy boast, let your pride be the most,
To show clothes of your own make and spinning.
As one all agree that you'll not married be
To such as will wear London factory ;
But at once refuse, tell 'em such you will choose
As encourage our own manufactory."1
Newspapers also made favorable mention of such in
stances as a family in Rhode Island which knitted 387
pairs of stockings in eighteen months. A class was
graduated from Harvard College in clothing made in
1 From the Boston Post. For other specimens of Revolutionary com
position see Tyler's « Literary History of the American Revolution " and
Moore's " Songs and Ballads of the Revolution."
54 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
America and hence known as " homespun." Some
agreements included the killing of sheep sparingly, the
discouraging of horse-racing and all kinds of gaming,
cock-fighting, " exhibition of shews," etc. No mourn
ing was to be allowed beyond black crape or a ribbon on
the arm or a black ribbon or necklace for women.
No more gloves nor " scarves " were to be given at
funerals.
Whether these associations or the local political clubs
formed the basis of certain Revolutionary organizations
which now sprang up is uncertain. Some writers de
rive the term " Sons of Liberty " from a speech in
Parliament by Col. Isaac Barre. The term had long
been used to denote a man opposed to any extension of
the power of royal government. " Sons of Liberty "
or " Liberty Boys " had been organized in New York
City among the lawyers during a contest with a royal
governor as early as 1 744. The name had been used to
denote the colonists who fell in the French-Indian
wars. During the Stamp Act excitement there ap
peared "an excellent NEW SONG for the SONS OF LIB
ERTY in New York ! " One of the thirteen stanzas
runs :
" With the Beasts of the Woods, We will ramble for Food
And lodge in wild Desarts and Caves
And live Poor as Job,, on the Skirts of the Globe,
Before we'll submit to be SLAVES."
John Dickinson was the reputed author of another
" liberty song " beginning :
"Come join hand in hand, brave Americans all
And rouse your bold hearts at fair Liberty's call.1"
SAMUEL ADAMS 55
Branches of the Sons of Liberty were in operation
from New Hampshire to South Carolina, but little
is known of them. They were the unknown agents
whenever protest had to be supplemented by force.
" Liberty Boys " and " Mohawks " were closely allied
whether stamps or tea had to be destroyed. Their
membership was composed of men of a lower social
class than the final leaders of the Revolution. Barring
Samuel Chase of Maryland, scarcely one of them made
a place for himself. Samuel Adams seems to have been
in close touch with the organization in Boston and joined
in the invitation to John Adams to attend their meet
ings. The latter drew up several papers for them and
in his Diary has left a description of a visit to their
place of meeting in Hanover square.
" It is a counting-room in Chase and Speakman's distillery ;
a very small room it is. John Avery, distiller or merchant, of
a liberal education, John Smith, the brazier, Thomas Crafts,
the painter, Edes, the. printer, Stephen Cleverly, the brazier,
Chase, the distiller, Joseph Field, master of a vessel, Henry
Bass, George Trott, jeweller, were present. I was invited by
Crafts and Trott to go and spend an evening with them and
some others. Avery was mentioned to me as one. I went,
and was very civilly and respectfully treated by all present.
We had punch, wines, pipes and tobacco, biscuit and cheese,
&c. I heard nothing but such conversation as passes at all
clubs, among gentlemen, about the times. No plots, no
machinations."1
The Sons of Liberty in different communities erected
"liberty poles." At Providence, Rhode Island, they re
solved : " We do therefore, in the name and behalf of all
1 " Works of John Adams," Vol. II., p. 178.
56 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
true Sons of Liberty in America, Great Britain, Ireland,
Corsica, or wheresoever they are dispersed throughout
the world, dedicate and solemnly devote this tree to be
a Tree of Liberty." Their pole in the square at New
York was cut down four times by the king's troops; but
they purchased a plot of ground and then triumphantly
erected a fifth. When a Maryland patriot's house was
burned, the Sons of Liberty rebuilt it. They must have
exercised no small power in the local elections.
Daughters of Liberty also came into existence. They
usually assembled to knit or sew during the afternoons,
and to serve tea to the Sons of Liberty who came in the
evening. Then all " blended their voices" in liberty
songs.1
In one of the contests of the New York Sons of Lib
erty with the 1 4th regiment over the liberty pole, a
citizen was killed and four others, besides a sailor,
severely wounded. If such a contest arose in a city
which was the military headquarters of America and
whose people were accustomed to the petty irritation of
troops in their midst, what might be expected in Boston
when two and a half regiments of regulars landed at the
Long Wharf and marched up to the Common. They
were the I4th, 29th, and part of the 59th regiments from
1 One of the best-known " liberty songs," supposed to have been
written by Thomas Paine, began :
" In a chariot of light from the regions of day
The Goddess of Liberty came;
Ten thousand celestials directed the way,
And hither conducted the dame.
A fair budding branch from the gardens above,
Where millions with millions agree,
She brought in her hand as a pledge of her love,
And the plant she named Liberty Tree."
SAMUEL ADAMS 57
Halifax, and were increased later by two regiments from
Ireland. When the Bostonians first heard of the com
ing of these troops, they threatened to resist and placed
a tar or turpentine barrel on Beacon Hill to summon
the country people to their aid when the troops should
arrive. But calmer counsels prevailed. America had
resisted the imposition of a tax, the proceeds of which
might have been used for imposing a standing army
on them. Regardless of this fact, the army was to be
imposed arid Grenville's policy pursued, although by
another administration.
Many conservative people even in America felt that
the Bostonians had brought these troops on themselves
by the riot which followed the seizure of the sloop
Liberty belonging to the popular young John Hancock.
As was frequently done, the captain had made a false
entry and so smuggled in some Madeira wine. Upon
news of the seizure, the mob beat the customs officials,
attacked their houses, and dragged one of their boats
through the streets and then burned it. The commis
sioners of customs fled for their lives to the castle in
the harbor. Another customs officer was tarred and
feathered at a later time. Riots accompanied the cele
bration of the anniversary of the repeal of the Stamp
Act. It seemed high time to bring the Boston people
to their senses.
When the troops arrived, the obstinate town would
provide them with no quarters. The selectmen insisted
that they should be quartered in the castle three miles
down the harbor. A part of the troops were therefore
placed in tents on the Common, and a part forced
entrance to the State House and found lodgings there.
58 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Later, Governor Gage arrived from New York and with
difficulty rented quarters, but at the expense of the crown.
The commissary met the same difficulty in purchas
ing provisions from the stubborn merchants. Children
scoffed at the soldiers on the streets, calling them " lob
sters " and "bloody-backs." The officers, traditionally
accustomed to a pleasant reception in colonial society,
found themselves social pariahs in Boston.
The Bostonians looked upon the soldiers as hirelings
sent for their subjugation; as "fit instruments to serve
the wrath of ministerial vengeance." Complaint was
made that the quiet of the Lord's day was broken by
the marching of the troops and that the soldiers looted
private dwellings.1 On the other hand, the soldiers
complained that their barracks had become a refuge for
good citizens mistreated at the hands of the mobs. The
officers were annoyed by being stopped and questioned
by the town night-watch if they chanced to be out after
midnight. They regarded with suspicion the vote of the
town meeting that every "listed soldier" in the town
" shall always be provided with a well-fixed firelock
musket, accoutrements and ammunition," although the
fear of a French invasion was given as the excuse.
Both sides were ripe for a conflict.
Three of the five regiments had been sent away before
1770, but encounters between the remaining soldiers and
individual citizens grew more frequent during the earlier
part of that year. One day a few soldiers visited one
of the ropewalks, and some rough words led to a fight
1 In an "Essay on Manners," published in 1787, Noah Webster added
as a grievance that the language used by the regular troops in Boston
tended to corrupt the purity of the English spoken in that city.
SAMUEL ADAMS 59
with sticks and cutlasses between them and the rope-
makers. Three nights later, March 5, 1770, the streets
were alive with excited men and boys expecting a
renewal of the contest. For some reason, the alarm
bell was rung and the crowd increased. Numbers sur
rounded the guardhouse in King street opposite the
State House. Farther up the street a boy pointed out
a sentry in front of the Custom House as the one who
had knocked him down. As the angry crowd sur
rounded the startled soldier, throwing snowballs and
bits of ice at him, he ran up the steps of the Custom
House and called for help. Captain Preston and a
squad ran over from the guardhouse with fixed bayo
nets to clear the street. Clubs and bayonets began to
be used freely, and, with or without orders, a volley was
fired. Crispus Attucks, a mulatto slave or half-breed
Indian, James Caldwell, a sailor, Samuel Gray, and
Samuel Maverick lay dead in the street. Patrick Carr
had received wounds of which he died later. Six others,
mostly young men, were wounded. Attucks and Cald
well were strangers in Boston and were given a public
funeral from Faneuil Hall. The others were buried
from the homes of relatives. It was estimated that
twenty thousand people attended.
After the firing, the cooler heads with great difficulty
persuaded the enraged people to disperse instead of at
once destroying the offending soldiers. By three o'clock
in the morning, Captain Preston and his squad were in
the town jail, the night-watches about the streets had
been doubled, and the excitement gradually subsided.
The next day a town meeting in the Old South Meeting
House sent two committees consecutively to Lieutenant-
60 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
governor Hutchinson, demanding the removal of the
troops. When that official consented to send away the
regiment to which the prisoners belonged, the crowd in
the street raised the cry which Adams had taught them,
" Both regiments or none," and a fortnight later, the last
boatload of what Hutchinson aptly called " Sam Adams's
regiments " J was rowed away to the castle in the harbor,
and the colonists had scored another victory.
The law-abiding sense of the people soon returned.
Seven months were allowed for the cooling of passions
before the prisoners came to trial. Captain Preston
issued a card of thanks from the jail appreciative of
his treatment. The prisoners had good counsel,2 and all
were discharged except two, who were branded in the
hand. The verdict was received with general applause,
above which could be heard the cry of Samuel Adams,
who demanded blood for blood. The entire incident
was small, similar affrays occurred in other places, but
blood had flowed in Boston because of British regulars
who would not have been there except for the desire of
government to coerce the colonists into subserviency.
This was the feeling which prompted the Bostonians to
raise a monument to the victims of what they have
always called the "Boston Massacre."
Stories of the encounter were copied from the Boston
newspapers and circulated through the reading colonial
world, thus giving that city a prominence and inviting
the sympathy which was presently to rally the continent
to her relief. The slaughter of men in the streets of
1 See Hosmer's "Samuel Adams," p. 169. Wells, Vol. I., p. 326.
2 John Adams and Josiah Quincy. Adams said he felt evidences of
the unpopularity of his action for years afterward, and Quincy's father
violently remonstrated against his son undertaking the case.
SAMUEL ADAMS 6 1
a city had an ugly appearance which members of the
opposition failed not to use when the news reached
Parliament. They had already said to the ministry, " If
you mean to govern the country by military force you
have not sent enough ; if you intend to continue civil
government, you have sent too many." Now they
found the ministry "shy and tender" and inclined to
get rid of the troublesome topic. Lord North 1 sat silent
under the criticisms heaped upon him and quickly moved
an adjournment. No doubt he felt the advantage likely
to accrue from this unfortunate affair to the gigantic
cabal which Samuel Adams was forming all through
the colonies by his Revolutionary machinery and in Bos
ton by the magnetism of his personality.
Perhaps the most fortunate convert which he gained
for the colonial cause was his second cousin, a young
lawyer, named John Adams, who had removed from
Braintree to Boston. He proved the truth of the saying
that those men who examine well and choose deliber
ately the side which they will take make the most
lasting patriots.2 The conservatism of the younger man
was at times a severe trial to Samuel Adams, but the
two soon became known as the par fmtnnn, and John
Adams confesses that they employed even the Sabbath
in "working the political machine." The royal gov
ernor of their colony assured the British government that
the feeling in Boston would speedily subside " if it were
not for two or three Adamses. I don't know how to
1 George Grenville was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1763 to 1765.
Charles Townshend occupied the office during a portion of 1767. He was
followed by Lord North, who became also Prime Minister in 1770. His
administration lasted until 1783.
2 " \Vorks of John Adams," Vol. II., pp. 298-302.
62 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
account for the obstinacy of one [probably John] who
seemed to me when he began life to promise well. The
other [presumably Samuel] never appeared different
from what he does at present and, I fear, never will." l
Far more important to the outside world was the
winning of Col. John Hancock. Two John Hancocks
had been pastors at Lexington, Massachusetts, but the
third of that name imbibed a commercial taste in the
adopted home of his wealthy uncle in Boston. As a
graduate of Harvard, a visitor at the coronation of
George III., the heir of his uncle's fortune of ,£75,000
and the great importing business, young Hancock was
the most conspicuous figure in pre-Revolutionary Boston.
His aunt, known as Madame Hancock, presided over his
magnificent home until his marriage to Dorothy Quincy.
His ships sailed on many seas, bringing into Boston
"oyles, cheese, Russia duck, lemons, etc. " 2 At twenty-
eight he was chosen selectman by a town meeting.
When the Stamp Act was repealed, his house was
brilliantly illuminated, and he broached a pipe of wine
for the crowd. When the Sons of Liberty indulged
in a dinner at Dorchester and marched back to town
in the evening, the wealthy Hancock rode ahead in a
chariot. As colonel of the Boston Cadets, and the
donor of windows and bells to churches, and a fire-
engine to the city, his influence was extensive, although
a certain haughtiness at times injured his popularity.
He risked his property and reputation when he began to
fall in with the plans of Samuel Adams and the patriot
1 Wells's " Life of Samuel Adams," Vol. I., p. 379.
2 Brown's " Life of John Hancock," p. 77. " Works of John Adams,"
Vol. II., p. 300.
SAMUEL ADAMS 63
party. Government men ridiculed him as "Johnny
Dupe," insinuated that he was led about by Adams, and
coined the saying, " Adams does the writing, and Han
cock pays the postage." Soon the two were denounced
(f _,^w
& Y HIS EXCEL LENC Y
The Hon, Thomas Gagf, ffq;
Governor, and Commander in Chief in ami w»er h» Majefty^ Pr»4w(S of ' Ib&hn&ttt-Biy, *
A PROCLAMATION.
as primi conscripti, and were eventually singled out by
Gage in his proclamation as exempt from pardon.1
Samuel Adams also influenced two other young men
of Boston : Dr. Joseph Warren, who fell at Bunker
1 When General Gage issued a proclamation, the head of which is shown
in the accompanying cut, proclaiming pardon to all except Adams and Han
cock, Jonathan Trumbull wrote a burlesque upon it which appeared in the
Connecticut Courant in 1775. The following is an extract :
"Those who in peace will henceforth live
I and His Majesty forgive;
All but that arch-rogue and first grand cock,
Your Samuel Adams and John Hancock,
Whose crimes are grown to that degree
I must hang them — or they'll hang me."
{ UNIVERSITY!
64 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Hill, when only thirty-three years of age, and Josiah
Quincy, the brilliant lawyer, whose services were lost
to the cause by his untimely death at the age of
thirty. Nearer the age of Adams were his confreres,
Thomas Gushing, who could obtain valuable information
for the patriots, Robert Treat Paine, a preacher-lawyer,
and James Bowdoin, the scientific friend of Franklin,
whose wealth almost equalled that of Hancock.
In the bungling methods which marked the adminis
tration of the colonies, Lord Hillsborough 1 had written
to the governor of Virginia assuring him that the Par
liament of 1770 would certainly repeal the obnoxious
Townshend measures. When the session began, there
was not a petition from the sullen colonists and but
one from the British merchants. However, Lord
North, committed to action by the Hillsborough letter,
moved the repeal of all the Townshend taxes save that
on tea. The importation of tea in the colonies had fallen
between 1768 and 1769 from ,£132,000 to .£44,000.
The Americans drank tea made of dried mullein, catnip,
balm, sage, and raspberry leaves. But it was necessary
to retain one article of the Townshend Act for the
preamble, which asserted the right of " defraying the
expenses of defending, protecting, and securing " the col
onies. The opposition showed that the income from the
tax on tea would amount to less than ,£7000 per annum
and that it was simply a device for persisting in the
policy of taxing America.
The action was most unfortunate. It was a conces
sion to the colonies, but not a complete concession. It
showed the weakness of administration without remov-
1 He was secretary of state for the colonies.
SAMUEL ADAMS 65
ing wholly the cause of complaint. It was denounced
in Parliament as " doing and undoing, menacing and
submitting, straining and relaxing." Franklin simply
observed that it was bad surgery to leave splinters in a
wound which must prevent its healing or in time cause it
to open afresh. The colonists rebuked this " preamble,"
or " preambulatory " tax as they called it, by banishing
England's tea more rigidly than ever. They compared
the tea to a plague and said if a ship should bring in
that dreadful malady nobody would doubt what was to
be done ; and that the present case was much worse.
Newspapers gave up their columns to appeals to the
people not to use tea imported by the East India Com
pany. Poetry and acrostics were added to keep the
public mind aroused.
"To save T heir Country doorrTd by Fate
E xclud E the Drink of baneful T— ,
A nd bear A Part in Deeds so great.1'
The East India Tea Company, perhaps the greatest
of the many monopolies which controlled England's
policy at this time, soon felt the result of this refusal to
use their product. Their complaints about the decrease
of the consumption of tea in America arose to a clamor.
In 1773, the company had seventeen million pounds of
tea moulding in its warehouses. Its stock fell to 120
per cent, and it could not pay the ,£400,000 due to the
government annually for the privileges it enjoyed. In
stead the government had to advance it four times that
sum. The customs receipts had fallen in 1772 to ;£8o
after paying the cost of collection and the expenses of
coast guards. Something must be done. Lord North
66 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
yielded to the company's clamor for a license to appoint
consignees in the colonies to whom tea could be shipped
for sale. This foolish step immediately alarmed the
American merchants lest the great monopoly should
get a foothold in America. Tea was to be forced upon
the colonists, whether they ordered it or not.
Lord North tried to remove the sting from the meas
ure by providing a drawback or rebate of twelvepence a
pound to be paid to the company as the tea left England
en route for America. Yet, to keep up the form of taxa
tion, it was to pay threepence as it entered America.
The company foresaw the result and begged that the
threepence be collected as the tea left England. But
that would be giving up the tax. North was persistent
for American collection, claiming that the colonists
because of the drawback could buy tea cheaper than
the people of England could and that they would yield
to such mercenary inducements.
When the news of this new action of Parliament
reached Boston, Samuel Adams voiced the sentiments
of America in the phrase, " We are not contesting for
pence but for principles." Everywhere quiet prepara
tions went on to prevent the landing of the tea. Several
numbers of an extra paper called the Alarm circu
lated in Massachusetts. The men who Jiad consented
to act as consignees for receiving the tea were compelled
to swear not to execute their offices, as the stamp agents
had been eight years before. In riotous Boston, after
their houses had been wrecked, they fled for protection
to the castle in the harbor. The " Committee on tarring
and feathering" in quiet Philadelphia sent notice to the
Delaware river pilots warning them not to bring the
SAMUEL ADAMS 67
Polly, a tea ship, up the river. To the captain of the
vessel they wrote : " What think you Captain of a Halter
around your Neck ... ten gallons of liquid tar decanted
on your Pate . . . with the Feathers of a dozen wild
Geese laid on that to enliven your Appearance ? "
November 28, 1773, Captain Hall, of the ship Dart
mouth from England, reached the Long Wharf in Boston
and was confronted by the Sons of Liberty, who de
manded to know whether he carried tea. Upon his
confession, they took the vessel with the 114 chests of
tea ;n the hold around to Griffin's wharf, where it could
be watched more easily. Express riders were sent to
New York and Philadelphia to notify them of the spir
ited resistance of Boston, and other riders were con
stantly in readiness to alarm the country. Soon the
Eleanor under Captain Bruce and the Beaver under
Captain Coffin arrived with the same amount of tea and
were similarly treated. Bodies of watchmen selected by
the town meeting patrolled the wharf day and night.
If force was attempted to land the tea, the bells were to
be tolled by day or rung by night. It was said to
be impossible " to buy a pair of p — Is in town, as they
are all bought up." * In vain the owner of the vessels
prayed the governor for permission to return the tea to
England without having them cleared entirely. It was
a contest between the government and the rising rebel
lion, and the issue might as well come now as later.
On the evening of the nineteenth day, just as the
candles were lighted, in a great town meeting which had
been in session almost continuously since the Dartmouth
1 [Pistols]. Hart's "American History told by Contemporaries," Vol.
II., p. 431.
68 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
came in, Mr. Rotch reported another failure to get a
pass for his vessels. Samuel Adams then arose and
said, "This meeting can do nothing more to save the
country." It may or may not have been a signal, but
immediately the cry of the "Mohawks"1 was heard
outside. Some one in the gallery cried, " Three cheers
for Griffin's wharf," and the meeting dissolved. Many
followed the Mohawks, who had assembled on Fort Hill,
down to the wharf, and even assisted them in passing
up the 342 chests of tea from the holds of the three ves
sels and tossing the contents into the water. Before
nine o'clock, property to the value of ;£ 18,000 had been
destroyed, and Boston as a city had committed an overt
act of violence. Precedent would easily be found for
punishing a city because of the acts of its inhabitants.
Paul Revere2 was sent to carry the news of Boston's
spirited action to the other cities. When tea arrived in
New York, the city was placarded by the Mohawks, and
the tea ships sent to Halifax. From Philadelphia and
from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the imported tea was
returned to England. The example of Boston seemed
contagious. At Annapolis and at Burlington, New Jer
sey, tea was burned. The twenty days being allowed to
expire, the tea at Charleston, South Carolina, was seized
by the customs officers and stored in a mouldy ware
house. A tea ship was cast away on Cape Cod, and the
tea destroyed by the Sons of Liberty. A man who
managed to save a hundred pounds of it was caught at
1 The word " Mohawk " was used to denote a rough, disorderly ele
ment, both in England and America. See No. 335 of Addison's " Sir
Roger de Coverley."
2 Paul Revere, a Boston engraver and goldsmith, acted as an express
rider upon various occasions. See his Life by Goss.
SAMUEL ADAMS 69
Lyme and roughly treated. In February following the
December " party," twenty-eight chests were thrown
overboard in Boston from the Fortune. In April tea
was destroyed in New York. Three hundred pounds
were burned in the market-place at Providence, Rhode
Island, according to the notice of the town crier, and
in the presence of a vast multitude. At the same time,
a " spirited Son of Liberty went along the streets with
his brush and lampblack and obliterated or unpainted
the word 'tea' on the shop signs." It was estimated
that the total value of the tea destroyed in America
reached £2 5, ooo, and that returned would have brought
,£300,000 to the needy East India Company.1
Early in March, the king laid before Parliament 109
papers giving accounts of the riot in Boston harbor and
elsewhere, as well as the countenance given to such dis
order by the various town meetings. The spirit of
rebellion seemed to pervade the continent, but Boston
was the leader. Some pronounced the city a " nest of
locusts," and others insisted that it should be "pulled
about the ears " of its inhabitants. Even Franklin, the
Massachusetts agent, regretted the action of Boston and
sent over word that " Pitt delivered his sentiments in the
House against the Americans, and blamed us for destroy
ing the tea." The right of property is dear to the English-
1 Because she tried to force the tea on the colonies, England was de
clared to be the aggressor. As a local wag put it in the Boston Gazette :
" Rudely forced to drink tea, Massachusetts in anger
Spills the tea on John Bull — John falls on to bang her;
Massachusetts, enraged, calls her neighbors to aid,
And gives master John a severe bastinade !
Now, good men of law, pray who is in fault, —
The one who begins, or resists, the assault?"
70 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
man, and only extreme provocation can justify its destruc
tion. " Let it go forth to the world that Great Britain will
protect her subjects and their property" was the moving
thought. If property could no longer be safe in Boston
harbor, property should no longer be carried there.
In eighteen days a bill had passed the Parliament
without a division in either house and by a " prodigious
majority," to prevent, after the first day of June follow
ing, all vessels entering the harbor of Boston except
those carrying fuel or victuals. Even these could be
brought only in coasting vessels and must then be entered
at Salem or Marblehead and come to Boston under a
pass with an officer on board. The capital of the prov
ince was removed to Salem. The king was given power
to annul the act when the Bostonians should pay for the
tea and all other property destroyed in the different riots
and give promise that property would be safe in their
harbor hereafter.
In determining the kind of punishment for Boston,
Lord North was taking advantage of the keen commer
cial rivalry among the colonial ports. He thought the
prospect of gaining Boston's trade would appeal to the
other seaboard cities, and thus the threatened colonial
union would be broken. He assured Parliament that
" the rest of the colonies will not take fire at the proper
punishment inflicted on those who have disobeyed your
authority." However, some agreed with Lord Chester
field, " I never saw a forward child mended by whipping ;
and I would not have the mother country become a step
mother." But sentiment was plainly in favor of further
coercion. Soon a measure was passed changing the
charter of Massachusetts in several particulars, one of
SAMUEL ADAMS 71
which would prevent so many and such free town meet
ings. Another allowed any person accused of a capital
offence committed in the line of duty to be allowed trial
in any other colony or in Great Britain. Future Captain
Prestons and massacre soldiers were not to be endangered
by a colonial jury. To these acts was added one of the
previous year for quartering troops on the town of
Boston. Many also included the Quebec Act, extending
that province down as far as the Ohio river, among these
" intolerable acts " as they were called in America. In
England, they were felt to be natural punishments and
were known as the " repressive acts."
On Tuesday, May 10, 1774, Captain Shayler brought
a copy of the Port Bill into Boston. On the I3th, the
town meeting, with Samuel Adams as moderator, voted
" that if the other colonies come into a joint Resolution
to stop all Importations from Great Britain and Expor-
tations to Great Britain and every part of the West
Indies, till the Act for .Blocking up this Harbor be
repealed, the same will prove the Salvation of North
America and her Liberties." At a subsequent meeting,
the moderator informed the people that the resolutions
had been forwarded to the " Several Provinces by Mr.
Riviere."
Local results followed immediately. The neighboring
towns showed a willingness to enter into the desired
agreement of non-intercourse with Great Britain. But
a ready assent from the large cities could scarcely be
expected, although so much desired by Boston. Such
agreements were hard to enforce in thirteen colonies,
extending over a wide area and having such diversified
interests and so few means of communication. Those
72 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
formed in the past by committees of correspondence had
caused bitter feelings and had not long endured. But
if these committees or their representatives could meet
in some kind of a convention many of these differences
might be reconciled and an agreement drawn up which
would hold. From all sides came spontaneously the
suggestion of a Congress or diplomatic convention like
those called by the nations of Europe at different times
for considering affairs of mutual interest. There was a
precedent for such action in the Stamp Act Congress at
New York nine years before.
Thus the committees of correspondence were fulfil
ling a prophecy made by a member of the House of
Commons some time before: "The Committees of
Correspondence in different provinces are in constant
communication . . . they do not trust the conveyance
of the Post-Office . . . they have set up a constitutional
courier which will soon grow up to the superseding of
your Post-Office. As soon as intelligence of these
affairs reaches them, they will judge it necessary to
communicate with each other. It will be found incon
venient and ineffectual by letters . . . they must confer.
They will hold a conference . . . and to what these
committees, thus met in congress, will grow up, I will
not say."
September as a time for the Congress would give
sufficient notice for preparation, and Philadelphia as a
central city, easy of access, would prove a good place. A
meeting in that city might also persuade the Quakers
to look upon the Boston situation more favorably than
they seemed at first inclined. Although keenly alive to
the unjust policy of Great Britain, they were opposed to
SAMUEL ADAMS 73
any measures which might look like resistance. They
had also an aversion to the town meeting and Boston
methods in general. Only by finesse and skilful ma
nipulation on the part of leading spirits was a meeting
held there and even a moderately sustaining reply re
turned to Boston.
Nor was the first feeling at New York much better.
Revere had delivered his appeal to the recognized Sons
of Liberty, Sears, MacDougall and others, who at once
returned an assurance to Boston that " the city of New
York would heartily join them against the cruel and
arbitrary proceedings of the British Parliament." But
the mercantile and Church of England element became
alarmed at this encouragement of the destruction of
property by "the Presbyterian junto or self-constituted
Sons of Liberty (as they styled themselves) which had
stood ever since the time of the Stamp Act," and
appointed a new committee of fifty-one. This com
mittee sent a letter to Boston which repudiated the
cheering response of the Sons of Liberty. " We lament
over our inability to relieve your anxiety by a decisive
opinion. ... A Congress of Deputies from the colonies
in general is of the utmost moment. . . . Such being
our sentiments it must be premature to pronounce
any judgment on the expedient which you have sug
gested." 1
Was this cool reply a warning to impetuous Boston
that she was to be deserted? The first day of June,
when the Port Bill went into effect, would tell. At noon
of that day, the Custom House and all courts of Boston
were closed, and the records placed in carts to be trans-
1 Force's "Archives," 4th Series, I., 300.
74 THE MEN W 'HO MADE THE NATION
ported to Salem, the new capital. Two men-of-war
swung idly with the tide in the harbor. The patriots
solemnly tolled the bells, placed their flags at half-mast,
and awaited further events. The proposed Congress
was not to meet until September ; what was to become
of Boston in the meantime ? The Harvard Commence
ment exercises were abandoned because of " the dark
aspect of our public affairs." Very soon from New York
came the cheering intelligence that the day had been
observed generally by tolling bells and lowered flags,
although the fast had not been carried out by the clergy.
From Virginia came the proclamation of a day of fast
ing and prayer ordered by the burgesses, who attended
church and listened to their chaplain, after the rector had
refused to preach on such occasion. Philadelphia sent
word that business had been generally suspended and
the bells tolled, although the Quakers denied the former
statement and the sexton of Christ Church the latter.
Thus evidences were not wanting that the patriots were
to have a home as well as a foreign contest.
The hardships of the Port Bill were soon felt in
Boston. The firewood which had been carried into the
city from the bay and adjacent parts of the coast could
not now be brought in without being taken to Marble-
head or Salem, greatly increasing the price and causing
suffering to the poor. Material for house building or
similar work had to be carted thirty miles from those
ports, and building operations were stopped by the in
creased expense. The vessels on the stocks were aban
doned, since they could not be launched if completed.
The ropewalks which supplied the shipyards were idle.
New barracks were to be erected for the additional
SAMUEL ADAMS 75
troops being brought into the city, but the needy me
chanics scorned the opportunity of such labor.
Boston had always been attentive to her poor, and
one of her first concerns had been for them when their
regular means of employment were thus taken away.
A committee was appointed by the town meeting for
providing some ways and means of furnishing instant
employment for the poor. As a temporary expedient,
it set men to work repairing and repaying the streets
of the town, their wages being paid by public contribu
tion. A brickyard was operated on the Neck which
furnished employment to a hundred poor men. Wool,
flax, and cotton were bought to give labor to poor
women. It was planned to begin the erection of a
building and the making of a vessel, both to be sold
at auction when completed, but the restriction of the
Port Bill made the procuring of raw material well-nigh
impossible. Leather was furnished to the shoemakers
and iron to the blacksmiths, and their finished work
taken in payment. Some shoes and axes so made were
sent to Virginia for sale.
Samuel Adams was made the head of a committee to
receive and distribute donations. The reply to the call
for aid made this office no sinecure. From Windham,
Connecticut, twenty-seven days after the port was closed,
came a notification that " a small flock of sheep, which
at this season are not so good as we could wish, but are
the best we had," was upon the road to feed the poor
of the town of Boston. Other similar offerings fol
lowed, " appeasing the fire of the ministry by the blood
of rams and lambs," until the number reached over
three thousand. Cattle often accompanied the sheep.
76 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
The merchants of Marblehead and Salem gave free use
of their wharves and warehouses, and the carters gratui
tously carried over the thirty miles into Boston the sup
plies of rice, wheat, corn, flour, fish, and oil which
poured in from all along the Atlantic coast. A sloop
loaded with supplies was brought from Cape Fear by
Marblehead into Boston, the captain and sailors serving
gratis.1
The "Constitutional Society" of London sent ^100,
and many smaller sums came over seas from private
individuals. Over ^1000 was acknowledged at one
time from New York. The English inhabitants of
Montreal forwarded ^100. Even the Quakers, al
though they could not countenance measures of vio
lence, preserved their reputation for charity by sending
^2540 to Boston.2
Samuel Adams manifested no impatience at the fail
ure of Philadelphia and New York to come into a non-
intercourse agreement without the intervention of a
Congress. John Adams declared the Philadelphia reply
"cool and calculating." But both men fell readily into
the plan of such a meeting. The important point in
Massachusetts was to find some body qualified to
name delegates to represent the colony. Most fortu
nately, General Gage, who had been appointed cap
tain-general, governor-in-chief, and vice-admiral, had
prorogued the Massachusetts General Court from its
May meeting in Boston to June 7, at the new capital,
Salem. Samuel Adams was both a member of the
1 This entire subject of the relief of Boston may be studied in the
Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 4th Series, Vol. IV., 1858.
2 Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. I., p. 160.
SAMUEL ADAMS 77
Assembly and its clerk. In Salem he inaugurated fre
quent caucuses of trusty members, gradually making
up his majority. Many in Boston were at first willing
to pay for the tea instead of continuing resistance in
the proposed Congress. The mechanics held a meeting
for that purpose. A public letter from Philadelphia
urged it. But in the Boston town meetings, Warren
urged an opposite course and kept public sentiment
abreast of its representatives in Salem.
On Friday, June 17, 1774, a resolution passed the
Assembly at Salem to lock the doors, and another was
presented providing for the appointment of five delegates
to represent Massachusetts in the proposed conference or
Congress at Philadelphia. Upon plea of illness a member
was allowed to leave the room. He ran at once to inform
Gage of the unauthorized proceeding. Flucker, the
governor's secretary, was sent immediately with an order
dissolving the Assembly, yet knocked in vain upon the
door. The key by this time had found its way into
Samuel Adams's pocket. The baffled secretary stood
upon the landing at the head of the stairway and read
the order in a loud voice, but it was heard only by a
number of idlers and a few members of the House who
for some reason were not inside. Within the room the
action was taken which chose as a committee to the pro
posed Congress "the Hon. James Bowdoin, Esq., the
Hon. Thomas dishing, Esq., Mr. Samuel Adams, John
Adams, and Robert Treat Paine, Esq." The vote stood
117 to 12. The sum of ^500 was given for their ex
penses, to be raised by a voluntary contribution from
each town. This task being finished, the Assembly
voluntarily adjourned, the door was unlocked, and the
78 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Massachusetts legislature under the king had passed
away forever. But from its labors came the Provincial
Congress of the Massachusetts Colony, which instituted
revolutionary local government, and the " Continental " *
Congress at Philadelphia, which was destined to inaugu
rate a national Revolutionary government.
The long-continued agitations of Samuel Adams had
brought results. The scene changes to Philadelphia
and the agency from the New England town meeting
to a national Congress. It was fitting that the town
clerk of Boston should make this entry :
At an Adjournment of the Port Bill Meeting Tuesday, Octo
ber 25th, 1774. Ten o'clock before Noon —
Mr. Samuel Adams, the Moderator of this Meeting being
now at the Continental Congress, it was moved that a Pro. Tern.
Moderator be now chosen by a Hand Vote.
1 So called because it was said to represent the continent.
CHAPTER III
JOHN ADAMS, THE PARTISAN OF INDEPENDENCE
PHILADELPHIA, August 29.
The Hon. Thomas Cufhing, Efq ; Mr.
Samuel Adams. John Adams, and Robert
Treat Paine, Efquires, Delegates from Bof-
ton, are expected in town this evening. —
Pennfylvania Packet.
THE delegates sent by the various colonies to the first
Continental Congress were little likely to receive an
official greeting when they arrived in Philadelphia.
Governor Penn had reported exultingly to Lord Dart
mouth that the prior proceedings in Pennsylvania were
likely to prove a check rather than an encouragement
to the rebellion. Yet they were tendered a greeting,
hearty though unofficial, by the Sons of Liberty.
The recognized leader of these few " liberty men "
of Philadelphia was Charles Thomson, a merchant of
noted integrity. He had enjoyed an active correspond
ence with Franklin in England during the Stamp Act
and later controversies, and many extracts from his let
ters to the colonial agent found their way into the Lon
don newspapers. Associated with him in the early
non-importation agitation was another merchant, Thomas
Mifflin, who had travelled in England, but came home
an ardent patriot. Miffiin had been in Boston, in 1773,
attending the funeral of his mother and had met the two*
79
80 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Adamses and kindred spirits. Notwithstanding the sad
occasion, no doubt the exciting political questions of the
day were discussed at the table of Dr. Cooper. Certainly
after the tea, John Adams thought the visitor " a very
sensible and agreeable man." l
Joseph Reed was a young lawyer who had studied in
England and four years before Congress met had
brought home as a bride, Esther, the daughter of Dennys
De Berdt. 2 His strong English friendship and his cor
respondence with Lord Hillsborough made him an object
of suspicion, which his unwearied efforts in the patriot
cause had not wholly removed.
More generally known was John Dickinson, the author
of the " Farmer's Letters," acknowledged to be the
most masterly presentation of the patriot position
under the Townshend Acts. In them he advocated
protests and petitions, but no violence. Since their pub
lication he had married into a Quaker family, and, as
Thomson confessed, " his sentiments were not generally
known. The Quakers courted and seemed to depend
on him. The other party from his past conduct hoped
for his assistance but were not sure how he would go
if matters came to an extremity."3 Dickinson and
Thomson had married cousins and were much together.
1 The many quotations in this chapter from John Adams are taken from
the twelve-volume edition of his " Works," usually volume second.
2 Esther De Berdt Reed won lasting fame by heading a movement in
Philadelphia for the relief of the Revolutionary troops. See Sparks's
" Washington," Vol. VII., pp. 90, 408, and Reed's " Life and Correspon
dence of Joseph Reed."
3 New York Historical Society Collections, 1879, Vol. XL, p. 275.
" The Papers of Charles Thomson." Among these papers is a description
by Thomson of the strategy used in bringing Dickinson to the support of
the cause of Boston.
JOHN ADAMS 8 1
Thomson told John Adams that Dickinson's patriotism
was checked by his mother and his wife ; that his mother
said to him, " Johnny, you will be hanged ; your estate
will be forfeited and confiscated; you will leave your
excellent wife a widow, and your charming children
orphans, beggars, and infamous."
During the summer Dickinson, Mifflin, and Thomson
made a tour through the " frontier " counties of Pennsyl
vania about Reading and York to ascertain the feeling
of the Germans. They succeeded in getting Dickinson
added to the list of Pennsylvania delegates to the Con
gress. Mifflin had already been chosen. No doubt
Joseph Galloway, a wealthy Philadelphia lawyer and
friend of Franklin, would be found the most conservative
of the seven delegates. Even now his attitude to the
cause foreshadowed his desertion to the king two years
later, when the present of a halter in a box warned him
of the possible fate in store for him. Rhoads was a
wealthy Quaker, who soon left the Congress upon being
chosen mayor of Philadelphia. Biddle was a lawyer from
Reading, and Ross a lawyer from Lancaster. Morton
and Humphreys, country farmers of the better class,
completed the list of Pennsylvania representatives to the
Congress.
Wednesday, August 10, the South Carolina packet
from Charleston reached the wharf at Philadelphia and
Henry Middleton and Edward Rutledge walked ashore,
to be met no doubt by some of Philadelphia's kindred
spirits. Middleton came of an influential South Caro
lina family, and was an extensive planter with an estate
estimated at fifty thousand acres and employing eight
hundred slaves. He had been speaker of the Commons
82 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
of his colony and for almost twenty years a member of
its Council. Edward Rutledge was Middleton's son-in-
law, and Mrs. Rutledge accompanied the two gentlemen.
Rutledge was only twenty-five years old, but had studied
law in England, and when his fiery disposition should be
tempered by age promised to rival in reputation his
elder brother, John.
John Rutledge had also been trained in the law courts
of England, as was the custom in the southern colo
nies.1 As attorney for the planters, he had gained great
influence, and it was undoubtedly through his efforts
that the important colony of South Carolina was to be
represented in Congress. He was, of course, a delegate
and came from Charleston to New York in the Betsy,
accompanied by his wife, his sister, and his son, mak
ing the voyage in ten days. At New York he joined
the Massachusetts delegates and accompanied them to
Philadelphia.
Rutledge's planter friends, Thomas Lynch and
Christopher Gadsden, took passage on the Sea Nymph
from Charleston and in one week reached Philadelphia.
Lynch was accompanied by his wife and daughter.
Lodgings were secured for them at Mrs. McKenzie's.
The three had been in Boston the summer before the
tea was destroyed, and Mr. Lynch had been sounded by
the Boston patriots. They found him, so John Adams
says, " a solid, sensible, though a plain man ; a hearty
friend to America and her righteous cause."
Gadsden was a trader-planter of the true colonial type.
The Boston delegates would be glad to meet him, since,
1 See the second chapter of Stille's " Life and Times of John Dick
inson " on the lack of facilities for legal training in the colonies.
JOHN ADAMS 83
in the midst of the many suggestions sent to them that
they make compensation for the destroyed tea and so
release their harbor, bluff Gadsden had written to them,
" Never pay for an ounce of the Tea ! " 1 Gadsden,
Lynch, and John Rutledge would be welcomed by Dick
inson, whom they had met in the Stamp Act Congress
in New York nine years before. Also Rodney and
McKean of Delaware, Dyer of Connecticut, and Will
iam Livingston of New Jersey, would remember the
introduction in that former gathering.
The last week in August, Major Sullivan and Colonel
Folsom of New Hampshire arrived at Philadelphia.
They had started from Portsmouth two weeks before,
coming by Rhode Island. New York was reached by
packet on Sunday morning, and no doubt they would
have remained there a few days with the Sons of Liberty,
but the small-pox was raging, and neither of them had
become immune.2 They therefore hurried on across
the ferry for Philadelphia, where the story of their
appointment had preceded them. It seemed that the
royal governor of their colony had dissolved the Assem
bly for appointing a committee of correspondence and
subsequently broke up a meeting of the committee.
When a convention was called and nominated a physi
cian and a lawyer to serve as delegates to the proposed
Congress, the nominees declined such dangerous ser
vice. Folsom and Sullivan were then chosen and ac
cepted, although at no small chance of sacrifice, since
1 Force's " Archives," 4th Series, Vol. I., p. 392.
2 Inoculation was known, but distrusted by many. John Adams's chil
dren were inoculated at home while he was at Philadelphia. Ex-Governor
Ward, of Connecticut, refused inoculation and died of the small-pox dur
ing the second session of Congress.
84 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Folsom was a colonel and Sullivan a major in the New
Hampshire militia.
But amidst all these arrivals there was inquiry for the
real lions of the occasion — the men from suffering
Boston. The honor due them was paid on Monday, the
29th, when a number of the delegates and gentlemen
of Philadelphia rode out to a suburb of the city to wel
come Thomas Gushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams,
and Robert Treat Paine. The fifth delegate, James
Bowdoin, was deterred from undertaking the journey
because of his feeble health.
Notwithstanding the thick fog prevailing in Boston
on the morning of their departure three weeks before,
a number of gentlemen accompanied them from Mr.
Cushing's house as far as Watertown, where " an
elegant entertainment" was provided for them. Rumor
said that Gage would prevent their departure to partici
pate in this unsanctioned convention, and such ostenta
tion may have been a challenge. But no attempt was
made to accept it. In fact, when one of the four horses
which drew their carriage balked near the Common,
the captain of a company of regulars encamped there
jokingly suggested to them that their coachmen must
have made a mistake and put in a Tory horse.
The summer of 1774 was exceedingly warm, and the
heat was intensified by a long-continued drought. A
letter from Mrs. Adams overtook her husband at New
York describing a rain " which lasted twelve hours and
has greatly revived the dying fruits of the earth."
Travelling was not pleasant under such circumstances,
1 The quotations of Mrs. Adams are taken from " The Familiar Letters
of John Adams and his Wife."
JOHN- ADAMS 85
yet the receptions accorded the delegates made them
forget the heat and the dust. Coming into a town
" cannon were fired, all the bells were set to ringing,
and people crowded to their windows as if it were to
see a coronation." Dinners, punch, wine, and coffee
marked the evenings. " No Governor of a Province
nor General of an army was ever treated with so much
ceremony and assiduity as we have been throughout the
whole of Connecticut/' wrote John Adams.
In ten days they had reached New York and taken
private lodgings in King street near the City Hall.
Little did John Adams think as he looked at this build
ing that he would one day preside over a Senate within
its walls. Here they tarried a week, holding interviews
with the Sons of Liberty, meeting prominent citizens
and trying to break down the prevailing fear of the
" levelling spirit " of New England, as well as the " Epis
copalian prejudices " in New York. There was too
much " breakfasting, dining, drinking coffee, &c." to
please the more serious New England men, who would
have preferred to examine the college, the churches, the
printers' offices, and booksellers' shops.
At Princeton College, they were entertained by Presi
dent Witherspoon, " as high a son of liberty as any man
in America." His students were all Sons of Liberty,
although in chapel " they sang as badly as the Presby
terians at New York." He exhibited to the visitors an
orrery or planetarium made by Dr. David Rittenhouse,
of Philadelphia, which showed the movements of the
heavenly bodies. He also charged a bottle with elec
tricity, but the air was unfavorable to seeing the flash.
The visitors did not fail to climb to the balcony of the
86 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
four-story college building to obtain the view " eighty
miles in diameter."
They tarried at Princeton over Sunday and received
a number of callers. On Monday, they reached Phila
delphia, to be escorted into the city as described.
Although travel-stained, they were carried to a tav
ern — " the most genteel in America " it seemed to
them. Here they found others of the delegates assem
bled, and soon all sat down to an " elegant" supper,
which continued until eleven o'clock.
The next evening the Connecticut delegates reached
Philadelphia. They were a most incongruous trio.
Silas Deane had been a Connecticut schoolmaster who
had risen through two fortunate marriages, the first
bringing him wealth, and the second, social position.
His political and social aspirations made him a ready
mark for gossip, and it was rumored that he had been
chosen a delegate by his own deciding vote.
Roger Sherman was Deane's opposite — a plain, self-
made man, who had advanced from the shoemaker's
bench to a judgeship in the superior court of his colony.
Deane wrote home that Sherman was as " badly calcu
lated to appear in such Company as a chestnut burr is
for an eye-stone."1 He had an "odd and countrified
cadence " when he spoke, which was mortifying to the
sensitive Deane. When they were obliged to occupy the
same chamber at the little inns on the journey, Sher
man's snoring was an annoyance to Deane, who " turn'd
and turn'd and groan'd " in concert. At one tavern
" there was no fruit, bad rum, and nothing of the meat
1 The quotations from Silas Deane may be found in the New York His
torical Society Collections, Vol. XIX., 1886, "The Deane Papers."
JOHN ADAMS 87
kind but salt pork." At another, one of the company
had to go out and " knock over " three or four chickens
to be roasted for dinner. No porter was to be had, the
cheese was bad, and the only palatable drink was some
"excellent bottle-cyder." The weather was excessively
warm and the days without a breath of air. Deane was
for sending the carriages over the ferry from New York
on Sunday evening to get an early start on Monday
morning through the Jerseys. But the conscientious
Sherman would not break the Sabbath, and the travel
lers were delayed the next morning at the ferry till ten
o'clock, and then compelled to take a hand at the oars,
since there was a dead calm.
Colonel Eliphalet Dyer, the third Connecticut delegate,
was a soldier-lawyer, a graduate of Yale, as was Deane,
and was probably less a source of complaint than Sher
man. Yet he had an annoying way of taking the leader
ship on a journey and becoming " foolishly swamped "
in his directions.
Rhode Island had sent down an oddly assorted pair,
Samuel Ward and Stephen Hopkins. Ward had been
many times governor of that colony, as had his father
before him. The succession of his terms had been
broken only when his great rival, Stephen Hopkins,
.defeated him. For years a bitter contest went on
between the factions led by these two men. The breach
was at last healed by Hopkins resigning in the midst
of a term, and the rivals became friends to embark in
the patriotic cause.1
1 Because of a paralytic stroke, Hopkins, now sixty-seven years old,
could sign his name only by guiding his right hand with his left. When
the facsimile of the signatures to the Declaration of Independence were
88 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
The first day of September fell upon Thursday. But
no delegates had yet arrived from New York, North
Carolina, nor the influential Virginia, and it was tacitly
agreed to wait until the following Monday before organ
izing. On Friday, four of the Virginians arrived, and
the Massachusetts delegates went at once to the tavern
to pay their respects. They were found to be " the
most spirited and consistent of any. Harrison said he
would have come on foot rather than not come. Bland
said he would have gone, upon this occasion, if it had
been to Jericho." Benjamin Harrison was a Virginia
planter, very fleshy and of gouty tendency. The thought
of his walking to Philadelphia was one of the many
jokes for which he was noted. Richard Bland had been
educated at William and Mary College and at Edinburgh
University, and had placed his pen entirely at the ser
vice of the colonial cause. Harrison's brother-in-law, the
Honorable Peyton Randolph, another of the delegates,
had won renown as speaker of the Virginia House of
Burgesses, and it was early understood that his expe
rience as a presiding officer, no less than the compliment
to the great colony of Virginia, would make him chair
man of the Congress when it should be organized.
Richard Henry Lee, the fourth of the newcomers,
was no doubt greeted heartily by Samuel Adams. For
some time they had corresponded on the American
grievances, having been introduced by letter through
Lee's brother, Arthur, but had never met until brought
together in this first Continental Congress.
first sent to England, the trembling penmanship of Stephen Hopkins was
by some attributed to his fear lest he be hanged for signing the rebel
document.
JOHN ADAMS gg
The Lee family had become estranged from the gov
ernment during the long-continued disputes between
the crown and the colony over the disposition of the
western lands and their protection against the Indians
and the encroaching French. Into this contest the Vir
ginia militia was naturally drawn. Their officers were
neglected and snubbed, and their leader, a certain Colonel
George Washington, had his passionate temper roused
to resignation more than once. His idea of duty, to
which he held himself strictly, alone kept him faithful
to the royal government. But when the news of the
Port Bill reached Williamsburg and the Assembly was
dissolved by the angry governor for appointing June
ist a day of fasting and prayer,1 Colonel Washington
did not hesitate to join the other members of the As
sembly in the Apollo room of the Raleigh tavern and
to draw up resolutions supporting Boston.
The Massachusetts delegates were anxious to see this
Colonel Washington. Lynch, of South Carolina, had
told them that in the Virginia convention which selected
the delegates from that colony, Washington felt so out
raged by the treatment of Boston that he arose and
made a fiery speech, although he had always been
marked both for his calmness and his diffidence in pub
lic speaking. He threatened to raise a thousand men
at his own expense, place himself at their head, and
march to the relief of Boston. Having acquired a vast
fortune by inheritance and marriage2 and having been
1 "June ist, Wednesday, Went to Church, and fasted all day." Wash
ington's diary in Sparks's " Washington," Vol. II., p. 487.
2 He had inherited from his half-brother, Lawrence, twenty-five hun
dred acres on the Potomac, including Mount Vernon. From the bounty
lands of the Indian wars, he had earned and purchased almost fifty thou-
90 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
trained by twenty years of service in the Virginia militia,
there was no doubt that this tall Virginian could carry
out his threat if it became necessary.
In the Virginia Assembly, Washington had come in
contact with Patrick Henry, the Samuel Adams of Vir
ginia Like Adams, Henry had proven a poor business
man, but an efficient political agitator. With barely
enough legal knowledge for admission to the bar l he
had entered upon his career of church and government
opposition in the " Parson's Cause." From that day t
associated with the opponents to the Established church,
although his uncle was a rector. He championed the
young democracy arrayed against the ancient Virginia
aristocracy. He became the spokesman of the common
people. His opponents at first ridiculed his up-country
pronunciation, his ungrammatical language, and his awk
ward and violent gestures.2 A vestryman in the Estab
lished church described him as " a real half Quaker, -
moderate and mild, and in religious matters a saint ; but
the very d 1 in politics,— a son of thunder."'
emies advised him to confine himself to the fiddle, with
which it must be confessed he made a better showing than
with the law. But however crude, his oratory was so mov-
sand acres. Mrs. Custis brought him fifteen thousand acres, between two
and three hundred negroes, and eight to ten thousand pounds in bond.
The death of Mrs.Custis's daughter added another ten thousand pounds
to Washington's fortune according to the Virginia laws
1 Thomas Jefferson, the early admirer of Henry, says that after reading
law or six weeks Henry prevailed upon Peyton Randolph and John
£JSph to sign his license to practise The third necessary signa ure
was obtained, but the fourth examiner, Wythe, refused to sign a per
so poorly earned.
2 See Henry's " Life of Patrick Henry," Vol. I., p. 209.
s From a letter quoted in Meade's "History of Old Churches and
Families of Virginia, Vol. I., p. 220.
JOHN ADAMS 91
ing and so daring that his nickname " the Demosthenes
of the age " was known even in the northern colonies.
Upon invitation of Washington, Henry and Pendleton
had stopped over night at Mount Vernon on their way
to Philadelphia. Edmund Pendleton was a country jus
tice, a popular leader, and a devout churchman. He
was much pleased with the calm, strong character of
Mrs. Washington. In letters written soon afterward, he
described her urging the three gentlemen to stand firm
in the Congress and adding, " I know George will." He
also said that, as the three rode away the following morn
ing, she stood on the doorstep and waved her hand and
said, "Good-by, God be with you, gentlemen." Devo
tion to the cause outweighed her fears for her husband's
safety. The three men reached Philadelphia on Sun
day, September 4, having been five days on the horse
back journey from Mount Vernon.
John Jay, a young lawyer of New York, had married
the daughter of William Livingston a few weeks before
Congress met. Livingston had retired from the practice
of law in New York and had built a residence in New
Jersey which he called " Liberty Hall." Jay was a
delegate from New York as Livingston was from New
Jersey. Jay therefore departed quietly from New York
and joined Livingston, the two riding on to Philadelphia.
The four other delegates from New York City were
given a noisy farewell when they departed. John Adams
described Duane as "a little squint-eyed" and "very
artful." Livingston, Alsop, and Low were merchants.
Boerum and Wisner, two country delegates, came later.
Many of these soon dropped out of sight, as did all the
New Jersey delegates save Livingston. It is reasonable
92 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
to suppose that the fittest were not always selected in
this first irregularly chosen assembly. It was a revolt
of the people against the government. New leaders
would appear only in the process of time.
On Monday morning, September 5, all the delegates
thus far arrived met at the City tavern at ten o'clock to
march to the place of meeting. Quite a spirited contest
had sprung up between the Philadelphia factions con
cerning which hall the Congress should meet in. Gal
loway, the influential speaker of the Assembly, insisted
upon the sessions being held in the State House. In
his official capacity he extended such an invitation, but
friends of Thomson, whom Galloway had kept from being
chosen in the list of Pennsylvania delegates, suggested
the hall built by the Carpenters' Association. This
organization of workingmen was almost a half-century
old. Their building was not quite complete, but was
ready for occupancy. The main room was ample, and
overhead were two rooms with a long entry between,
where the delegates could take exercise. One of these
upper rooms contained the carpenters' library, the use
of which had been offered the Congress.
Starting from the tavern, the delegates marched down
Second street to Chestnut and up Chestnut to a little
court, at the farther end of which stood the carpenters'
building. Having entered and examined it, there was
" a general cry," says John Adams, "that this was a
good room," although, no doubt, Galloway dissented
from the affirmative vote which followed. It was the
first victory for Thomson and the radicals, and it was
at once followed by a second in the choice of a secre
tary. Duane and Jay of New York had probably
JOHN ADAMS
93
already conferred with Galloway and other conserva
tives, and they therefore opposed the motion of Lynch
that Thomson be made secretary. John Adams had
been attracted to Thomson on learning that he was
"the Samuel Adams of Philadelphia, the life of the
cause of liberty," and the interest had not decreased
on hearing that he was " about marrying a lady, a
relation of Mr. Dickinson's, with five thousand pounds
sterling."
94 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Thomson himself describes thus his introduction to
the Congress :
" I was married to my second wife on a Thursday ; on the
next Monday I came to town to pay my respects to my wife's
aunt and the family. Just as I alighted in Chestnut street, the
doorkeeper of Congress (then first met) accosted me with a
message from them requesting my presence. Surprised at this,
and not able to divine why I was wanted, I, however, bade my
servant to put up the horses, and followed the messenger my
self to the Carpenters' Hall, and entered Congress. Here was,
indeed, an august assembly, and deep thought and solemn
anxiety were observable on their countenances. I walked up
the aisle, and standing opposite to the President, I bowed, and
told him I awaited his pleasure. He replied, ' Congress desire
the favor of you, sir, to take their minutes.' I bowed in
acquiescence, and took my seat at the desk. After a short
silence, Patrick Henry arose to speak. I did not then know
him ; he was dressed in a suit of parson's gray, and from his
appearance, I took him for a Presbyterian clergyman, used to
'haranguing the people." 1
An oath of secrecy was taken, the doors shut, and so
began in embryo the popular government of the United
Colonies of America. These men thus brought together
by emergency were simply reflections of the diversified
colonies they represented. They had a thousand old
prejudices and grievances; they had only one impulse
in common — to relieve the distress of some of their
number, and possibly avoid a similar situation for them
selves. In their report to the governor of Connecticut,
the delegates from that colony said, " An assembly like
this, though it consists of less than sixty members, yet,
1 The American Quarterly Review, Vol. I., p. 30.
JOHN ADAMS 95
coming from remote Colonies, each of which has some
modes of transacting publick business peculiar to itself,
some particular Provincial rights and interests to guard
and secure, must take some time to become so acquainted
with each other's situations and connections." l
Their sessions were full of discord. At one time in
trying to come to an agreement of non-exportation to
England, the South Carolina delegates, with the excep
tion of Gadsden, withdrew from the Congress for several
days. When the Bostonians were pleading for such an
association, certain other delegates reminded them that
their John Hancock had imported tea once at least since
the agreement of 1770, and had paid the duty on it.
They could make no reply save that Hancock was only
half owner of the vessel in question, and the partner
must have ordered the tea. Once Galloway proposed
a plan of union with England which would remove a
few difficulties, but Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry
cried out against it. Galloway afterward declared that
he feared mob violence at this juncture. John Adams
said that Henry had a " horrid opinion " of the conserva-
- tives like Galloway, Jay, and the Rutledges. " He is
very impatient to see such fellows, and not be at liberty
to describe them in their true colors." Adams him
self wrote down Edward Rutledge as " a perfect Bob-
o-Lincoln, a swallow, a sparrow, a peacock."
Religious differences were manifest at the first session.
Among the delegates were " some Episcopalians, some
Quakers, some Anabaptists, some Presbyterians, and
some Congregationalists." The question of opening
the sessions with prayer was brought up, but so strong
1 Force's " Archives," 4th Series, Vol. I., p. 854.
JOHN ADAMS 97
were religious prejudices that all could not join in the
same act of worship. On the second day the shrewd
Samuel Adams discovered an opportunity to make use
of this situation. He was a strict Congregationalist,
yet he arose to say that he was no bigot, and could hear
a prayer from any man who was a friend of his country.
He therefore moved that the Rev. Mr. Duche (" Dush-ay
they pronounce it "), an Episcopal clergyman, be requested
to read prayers the following morning. Duche accepted
the invitation, and read the collect for the seventh of
September, the thirty-fifth Psalm, and made an extempo
raneous prayer. John Adams wrote to his wife that he
never saw a better result in an audience : "It has had
an excellent effect upon everybody here," and he advised
KEY TO "FIRST PRAYER IN CONGRESS."
1. Rev. Mr. Duche, Pa. 18. John de Hart, N.J.
2. Peyton Randolph, Va. 19. Stephen Hopkins, R.F.
3. George Washington, Va. 20. William Livingston, N.J
4. Patrick Henry, Va. 21. Thomas McKean, Del.
5. Samuel Adams, Mass. 22. Roger Sherman, Conn.
6. John Adams, Mass. 23. William Paca, Md.
7. Richard Henry Lee, Va. 24. Col. William Floyd, N.V
8. Charles Thomson, Pa. 25. Stephen Crane, N.J.
9. Edward Rutledge, S.C. 26. Samuel Chase, Md.
10. Thomas Gushing, Mass. 27. John Morton, Pa.
11. Eliphalet Dyer, Conn. 28. Thomas Mifflin, Pa.
12. John Rutledge, S.C. 29. Samuel Ward, R.I.
13. Robert Treat Paine, Mass. 30. Benjamin Harrison, Va.
14. George Read, Del. 31. John Jay, N.Y.
15. Silas Deane, Conn. 32. Isaac Low, N.Y.
16. Richard Smith, N.J. 33. Thomas Lynch, S.C.
17. Philip Livingston, N.Y. 34. Caesar Rodney, Del.
H
98 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
all his friends in New England to read the Psalm. Silas
Deane pronounced the prayer worth riding a hundred
miles to hear. It was " with such apparent sensibility
of the scenes and business before us that even the
Quakers shed tears."1 What an interesting promise
of coming union was this mingling of the Quaker and
his lifelong opponent, the Church of England man, in
a political convention.
The letter in which Samuel Adams described this
strategy to Dr. Warren was printed in the Boston news
papers and proved that the Church of England was not
arrayed solidly against the cause, as was often claimed
in the northern colonies.2 It also brought the Boston-
ians into the good graces of the Church people. Joseph
Reed called upon the Boston delegates to tell them that
" they were never guilty of a more masterly stroke of pol
icy than in moving that Mr. Duche might read prayers.
It has had a very good effect, etc." Galloway, anxious
for conciliation, afterward averred that Samuel Adams,
"by his superior application, managed at once the fac
tions in Congress at Philadelphia and the factions in
New England." The Boston men managed to bind
the colonies in a non-importation and non-exportation
agreement and secured a pledge of the continent to
Boston in the Suffolk resolutions.3
1 Unfortunately, Duche did not continue to deserve these encomiums.
When Howe captured Philadelphia, Duche lost courage and wrote to
Washington, begging him to ask clemency. He afterward fled to England,
his estate was confiscated, and he was declared an enemy to his country.
2 Mrs. John Adams had written her husband, " Since the news of the
Quebec Bill arrived all the Church people here have hung their heads and
will not converse on Politics, though ever so much provoked by the oppo
site party." " Familiar Letters," etc., p. 30.
3 These were adopted in reply to an appeal from the people of Suf-
JOHN ADAMS 99
This agreement was the most difficult matter to adjust
in the entire session of Congress. The extent of country
and variety of climate involved caused a difference of
products and interests well-nigh irreconcilable. The
commercial interests of the north could depend upon
internal trade and could open commerce with other
countries after intercourse with Great Britain had been
stopped. The agricultural interests of the .south must
suffer more keenly when the planters could no longer
export their products to the English market where a
demand had been created. As usual, many of the
planters had already anticipated the sales of the present
crops. For such reasons, the non-exportation of certain
articles was not to go into immediate effect.
Before leaving home, the Boston men had been cau
tioned to try to counteract the " opinion which does in
some degree obtain in the other colonies that the Massa
chusetts gentlemen and especially of the town of Boston
do effect to dictate and take the lead in Continental
measures ; that we are apt from an inward vanity and
self-control to assume big and haughty airs." In return
for the Suffolk resolution, the conservatives had been
allowed only a few harmless addresses and a petition.2
folk county, in which Boston was located. They urged the Bostonians
to be peaceful, but to rest assured that they were suffering in the common
cause. The king pronounced them a virtual declaration of war against
him.
1 Joseph Hawley to John Adams. " Works of John Adams," Vol. IX.,
p. 344.
2 The Congress drew up and adopted : a declaration of rights and
grievances; an association of non-importation and non-exportation; an
address to the people of Great Britain; an address to the inhabitants of
the British colonies; an address to the people of St. John's, etc.; a
letter to the colonial agents; an address to the inhabitants of the Province
of Quebec; a petition to the King's Most Excellent Majesty.
100
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Samuel Adams could write to the provincial legisla
ture of Massachusetts, " Things go without any motion
of the Massachusetts members, as perfectly to my
liking as if I were sole director." A Tory wrote,
r " ~s, x^
/ />-**• ~<-V
(, &,./***}*,<
\ ^ ?>- r ^
) • w^ / -^'^
^ * , M&y&gL . , ^ j:
SIGNATURES TO THE NON-IMPORTATION AGREEMENT OF THE FIRST
CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
"Adams with his crew and the haughty sultans of
the South juggled the whole conclave of the dele
gates," and Admiral Montague said : " I doubt not but
that I shall hear Mr. Samuel Adams is hanged or
JOHN ADAMS IOI
shot before many months are at an end. I hope so,
at least." J
After almost two months' continuous sitting, Congress
ordered its proceedings printed and then adjourned, but
not without providing for another session the following
May, when the roads could be travelled. There was to
be no cessation of vigilance whilst danger threatened.
These printed documents were the only manifest
results of the Congress. But a far greater end had
been unconsciously attained in the opportunity given
representative men to look into each other's faces and
read each other's thoughts. The influence of personal
contact was apparent. Uniformity of ideas could not
at once arise, but the little leaven had begun. With the
return of the delegates to their homes the first impulses
of Unionism began to be felt. A common cause made
common feeling. The beginning of the making of the
nation was at hand.
Opportunity for personal contact was furnished the
delegates not alone in the sessions of Congress and com
mittee meetings, but in the constant round of entertain
ment furnished them in the wealthy and happy city of
Philadelphia. The second week of the Congress, a
" grand entertainment " was given at the State House
by the city to the delegates, where " about five hundred
gentlemen sat down at once, and I will only say, there
was a plenty of everything eatable and drinkable and
no scarcity of good humor and diversion. We had,
besides the delegates, gentlemen from every province
on the Continent present." Near the close of the ses
sion, the delegates were given a banquet at the City
1 Sargent's " Andre," p. 67.
102 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
tavern by the colonial legislature of Pennsylvania.
Among the one hundred present were several Quakers.
John Adams was much amused at the predicament of
" two or three broadbrims over against me at table,"
when some one proposed as a toast " May the sword of
the parent never be stained with the blood of the chil
dren." " One of them said, this is not a toast, but a
prayer ; come, let us join in it. And they took their
glasses accordingly."
Washington was fifty-four days in Philadelphia, yet
dined at his lodgings but nine times including Sundays.
His diary confirms the letters and diaries of the other
members. It is a round of feasts at Dr. Shippen's, or
Chew's, or Joseph Reed's, or Willing's, or Pemberton's.
John Dickinson drove into Philadelphia day after day in
his coach drawn by four white horses to take delegates
out to his beautiful country home where they could dine
and talk politics. Silas Deane apologized to Mrs. Deane
for his brief letters. " I am really hurried and have
many more engagements than I wish for, though they
are agreeable ; am engaged to dine out every day this
week, once with Mr. Dickinson, and once with a Quaker
just married. You will begin to suspect we do nothing
else, but I assure you it is hard work. We meet at nine
and sit until three, by which time we are unable to do
anything but eat and drink the rest of the day."
John Adams, of Puritanical inheritance and New
England environment, was shocked by the display of
eatables. His appetite overcame his scruples, although
after each feast he scourged himself for yielding. "A
most sinful feast again ! everything which could delight
the eye or allure the taste." "A mighty feast again;
JOHN ADAMS 103
nothing less than the very best of Claret, Madeira, and
Burgundy." <l A magnificent house, and a most splen
did feast and a very large company." " I drank Ma
deira at a great rate and found no inconvenience." " But
this plain Friend and his plain though pretty wife,
with her Thees and Thous, had provided us the most
costly entertainment ; ducks, hams, chickens, beef, pig,
tarts, creams, custards, jellies, fools, trifles, floating
islands, beer, porter, punch, wine, and a long &c." At
another feast he had "curds and creams, jellies, sweet
meats of various sorts, twenty sorts of tarts, fools, trifles,
floating islands, whipped sillabubs, &c. &c. Parmesan
cheese, punch, wine, porter, beer, &c." To Mrs.
Adams he declared that he should be killed with kind
ness in Philadelphia. " Yet," he adds, " I hold out
surprisingly."
Evidence is not wanting that the broadening of colo
nial minds under such circumstances had already be
gun. Deane wrote home that if he ever changed his
religion he should turn Quaker. John Adams, perhaps
for the first time in his life, entered a Roman chapel and
found it " most awful and affecting." He was im
pressed by the services, the robes, the music, and espe
cially the picture of the Christ over the altar. He con
fessed himself unable to conceive how the Reformation
had succeeded against such powerful agencies. Before
he came to Philadelphia he had made many uncompli
mentary allusions in his writings about the cool, calcu
lating people of that city. But when he departed, he
wrote : "Took our departure, in a very great rain, from
the happy, the peaceful, the elegant, the hospitable, and
polite city of Philadelphia. It is not very likely that I
104 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
shall ever see this part of the world again, but I shall
ever retain a most grateful, pleasing sense of the many
civilities I have received in it, and shall think myself
happy to have an opportunity of returning them." 1
Government in England was unlikely to be influenced
by resolutions and addresses from an irregular if not
revolutionary gathering in the colonies. Some thought
the members should have been brought to trial. In any
event, Parliament took no healing action during the
winter, and the people of America passed rapidly to
advanced ground. Just before the delegates bade fare
well to each other, John Adams had shown to Patrick
Henry a letter from Joseph Hawley of Massachusetts,
in which the opinion was expressed that " after all we
must fight." Henry, with an oath, declared himself to be
of that man's mind, and he went home to ring the
changes on the words. " We must fight " spread from
colony to colony. Even Georgia, an unprotected fron
tier, dependent upon the bounty of the king and so pre
vented from taking part in the first Congress, began to
be aroused. Old arms were brightened up, ammuni
tion was stored in secret places, and, especially in popu
lous Massachusetts, men were drilled to rush to Boston
at a " minute's warning."
The people of Boston saw no change save additional
1 It was unlikely that all the inhabitants of Philadelphia would recipro
cate this feeling of Congress. Just after it closed, this stanza appeared :
" Can public Virtue by me stand
See Faction stalking through the Land?
Faction that Fiend, begot in H —
In Boston nurs'd — here brought to dwell
By Congress, who, in airy Freak
Conven'd to plan a Republick ? "
JOHN ADAMS 105
soldiers and additional fortifications as time went on.
General Gage had three thousand soldiers to feed and
sometimes feared lest he be starved out. At other
times he was apprehensive of an attack from the fifteen
thousand " minute-men " reported ready for action.
Unwillingly he undertook the dangerous and humiliating
task, suggested by the ministry, of disarming the rebels.
But the patriots seemed to get warning of every sally of
the troops, and the small amount of stores destroyed
made the attempts ridiculous.
Early in the spring it was rumored that a disarming
expedition was contemplated out Concord way, the hot
bed of the rebels. On Sunday, April 16, Paul Revere
rode quietly out to Lexington and warned Samuel
Adams and John Hancock, the proscribed rebels, of
their danger. The following Tuesday the rumor be
came a certainty. Some say that Mrs. Gage, who had
been a native of New Jersey, betrayed the secret. Oth
ers think that the careless remark of a British hostler
to a blacksmith, who chanced to be a Son of Liberty,
showed that British troops were to start for Concord
that night. Dr. Warren, uncertain which road they
would take, sent off Dawes at two in the afternoon by
the Neck1 to warn the people and especially to notify
Adams and Hancock. He also ordered Revere to be in
readiness on the Charlestown side at midnight.
" One if by land," and Revere need not have gone.
But two lanterns shone from the Christ Church steeple.
1 The narrow isthmus by which Boston was in those days connected
with the mainland. Dawes reached Lexington about midnight, just after
Revere came in. The lament of Dawes, because no poet has written of his
ride, may be found in the Century Magazine for February, 1896, under the
title, " What's in a Name? "
106 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
"Two if by sea," and Revere dashed off whilst the
troops rowed "by sea" across to Charlestown. At day
break they met a handful of Americans on the green at
Lexington, and before high noon had encountered the
"embattled farmers" at the bridge just beyond the vil
lage of Concord. Then they began that awful return
to Boston. " Seventy-three killed, one hundred and
seventy-four wounded, and twenty-six missing, and
probably prisoners," was the record made by the out
raged farmers as they ran along and knelt behind the
stone fences bordering the New England highway.
" Near 10 of the Clock " that spring morning, even
before the first gun had been fired at Concord, the effi
ciency of the patriot machinery was demonstrated.
Trail Bissel had started from Watertown with a notice
from the committee of correspondence " charged to
alarm the country quite to Connecticut " about the skir
mish at Lexington. " A True Coppy taken from the
Original " was endorsed on the paper at Worcester as the
bearer sped onward. At eleven the following morning
the news reached Brookline, and at four o'clock in the
afternoon it was at Norwich, Connecticut. The New
London committee endorsed it at seven o'clock that
night, and those of Lyme an hour after midnight.
Through Saybrook, Killingsworth, East Guilford, Guil-
ford, Brandford, New Haven, to Fairfield, it was passed
to be overtaken by a second message bearing news of
the later battle at Concord. " It wild [will] be Expedi
ent for every man to go who is fit & willing," added
the committee. Sunday afternoon at four o'clock the
travel-stained paper was in the New York committee
chamber, having come from Watertown in a trifle over
ffu
intna Vt/et
•
/uosedt///,:' /re./t ettfrt r', ,, /,,< i (.-,/„,/ n'f
L 1 (MfifftrreH'' y*«-*>c<n</ h>i*ur>4 /sy/
SPREADING THE ALARM AFTER LEXINGTON
108 THE MEAT WHO MADE THE NATION
four days. The following day it reached Philadelphia1
and thence was passed southward to Charleston, South
Carolina. Eight days after this " battle of the minute-
men," Richard Denby, of Salem, sailed for England with
the news, and on June I it was in the London news
papers.
The response of America was immediate. Israel Put
nam left his farm work and led his men toward Boston.
Dr. Warren left his patients in the care of another phy
sician and went out of Boston never to return. Brave
Benedict Arnold assembled the sixty members of his
Governor's Guard on the New Haven green, and, after
browbeating the governor into giving them ammunition,
started for Cambridge. Colonel John Stark and his
fellow-farmers were on the way from New Hampshire.
Colonel Thompson and his green-coated sharpshooters
soon started from Philadelphia. On May I, the " associa
tions " of that city formed themselves into regular military
companies, and two days later a Quaker company under
Captain Humphries began to drill in the factory yard.
When the delegates to the second Congress reached
Philadelphia, after a triumphal journey, they found
three thousand young men under arms, the drum and
fife sounding in every street, and Silas Deane declared
his "brainpan " was " echoing to the beat."
The Congress which met in the State House in Phila
delphia in this second session was quite different from
the one which had adjourned the previous autumn,
although the membership was largely the same. New
1 One of these alarms, or a copy of it, is preserved in the museum of
the Pennsylvania Historical Society at Philadelphia. The first page is
reproduced herewith. One of Bancroft's best passages (" History of the
United States," Vol. IV., p. 167) was written on the spread of this news.
JOHN ADAMS IOQ
conditions demanded different actions. Many of the
members heard of Concord and Lexington while on
their way to Philadelphia. Their worst fears were real
ized. Men had been shot down by a government ma
rauding party in those New England villages. The
tragedy might be repeated on any green or beside any
bridge on the continent. It was a national danger.
For the first time a national agency was demanded.
Therefore, the Congress, which had adjourned after
petitioning and addressing, now became the agency of
the helpless colonies. It assumed authority, and the
people quietly acquiesced. Day by day the actions
grew more defiant and even aggressive.
When Peyton Randolph, the president of Congress,
was called home to preside over the Virginia House of
Burgesses, the Continental Congress seemed to take
delight in making John Hancock, the proclaimed rebel,
their president. They resolved that " these colonies be
immediately put into a state of defence" ; and that " the
militia of New York be armed and trained." They
ordered the papers of a British officer to be opened and
read. When Massachusetts informed them that her
civil government was broken up and requested direc
tions, they advised her people to choose an independent
Assembly which they were to obey until a governor
should be appointed by the king who "will consent to
govern the colonies according to its charter." They
began to take measures to raise money for the war.
They prepared rules for governing the army.
Day by day they were driven into advanced steps.
1 This was the real beginning of the transformation of the colonies into
states.
1 10 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
The rude crowd of minute-men and imperfectly organ
ized companies which had run to the relief of Boston
was gathered about Cambridge, devoid of training,
order, and discipline. The most intense rivalry and
jealousy were manifest between colonies there repre
sented. Men of one colony refused to obey orders
from an officer foreign to themselves. All was confu
sion. When a detachment was sent to fortify Bunker
Hill, it took the liberty of fortifying Breed's Hill, half a
mile nearer the enemy. This change eventually proved
fortunate, but the disobedience showed the necessity for
a commander-in-chief.
Since Massachusetts was most concerned, it was
proper that John Adams should offer a motion for the
appointment of a head of the army. The fitness of
Colonel George Washington, of the Virginia militia, for
such a position had long been discussed. The appoint
ment would be a worthy tribute to Virginia, which was
so nobly supporting Massachusetts. Washington had
come to the second Congress wearing his colonel's uni
form, and had been escorted into Philadelphia by five
hundred officers and gentlemen on horseback, and by
riflemen and infantry, with bands of music. When Adams
in his speech referred to "a gentleman from Virginia"
as a suitable appointment if the motion should pass,
Washington who was sitting near the door "from his
usual modesty, darted into the library-room." Yet so
strong was the sectional feeling that the election had to
be postponed until a majority could be secured by private
conference. The statement of John Adams that Presi
dent Hancock, the former colonel of the Boston Cadets,
desired the position and showed in his countenance
JOHN ADAMS 1 1 1
"mortification and resentment," is not supported by
other testimony.1
There was no hesitation on the part of Congress
after the appointment of Washington and the battle of
Bunker Hill. They established a navy, issued paper
money, organized rudimentary courts, sent Silas Deane
to secure aid from France, authorized the colonies to
set up state governments, besides many other high acts
of sovereignty — all of which the colonies or states had
to accept in the hour of necessity.
Public sentiment began to turn rapidly toward inde
pendence. The petition to the king, sent over after the
battle of Bunker Hill, breathing such sentiment for rec
onciliation that the petitioners called it their " olive
branch," brought from the king a proclamation that the
colonies were in a state of rebellion. John Adams
declared he expected no other results ; but it broke the
conservatives.2 Some went in with the radicals ; others
cast their lot with the Tories, as those who favored
yielding to Parliament and the king were called.
John Jay afterward declared that he never heard
independence wished for until after the rejection of the
second petition. Washington, who is sometimes said
never to have made a pun, wrote from the head of the
army, " A few more such flaming arguments as were
exhibited at Falmouth and Norfolk 3 added to the sound
1 This subject is treated in Sparks's " Washington," Vol. III., p. 479.
Also in Curtis's " History of the Constitution," new edition, Vol. I., p. 27.
2 Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, was allowed to draw up the petition, and
it was passed out of consideration for him and other conservative members.
Harrison declared that it contained but one word of which he approved
— " Congress."
3 Falmouth, now Portland, Maine, and Norfolk, Virginia, were burned
by the British. This action, together with the employment of the Hessian
112
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
doctrine and unanswerable arguments contained in the
pamphlet ' Common Sense,' will not leave numbers at a
loss to decide on the propriety of a separation." The
pen of Thomas Paine, enlisted in the cause by Franklin
Franklin Sherman
R. R. Livingston
THE COMMITTEE UN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE!
in England, was putting out " Common Sense " in weekly
chapters, undoubtedly acting upon the minds of the mass
of people by its simple pleadings for independence.
The Scotch in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina,
mercenaries, did much to alienate the people of the colonies from the
mother country.
1 From an old engraving in the Public Library, Pontiac, Illinois,
JOHN ADAMS 1 1 3
had argued that they were absolved from allegiance by
the action of the king and Parliament. Mrs. John
Adams, reading Rollin's " Ancient History" to her little
son John Quincy, and acting as "farm woman" in the
absence of her husband in Congress, wrote to him : " Let
us separate. Let us renounce them and instead of sup
plication as formerly, let us beseech the Almighty to blast
their counsels and bring to naught all their devices."
And John Adams worked incessantly to that end.
When Dickinson, Jay, and Duane tried to show the
folly of voting themselves independent before securing
aid from some foreign power, Adams at once replied that
no foreign power would make alliance with the revolt
ing colonies of Great Britain, but would do so with an
independent people.
The efforts of John Adams for independence were so
obnoxious to many that he declared himself " avoided,
like a man infected with leprosy. I walked the streets
of Philadelphia in solitude, borne down by the weight of
care and unpopularity." Dr. Rush testified to having
seen him walk the streets alone, an object of nearly uni
versal scorn and detestation. Adams was keen enough
to see that the advice to the various colonies : to set up
governments of their own was in effect independence.
But the multitude waited for the overt act.
Virginia joined hands with Massachusetts as usual.
June 7, Richard Henry Lee moved " certain resolu
tions concerning independency," and the first of these,
" that these colonies are and of right ought to be free
and independent states," was postponed to July I. But,
as the minutes say, "in the meanwhile, that no time
1 Passed May 15, 1776.
I
114 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
be lost, in case the Congress agree thereto, that a com
mittee be appointed to prepare a declaration." It was
quite common in Congress to issue a declaration to
justify an action or to set forth rights.
This committee, like others, was chosen by ballot, and
it was found that Thomas Jefferson had the highest
number of votes. He was, it was said, the second
youngest member, but had already gained a reputation
as a writer in the Congress, where, at that time, most
talent seemed to lie in speaking. He had been active
in all the early movements of Virginia but had not come
into Congress until after the battle of Bunker Hill.
During his first year in Congress he had not uttered
three sentences together, according to John Adams. It
is questionable whether he appreciated fully the fame
which the future would place upon the words he wrote
in the second story of his boarding house.1 It was but
one of many "declarations," a simple statement of the
grievances of the colonies. It was no more original than
was Magna Charta. The indictment against the king
was but a " history of repeated injuries and usurpations "
as the colonists had from time to time written it in
their resolutions and political writings. Many parts of
the Declaration can be found word for word elsewhere.
Hence the rumor which probably will never die out that
Thomas Paine or John Adams or Benjamin Franklin
was the author of the Declaration.2
1 Jefferson was at this time lodging with one Graf, a bricklayer,
recently married, who lived in a three-story brick dwelling on Market
street. Jefferson occupied the second story, taking his meals at Smith's.
The Philadelphians have marked the site with a tablet, as they have done
in the case of other historic points in their city.
2 Some of this controversy should be quieted by the copy of the
f "UN
>
^ ff-
?
,,,:^,^^^..^
, «X 4^- <*/»&* L, .^^rl,
JEFFERSON'S DRAFT OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Il6 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
The passing of the Declaration was unimportant ; a
greater contest had centred about the motion for inde
pendence. It was one of the most bitter political fights
in the history of America. States were divided. Dele
gates were recalled and new ones chosen in their stead.
Csesar Rodney made a wild ride from Delaware to Phil
adelphia to cast a deciding vote for his state divided
on this great question. On July 2, the motion was
passed, and on the 4th the Declaration was adopted.
Yet neither created the enthusiasm and excitement which
tradition has attributed to those two days.
The Pennsylvania Packet of July 2 printed in two
lines with many capital letters the news that the colonies
had that day declared themselves free and independent.
On Saturday the 6th, the same paper printed the Dec
laration in full — the first appearance of the document
in a newspaper. Possibly from the same type was
printed the " broadside" or single sheet distributed
throughout the continent and read at the head of the
army. Upon notice given by the Philadelphia Com
mittee of Inspection, "a vast concourse" of people as
sembled in the State House yard (Square) on Monday
following at high noon to listen to the reading of the
Declaration by John Nixon. As he stood upon the
temporary platform which had been erected for observ
ing the transit of Venus, the crowd heard him with " three
Declaration in Jefferson's own handwriting, discovered among his papers.
It was the first draft, and shows not only the corrections made by the other
members of the committee, John Adams, Franklin, Sherman, and R. R.
Livingston, but also the many alterations made by the Congress in com
mittee of the whole. It is preserved in the Department of State, Wash
ington. The first page is reproduced herewith. John Adams gives credi/
to Jefferson. See Adams's " Works," Vol. II., p. 511.
JOHN ADAMS 1 1 /
repeated huzzas." The king's arms were then taken down
from the court room in the State House and placed on
a pile of burning casks. At five o'clock the Declaration
was read to each of the five battalions on the Commons.
That night there were bonfires, ringing of bells, and
other great demonstrations of joy upon the unanimity
and agreement of the Declaration.1 Similar demonstra
tions occurred in Boston, and the Declaration was read
from many pulpits. In the southern colonies, people
assembled in various places to attend the reading.
But graver duties faced Congress and the people
than huzzaing and rejoicing. The form of a Union
had been created ; it had still to win its right to exist
ence. An invading enemy had to be driven off. The
infantile resources of a new country were yet to demon
strate that they could endure the exhausting demands
of a war. Above all, the young republic had to demon
strate that it could form a new plan of government
which should effectively replace the old, serving equally
well in time of war and in time of peace. But John
Adams, transported by the end he had so long worked
for, wrote to Mrs. Adams :
"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable
epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it
will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great
anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the
day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.
It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows,
games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one
1 Condensed from the " Diary of Christopher Marshall," a retired drug
gist of Philadelphia. Many editions of this invaluable journal have been
printed.
Il8 THE MEN irnO MADE THE NATION
end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for-
evermore.
" You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am
not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that
it will cost us to maintain this Declaration and support and
defend these States. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see
the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end
is more than worth all the means. And that posterity will
triumph in that day's transaction, even although we should rue
it, which I trust in God we shall not." ]
i "The Works of John Adams," Vol. IX., p. 420. " Familiar Letters,"
etc., p. 193. This letter is frequently misquoted, as it was first printed, refer
ring to the fourth day of July. General custom, however, has come to
celebrate that day instead "of the clay of passing the resolution of Inde
pendence.
CHAPTER IV
ROBERT MORRIS, THE FINANCIER OF THE REVOLUTION
" The contest we were engaged in appeared to me in the first in
stance just and necessary ; therefore I took an active part in it. As
it became dangerous, I thought it the more glorious and was stimu
lated to the greatest exertions in my power when the affairs of
America were at their darkest."
— ROBERT MORRIS to his Enemies, 1789.
WHEN the Congress adopted the army about Boston
and undertook to carry on the war, it had no treasury,
no mint, no mines, and no cash save that which had
not been drained into England's purse by the laws of
trade. It was impossible to determine the amount of
money in the colonies. John Adams says they found
only a few thousands in the several'treasuries since
the debt of the last French war had just been paid.
Hamilton thought they had about thirty millions, of
which only eight millions were specie. Noah Webster
supposed that the specie amounted to ten millions. The
paper money, issued by the various colonies, could be
counted of little value. Their coast would soon be
blockaded ; their foreign trade would be cut off; and
their home industries would be interrupted by tfie
invading enemy. They turned to the easiest expedient
— the printing of paper bills of credit or promises to
pay in the future the sums called for.
119
120
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
The week following the battle of Bunker Hill, Con
gress began its financial history by authorizing the
printing of bills representing two million Spanish milled
dollars, in denominations ranging from a one-dollar to
a twenty-dollar bill. It was apportioned for redemption
among the twelve colonies represented according to a
rough estimate of the number of inhabitants in each.
To Virginia was assigned the most and to Delaware
w 1 •£ G> 8 '*; t ~
FRONT AND BACK OF CONTINENTAL MONEY
the least. Each colony must begin to redeem its share
and to pay the coin called for at the end of four years.
Then in three more annual payments the paper money
was all to be called in. When redeemed, each bill was
to be cut through the middle with a circular punch an
inch in diameter, and when returned to Congress to be
publicly burned.
The money was so easily procured and the demands
upon the treasury for war contingencies so urgent that
ROBERT MORRIS 12 1
within five months three millions more were issued.
At no period in American history is there a better
illustration of the most pernicious feature of paper
money. It is so easy to make that satiety is never
reached. Of course, Congress found more demands,
and the necessary votes were passed and the printing
presses kept in motion until they had put forth promises
to pay two hundred millions of dollars.
The method of redeeming its share of the money was
left to each colony, and it was presumed that this would
be done by local taxation. But the word "tax" was
just as odious as it ever had been. Indeed the colonists
were fighting a war to keep the Parliament from taxing
them. l Many of the less informed among the people
really believed that a tax-gatherer would never be seen
again in America. Benjamin Franklin and others
begged Congress to stop the presses and get permis
sion from their constituents to tax them. In one of
the debates, Pelatiah Webster2 says that a member
of Congress rose and said, " Do you think, Gentlemen,
that I would consent to load my constituents with taxes
1 A broadside, issued in Philadelphia, said, " Cursed be the Congress
man or men who dare tax the free men of North America." A stanza
went the rounds after the end of the war :
"The land was doubly tax'd, we thought,
To carry on the war;
Now war is to a period brought,
Still more the taxes are.
Strange conduct this, all must allow —
Hush ! let your murmurs cease;
You pay the double taxes now
To carry on the peace.'1''
2 Webster was a Philadelphia merchant and essay writer on political
and economic subjects. His collected essays were published under the
title " Political Essays on the Nature and Operation of Money, etc."
122 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
when we can send to our printer and get a wagon-load
of money, one quire of which will pay for the whole ? "
The demands from the army were urgent. Reenlist-
ments could be secured only by bounties. A deputy
paymaster in New Jersey complained that he led " a
Doggs life " in camp without money. l Sometimes in
an urgency the paper money was sent out in boxes
which rubbed top and bottom sheets, entailing loss and
confusion. Bills of. large denomination were at times
packed in the middle of reams of a smaller value by
mistake. The clerks employed to supplement the com
mittee in signing the bills, although paid by the hun
dred, could not keep up with the printing presses nor
with the demands.
The redemption was to begin in 1 779, but before that
date the money began to fall of its own weight. Jef
ferson thought that even gold or silver would have
fallen if issued in such quantities.2 Public confidence
was lost because no state had taken effective steps to
redeem its share, and the portions of some states were
never even signed. In the beginning of 1780, it required
twenty dollars in paper to equal a dollar in specie.
Congress again gave assurance that it would all be
eventually redeemed. Six months later it fell to forty
to one. Congress now repudiated its own promises
by calling in the old bills and giving new ones at
the rate of one new dollar for forty old ones. But it
would still be a paper dollar, and little came in. Instead,
it went down to seventy-five to one and by the opening
1 Manuscript letter in the " Peters Papers," Pennsylvania Historical
Society Museum.
2 In his " Works" (H. A. Washington, Eel), Vol. IX., p. 248.
ROBERT MORRIS
123
of 1781 to six hundred and in the rural districts to
sixteen hundred to one. 1
As soon as hard money came into extra demand,
people began to hoard it. As was truly said the cam
paigns of 1778 were fought on less than a wheelbarrow
load of hard money. From time to time, Congress was
accustomed to send demands to the states for their re
spective quotas or shares of the public expense. But
when a state was invaded by the enemy it could not
secure the money, and when it was in no danger, it felt
no urgency in heeding the call. In vain Congress
begged that they contribute corn, flour, rum, hay, beef,
pork, or grain to the needy army. At length in des
peration a law was passed which urged states to author
ize the seizure of supplies, certificates being issued for
future payment.
Loan offices were opened and the patriotism of the
people appealed to, but few had any money to lend the
government, and those who had regarded such an
investment as a very bad one. Lottery books were
opened and promises of great fortunes were held out
by investing in United States lottery tickets.2
1 The contempt into which the Continental money fell is shown in the
saying, " Not worth a Continental." In a circular issued by the treasurer
of the United States in 1898, it is said that ' what is known as ' Continental
Currency ' was never redeemable by the United States." In Hamilton's
funding scheme, it was received as subscriptions to a loan at the rate of
one hundred paper dollars for one dollar in specie. No doubt the exten
sive counterfeiting, which rendered uncertain the authenticity of any exist
ing Continental money, militated against its redemption, as well the act of
July 9, 1798, which barred these old claims.
2 Three lotteries were ordered by the national government. The first
drawing took place at College Hall, Philadelphia, August II, 1777. In
order to realize the entire sum of the sale of tickets, the winners of the
larger prizes were given due bills on Congress, payable in five years.
124 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Prominent on the committees in these different finan
cial expedients of Congress was the name of " Rob*
Morris." He had been brought from England to
America when but six years of age and while yet a
lad was placed in the importing house of Willing &
Co., in mercantile Philadelphia. Here he showed such
LOTTERY BOOK OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 1
ability that at twenty-one he became partner with his
employer's son. The firm of Willing & Morris trans
acted business for upwards of forty years and was
known far and wide in the trading world. Equal for
tune smiled on Morris when he married Mary White,
whose brother had entered the ministry of the Estab
lished church and later became the Episcopal bishop of
Pennsylvania.
1 In the Museum of the Library of Congress, Washington.
ROBERT MORRIS 12$
Being bound to the mother country by birth, it would
be only natural that Morris should choose the side of
the king. His large business interests also allied him
with law and order rather than rebellion. Yet his firm
adopted the non-importation agreement of Philadelphia
at the time of the Stamp Act troubles, and Morris was
on the committee which compelled the stamp agent,
Hughes, to resign. When a patriot's house in Mary
land was burned, and the Sons of Liberty undertook
to rebuild it, Robert Morris was one of the largest
contributors. However, the violent destruction of the
tea in Boston could not favorably impress a merchant,
and during the meeting of the first Continental Congress
in Philadelphia, Morris seems to have taken no part
in the entertainment of the visitors.
The i gth of April turned the scale. It is said
that Robert Morris was presiding at a banquet of the
St. George society, composed of English-born resi
dents of Philadelphia, when the news of the action of
the king's troops reached him, and that he at once allied
himself with the resisting patriots. The accession of
such a wealthy and influential man to the cause was
hailed with delight, and he was soon on the Committee
of Safety. He was charged with procuring powder
and arms, with importing medicines, and was always
the banker for the committee, frequently advancing
the necessary money. Pennsylvania loaded a ship be
longing to Willing & Morris with home products and
sent it to the West Indies to procure arms and am
munition on exchange. Charles Lee wrote to him
from the camp at Cambridge : " I am very happy (as
we all must be) that the Philadelphia affairs are in
126 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
hands like yours. I wish to God the N. York were in
the same." l
Morris was chosen a delegate to the Continental
Congress in November, 1775, but when John Adams
began to agitate independence, he allied himself with
Dickinson, Henry .Laurens, William Livingston, and
the conservatives. On the preliminary vote for inde
pendence, Morris voted nay, and when the final vote
was taken, July 2, he was absent, either from choice
or on business. The sentiment of Pennsylvania for
independence was not strong, and it is not surprising
that Morris was soon after reflected to the Congress.
He justified his acceptance in a letter to Reed : " I
think that the individual who declines the service of his
country because its councils are not conformable to his
ideas makes but a bad subject ; a good one will follow
if he cannot lead."2
Willing, the partner of Morris, had also been a mem
ber of Congress from Philadelphia, and soon gossip
arose about the employment of the firm's ships in
Continental service. It was said that on one powder
contract the firm would net ,£12,000. Eliphalet Dyer,
of Connecticut, declared that there were not ten men
in his state worth as much as would be made clear by
this firm. Nevertheless, John Adams said of Morris :
" He has a masterly understanding, an open temper
and an honest heart. . . . He has vast designs in the
mercantile way, and no doubt pursues mercantile ends,
which are always gain ; but he is an excellent member of
1 " Lee Papers," New York Historical Society Collection, Vol. IV., 1871.
, 2 From a manuscript letter in the collection of the Pennsylvania Histori
cal Society.
ROBERT MORRIS 1 27
our body." A greater criticism awaited Morris because
of his support of the first American agent to France.
When it was rumored throughout the country that
Congress would apply to France and Spain for help
against England, some thought the members " would be
torn to pieces like De Witt." Those countries were
hereditary enemies of the English colonies. But the
impossibility of sustaining the war against England and
her mercenaries soon became manifest to the most
optimistic. France was smarting under her recent losses
in America, and overtures first came from her. M. de
Bonvouloir, an agent of Vergennes, French minister of
state, although posing as an unofficial visitor, was in
Philadelphia in 1775, eagerly courted by the Secret Com
mittee. They " met at an appointed spot after dark,
each of them going to it by a different road," as he
reported to his master. Bonvouloir's presence in Phila
delphia excited some curiosity, but no one knew him as
more than " a lame, elderly gentleman of a dignified
and military bearing." He was careful to promise
nothing to the Americans, but so dark did the future
appear that they decided to send an agent to France.
Silas Deane, of Connecticut, whether because of his
business ability, his showy style of living, or his mercan
tile experience, was chosen. John Adams says that the
appointment was solicited by Deane himself, who had
failed of reelection to the third session of Congress, but
remained in Philadelphia. According to his own testi
mony, Deane could "read and understand the French
language tolerably well, though I am unable to write
it." In July, 1776, he reached the magnificent French
court, and soon showed himself a rough but honest
128 THE MEN IV HO MADE THE NATION
apprentice at the trade of diplomacy. The keen Beau-
marchais, a speculator and favorite of the French king,
kept Deane in suspense with suggestions of aid ; the
vessels in which products were shipped to support him,
were seized by British privateers ; he was informed
repeatedly by the Secret Committee of the pressing
need of supplies, and besieged by a horde of soldiers
of fortune and adventurers who wanted to enlist in the
cause of les insurgents. He once made the unfortunate
suggestion that Washington be supplanted by the Due
de Broglie. He sent over Conway, who headed the
" cabal " against Washington, and an engineer, whose
insolent demands caused a general contempt for French
officers which time alone removed. But he also com
missioned Baron de Kalb and the Marquis de Lafayette
with their " train" of eleven officers. He asked a
major-generalship for the marquis because of " his high
birth, his alliances, the great dignities which his family
hold at this court, his considerable estates in this realm,
his personal merit, his reputation, his disinterestedness,
and above all, his zeal for the liberty of our provinces."
" Had I ten ships," he writes to the Secret Committee,
" I could fill them all with passengers for America." 1
Deane's fitness for influencing the French court may
be imagined from a reiterated request for certain Ameri
can aids to diplomacy. " She," the queen, " loves riding
on horseback. Could you send me a narrowhegansett
horse or two ; the present might be money exceedingly
well laid out. Rittenhouse's orrery, or Arnold's col
lection of insects, a phaeton of American make and a
1 The transactions of Deane may be studied in Wharton's " Diplomatic
Correspondence of the American Revolution."
ROBERT MORRIS 129
pair of bay horses, a few barrels of apples, of walnuts,
of butternuts, etc., would be great curiosities here,
where everything American is gazed at, and where the
American contest engages the attention of all ages,
ranks, and sexes."
In the Hotel de Hollande, the unoccupied residence
of the Dutch minister in Paris, suddenly appeared the
office of a firm bearing the romantic name of Roderique
Hortalez et Cie., the head of which was said to be a
Spanish banker engaged in the American trade. Deane
knew that " Hortalez " was Beaumarchais, the king's
confidant, who was given three million francs as a don
gratuit for the Americans. In return they were to ship
him tobacco and rice. This secrecy was necessary in
order to avoid complications with England. One of
these million francs disappeared and became a source
of contention in the claim of the Beaumarchais heirs
against the United States. Morris was drawn into the
controversy by his support of Deane and by the folly of
his half-brother and ward, Thomas, for whom he had
obtained a foreign agency at Nantes. The remaining
two million francs found their way to the American
arrn^ in the shape of arms and ammunition, but " Hor
talez " never received a cargo in return.
Congress now decided to make a more determined
effort to get aid from France, and sent over Franklin
from America and Arthur Lee, Virginia agent at Lon
don, to join Deane. Franklin was eminently fitted for
the position. He had been in France several times,
could speak French, and was suited by nature to that
gay court. His seventy years had not affected his good
spirits, although he suffered from disease. His recep-
130 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
tion in Paris was most gratifying. Having discarded a
wig for hygienic reasons,1 he replaced it by a fur cap
which in time showed traces of wear. This was sup
posed in Paris to be the Quaker headgear and was
imitated with great fidelity by the young nobles. They
also abandoned their swords for Franklin canes, and
copied the plain and not overneat attire of the "colo
nial Quaker." Franklin dolls appeared, by which the
philosopher was " i-doll-ized," as he wrote to his daughter
Sally. He also said that he durst not do anything that
would oblige him to run away, since his phiz would
discover him wherever he should venture to show it.2
Deane showed no jealousy, but wrote home : " Never
did I enjoy greater satisfaction than in being the spec
tator of the public honors often paid him. . . . When
he attended the operas and plays, similar honors were
paid him, and I confess I felt a joy and pride which
was pure and honest, though not disinterested, for
I considered it an honor to be an American and his
acquaintance."
Franklin's residence at Passy, a suburb of Paris,
loaned to him by a friend, was the centre of a delightful
coterie. Near at hand was the home of Madame Hel-
vetius, to whom Franklin wrote his burlesque proposal
of marriage, but whose manners shocked Mrs. John
1 In his " Works," Vol. III., p. 75, John Adams tells a story of Franklin
and himself occupying the same room in an inn in midwinter. The
philosopher insisted upon opening the window, and began a calculation
of the length of time it would require to exhaust the air in the room, during
which Adams fell asleep.
2 A collection of over one hundred and fifty portraits and medallions
of Franklin has been placed in the Metropolitan Art Museum, New York
City, many of them dating from his residence in France at this time.
"1
APPEAL
PEOPLE o! GREAT-BRITAIN,}
i'RFSENT \v,\x WIT:;
ROBERT MORRIS 131
Adams.1 Indeed, the whole life of Franklin was a
source of amazement to John Adams when he was sent
over as an additional
agent. He found !
Franklin with seven
servants and a chore-
woman and spend
ing $13,000 a year
while a solicitor of
aid for the needy
Americans.
The king received
Franklin in his bed
chamber, and the
queen granted him I /
a presentation at her
gaming table. But
the gates of the pal
ace remained closed
to him as a rep
resentative of the
United States. Only
the peace proposals
of Lord North in
the Parliament and
the capture of Burgoyne and his men in America per
suaded the king that the Americans had a good showing
of success. Beaumarchais drove so furiously to advise
the king to make a treaty that he was thrown from his
carriage and his arm dislocated. Dickinson's predic-
1 "Letters of Mrs. John Adams," p. 252. Franklin's proposal may be
found in Sparks's "Franklin," Vol. II., p. 204.
132 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
tion that foreign aid would be gained by victories in the
field instead of a Declaration of Independence was
verified. Nothing came of North's proposition in Eng
land save additional pamphlets on the necessity of con
tinuing the war against the rebellious colonies.
The need of money lay at the bottom of nearly all
the difficulties of carrying on the war and consumed
many of the precious hours of Congress. That body
must not be criticised too severely for its delinquencies,
nor must men be censured too much for refusing to
serve as delegates and preferring the more honorable
and less dangerous duty of serving the state govern
ments. Only by reading the minutes l can one appre
ciate the thousand trifling details demanding the attention
of Congress. State prejudices and influences delayed
the appointment of army officers. Enlistments were
made for such brief times that the army was usually
not dependable. Hard money was paid as bounty to
encourage enlistment, but the recruits with coin in their
pockets created mutinies in the camps where the other
soldiers had been paid in "rag money." Delegations
of begging Indians with their tedious powwows must
be tolerated lest they join the enemy. All kinds of
obstructions and vaisseaux de frise for the Delaware were
examined and considered when it was rumored that
Howe would drive the " rebels " from their capital.
In December, 1776, came the first rumor of Howe's
approach, and a panic seized upon Congress, during
which it fled precipitately from Philadelphia to Balti
more. The patriots in the city shared the alarm of
1 The " Journals of Congress," as the Continental Congress records
were called, are to be found in many libraries.
ROBERT MORRIS 133
Congress. " Drums beat ; a martial appearance ; the
shops shut. . . . Our people then began to pack up
some things, wearing and bedding, to send to the
place. . . . Numbers of families loading wagons with
their furniture, &c. taking them out of town. . . .
Went with a number of deeds to son Christopher's ;
put them into his iron chest," wrote Christopher Mar
shall in his diary,
This headlong flight of Congress, especially as Howe
failed to come, gave opportunity for the critics. One of
them wrote to Morris : " For God's sake why did you
remove from Philadelphia? You have given an invita
tion to the enemy ; you have discovered a timidity that
encourages an enemy and discourages our friends."
Morris had not fled with the other members. Sending
his family to a step-sister of Mrs. Morris near Baltimore,
he quietly assumed the management of public affairs in
Philadelphia. As soon as Congress was safely assem
bled at Baltimore, it authorized him and two others to
act in Philadelphia in its absence. Morris sent almost
daily reports, which were highly approved. President
Hancock wrote to him : " Without the least appearance
of Flattery I can assure you your whole conduct since
our Flight is highly approved, & happy I am that you
Remain'd ; many agreeable consequences have resulted
from it, and your continu'd exertions will be productive
of great good, I must therefore beg you will continue
as long as you can tho' I sincerely wish you a happy
sight of good Mrs. Morris, but I fear your departure
from Philada might occasion relaxation that would
be prejudical. I know however you will put things in
a proper way, indeed all depends on you, and you have
134 HE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
my hearty thanks for your unremitting Labours, the
Publick are much indebted to you, and I hope to see
the day when those publick acknowledgments shall be
made you." l
To Franklin and the other commissioners in France,
Morris describes the situation in Philadelphia : " This
city was for ten days the greatest scene of distress that
you can conceive ; everybody but Quakers were remov
ing their families and effects, and now it looks dismal
and melancholy. The Quakers and their families pretty
generally remain ; the other inhabitants are principally
sick soldiers. . . . You may be sure I have my full
share of trouble on this occasion, but having got my
family and books removed to a place of safety my
mind is more at ease, and my time is given up to the
public, although I have many thousand pounds' worth
of effects here without any prospect of saving them." :
His days were employed in removing the salt out of
the city to prevent it falling into the hands of the
enemy, sending the public ships away from the mouth
of Delaware bay, and receiving and forwarding public
supplies. He borrowed $10,000 as he said for the
marine committee, although it was hinted the money
had been used to get the Congress out of town. He
was ordered to send hard money to General Lee, now
a prisoner. Lafayette begged him to send him even
a part of the sum he originally asked.
In the early morning of the day which ushered in the
year 1777, Morris received a letter from General Wash-
*" Thomson Papers," New York Historical Society Collections, 1878,
Vol. XL, p. 413.
2 Wharton's "Diplomatic Correspondence," Vol. II., p. 234.
ROBERT MORRIS
135
ington, in the field. The battle of Trenton had just
been won, but the fruits might be lost if the Connecti
cut troops, whose time expired at the end of the year,
went home. Washington was promising them a bounty
of ten dollars each if they would reenlist and was
depending on Morris for the money. The latter re
plied : " I had long since parted with very considerable
sums of hard money to Congress ; and therefore must
collect from others, and, as matters now stand, it is
no easy thing. I mean to borrow silver and promise
payment in gold, and will then collect the gold in the
best manner I can."1 Having sent the General ^150
two days before for the secret service, this $50,000
was with difficulty procured. It probably contributed
to the battle of Princeton.2
In March, Congress ventured to return to Philadel
phia from Baltimore, but precaution was taken to have
the records in boxes ready for flight if Howe should
come. One night in September, Colonel Alexander
Hamilton, a student in King's College who had become
an aide on Washington's staff, gave the alarm at the
doors of the lodgings occupied by the members, inform
ing them that they " had not a moment to lose." They
arose, dressed, and scattered in different directions.
John Adams drove over into New Jersey, and then
circled about the city and joined the other members a
week later at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Tories
in the city said the scene beggared description when
1 Sparks's "Letters to Washington," Vol. I., p. 315.
2 It is said that Morris chanced to meet John Morton, a wealthy Quaker,
and asked to borrow a large sum " for a private purpose." By this finesse
he secured it, giving his note and his word of honor.
136 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
" the Congress, all the publick boards, Officers & all the
Whigs in general left the City at midnight, in the utmost
consternation." ! Church bells were taken down, the
bridge over the Schuylkill torn up, and the signs bearing
the head of Washington carefully carried away from the
taverns. Ten days later, Howe entered the rebel capital.
Morris this time took his family to the "mansion"
built by the eccentric Baron Stiegel at Manheim, near
Lancaster. His other country residence, The Hills,
the scene of his lavish entertainments of Congress, was
too near Philadelphia to be safe.2
Congress returned to Philadelphia in the summer of
1778, after the evacuation of the city by the British.
Morris brought back his family and continued his exer
tions in raising money and combining public with pri
vate business. Lead was in great demand for bullets.
The committee of Philadelphia had searched the houses
for lead, had taken down all the water pipes, and were
disgusted at finding some of the window weights made
of iron.3 It is said that Robert Morris gave to the com
mittee the lead ballast from a vessel of which he was
part owner, giving his note for security to the other
owners. In 1779, he advanced five hundred guineas
hard money to the United States. In 1781, he sent to
Washington the sum which made possible the siege of
Yorktown and the end of the war.
1 Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. IX., p. 290.
2 From Baltimore, Harrison, of Virginia, had written to Morris: "I
most sincerely thank you for your kind wishes to see me again at The
Hills. I generally appropriate some moments on Sunday to that Place,
let me be where I will; But in this infernal sink, I scarcely think of
anything else." "Thomson Papers," Vol. XI., p. 409.
3 See the "Diary of Susan Drinker," p. 41.
ROBERT MORRIS 137
It must be noted that the national government thus
far was purely revolutionary. Congress had assumed
control, and the states had to acquiesce. Hence this
period from 1776 to 1781 is often called the period of
" Revolutionary " government. The interregnum, as
has been shown, was due to necessity and not to inten
tion. The "certain motions for independency" offered
by Richard Henry Lee had embraced two points aside
from independence, viz. " most effectual measures for
forming foreign alliances" and "a plan for a confedera
tion " among the respective colonies. The action was
illustrative of the Saxon instinct for perpetuating gov
ernment. There was to be no interregnum, no chance
for anarchy to rear its ugly head. " The government
is dead; long live the government."
Ten days after independence was voted, the com
mittee brought in a draft of twenty " Articles " for the
governing of the proposed "Confederation." They are
supposed to be the work of John Dickinson, but there
were numerous " plans " of union to serve as models.
Franklin, recalling his plan proposed at Albany twenty-
one years before, had proposed a form of union in
Congress a year prior to the Declaration, and many
thought it should have been adopted before indepen
dence was declared.
But if the committee could agree upon a form of gov
ernment and report it in such brief time, it was unlikely
that the differences of interests and opinions in Con
gress could be so easily reconciled. From time to time
for sixteen months in the midst of the most pressing
questions, these Articles were taken up and debated
before they were adopted and sent to the several states
138 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
for unanimous ratification. The points in dispute were
far from trivial. Washington was constantly calling
for money. Should the quota to be raised by each
state be determined by its population ? Should the
slaves be counted ? Congress, according to the pro
posed Articles, was to be the sole agency of the Union.
It was to have executive, legislative, and embryonic
judicial powers. Representation therein was a momen
tous issue. Should small Delaware have equal repre
sentation with populous Virginia ? The disputes about
the boundary lines of the states had scarcely abated
during the war. They would break out afresh when it
ceased. How could a court be constituted which would
have jurisdiction over these independent states in set
tling such controversies ?
When the Articles, reduced to thirteen, were finally
submitted to the states, a new territorial question arose
which delayed their ratification by all the states until
March, 1781, thus completing almost five years of the
" Revolutionary government." It was understood that
in the event of a successful termination of the war, the
territory of the United States was to extend to the west
ern boundary of the former English territories — the
Mississippi river. Should the land thus acquired, ly
ing between the Alleghanies and the river, belong to
those states which held the shadowy charter claims, or
should it be held for the common benefit of all the
states ? It was being won by the common blood and
treasure ; it should be held for the common good. This
was the contention of the small states, cut out by defi
nite boundaries from these western claims. Maryland
held out until the last of the claim-holding states had
ROBERT MORRIS 139
yielded her western land to the central government, thus
making the beginnings of the rich inheritance known
as the ''public domain." At high noon on March I,
1781, the discharge of cannon in the State House yard
at Philadelphia announced that the "Articles of Con
federation and Perpetual Union " between the thirteen
states had gone into effect, and that a legal government
existed once more. Although some victories had thus
far attended the American arms in the field, the lack of
civic harmony and righteousness was too evident in
both state and nation to cause much rejoicing. The
public conscience seemed to have grown hardened during
the many years of war.
Robert Morris will be found on record in every public
assembly to which he belonged as opposed to the meas
ures, only too frequently passed, for repudiating debt
or still further endangering public credit. He tried in
vain to prevent Pennsylvania joining in the craze of issu
ing paper money, which seemed to attack the states,
thereby injuring not only themselves but the Congress
as well. Under his suggestion the depreciation of
Pennsylvania currency was at one time checked. Con
gress1 had long known of his services and ability, and in
1781 replaced the unfortunate Board of the Treasury
by Robert Morris, under the title of Financier of the
United States. He accepted the office with reluctance,
his friends, although testifying to his ability in finance,
assuring him that he could not succeed. The govern
ment was now two and a half million dollars in debt,
besides its paper money which had ceased to circulate.
His first step in reform was to dismiss a number of useless
1 After 1781 known as the "Confederation" Congress.
140 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
clerks, thus gaining additional unpopularity. For three
years he struggled with the many financial problems,
organizing the Bank of North America, to which he
subscribed $10,000 of his own money,1 collecting funds
on his private indorsement to conduct the closing cam
paigns of the war, and at last resigned in utter despair.
His management was at times daring, as when he
drew upon the American representatives in Europe for
money. Franklin once wrote in reply from France
asking if he thought him Gideon, that he must draw
water for all Israel. Jay, in replying, assured him that
he had exhausted every bank in Spain save that of
hope. To add to the difficulties, this borrowed money
was counterfeited as the paper money had been, and it
was also trimmed and punched until most of it was
light weight. The enemy was accused of putting out
these counterfeits to destroy the hopes of the rebels,2 but
the Americans themselves countenanced the clipping,
until a quartermaster in the army, although confessing
it " a shameful business and an unreasonable hardship
on a public officer," was compelled to solicit the loan of
" a pair of good shears, a couple of punches, and a
leaden anvil " to reduce the foreign money borrowed
for the United States to the current standard.3
1 The workings of this prototype of the later national banks may be
studied in Sumner's "Finances and Financier of the Revolution," and in
Bolles's " Financial History of the United States."
2 See Bolles's "Financial History of the United States," Ch. XL;
Moore's " Diary of the American Revolution," Vol. I., p. 440; Almon's
"Remembrancer for 1780." Counterfeiters were punished by sitting in
the pillory one hour, by twenty stripes, and payment of the costs of prose
cution. Passing counterfeit money was punishable by standing one hour
in the pillory, by twenty stripes, and having one ear cut off.
3 Quoted in Pickering's " Pickering," Vol. I., p. 388.
ROBERT MORRIS 141
It is impossible to say how much of the money raised
by Morris was borrowed or advanced by him personally
and how much through his agency as a member of the
various committees or as Financier. In the troublous
times marked by the flights of Congress, the loss of
accounts, and the confusion attending the foreign loans,
his accounts were hopelessly confused, and neither he nor
any accountant since has been able to put them aright.
At the close of the war, his name was on paper amount
ing to $1,400,000, which he had secured for the service
of the United States. This he was able to pay by the
unusual profits attending the importations of his firm.
Although 140 of their vessels were captured by the
enemy, prices of imported goods had risen to such
proportions that one vessel reaching America safely
from Holland, France, or Spain, would recompense for
the loss of several. Pins and writing paper rose to
fabulous prices. Mrs. John Adams was willing to pay
$15 a thousand for pins, and John Marshall said that
his sisters used thorns as substitutes. Writing-paper was
worth $10 a quire. The trimmed margins of newspapers
and pamphlets attest the scarcity of this commodity.
Thomas Paine, secretary of a Congressional committee,
was unable to obtain sufficient paper to write fully to
Franklin, the agent in France. Other commodities were
equally unobtainable. A substitute for imported mo
lasses was found by grinding cornstalks and boiling
the liquor. Salt could scarcely be bought at any price,
and " all the old women and young children [in Phila
delphia] are gone down to the Jersey shore to make
salt. Salt water is boiling all around the coast." Loaf
sugar rose to fifteen shillings the pound. A New
142 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
York paper announced " No Dry Goods Ship this
spring."1
Such prices naturally bred a spirit of speculation.
Morris not only bought up foreign goods, but sent an
agent through the southern states to buy for cash all
tobacco and such other products as might be in general
demand. These movements made him as unpopular as
any rich man may expect to be in such disorderly times.
A committee, sent by a public meeting in the State
House yard, accused him of buying the cargo of a
French vessel and selling it at exorbitant prices. At
another time, acting as agent for the commissary of the
French troops, he paid more than the allowed price for
flour. He was " waited upon by four or five women with
sacks under their arms," who demanded a portion of
the flour, and by a public committee who insisted that
he should not deliver it to the French troops.
A study of events of those days convinces one that
all the dangers of war are not to be encountered on the
battlefield. The temptation to make personal gain out
of necessity is hard to resist, although it tends to break
down the civic honor. Although the actions of Morris did
not deserve the severe criticism bestowed on him, there
is no doubt that public morality waned. The president
of Congress wrote to the governor of Georgia: "Were
I to unfold to you, Sir, scenes of venality, peculation,
and fraud which I have discovered, the disclosure would
astonish you." President Reed, of the state of Pennsyl
vania, published a denial of the rumor that he was trad-
1 According to the report in a Philadelphia newspaper, of an auction
sale in 1781, a pair of razors brought $29; a pound of thread, $87.75; a
pair of shoes, $120; a dozen buttons, $10; and an iron-bound barrel, $120.
ROBERT MORRIS
ing with New York City, held by the British. Morris,
falling under suspicion of sending goods belonging to his
firm in Continental vessels, was investigated by a com
mittee of Congress, and cleared of the charge. Hewes,
of North Carolina, failed of reelection to Congress,
because he was connected with Morris in shipping goods
for the Secret Committee. The French minister wrote
that the members of Congress generally used their
positions for speculation.
Public property had not the consideration which was
given to private property. When the British evacuated
Philadelphia, they left a bridge which the city counsel
appraised at £700. Some comment was caused by its
private sale to an assemblyman of the state for ^150.
Undoubtedly the civic conscience was seduced by the
disposal of the confiscated estates of those known as
Loyalists or Tories, who had remained on the side of
the king. The patriots had to encounter not only a
foreign foe, but, as John Adams estimated them, fully
one-fourth their own countrymen. These Loyalists were
generally men of property and influence who refused to
endanger their reputations, fortunes, and lives by taking
sides with "rebels." The inherited hatred of social
classes was partly responsible for the severe treatment
they received at the hands of the lower class of people.
Leaders like Washington, Morris, and Franklin, deplored
this tarring and feathering, pillorying, slicing off ears,
and destruction of property, but, as in many modern
" strikes," they were unable to hold the mob in hand.
There were always to be found such men as the brag
gart General Charles Lee, a renegade British officer,
who tried to incite the people by public addresses to
144 THE MEN WHO MADE THE N AT ION
destroy the barracks of the soldiers and to mob Riving-
ton, a New York printer. He would put down the
TREATMENT OF THE TORIES
"small, perverse, drivelling knot of Quakers" in Phila
delphia, " kick the Assembly from the seat of represen-
1 From the first edition of Trumbull's " McFingal."
ROBERT MORRIS 145
tation which they so horribly disgrace, and set them to
making German Town stockings for the army," and seize
every "Governour, government man, placeman, tory
and enemy to liberty on the continent, confiscate their
estates, confine them in some of the inferior towns, and
allow them only a reasonable pension out of their
fortunes." 1
Under such treatment, the Loyalists fled by thousands
to England, where they were pensioned, or to Canada,
where they were given crown land. Others had taken
refuge in New York, and when it was found that it was
to be evacuated at the close of the war, advertisements
appeared in the papers setting forth the advantages of
the Loyalist settlements in Nova Scotia and adjacent
parts of Canada. Frequently upon the doors of the
fine old colonial mansions would be found the derisive
inscription " Gone to Halifax," and the deserted prop
erty fell a prey to neglect or was seized by some chance
occupant. Provision was made by the states to sell
this confiscated property, but little was realized from it.2
The tribulations of Congress continued. A third
time they had to fly from Philadelphia ; not because of
a foreign foe, but through some up-country Pennsylvania
farmer boys, who had served the term of their enlist
ment in the army and demanded their pay. There was
1 The " Lee Papers," New York Historical Society Collections, Vol. IV.,
1871.
2 Agents were appointed to sell the abandoned estates, and all persons
having claims were notified to bring them in. Since the other party was
absent, there was abuse of this privilege. The states rarely realized the
full value of the abandoned property. Galloway said that he had left
an estate in Pennsylvania worth ^40,000. The houses in which Long
fellow and Lowell dwelt at Cambridge are familiar specimens of deserted
Tory houses.
L
Hus
li
the
City
ini-
her
BENJAMIN TIMBERLAKE.
146 TT/^ /J/£W H>Y/0 Af,4£>£- 77/ZT NATION
no money available, and the terrified members fled to
Princeton, New Jersey.1 The Congress was even then
trying to persuade the army to accept certificates for
their pay, now long in arrears. Washington was attempt^
ing to stop a proposed agreement among his officers
not to disband the
armV Until their
pav was assured.
jfcjr* C A § II given for John Stark had
Military Certificates. s°ne home in
• Fnquirc of the Printer hereof. doubt how he was
to " support a nu
merous offspring which Heaven had been pleased to
bestow." Congress next went to Annapolis, sitting
" near a yawning graveyard " for six months ; then they
adjourned to Trenton, and eventually to New York.
Such " vagabondizing from one petty village to another,"
as a member put it, was neither pleasant nor profitable.
Salaries were supposed to be paid by the respective
states, but members suffered from the dereliction of their
Assemblies as well as by the depreciation of money.
Ames managed to get an order on the Massachusetts
treasury for .£100, but discounted it for £90 cash. An
other member complained that he received less than $100
for $201 in Philadelphia. A Maryland delegate suggested
that his state send some flour up to Philadelphia which
he could dispose of. Madison hinted to Virginia that
he might be a prisoner for debt if some money were
1 The failure of the city and the state to protect Congress cost Phila
delphia the permanent seat of government. Charles Thomson wrote, " O
that it could be obliterated from the annals of America and utterly effaced
from my memory." — Peters' papers (MS.) in Pennsylvania Historical Soci
ety Library.
ROBERT MORRIS 147
not forthcoming. He had been " for some time a pen
sioner on the favor of Haym Salomon, a Jew Broker." 1
Under such disadvantages, it is small wonder that
business in Congress should have been hindered so
frequently, after the danger of the war had passed, by
the absence of members. When the long-awaited treaty
of peace with England, which was signed at Paris by
Adams, Franklin, and Jay, reached Congress about the
middle of December, it found but seven states repre
sented, two less than the number required by the
Articles for such a purpose. According to its terms, it
must be ratified and back in Paris within six months,
and almost four had already elapsed. Urgent sum
monses were sent in all directions, and in one month
two more states were represented, although the full
quorum lasted but three days. Washington, anxious to
return to his neglected plantation, waited four days at
Annapolis and at last resigned his commission to twenty
delegates representing six states.
Congress from time to time begged the states to give
to it some dependable source of revenue. Between 1781
and 1786 the states had been asked for more than ten
million dollars for the expenses of government, but had
paid less than two and one-half millions. Toward the
latter part of that period money was coming into Con
gress from the states at the rate of four hundred thou
sand dollars per annum, while the interest on the
national debt alone was half a million annually.
Congress asked to be allowed to levy a duty on all
goods coming into the country. The request was at
1 There is a sketch of the services of Haym Salomon in Wolf's " Ameri
can Jew," p. 14.
148 HE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
one time limited to a definite period ; at another time
to a certain per cent. Sometimes all the states save
one would agree on some concession, but before that
one state could be brought into line others would with
draw the permission. No proposition to mend the
Articles ever passed all the states, and Congress was
compelled to continue making requisitions on them for
money.
With no adequate treasury and no coercive power, the
Union was threatened with encroachment from abroad
and disintegration from within. Spain claimed the right
to collect duty on every load of grain which the western
pioneers carried down the Mississippi to a market at
Spanish New Orleans. There was a doubt whether the
trans-Alleghanian settlements might not find it desirable
to secede from the feeble Union and to ally themselves
with Spain. Although the Revolutionary war had been
ended and a treaty signed, British troops for several
years retained possession of forts on the American side
of the boundary line, withholding the allegiance of the
Indians and interfering with American trade. There
was always the fear that the Revolutionary government
set up in the Green Mountains, generally called Vermont,
might be led away by the influence of the British on their
northern side.
Many began to despair of the experiment of represen
tative government in America during this " critical
period."1 The infant republic seemed doomed to die in
its cradle. Everything pointed to a fulfilment of Lord
North's prediction that the rebelling colonies by internal
1 John Fiske has fastened this deserved title upon this period in his
excellent book bearing that name.
ROBERT MORRIS 149
disputes would soon be compelled to come back to the
protecting hand of the mother country. Washington's
was the arm of faith that upheld all with whom he came
in contact. From his home at Mount Vernon, whither
he had retired after saving the military life of the repub
lic, he sent letters to his friends in the various states
begging them to assist in saving the political life of the
C^^'O
young nation. With his close friend, Robert Morris,
Washington no doubt held many conferences upon the
state of the country when he was the guest of the
wealthy Morris in Philadelphia, while attending the
meeting of the Cincinnati : or at such time as he chanced
1 The Society of the Cincinnati was organized by the surviving officers
of the Revolutionary war.
150 THE MEN ll-'I/O MADE THE NATION
to see him. A few years later, he sent to Mrs. Morris
one of the proofs of an engraving by Sergent, with his
compliments.
Notwithstanding the political troubles, the commercial
instinct of Morris saw opportunities for investment in
the numerous land and 'canal schemes which were formed,
many of them through his agency, during the post-
Revolutionary days. No doubt these speculations and
the sad end to which they brought him made people
overlook the service which he had rendered at the very
beginning of the Union.1 His foreign birth, his osten
tatious manner of living, his wealth, and his unenviable
official duties conspired to this end. But some will ever
apply to Robert Morris the lament of the Preacher who
had seen " a little city with few men in it delivered by a
poor wise man, yet no man remembered that same poor
man."
1 In the speculating mania following Hamilton's assumption measures,
Morris became the head of numerous enterprises. He bought nearly half
of the lots in the future capital of Washington. In 1798 the crash came.
Morris was unable to meet his obligations and, according to the law of the
time, fell into Prune-street prison, Philadelphia, where he lay almost three
years until released by the passing of a law in Pennsylvania prohibiting
imprisonment for debt. He lived but four years after his release. His
new mansion, nicknamed '* Morris's Folly," was torn down before it was
completed.
CHAPTER V
ALEXANDER HAMILTON, THE ADVOCATE OF STRONGER
GOVERNMENT
. . . And thou
Our city's boast, to whom so much we owe,
In whom, the last and youngest of the three,
No common phase of excellence we see,
In every grateful heart thou hast a place,
Nor time nor circumstance can e'er erase !
Discord shall cease and perfect Union reign
And all confess that sweetly powerful chain
The Federal System, which at once unites,
The Thirteen States and all the People's rights.
— To Hamilton , 1 7 8 8 . *
THAT the strength of the new republic was to lie largely
along commercial lines was indicated by the fact that the
commercial relations between the states were the first to
bring friction, the most obstinate to adjust, and the ones
which finally brought a correction of the whole. Accord
ing to the Articles of Confederation, each state had
control of its own commerce. Soon Massachusetts was
complaining that Connecticut levied a higher duty on
Massachusetts goods than she did on foreign goods corn
ing within her borders. Connecticut replied that she had
no large ports attractive to foreign vessels and must get
1 From an Ode celebrating in New York the adoption of the Constitu
tion of the United States.
152 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
a revenue from goods imported through her neighbors.
New Jersey was pictured as bleeding at both stumps,
since the duty on the foreign goods consumed by her
was collected in the ports of New York and Pennsylva
nia on each side of her. Great Britain refused to allow
American vessels to trade with her West Indies. She
had recognized the political independence of her former
colonies, but still held them in commercial bondage.
Madison declared that " our trade was never more com
pletely monopolized by Great Britain when it was under
the direction of the British Parliament than it is at this
moment." Hamilton said that when Massachusetts, New
York, and Pennsylvania tried to retaliate upon British
vessels, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Delaware declared
their ports free in order to attract the forbidden trade.1
The commercial difficulties about New York finally
grew into a comic warfare. An item from that city
in a Virginia newspaper said : " The Assembly of New
Jersey have laid a tax of ,£30 per month upon the Light-
House on Sandy-Hook in that state. This land being
40 acres, was formerly purchased from the proprietor,
Mr. Hartshorn, by the corporation of New York for the
purpose of maintaining a Light-House, public inn, and
a kitchen garden thereon. This tax, it is said, has been
imposed to counteract the severity of the law in New
York, which enacts that every wood-boat and shallop
from New Jersey, of more than 12 tons, shall be reg
ularly entered and cleared out at the custom-house in the
1 The quotations from Hamilton in this chapter are to be found in
Lodge's " Complete Works of Alexander Hamilton," in nine volumes.
Those from Madison are from his " Letters and Other Writings," in four
volumes.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
153
same manner as if they had arrived from any foreign
port." l Shippers of New Jersey and Connecticut bound
themselves by agreement under penalty of ^50 not to
ship anything into New York or furnish any New York
craft with any kind of lading for one year unless the
odious overcharge of
dockage was removed
as well as the restric
tions which New York
had placed upon the
cartage of firewood.
From many such
instances Madison
thought that " most of
our political evils may
be traced up to our
commercial ones." His
own state of Virginia
showed wisdom by co
operating with her
neighbor, Maryland, in
attempting to secure a
peaceful navigation of
the Potomac and other
navigable waters be-
tween them, although SANDY HooK LlGHTHOUSE
such an agreement was
considered by others as contrary to the provisions of
the Articles of Confederation. In the winter of 1784-85
1 The Virginia Independent Chronicle, August 8, 1787. The accom
panying illustration of the lighthouse is from the New York Magazine,
August, 1790.
UNIVERSITY
154 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
the two states appointed a joint commission of eight
men to meet the following spring at Alexandria, the
head of navigation on the Potomac.1
Ten miles down the river lived Washington, than
whom no one was more interested in the questions likely
to be discussed. He had been instrumental in securing
the appointment of delegates, although himself not
among their number. His diary shows :
" Major Jenifer came here to dinner — and my carriage went
to Gunston Hall to take Col° Mason to a meeting of Com™ at
Alexandria for settling the Jurisdiction of Chesapeak Bay & the
River Potomak & Pocomoke between the States of Virginia
& Maryland. March 21. — Major Jenifer left this for Alex
andria after Dinner. March 22. — Went to Alexandria — dined
& returned in the Evening. March 24. — Sent my carriage to
Alexandria for Col° Mason according to appointment — who
came in, about dusk. March 25. — About One o'clock Major
Jenifer, Mr Stone, Mr Chase, & Mr Alexr Henderson arrived
here. March 27. — Mr Henderson went to Colchester after
dinner to return in the morning. March 28. — Mr Henderson
returned to the Meeting of the Commissioners ab* 10 Oclock
— and Mr Chase went away after dinner. March 29. — Major
Jenifer, Mr Stone and Mr Henderson went away before break
fast & Col° Mason (in my Carriage) after it ; by the return
of which he sent me some young Shoots of the Persian Jessa
mine & Guilder Rose."
Four days were spent in getting the commission
together at Alexandria. The latter sessions, owing to
1 From Virginia : George Mason, Edmund Randolph, James Madison,
and Alexander Henderson; from Maryland : Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer,
Thomas Johnson, Thomas Stone, and Samuel Chase. Madison, Randolph,
and Johnson failed to attend the meeting.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 155
poor accommodations, were held at Mount Vernon upon
invitation of Washington.1 Out of the report of this
commission to their respective states grew the call of
Virginia for a convention of commissioners from all the
states to meet at Annapolis the following summer to
consider the commercial defects of the Confederation.
This call attracted the attention of Hamilton, con
stantly on the alert for some agency which might correct
the faults of the existing government. He succeeded
in getting five delegates, himself among the number,
appointed by the New York Legislature to attend this
meeting; but when the time arrived only Attorney-
general Benson and himself set out. Of the remaining
three, one was ill, one was too busy, and the third made
no excuse. Arrived at Annapolis, Hamilton shared the
general disappointment. Only five states were repre
sented.2 To Monroe, who wrote despairingly from Con
gress, Madison replied from Annapolis : " Our prospect
here makes no amends for what is done with you. Dela
ware, New Jersey, and Virginia alone are on the ground;
two Commissioners attend from New York, and one
from Pennsylvania. Unless the sudden attendance of
a much more respectable number takes place, it is pro
posed to break up the meeting, with a recommendation of
another time and place, and an intimation of the expe-
1 Such hospitality was not unusual in the home of this wealthy Virginia
planter. Under date of June 30, 1785, Washington wrote in his diary:
" Dined with only Mrs- Washington, which I believe is the first instance
of it since my retirement from public life," two years before.
2 From New York: Alexander Hamilton and Egbert Benson; from
New Jersey : Abraham Clark, William C. Houston, and James Schureman;
from Pennsylvania: Tench Coxe; from Delaware: George Read, John
Dickinson, and Richard Bassett; from Virginia: Governor Edmund Ran
dolph, James Madison, and St. George Tucker.
156 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
diency of extending the plan to other defects of the
Confederation."
Everything seemed to work against the meeting.
The bickerings among the states had destroyed what
little feeling of nationality and willingness for coopera
tion had been engendered by the war. It was the low
tide of unity. The air was rife with rumors of the
dissolution of the four-year-old Confederation. New
England, feared the secession of the " back country "
people, settled in the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, be
cause of the unchecked Spanish impositions on their
lower Mississippi trade. Washington wrote to Harrison
that the touch of a feather would turn them any way.
Yet the government was too weak to force Spain to
desist, even if New England had been willing to do it
for the sake of this remote west. The southern states
even fell to questioning the allegiance of New England.
Monroe wrote from New York, " Conventions are held
here of Boston men and others of this state upon the
subject of a dissolution of the states east of the Hudson
river from the union and the erection of them into a
separate state."
Another reason for failure to cooperate at this time
was the question of revenue on imported goods. Some
feared a convention would lead to the giving of this
power to the central government and its loss to the
states. Others feared a convention unrecognized by
the Congress would lead to revolution. All through the
question ran the rising fever for a new issue of paper
money, which might be prevented by a convention.1
1 Replying to Washington's inquiry why the New England states failed
to send delegates to Annapolis, General Knox attributed the neglect of
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 157
Hamilton was a leading spirit at Annapolis in insisting
upon organization. John Dickinson, of Delaware, an
active spirit during Revolutionary days, was placed in
the chair. The reading of the credentials of delegates
followed, and those of New Jersey were found to give
power of devising " a uniform system in their commer
cial relations and other important matters." Appreciat
ing the value of this liberal instruction, Hamilton drew
up a plan for another meeting the following spring
(1787) to consider the defects of the Confederation in a
wider sense. The suggested place of meeting, Phila
delphia, the old capital, was calculated to arouse national
patriotism. The appeal was toned down a little from
the Hamiltonian pitch and then adopted. After a four
days' session, the convention adjourned with a call for
another convention as the only visible fruit of their
labors, and more despondent than hopeful of the result.
But fate was intending to make this Annapolis conven
tion famous as the turning point in the long-continued
ill fortune.
In order to avoid the scruples some had held against
the Annapolis convention, the call for this Philadelphia
meeting was sent to Congress, where it lay for five
months. In the meantime the legislatures of several
states began to take action, and Congress was compelled
to take the matter up or be again ignored. But the fear
of allowing the initiative to come from the Annapolis
New Hampshire to "torpidity"; of Rhode Island to "faction and heats
about their paper money"; of Connecticut to "jealousy." "Massachu
setts had chosen delegates to attend who did not decline until very late,
and the finding of other persons to supply their places was attended with
delay, so that the convention had broken up by the time the new-chosen
delegates had reached Philadelphia."
158 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
meeting caused the substitution of a new call from the
Massachusetts delegates as a starting point. The time
and place were made to coincide with the Annapolis
appeal. It was true that, in 1785, Massachusetts had
suggested a convention of the people as a proper agency
to remedy the faults in the frame of government, but so
had Hamilton as early as 1780. A convention com
posed of delegates chosen by the people for this specific
purpose was as near self-government as could ever be
realized.
In securing the appointment of delegates for this
convention by the Legislature of his own state, Hamilton
had to duplicate his task of the preceding year. It was
not easy. New York was filled with the idea of partic
ularism. She realized the future prospects of her har
bor, the transportation value of the Hudson river, her
importance as the coming commercial state, and the
promise of her chief city. To yield the control of her
foreign commerce to the Union seemed at the time vir
tual suicide. It would be the severance of the main
stem of her resources. Therefore Madison, who was
now in New York attending Congress, could write :
" The deputation of New York consists of Colonel
Hamilton, Judge Yates, and a Mr. Lansing. The two
last are said to be pretty much linked to the anti-federal
party here, and are likely, of course, to be a clog on their
colleague."
All through the states the work of appointing dele
gates went on, actuated by the spirit of Virginia, of
which Madison wrote to Washington : " It has been
thought advisable to give this subject a very solemn
dress and all the weight that could be derived from a
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 159
single State. This idea will be pursued in the selec
tion of characters to represent Virginia in the federal
Convention. You will infer our earnestness on this
point from the liberty which will be used of placing
your name at the head of them." Only in Rhode
Island did appointments fail to be made.
Rhode Island was simply an extreme case of the
financial situation everywhere. It was the oft-recurring
struggle between creditor and debtor ; between the
city merchant and the agriculturist ; between brains
and strength of numbers. In trying to hit upon some
plan to avoid taxes and to pay debts, the masses had
created a bank whose paper money had to be accepted
in payment of all obligations. The merchants refused
it, and trade became paralyzed. Then every one was
forced under penalty to take a "test oath" that he
would support the bank and accept the money at par,
although it had fallen to six to one of coin. Debtors
brought in their money in bags to discharge their
mortgages.
The altitude of Rhode Island placed her in ill repute
among her sister states.1 Her people were called
1 The following stanza on Rhode Island appeared in the Virginia
Independent Chronicle of June 20, 1787:
" Mild is my clime, salubrious is my air,
My prospect charming, and my females fair;
My fertile fields do yield a plenteous store,
Enough for my own use, and rather more;
And yet, alas ! I'm in a woful case;
For I am cover'd o'er with foul disgrace :
I blush to lift my head before the UNION,
For with my sisters I refuse communion.
Alas, for me ! how dismal is my fate !
My freeborn sons are so degenerate
I fear their party broils will overturn my state."
160 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
" Rogues Islanders," because they insisted on paying
debts in depreciated money. From the frequent proc
lamations necessary to bolster up this money, her
people were also known as " Know Ye men " and her
money as " Know Ye " money. l Her " leathern apron
worthy " referred to a blacksmith who had been made
lieutenant-governor. The lawless sentiment was in the
ascendency. It sympathized with and even aided the
Shays rebellion in Massachusetts.
This insurrection of Shays in orderly, Puritanical old
Massachusetts opened the eyes of the people and
showed them the dangerous situation into which neglect
of civic duty and an over-regard for the individual had
allowed the republic to drift. It was not composed of a
lawless element, but of country people, groaning under
taxes and burdened with debt, who saw claims filed
against them under the law and processes issuing from
the courts under which their farms and cattle were sold
and themselves reduced to penury. The paper money
of the state was in the hands of speculators. The
national government had no mint. No money could be
had to pay debts.
Town meetings showed the first signs of the storrri in
Massachusetts. Resolutions demanded that courts be
forever abolished ; that the " growing Power of Attor
neys or Barristers at Law " be checked ; that the state
1 A burlesque proclamation in the Chronicle of Freedom reads:
"To all Knaves, or all who wish to be Knaves throughout the World,
Greeting ;
KNOW YE!!
That by virtue of authority in me reposed I hereby inform you . . . there
is at length an asylum provided for you. ... If you owe ^8000, fly to
Rhode Island; there ^1000 will discharge the whole."
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 161
Legislature be removed from Boston ; that money on
hand and at interest be taxed ; and that land taken for
debt should be valued at the price at which it stood
when the debt was contracted. From words the insur
gents took to arms to close the courts.
An ex-army chaplain, Day, and especially a Revolu
tionary captain, Daniel Shays, became accidental leaders
in the series of uprisings which so alarmed the country.
The Congress was powerless under the existing govern
ment to coerce the citizens of a state. Was Massachu
setts strong enough to protect herself ? Washington
wrote to David Humphreys : " What, gracious God ! is
man, that there should be such inconsistency and per-
fidiousness in his conduct ? It was but the other day,
that we were shedding our blood to obtain the constitu
tions under which we now live ; constitutions of our own
choice and making, and now we are unsheathing the
sword to overturn them." l
Rhode Island and Massachusetts were not alone in
illustrating the loss of law and order. According to
Madison,2 the prison, court house, and clerk's office in
several counties of Virginia were burned. Elsewhere
the course of justice was stopped, and associations were
formed not to pay taxes.
When Hamilton arrived at Philadelphia in May, 1787,
he found that the reaction had set in. " Shaysism " had
alarmed the country. Delegates were arriving every
day, and they were truly " the flower of the continent."
1 The rebellion lasted from August, 1785, to the following February,
included fifteen thousand men, and resulted in three deaths. See Knox's
letters to Washington, Sparks's " Washington," Vol. IX., pp. 207, 234.
2 " Madison's Works," Vol. I., p. 339.
M
1 62 THE MEAT WHO MADE THE NATION
They included the governors of Virginia and New
Jersey, the president of Pennsylvania, an ex-governor of
North Carolina, and an ex-president from South Caro
lina and from Pennsylvania, the chancellors of Virginia
and South Carolina, the attorney-generals of New Jer
sey, Connecticut, and Delaware, and chief justices from
Virginia, Connecticut, and New York. Each state was
allowed to send as many as it chose, and Pennsylvania
led with seven. The popular number was five. The
"Indian Queen" was crowded, and every room in Mrs.
Mary House's lodging house on Fifth and Market
streets was taken. It was no doubt a relief to her when
General Washington decided to accept an invitation to
lodge with Robert Morris.
Washington had consented to attend the Convention
as a Virginia delegate only on the earnest solicitation of
many friends. The governor of his state had written
him : " I am persuaded, that your name has had already
great influence to induce the States to come into the
measure, that your attendance will be grateful, that
your presence would confer on the assembly a national
complexion, and that it would more than any other cir
cumstance induce compliance with the propositions of
the convention."
Washington's departure from home had been delayed
by a rheumatic complaint which necessitated carrying
his arm in a sling and, later, by a rumor that his mother
and his sister were dangerously ill. But after giving
directions to his nephew for the management of the
farm in his absence, he set out a " little after sunrise "
on Wednesday, May 9, and on the following Sunday
reached Philadelphia.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 163
"May 13. — About 8 Oclock Mr Corbin and myself set out,
and dined at Chester (Mrs Withys) where I was met by the
Gen18 Mifflin (now Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly)
Knox and Varnum — The Colonels Humphreys and Minges
— and Majors Jackson and Nicholas — With whom I proceeded
to Philada — at Grays Ferry the City light horse commanded
by Col° Miles met me and escorted me in by the Artillery
Officers who stood arranged & saluted as I passed — alighted
through a crowd at Mrs Houses — but being again warmly and
kindly pressed by Mr & Mrs Rob* Morris to lodge with them
I did so and had my baggage removed thither — Waited on
the President Doctr Franklin as soon as I got to Town — On
my arrival, the Bells were chimed." 1
Such attention had been given to no other delegate,
and it soon suggested Washington as the chairman of
the Convention when a quorum should make organiza
tion possible. Ten days passed before that desired
event happened. On Tuesday, Governor Randolph of
Virginia arrived ; on Thursday, two South Carolina
delegates appeared ; and on Friday, Washington had
the pleasure of again meeting his young favorite and
former aide, Hamilton.
On the 25th, seven states were represented by two or
more delegates, and the sessions began in the old Inde
pendence Hall, on the lower floor of the State House.
The morning was inclement and a severe trial to the
gouty Franklin, who had been mentioned as chairman
of the body, but who wished to nominate Washington
for that position had he been able to attend the first
meeting. It is said that the nomination of Washington
1 From Washington's diary, Sparks's " Life and Writings of Washing
ton," Vol. IX., p. 539.
164 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
made by Robert Morris was at the request of Franklin.
The vote was unanimous. Major William Jackson, a
former aide to Washington, and now practising law in
Philadelphia, was made secretary.
There must have been some premonition of the
coming contentions and discord, since the committee
on rules, of which Hamilton was a member, on the
third day added this one, "That nothing spoken in
the house be printed or otherwise published or com
municated without leave." Washington conscientiously
wrote in his journal, " Attending the convention, and
nothing being suffered to transpire, no minutes of the
proceedings have been, or will be, inserted in this diary."
This secrecy was undoubtedly wise, since it prevented a
disclosure of the real weakness and dangerous condition
of the country. But it was misunderstood, and subjected
to violent criticism in the newspapers. One writer in
sisted that the opinions of thirty-nine men secluded
from the rest of the world could have no weight. The
suppression of their minutes was declared to be " the
highest insult that could be afforded to the majority of
the people." Lampoons appeared on Benny the Roofer
and Bobby the Usurer.1 One critic declared Dr. Frank
lin a fool from age and Washington a fool from nature.
Being unable to penetrate the closed doors, the people
harbored wild rumors concerning the action of the Con
vention. A division into three republics, which Madi
son said was seriously considered before the Convention
met, was now understood to be resolved upon. Some
said the failure of the republic had been admitted, and
that the Bishop of Osnaburg, the second son of George
1 Referring to Benjamin Franklin and Robert Morris.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 165
III., had been elected king of the United States. A
precedent for such an election had been found in the
case of Poland. Others guessed that Rhode Island was
to be annexed to Connecticut or kept forever out of the
Union. Another writer, evidently having an inside hint,
said that the difficulties of representation owing to the
unequal sizes of the states were to be remedied by joining
Delaware to Maryland and Rhode Island to Connecticut.
The friends of good government counteracted these
prophecies of evil with pleas for confidence in the Con
vention and the need of a true Union. One writer used
the fable of the farmer and the bundle of sticks to illus
trate this need ; another took the homely but easily com
prehended illustration of a horse overturning a beehive
and being stung to death by their united strength. Some
described the condition of New York commerce where
not a vessel was building. Others pointed to the wharves
of Philadelphia where sixteen British vessels and but
one American vessel were being loaded.
On the 4th of July, these promoters of Union offered
toasts to the final success of the Convention. The
Philadelphia Society of the Cincinnati heard an ora
tion in the Reformed Calvinist church, to which the
delegates also listened, and a salute of twenty-four
rounds was fired by the Light Horse Infantry stationed
near the State House. The various public houses gave
especial dinners. Additional attentions were shown the
visitors from time to time. They were invited to visit
the Academy on Fourth street, the Bettering House,
and to attend meetings of the Society of Agriculture in
the Carpenters' Hall. They were also made familiar
with the workings of the Society for Home Manufac-
1 66 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
ture. Private dinners were given at the country-seats
of wealthy gentlemen near the city and small entertain
ments in the pleasure grounds at Gray's Ferry. One
day General Washington reviewed the Pennsylvania
militia. One evening he attended in the College Hall
a public lecture by Mrs. O'Connell on " The Power of
Eloquence." "The lady, being reduced in circum
stances, had had recourse to this expedient to obtain
a little money. Her performance was tolerable," said
Washington. The newspapers declared that "notwith
standing the tempestuous weather," the lecture was
"attended by a brilliant crowd of his [Washington's]
friends of both sexes," who highly praised him as a
patron of the arts^a'nd sciences.
Entertainment of ,a more permanent kind was afforded
on the Delaware river one day in August by a man
named John Fitch, who had constructed a boat forty-five
feet long. In this he had placed an engine which pro
pelled six upright oars on each side of the vessel. His
earlier attempt at steam navigation had been received
with "shouts of ridicule," and his years of besieging
various state legislatures for aid, and beseeching men of
wealth to embark in his enterprise, had made him the
butt of innumerable jokes. He said that nearly all
the delegates save Washington came to the river front
to see his latest boat.1 Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecti
cut, was upon it, and Dr. Johnson, of Connecticut, gave
him a testimonial. Governor Randolph, of Virginia, also
1 This was Fitch's second boat. Brissot de Warville, a French traveller,
says of it : "I went to see an experiment near the Delaware on a boat, the
object of which is to ascend rivers against the current. The inventor was
Mr. Fitch, who had formed a company to support the expence. . . . The
invention was disputed between Mr. Fitch and Mr. Rumsey, of Virginia.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
I67
viewed it. Yet so slow was capital to invest in new
enterprises, and so reluctantly did people patronize new
agencies, that it was twenty years before Fulton's boat
was running regularly between New York and Albany.
The card-writers who kept the Philadelphia news
papers teeming with their attacks and defences of the
Convention had drawn into the controversy a Connecti
cut schoolmaster, Noah Webster, who had come down
to Philadelphia to lecture on his new system of spelling.
He had published a " Grammatical Institute," in three
parts, designed to instruct in pronouncing, speaking,
However it be, the machine which I saw appears well executed and well
adapted to the design. The steam engine gives motion to three [sic] large
oars of considerable force, which were to give sixty strokes p.-r minute."
1 68 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
and writing the English language correctly.1 Webster
was not a man to hide his light, and he was soon in the
midst of a newspaper controversy. Some declared him
to be an emissary of Shays. Infuriated at this charge,
he described his writings in the Massachusetts press
against Shaysism and said he had done as much as any
man to put it down. His enemies then ridiculed " His
Honor, Squire Web. . . r, alias the Trotabout Pedagogue,
who has slain thousands with his gray goose quill."
Turning their attention to his book, they made sport of
his new word " yeif " (if) and such innovations as encroach,
incalculate, swerve, purport, and betwixt (for between).
Eventually the contest was taken up by the traditional
enemies, the Episcopal Academy and the University of
Pennsylvania, and Webster was lost sight of.
Even in the scanty details of the Convention,2 the ar
dor of Hamilton is seen. He at first spoke rarely in the
1 The first part of the " Institute " became " Webster's Spelling Book,"
which has had the largest sale of any schoolbook ever printed. It was
also the prototype of Webster's Dictionary. The second part was the
pattern for a school grammar, and the third part for a reader. The part
second shown in the accompanying illustration is in the Congressional
Library at Washington. The torn paper at the edges discloses the boards
in which it is bound.
2 The " Journal of Proceedings " was entrusted to Washington, and was
not made public until after his death, when it was printed by Jonathan
Elliot, a Washington editor, together with the " Debates " on adopting the
Constitution. After Madison's death, among his papers was found a
"journal" of the daily debates in the Convention. "I had chosen a
seat in front of the presiding member, with the other members on my
right and left hands. In this favorable position for hearing all that passed,
I noted, in terms legible and abbreviations and marks intelligible to my
self, what was read from the Chair or spoken by the members; and losing
not a moment unnecessarily between the adjournment and reassembling
of the Convention, I was enabled to write out my daily notes during the
session." These, with the letters written by the withdrawing members,
supply the very scanty information about the Convention.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON- ^9
debates, but grew fearful as the new frame of govern
ment, designed to replace the Articles, assumed shape
that it had not sufficient strength ; that it would not be
much superior in this respect to the Articles themselves.
Madison said that Hamilton's early silence was due
partly from respect to others whose superior abilities,
age, and experience rendered him unwilling to bring for
ward ideas dissimilar to theirs; and partly from his
delicate position in respect to his own state, to whose
sentiments, as expressed by his colleagues, he could by
no means accede. In the fourth week of the debates,
Hamilton arose to confess himself dissatisfied with both
the plans which the convention was trying to harmonize.
He would prefer a National Legislature, consisting of an
Assembly chosen for three years by the people and a
Senate chosen for life by electors. He would have a
Governor of the United States, chosen by electors, and
to hold office during good behavior. Twelve judges, to
serve during life, should make up a Supreme Court, 'in
order to give this central government true national
strength, it should have power to appoint the governors
of the several states, who should then have veto power
on all state legislation.
The speech which accompanied this sketch, delivered
with the true Hamiltonian spirit, had too much praise
of the British government to please the Convention, and
his plan met with no consideration. Almost immediately
he left Philadelphia and returned to New York, from
which place he wrote to Washington that the people
of that city feared the Convention would " not go far
enough. They seem to be convinced that a strong, well-
mounted government will better suit the popular palate
I ;0 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
than one of a different complexion." He added that he
was deeply distressed at the aspect of counsels which
prevailed when he left Philadelphia, but would rejoin the
Convention after ten or twelve days if he had reason to
suppose that his attendance would not be a mere waste
of time.
The reply of Washington, in which he declared the
situation worse than when Hamilton had left, and that
he repented having had an agency in the business and
urged Hamilton's immediate return, must have been balm
to the piqued New Yorker. Even more convincing that
the Convention was ready to listen to strong measures
was the arrival in New York of Hamilton's colleagues,
Messrs. Lansing and Yates, who had left the Convention
because the new government, which it was forming, was
practically a " consolidation of the states," would destroy
their rights, and would bring no benefits in return. Per
haps the new system would be stronger than Hamilton
had supposed. In rising spirits, he wrote to his returned
colleagues offering to go back to Philadelphia " for the
sake of propriety and public opinion," if either of them
would accompany him. He also inquired twice of his
friend, Rufus King, a delegate from Massachusetts,
whether " a higher tone " had not been reached in the
proceedings. He manifested a desire to be in the
Convention when it closed. According to the min
utes of the Convention, he . returned some day before
August 20, when a motion of his was defeated. He
took an active part in the remaining debates. Since
the final adoption of the new Constitution was by
vote of states, and two delegates were necessary in
order to have a state represented, New York was silent;
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 171
but Hamilton was allowed from courtesy to sign the
document.
Frequently nothing save respect for the presiding
officer,1 and the conviction that the dissolution of the
Union would follow, had prevented the disbanding of
the Convention. So critical grew affairs that Franklin,
not a member of any church, moved that the daily pro
ceedings be opened by prayer ; but the proposition was
rejected. It is supposed that seventy-three men were
connected with the delegations from the various states
in the Convention. Of these, eighteen did not attend
and ten positively declined the mission. When the
final vote on the Constitution was taken, sixteen, who
had attended part of the time, were absent. Of these,
four at least had withdrawn formally. Three of those
who remained refused to sign the document for various
reasons. Indeed, of the fifty-five men attending, only
thirty-nine signed. Among those who declined to
attend were Patrick Henry, Charles Carroll of Carroll-
ton, and Richard Henry Lee. Those who refused to
sign were Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, Governor
Randolph of Virginia, and George Mason, of the same
state. Among those who withdrew, refusing to be a
party to the further proceedings, were Luther Martin
and Mercer, of Maryland, and, as has been said, the two
fellow-delegates of Hamilton, — Yates and Lansing, of
New York.2
1 One of the rules reads, " When the House shall adjourn, every mem
ber shall stand in his place until the President pass him."
2 These figures are taken from a monograph by Paul L. Ford, whose
later investigations have supplemented the lists as given in Elliot's "De
bates," Vol. I., p. 124, and in Sparks's "Washington's Works." John
Quincy Adams made out the list for Elliot, and found sixty-five delegates
appointed. Sparks has the same number.
1/2 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
At last the Constitution, the fruits of almost four
months of hard labor during the summer of i/S/,1 lay
before the Convention phrased in faultless English by
the hand of Gouverneur Morris. In three great com
promises the members had reconciled the long-standing
differences between the large states and small states ;
between the slave-holding and non-slavery interests ;
between the commercial and agricultural elements. In
the closing hours Hamilton had said that no man's ideas
were more remote from the plan than his own were
known to be ; but he would not hesitate between the
chance of good coming from it, and anarchy and con
vulsion. In sending a copy to Lafayette, Washington
called it a child of fortune, and to Patrick Henry he
wished it had been more perfect, but sincerely believed
it was the best that could be obtained at that time.
The criticism which had attended the Convention
broke out afresh when the printed document was given
out. This Convention, called for the express purpose
of amending the Articles of Confederation, had deliber
ately exceeded its powers and drawn up a new frame,
which it now sent to the old Congress proposing that it
be submitted to the states. When ratified by nine states
it was to go into effect. Here was a revolution. The
old government was asked to commit suicide. And
1 "The business being thus closed, the Members adjourned to the City
Tavern, dined together and took a cordial leave of each other — after
which I returned to my lodgings — did some business with, and received
the papers from the Secretary of the Convention, and retired to meditate
on the momentous wk which had been executed, after not less than five, for
a large part of the time Six, and sometimes 7 hours sitting every day
[except], Sundays & the ten days adjournment to give a Comee opportunity
& time to arrange the business for more than four Months." Washing
ton's diary. See Sparks's " Washington," Vol. IX., p. 541.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 173
what was offered in its stead ? asked the critics. An
aristocratic government, formed by aristocrats in a
secret convention. There was to be a "president"
elected every four years, but as many times as he and
his supporters could manage. Having control of the
army and navy, he would resemble the mighty Abdul
Ahmed, the Turkish Sultan ; the Senate would be his
Divan; the standing army his Janizaries; the judges,
unchecked by vile juries, his Cadis ; Bishop Seabury
his Mufti. Objection was made to the superior powers
of the Senate, which would eventually swallow up the
House; to the central government having control of
the state militia ; to the Supreme Court having power
to judge of law, equity, and fact. There was no Bill of
Rights ; no assured protection of the individual against
the government.1 No wonder, it was said, that President
Franklin, of Pennsylvania, had shed tears on signing such
a monstrosity. It must never be adopted by nine states.
The Assembly of Pennsylvania had convened during
the sitting of the Convention, occupying a room in the
State House, over that body. When it attempted to
bring up the calling of a state convention to consider the
proposed Constitution, twenty of the members from the
1 A handbill circulated in Boston enumerated, among others, the fol
lowing disadvantages of Federalism upon the New Plan :
I. The Trade of Boston transferred to Philadelphia ; and the Boston
tradesmen starving.
4. An infinite Multiplication of Offices to provide for ruined Fortunes.
5. A Standing Army, and a Navy, at all Times kept up, to give genteel
Employment to the idle and extravagant.
7. The wealthy retiring to Philadelphia to spend their revenues, while
we are oppressed to pay Rents and Taxes to Absentees.
II. Representatives chosen in suck a mariner, as to make it a Business
for Life.
13. Religion Abolished.
174 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
country absented themselves to prevent a quorum.
The sergeant-at-arms and the clerk, with " a number of
volunteer gentlemen," went to Boyd's coffee-house and,
seizing two of the absentees,1 carried them into the
Assembly to make up the quorum. There they were
held and counted present and as voting in the affirma
tive. In that way was the convention called in Pennsyl
vania, but Delaware succeeded in securing a convention
and ratifying the Constitution before Pennsylvania,
although that state was second. Similar signs of com
pulsion were not wanting elsewhere. It was indeed a
pure revolution or overthrow of one frame of govern
ment by another. Quite naturally, revolutionary and
intimidatory methods would accompany.2
The friends of the new proposition rallied to its de
fence. Taking the name of " Federalists," they fastened
upon the opposition the name " Anti-Federalists." It
was declared in Boston that an Anti-Federalist and a
Tory were held in the same esteem. A writer in a
Philadelphia paper suggested that the state Assembly
should remove all Anti-Federalists from office. The
members who ran away from the Pennsylvania Assem
bly were threatened with violence.3 In Connecticut it
1 Claymont and Miley.
2 A squib went the rounds of the papers to this effect :
"Here, too, I saw some mighty pretty shows,
A revolution without blood or blows;
For, as I understood the cunning elves,
The people all revolted from themselves."
3 Among the numerous pasquinades circulated on this occasion, one
stanza reads :
" Though rascals and rogues they may call,
Yet now we may laugh at them all;
'T\vas well we escaped with whole bones,
For we merited horsewhips and stones."
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 175
was proposed to " blacklist " those who refused to peti
tion the legislature to call a convention. Paul Revere
marshalled his four hundred mechanics in Boston, and
their resolutions had a persuading effect on the Massachu
setts convention. Men of property were urged to stand
together for the new plan and to use tar and feathers if
necessary. It was a revival of the old feeling against
the Tories, and one of the first of many exhibitions of
intolerance in the republic. It was suggested by one
contributor that if the Constitution were rejected, Shays
should be made governor of Massachusetts, and the
rest of America should be divided between Great Britain
and Morocco ; that Silas Deane, Galloway, and Benedict
Arnold should be made governors of America, but that
Arnold should not be assigned to Rhode Island lest he
be corrupted by living in such a nest of speculators and
traitors.
By the close of the year 1787, New Jersey had rati
fied. Early in the new year came Connecticut, and then
followed Massachusetts, Georgia, Maryland, and South
Carolina. One more state was needed. The conven
tion of New Hampshire met, but adjourned. It was now
June, and attention was divided between Virginia and
New York. In the former state the Constitution was
attacked by Patrick Henry, Governor Randolph, George
Mason, Benjamin Harrison, and young James Monroe.
It was defended by Madison and John Marshall. Al
though not in the convention, Washington gave his con
stant influence for the adoption of the new government.
It seemed that Virginia would be the ninth state, but
while the debates proceeded, the convention of New
Hampshire reassembled and secured that honor.
76
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
and fpcedily will be publifhed;
The good news from New Hampshire, according to
the arrangement of Hamilton, was carried by an express,
on the shortest route, by frequent change of horse and
with all possible diligence, to the New York convention
sitting at Pough-
keepsie. Hamilton
had made further
preparations for
this convention by
inaugurating soon
after the forma
tion of the Fed
eral Constitution, a
"series of papers
to be written in its
defence." They
were issued sepa-
over the
" Pub-
lius," but when
collected were
called "The Fed
eralist." Madison,
who had returned
to the Congress at
A Colle&ion of Eflay* written ip fa
+<% of the New 'Qbnftitutioh,
By 0 Citi%tn of Newark.
by the Atithory with ' Additions
•' and Alteratibnt;
will h printed en a jutt Paper
aitdgwd T}pe% in «w bandfowe Volume 4uo-
decytto, \ end dtli-yered to fubfcribtrs at tb«
moderate price qfene dollar ^ A ft<w < copies
, 'Mill be frttiied dnJkper/iiH rojal wiling pa-'
pert frtct tenjbiltutgi.
No bw*sy rttpiired till delivery .
o render tbit work more nmplete, wiilfo
added, without Any additional gxpe*ce,
PHILO-PUBLIUS,
Articles ftf 'the Convention,
At agreed upw at PAilaJe/pbia, Septem
ber ijth, 1787. ,
rately
signature
ADVERTISEMENT OF "THE FEDERALIST"1
New York, wrote
some of the num
bers, as did John Jay, a resident of that city. These
essays were bound in two volumes, one in " common "
and the other in "finer" binding, and circulated widely.2
1 In the Philadelphia Independent Gazetteer.
2 Washington wrote to Hamilton that he had read every performance
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 177
Editors friendly to the new Constitution were urged to
reprint portions of them.
In the beginning, Hamilton had written to Madison
from Poughkeepsie, "Our adversaries greatly outnum
ber us." One month later he wrote, " Our fears dimin
ish." The opposition had commanded forty-six out of
sixty-five votes when the convention opened and had
made their leader, Governor Clinton, president. Ham
ilton answered their attacks on the Constitution,
defended himself in a two days' controversy with Lan
sing against the charge of having been willing in the
Philadelphia Convention to sacrifice the states, and even
tually saw one of his great opponents, Melancton Smith,
voting on the affirmative side. The favorable news
from New Hampshire had also a good effect. It had
been forwarded by Hamilton's father-in-law, General
Schuyler, to Virginia, and had undoubtedly shown the
futility of that state holding out. In turn, the news
of the adoption in Virginia was hurried to New York,
and aided in winning the last of the great states for a
trial of the new plan, but only by a vote of thirty to
twenty-seven.
Preparations for inaugurating the new government
were at once undertaken. It was true that only " eleven
pillars " had as yet been placed in the " national edifice."
But the adjournment of the North Carolina state con-
on both sides of the controversy, and, without an unmeaning compliment,
could say that he had seen no other so well calculated to produce con
viction on the unbiassed mind as the production of the " triumvirate." To
Madison he wrote, " Perceiving that the Federalist under the signature
of PUBLIUS is about to be republished, I would thank you to forward me
three or four copies, one of which is to be bound, and inform me of its
cost."
1 78 THE MEN- WHO MADE THE NATION
vention to see whether another Federal Convention
would not be called, was felt to be only temporary.
As for Rhode Island, there seemed to be a gen
eral determination to ignore her. The constitutional
provision for electing a President through electors
would require time. The Confederation Congress there
fore soon selected the first Wednesday in January for
choosing the electors in the different states in such
manner as each might wish ; the first Wednesday in
February for the meeting of these electors and the cast
ing of their ballots ; and the first Wednesday in March
for the meeting of the Senate and the House of Repre
sentatives, the opening of the ballots, and the real
beginning of the new government. Having thus sealed
its death warrant, the poor old Congress slowly ex
pired of absenteeism. Intrigue had at once begun for
the prize of the new capital. Philadelphia, Baltimore,
Wilmington, Harrisburg, and New York were advo
cated, the latter eventually securing it, because the
government was already located there and no place
could be agreed upon. The southern members pro
posed the Potomac river, but were defeated by the
middle states and New England.
Speculations were also indulged in concerning the
first President and Vice-President. Before the new gov
ernment had been assured one month, Hamilton wrote
to Washington : " I take it for granted, sir, you have
concluded to comply with what will no doubt be the
general call of your country in relation to the new gov
ernment. You will permit me to say that it is indis
pensable you should lend yourself to its first operations.
It is of little purpose to have introduced a system, if the
ALEXANDER HAMILTON" 179
weightiest influence is not given to its firm establish
ment in the outset." 1
Hamilton undoubtedly voiced public sentiment when he
wrote in a subsequent letter, " I am not sure that your
refusal would not throw everything into confusion."
Concerning the vice-presidency, he favored John Adams,
at this time minister to England, rather than Hancock,
although he thought Adams possessed certain " jealous
ies " and a rumored hostility to Washington. Still, if not
made Vice-President, he might "be nominated to some
important office for which he is less proper, or become
a malcontent." General Lincoln wrote to Washington
that Massachusetts was happy to find it to be "the
unanimous voice of this rising empire that Your Excel
lency, who has so just a claim to the merit of its estab
lishment, should now take it under your protection."
Franklin wrote to a French correspondent, " General
Washington is the man that all our eyes are fixed upon
for President, and what little influence I have is devoted
to him."
Hamilton was gratified by this growing assurance
that his former chief would become the head of this
last experiment in government, to which he had devoted
so much energy and for which he had such high hopes.
The greatest danger was that the Constitution would
be interpreted so narrowly and administered so defer
entially that it could not compete with the states which
had created it. A military mind was not likely to be
hampered by constitutional quibbles. It was also quite
natural for Hamilton to suppose that he would not be
without influence with Washington ; but that he foresaw
1 Lodge's "Hamilton's Works," Vol. I., p. 194.
I So THE MEN IVHO MADE THE NAT/OAT
his great career as Secretary of the Treasury is un
likely. In New York City, Hamilton watched with
much interest the preparations being made for the inau
guration of the new Constitution, for whose inception
and final adoption he deserves more credit than can
justly be ascribed to any other man.
"Resolved, That the first Wednesday in January next be the
day for appointing electors in the several states, which, before
the said day shall have ratified the said constitution ; that the
first Wednesday in February next, be the day for the electors to
assemble in their respective states, and vote for a president ; and
that the first Wednesday in March next, be the time, and the
present seat of Congress the place for commencing proceedings
under the said constitution." -- Journal of [Confederation]
Congress, September 13, 1788.
CHAPTER VI
GEORGE WASHINGTON, THE FIRST PRESIDENT
NEW YORK, April 6, 1789.
SIR : — I have the honor to transmit to your Excellency the
information of your unanimous election to the office of Presi
dent of the United States of America. Suffer me, sir, to
indulge the hope that so auspicious a mark of public confi
dence will meet with your approbation, and be considered as
a pledge of the affection and support you are to expect from
a free and enlightened people. I am, Sir,
Yr obt sevt,
JOHN LANGDON.
MOUNT VERNON, 14 April, 1789.
SIR : — I had the honor to receive your official communica
tion by the hand of Mr Secretary Thompson, about one o'clock
this day. Having concluded to obey the important and flatter
ing call of my Country, and having been impressed with an idea
of the expediency of my being with Congress at as early a
period as possible ; I propose to commence my journey on
Thursday morning which will be the day after to-morrow. I
have the honor to be with sentiments of esteem, Sir,
Your obedient servt,
GEO. WASHINGTON.
WASHINGTON had consented to undertake the task of
starting the executive machinery provided by the newly
adopted Constitution. He accepted the risk as he had
181
1 82 THE MEN- WHO MADE THE NATION
done in the Revolution. If the experiment should fail
he would go down with it.
On the day appointed, the first Wednesday in Janu
ary, the choice of presidential electors l had been under
taken in the several states according to the manner of
holding elections in each. In Massachusetts, Maryland,
and Virginia the election was left largely with the
people. Elsewhere the state legislatures chose the elec
tors. Like the faithful citizen that he was, Washington
rode up to Alexandria on Wednesday, January 7, to
cast his vote. Dr. Stuart, who had married Mrs. Custis,
the widow of Mrs. Washington's son, was chosen elector
for the district.
During the month before the electors met, there was
no campaigning nor electioneering, but it was under
stood that Washington's name was one of the two
which would be written by every elector on his ballot.
Indeed it was only the assurance that Washington
would be chosen and would accept the headship of the
new venture that had persuaded many timid people to
give it a trial.
Although the ballots cast by the electors at their
meetings in their respective states on the first Wednes
day in February were not to be opened for a month,
Washington began quietly to make preparations to leave
the comfortable home and the ideal plantation he was
trying to make at Mount Vernon, and to undertake
again the tribulations of public life. During the eight
years of the Revolutionary war he had been at home
but twice, and then for a few days only. The six years
since the war had scarcely allowed a recovery of his
1 As provided in the Constitution, Article II., Sections i, 2, 3, 4.
ISITYJ
GEORGE
183
affairs and the inauguration of the extensive improve
ments which he planned for his estate. His corre
spondence reveals the reluctance with which he viewed
the prospect. To an office-seeker he said, " The first
wish of my soul is to spend the evening of my days as
a private citizen on my farm." To his long-time friend,
Harrison, he wrote, " Heaven knows that no event can
be less desired by me, and that no earthly consideration
short of so general a call, together with a desire to
reconcile contending parties as far as in me lies, could
again bring me into public life." He was obliged to
send his secretary, Tobias Lear, to Captain Richard
Conway, of Alexandria, to solicit the loan of ^"600 on
interest. Otherwise he must be obliged to leave home
in debt and without a sufficient sum to pay his travel
ling expenses. The financial hardships of the Confed
eration bore on the Virginia planter as well as on the
Massachusetts farmer. Washington also gave the short
crops as the cause of his embarrassment. " Never till
within these two years have I experienced the want of
money."
Washington paid a visit of respect to his mother at
Fredericksburg, now in her eighty-second year. It was
a last farewell, since she died the following summer.
To Governor Clinton, of New York, who tendered him
the use of his house, Washington replied that he would
take hired lodgings or rooms in a tavern until some
house could be provided. At the same time he wrote
to Madison, a representative in the new Congress, to
secure such public accommodation for him, as well as
for his secretary, Lear, and for Colonel Humphreys,
formerly his aide and now a member of his household.
1 84 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
In the meantime the state legislatures had conducted
their elections for senators without much difficulty save
in New York, where a deadlock between the two branches
prevented a choice. Rhode Island and North Carolina
were also unrepresented, since neither had yet accepted
the Constitution. The election of representatives in the
various states had been irregularly conducted, a proc
lamation of the governor of New Jersey being necessary
to close the polls in the eastern section after two weeks
of voting.
The members began to assemble in New York as
rapidly as the condition of the roads and the opening
of navigation would permit. But when the first Wednes
day in March arrived, there was no quorum in either
the Senate or the House. It was the same old story of
neglect. It would have been a surprise if anything con
nected with government had started on time. Neverthe
less, as Robert Morris, who had gone to New York as
a senator from Pennsylvania, wrote to his wife : " Last
night they fired 13 cannon from the Battery here over
the Funeral of the Confederation and this morning they
saluted the new Government with 1 1 Cannon, being one
for each of the States that have adopted the Constitu
tion. The Flag was hoisted on the Fort and Federal
Colours were displayed on the top of the new Edifice
and at several places of the City." x
Some of the members after waiting patiently day
after day for a quorum grew discouraged. One wrote
home: "We lose ^1000 a day revenue; we lose credit,
spirit, everything, by this delay. The public will forget
1 From a manuscript letter in the Pennsylvania Historical Society
Library at Philadelphia.
GEORGE WASHINGTON 185
the government before it is born. The resurrection of
the infant will come before its birth. The old Congress
still continues to meet, but it seems doubtful whether
the old government is dead or the new one alive."
Others took a more hopeful view of the situation, and
after securing lodgings walked about to view the city
which had by chance become the first capital under the
Constitution.
Especially the new members were interested in the
building provided by the city of New York for their
accommodation. The City Hall, which stood in Wall
street at the head of Broad street , had been erected in
1 700 ; but, with thirty thousand dollars raised by a lottery
and a public subscription, it was now remodelled after
the plans of Major L' Enfant. A new front was placed
on the building, extending it out over the sidewalk on
Wall street in a series of arches. It embraced a small
balcony, supported by four Doric pillars, and was orna
mented above with the eagle, thirteen stars, and bunches
of arrows encircled with olive branches.
The vestibule on the ground floor opened into the hall
to be occupied by the House of Representatives. This
room was sixty-one feet deep, fifty-eight wide, and
thirty-six high, being lighted by large windows placed
sixteen feet from the floor and hung with blue damask.
The four fireplaces were ornamented with Ionic columns
and pilasters. Two galleries fronted the speaker's plat
form. The lower gallery was on a level with the Senate
chamber, which occupied the second story upon the
opposite side of the building. This room was forty feet
long, thirty wide, and twenty high, with an arched ceil
ing. The ceiling was ornamented with a sun and thir-
1 86 THE MEW WHO MADE THE NATION
teen stars. The fireplaces were made of American
marble. Crimson hangings were about the windows
and the dais over the Vice-President's chair.1
Thirty representatives and twelve senators were nec
essary for a quorum. Appeals were sent out by the
impatient members already assembled, but it was not so
easy to overcome habits of neglecting official duties.
At last on April 13, almost a month late, the House
had a quorum, and one week later the Senate was
equally fortunate. The House then marched up to
the Senate chamber and with Langdon, of New Hamp
shire, president pro tern, of the Senate, in the chair, the
electoral ballots were opened. Sixty-five had been
cast by the electors in the various states, and upon each
appeared the name of George Washington. With his
name there appeared upon the various ballots for Vice-
President the names of John Adams, John Jay, Hancock,
and a number of men prominent in their respective
states. Adams had received thirty-four, and was de
clared elected to the vice-presidency. Immediately
Charles Thomson, 2 clerk of the Continental Congress
for so many years, was sent to the President-elect to
notify him of his selection, and Sylvester Bowen [Bourne]
was despatched on a similar errand to the Vice-President
elect.
In three days, by packet and horse, Bowen reached
Braintree, now a suburb of Boston, and found John
Adams trying to regain his law practice after ten years'
absence on diplomatic service in Europe. The latter
1 A full description of this Federal Hall, with the cut reproduced on
page 196, was printed, in the Columbian Magazine, August, 1789.
2 Mention of his services in the Revolutionary times was made in
Chapter III.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
I87
three years of that time he had spent most unhap
pily as the first minister from the United States
to England. He felt himself slighted. His demands
for an open trade with the British West Indies were
ignored. Mrs. Adams was snubbed by Queen Charlotte,
and no minister
was sent to the
United States in
return. In fact
there was not lack
ing the suggestion,
all too annoying
because of its truth,
that if thirteen min
isters were sent to
England by these
quarrelling states,
one would be sent
to them. John Ad
ams, hard as the
granite rocks of
his own Massachu
setts, remonstrated
in vain, and was
finally relieved, re
turning to America
as he said, " from
H* j>
New- York, April 7.
CO-^GRE SS.
Yefterdaj' the
Room, and opens
V.ce-Prefideru, Mi
Href! Jrnt of the Senate on thi» occa/ios
General W /.SHI N G TO N was found to have be*
unaninvMiflv chofrn Prefident, and Tnhn Adams,'
Eiq. Vice I'rgfsdent, by a plurality amounting
to 34. C harries Thompson, E'.q. waj aprf>w*1
to inform th» Prr.ldent of this even: ; and Mr.
Bowsr, the Vice-Pissfiilent. Thole gentiemen
will accordingly fet olF this day for thsi'c
A committee of both hourei of r
turc app'ijr.ted ar the i >.il is,Ijc!:i, ,m
a: :he Secretary's Orf;;e this day,
*.\2'.:~ :':o.vcvc* p*?veu in for
•:v/ "' - - •• '-.'ate, in the Ho»fi of
tivei pj \;.:: Cotigrefsofths United
hoe in a fe-v d>.ys to pre.fent our
of the geackmen eieds
to the ho
the na
nor.-:':'e offke,
Many (fays n cofrefprtndfnt) havi fought,
*fitt*n "tnd harrangucd f*jr Che welfare and
glory of thf UnJreJ States. Yet.it muft*be
confeiled, thst a ira« patriot i* a diara&cir not
be fcund. As loag a* oar country feels
FULL NEWS OF THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION l
prison."
The critics of John Adams claimed that he was sur
prised at the difference between the number of votes
1 From the Pennsylvania Packet. This was the most complete account
published of the first election of a President.
1 88 THE MEN" WHO MADE THE NATION
cast for Washington and the number cast for himself ;
that he could not understand how a military life could
be considered a better training for the presidency than
civil and diplomatic experience. But Washington was
only the first of a number of war heroes in America
who have been called to civic honors. Adams left at
once for New York and was shown gratifying attention
all along his way. Horsemen rode out to escort him
and officials to greet him. Arrived in New York City,
he became the guest of John Jay1 and wife at their
beautiful home on the Broad Way. Mrs. Adams had
crossed to the continent when her husband returned to
America, and she was still abroad. The Vice-President
was installed on April 21, without much ceremony.
One week was consumed by Charles Thomson, the
other messenger from Congress, in traversing the April
highways to Mount Vernon. Two days after his arrival
the President-elect was ready to start for New York.
He seemed to have a premonition of coming troubles.
To his old war friend, Knox, he wrote, " My move
ments to the chair of state will be accompanied by feel
ings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the
place of his execution ; so unwilling am I, in the even
ing of a life nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a
peaceful abode for an ocean of difficulties." In his jour
nal, under Thursday, April 16, he wrote, "About ten
o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life,
and domestic felicity, and with a mind oppressed with
more anxious and painful sensations than I have words
1 Jay was still Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the old Continental
Congress. His wife was the celebrated Sarah Van Brugh Livingston,
eldest daughter of William Livingston, of New Jersey.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
189
to express, set out for New York in company with Mr
Thompson and Col° Humphreys."
As he rode away from the crescent-shaped front of
his home, he waved a farewell to Mrs. Washington, who
was unable to endure the horseback journey to New
York and was debarred from any other means of con
veyance by the condition of the roads at that season of
the year. As he neared the boundary of his plantation,
he found his slaves assembled to bid him farewell.
AN OLD VIEW OF MOUNT VERNON *
When he reached Alexandria, his old friends met him
and escorted him by the ferry to Georgetown, and dined
with him at Wise's tavern. The citizens of that village
presented him with an address as their Fabius who, in
the evening of his days, bids farewell to his peaceful
retreat in order to save his country once more from
1 This sketch in the Library of Congress, Washington, is marked
"Taken Aug. 7, 1798, by Geo. I. Parkyns, Esq." It shows the land
approach, which was really the front of the house.
190 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
confusion and anarchy. A body of citizens escorted
him to Spurrier's tavern, where he was met by a Balti
more corps. Greeted by a discharge of artillery, he
entered that city the following afternoon, and stopped
at Grant's Fountain Inn, where a committee of citizens
waited upon him at six o'clock with an address. Hav
ing arrived too late for a public dinner, he ate supper
with the gentlemen and retired about ten o'clock.1
At half-past five the following morning he rode out of
Baltimore escorted by some citizens, who turned back,
after seven miles, upon his solicitation. The next morn
ing (Sunday) he reached Wilmington, and rested until
Monday, when he was waited upon by the corporation
and many inhabitants to present to him an address.
Before high noon he had reached Gray's Ferry across
the Schuylkill, really the entrance to Philadelphia, and
found awaiting him President MifBin, of the state of
Pennsylvania, Governor St. Clair, of the Northwest
Territory, Speaker Richard Peters, of the Pennsylvania
Assembly, and other officials. The hand railing on each
side of the bridge had been dressed with laurels inter
woven with cedar. A triumphal arch twenty feet high,
surmounted by a liberty cap, a rattlesnake flag, and
eleven colors, adorned each end. On the west arch was
hung a crown of laurel, with a line running to the river
bank by which a boy was to allow the crown to descend
on the head of the hero as he rode beneath.2
1 William Spohn Baker, of Philadelphia, has left a monument to his
industry in collecting incidents concerning Washington. Some of the
quotations in this chapter are to be found in his " Itinerary of General
Washington" and "Washington after the Revolution." Many of them
may he found in Sparks's " Life and Writings of Washington."
2 The Massachusetts Magazine, September, 1792. The illustration on
the opposite page is from the same source.
192 THE MEN IV HO MADE THE NATION
As Washington rode through the streets of Philadel
phia to the magnificent home of his friend, Robert
Morris, continued cheering greeted him. No one could
remember having seen so many people on the streets.
At three o'clock he sat down to a dinner of 250 covers
at the City tavern, where a discharge of artillery greeted
every toast. The following morning he accepted numer
ous addresses and then departed for Trenton, where he
found a troop of horse and a company of infantry,
"compleatly equipped and in full uniform," drawn up on
the Jersey bank of the Delaware. When the procession
arrived at the bridge over Assanpink creek, rendered
memorable by the battle of Trenton, it passed under a
triumphal arch about twenty feet wide, and supported by
thirteen columns. The whole was decorated with laurel,
running vines, and a variety of evergreens. On the
front of the arch was inscribed, " The Defender of the
Mothers will also Protect the Daughters." Above were
the dates of the battles of Trenton and Princeton. On
the summit was a dome in the shape of a sunflower
always pointing to the sun, as emblematic of the hopes
of the people in Washington.
" A numerous train of ladies, leading their daughters,
were assembled at the arch, thus to thank their Defender
and Protector. As the General passed under the arch,
he was addressed in the following SONATA, composed
and set to music for the occasion, by a number of young
ladies dressed in white, decked with wreaths and chap-
lets of flowers, and holding in their hands baskets filled
with flowers :
"WELCOME, mighty Chief! once more,
Welcome to this grateful shore :
194 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Now no mercenary foe
Aims again the fatal blow —
Aims at thee the fatal blow.
" Virgins fair, and iMatrons grave,
Those thy conquering arms did save,
Build for thee triumphal bowers.
Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers —
Strew your Heroes way with flowers" l
Lodging with President Witherspoon at Princeton
College, Washington reached New Brunswick under
escort on Wednesday, lodged at Woodbridge, and on
Thursday morning at nine rode into Elizabethtown.
Here he was met and joined by the committee of Con
gress 2 and several state officials from New York. Pro
ceeding to the Point on Newark bay, he found a barge
prepared for him, rowed by thirteen skilful pilots.
Crossing the bay and passing through the Kill von Kull,
the barge came upon New York bay, to find it alive with
small vessels gayly dressed, which fell into line behind
the official boat. A barge appeared, bearing General
Knox and other generals. At Bedloe's island a large
sloop came up with full sail, in which twenty men and
women sang an ode to the tune of " God save the King."
Other odes were sung from other boats and copies
handed to the guest of honor. A Spanish packet dis
closed the colors of all nations and gave thirteen guns,
with her yards manned.
The shores of New York from the fort to Murray's
1 From the Gazette of the United States, April 29, 1789. The illus
tration on the preceding page is from the Columbian Magazine, May,
1789.
- An excellent description of the reception of the first President in New
York, written by one of these officials, may be found in "The Life of
Elias Boudinot," Vol. II., p. 41.
GEORGE WASHINGTON 195
wharf were filled with people, " heads standing as
thick as ears of corn before the harvest." From the
fort a battery of eighteen-pounders thundered. At the
landing place, the stairs leading up from the ferry were
covered with carpet and the railing with crimson. At
the head stood Governor Clinton, of New York State,
with staff and military. Near at hand the old Revolu
tionary soldiers were drawn up. Through this vast
crowd, Washington was escorted to the Osgood or
Walter Franklin house,1 which had been selected by the
committee for his temporary residence. In the after
noon there was a dinner at Governor Clinton's and in
the evening, despite the rain, a general illumination of
the city.
During the week in which Washington recovered
from the fatigues of the journey, with no ceremonies
-\save being waited upon by the Senate, the House of
Representatives, and the Chamber of Commerce, the
finishing touches were put on Federal Hall, and the city
became so filled with strangers that both public and
private accommodations were exhausted, and tents were
erected on the Bowling Green.
Thursday, the 3Oth day of April, was fair, and the
services held in the different churches at nine o'clock
were well attended. About noon, a procession was
formed composed of a troop of horse, artillery, grena
diers, German grenadiers, the infantry of the brigade, the
sheriff, the committee of the Senate, the President-elect
and suite, the committee of the House, General Knox,
Chancellor Livingston, of the state of New York, and a
multitude of citizens. As the procession neared the new
1 This house stood near what is now Franklin square.
196 THE MEN IV HO MADE THE NATION
Federal Hall, coming from the Franklin house, the mili
tary companies opened ranks and allowed Washington
and the civic contingent to pass into the building and up
stairs into the Senate Chamber, where he was formally
presented to both houses of Congress. Immediately
afterward, accompanied by the committees, he stepped
out into the little balcony overlooking the street below.
FEDERAL HALL, NEW YORK CITY :
Chancellor Livingston administered to him the simple
oath prescribed in the Constitution, while Secretary
Charles Otis, of the Senate, held a Bible on a red plush
cushion. It had been rather hastily brought from a
Masonic lodge near by. As Washington raised the
book to his lips, the chancellor waved his hand to the
1 From an engraving in the New York Historical Society's rooms.
GEORGE WASHINGTON 197
multitude below and cried, " Long live George Washing
ton, President of these United States." To the repeated
shouts, the President bowed, while the artillery made
the building reecho with its salute.
Retiring within the Senate chamber, the President
read his inaugural address, which would constitute
about a column in a modern newspaper. It declared a
conviction of his lack of qualification for the high office,
but promised his best efforts and begged for cooperation
and harmony. One of the senators in a critical way
wrote in his journal: " The great man was agitated
and embarrassed more than ever he was by the levelled
cannon or pointed musket. He trembled and several
times could scarce make out to read, though it must be
supposed he had often read it before. . . . He was
dressed in deep brown, with metal buttons, with an
eagle on them, white stockings, a bag, and sword."1
Since Trinity had not yet been rebuilt after the " great
fire " of 1776, the entire official body next marched out
to St. Paul's Chapel, where service was performed by
Bishop Provost. The President was then escorted to
the Franklin house. In the evening, the streets were so
crowded with citizens to see the fireworks and trans
parent paintings at the Battery that the presidential
party was obliged to abandon the carriages, which
brought it down town, and to walk home on foot. The
inauguration ceremonies were now closed, and the Pres
ident was free to adjust his time to his public and his
private life and to take up matters of state with Con
gress. In the absence of all precedent it is remarkable
1 William Maclay's " Journal " has been printed several times. He was
from Pennsylvania, and later became opposed to the administration.
198 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
that the complicated machinery of the new government
should be started with so little friction.
The adjustment of minor matters caused more annoy
ance than weighty affairs. Following English example,
the Senate was referred to as the " upper house,"1 and
since it sustained an advisory relation with the Presi
dent in treaties and appointments, it assumed an air
of superiority. It excluded visitors from its debates,
refused to publish its proceedings, and ordered the
House when it had passed a measure to send it up by its
chief clerk with numerous obeisances. The more dem
ocratic House declared that if its chief clerk were
required to take a measure to the Senate, then no meas
ure would be received from that body save at the hand
of its secretary. While this very momentous question
was under discussion, a bill passed one branch and
was sent to the other by a messenger, thus establishing
a custom which has held to this day. The first measure
to pass both houses and to become a law by the Presi
dent's signature determined the form of oath which each
officer of the government was required by the Constitu
tion to take. It passed almost two months after Con
gress began.
There had been a president or chairman of the old
Continental Congress; there never had been a Presi
dent of the United States. What t'itle could be invented
worthy of the dignity of his position and yet consistent
with a free government ? At one time the Senate had
practically decided upon " His High Mightiness the
1 Since the Senate occupied a room in the second story of the tem
porary capitol, both in New York and Philadelphia, some wag has sug
gested this fact as a derivation of the term " upper house."
GEORGE WASHINGTON- 199
President of these United States and the Protector of its
Liberties " ; but while the debates were going on, the
President arrived and was addressed as " Mr. President,"
and thus the matter was settled.1
Madison introduced a bill to put a tax on foreign
goods coming into the country, such as wines, tea,
coffee, and sugar, by which some money would be put
into the needy treasury. He preferred this as a more
indirect tax than an excise which Congress could also
levy. The manufacturers of Baltimore had already
sent in a list of various articles made in that city with an
appeal for " that relief which, in your wisdom, may
appear proper." Private interests were thus early at the
door clamoring for legislation. The merchants and
manufacturers of New York followed with a similar
petition. Then came the shipbuilders of Philadelphia
asking a discriminating tonnage for home-built vessels.
The blacksmiths, tailors, and other workmen of Boston
petitioned for the free entry of raw materials and the
protection of home manufacture by such an impost as
would exclude importations of these goods.2 The mem
bers rapidly took sides with the interests they repre
sented and soon both houses were engaged in contests
over duties on fish, hemp, salt, iron, nails, paper, coal, etc.
So rapidly did this revenue measure assume a protec-
1 This apparently important question caused much discussion in the
newspapers. One stanza ran :
" Fame stretched her wings and with the trumpet blew,
'Great Washington is near; what praise is due?
What title shall he have?' She paused, and said:
'Not one. His name alone strikes every title dead.' "
2 These petitions may be found in the " American State Papers.
Finance," Vol. I.
200 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION"
tive aspect that the title of the completed bill reads,
" An act for the encouragement and protection of man
ufactures." In addition to this revenue measure, this
extra session of the new Congress passed laws estab
lishing the Departments of State, War, and Treasury,
organized the revenue service, and proposed twelve
amendments to the Constitution, ten of which were
eventually ratified by the required three-fourths of the
states. It was six months in session and passed twenty-
seven acts and five joint resolutions.
The President took no part in the initiation of these
legislative measures. He rode down frequently to the
Federal Hall, being announced by the doorkeeper
when he appeared at either house, and sitting in the
seat of the presiding officer temporarily vacated for
him. The relation of the executive to the legislative
branch of the government was being determined day
by day. One day the President appeared in the Senate
with Knox, Secretary of War, to talk over an Indian
treaty, but the whole matter was referred to a com
mittee. The President started up and exclaimed, "This
defeats every purpose of my coming here," and soon
after withdrew. The relations of the two branches
were not to be patterned after Great Britain.
Precedents were forming for the social as well as the
official life of the new chief magistrate. Tuesday after
noon of each week, from three to four o'clock, calls of
courtesy would be received, and on Friday evenings a
kind of social levee would be held. On Thursdays
state dinners were to be given. The President, it was
understood, was not bound to return calls. With these
stated functions and the special occasions, the first days
GEORGE WASHINGTON 2OI
of the President in New York were busy ones. He
attended the commencement exercises of Columbia Col
lege ; the ball of the Dancing Assembly, where he
danced with several ladies ; the theatre, where he saw
the " School for Scandal" and a farce called " Old
Soldier." Soon after, the French minister gave a ball
at which the men in one set of cotillon dancers were
dressed in the French uniform and those in another in
the old continental blue and buff. The ladies wore
ribbons of corresponding colors. An elaborate system
of visits and addresses was carried on with each house
of Congress. The new minister from the Netherlands
presented his credentials.
After one month of this routine, Washington set off
one Wednesday morning in a barge for Elizabethtown
to meet Mrs. Washington. On her journey, she had
lodged in Philadelphia with Mrs. Robert Morris and
was now accompanied by that lady, whose husband was
in New York as a senator from Pennsylvania. At
Elizabethtown, the united company embarked on a
barge, as Washington had done a month before, and
was rowed by thirteen pilots in white uniforms across
the bay to Peck's slip, where a crowd of people awaited
a view of " Lady Washington." She was soon at home
in the Franklin house. According to the newspapers,
" the principal ladies of the city have, with the earliest
attention and respect, paid their devoirs to the amiable
consort of our beloved President, viz. the Lady of His
Excellency the Governor, Lady Sterling, Lady Mary
Watts, Lady Kitty Duer, La Marchioness de Brehan,
the Ladies of the Most Hon. Mr. Langdon, and the
Most Hon. Mr. Dalton, the Mayoress, Mrs. Livingston
202 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
of Clermont, Mrs. Chancellor Livingston, the Miss Liv
ingstons, Lady Temple, Madam de la Forest, Mrs. Mont
gomery, Mrs. Knox, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Gerry, Mrs.
Edgar, Mrs. M'Comb, Mrs. Lynch, Mrs. Houston, Mrs.
Griffin, Mrs. Provost, the Miss Bayards, and a great
number of other respectable characters." 1
In a few days a dinner was given en famille to a few
prominent officials, when a boiled leg of mutton was
served according to Washington's custom of having but
one dish. A glass of wine followed. On these occa
sions the silver service was massive, being valued at
thirty thousand dollars, but the menu was very simple.
On a great occasion it included soup, fish roasted and
boiled, meats, gammon, fowls, etc. For dessert, "apple-
pies, puddings, etc. ; then iced creams, jellies, etc. ; then
water-melon, musk-melons, apples, peaches, nuts." The
middle of the table was garnished with small images
and artificial flowers. On such occasions there was a
heavy solemnity. After the cloth had been removed,
the President filled his glass and drank the health by
name of each one present. All imitated him. Then
the ladies withdrew, and the men attempted some con
versation. At one time the President kept a nut-pick
when the cloth was taken away, but used it to drum on
the edge of the table. Soon all went upstairs to drink
coffee. Becoming President could not make a social
star out of the reserved Washington.
As rapidly as Congress created the executive depart
ments, the President called to their heads the most able
men. Hamilton, his former aide, became the Secretary
1 In the growth of democracy in America, we have sloughed off much
of this class tendency inherited from the old world. „
GEORGE WASHINGTON
203
of the Treasury ; Knox, who had been Secretary of
War under the Articles of Confederation, was continued
in that office. Randolph, of Virginia, was made Attor
ney-general, and Osgood, of Massachusetts, Postmaster-
general, although the latter office was not considered of
cabinet rank for several years to come. Jay continued as
Secretary of Foreign Affairs, until the following March,
when Jefferson, recently returned from three years' ser
vice as minister to France, became the Secretary of State,
as the department was thenceforth called. Jay, who had
been given a choice of any office by the President, asked
to be made head of the Supreme Court when that body
should be created.
After consulting his cabinet upon the propriety of
making a journey into New England, " for the purpose
of acquiring a knowledge of the country and determin
ing the temper and disposition of the inhabitants toward
the new government," the President set out about the
middle of October, Hamilton, Knox, and Jay accom
panying him a few miles out of the city. His party was
composed of himself, one aide, Colonel Jackson, and
Secretary Lear, together with six servants. He passed
through various cities to Hartford, being received with
many honors on the way. Thence he went by Worces
ter to Cambridge, where he was met by the militia, given
a salute from two land batteries and from the French
squadron in the harbor, while the bells of Boston were
rung. As he entered that city with Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor Samuel Adams, he found the workingmen drawn
up under appropriate banners to welcome him. In front
of the State House was an arch across the street bear
ing the inscription " To the Man who unites all hearts "
204 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
and "To Columbia's favorite son." Side panels com
memorated the relief of Boston by Washington in 1776.
Entering the State House and appearing upon a balcony
supported by thirteen pillars, the President was greeted
by a vast concourse of people in the street below. An
ode was sung by a choir stationed on the arch, and the
trades procession passed in review.1
John Hancock, governor of Massachusetts, had sent
forward a messenger requesting Washington to dine
with him, but now sent word that he was too ill to call
on the guest. Washington was resolved to stand strictly
on his dignity as President and therefore dined at his
lodgings at the "Widow Ingersoll's, which is a very
decent and good house." The following day being Sun
day, the President, according to his custom on this jour
ney, attended the Episcopal church in the morning and
the Congregational church in the afternoon. Between
the two meetings, Governor Hancock appeared with the
statement that "he was still indisposed; but as it had
been suggested that he expected to receive the visit from
the President which he knew was improper, he had re
solved at all haz'ds to pay his Compliments to-day." So
ended probably the first contest between state rights
and the federal Union.
Four days were spent in Boston in receiving and reply
ing to addresses, visiting the French fleet, and in dining
and receiving the public. The President next went
through Salem and Newburyport to Portsmouth, New
Hampshire. He was surprised at the different recep
tions to see so many ladies with black hair, "in greater
1 The illustration on the opposite page of the arch in front of the State
House is taken from the Massachusetts Magazine, January, 1790.
206 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
proportion and blacker than are usually seen in the
Southern states." In Portsmouth harbor he fished for
cod and caught two. Turning back at Portsmouth, he
visited Lexington battlefield, skirted Boston, and hurried
through Connecticut, being welcomed at New York with
a federal salute after an absence of four weeks. He had
studiously avoided entering the state of Rhode Island
because it had not yet come into the Union by ratifying
the Constitution. When that action was taken the fol
lowing summer, the President made a special tour of the
state.1
The six weeks ensuing before the first of January
were spent in receptions, attending the theatre and danc
ing assemblies, sitting to painters and sculptors, and in
routine executive business. The chief event was the
first public Thanksgiving Day by order of the President's
proclamation, at the request of Congress made before
adjournment. The last Thursday in November was se
lected, and the President attended services at St. Paul's,
although the weather was stormy and the congregation
small. New Year's Day brought a large official recep
tion at the President's house. A week later the first
regular session of the first Congress opened with a visit
from the President. He rode down to the Federal Hall
in his coach, preceded by Humphreys and Jackson of
his staff upon white horses and in full uniform, and fol
lowed by Secretaries Lear and Nelson in a chariot, and
the members of his cabinet each in a carriage. There
was a long ceremony of bowing and making addresses
1 No coercion was used toward Rhode Island, but it was understood that
the relief from tonnage duties, which had been granted vessels of that st?te
by Congress, woul.l not be continued much longer.
GEORGE WASHINGTON 2O/
and replies. In the evening the President received at
home, clad in a new suit, the cloth and buttons for which
he had ordered at Hartford on his eastern journey. Mem
ories of the Revolutionary " associations " had not en
tirely passed away. In February, the President's family
left the Franklin house and occupied the Macomb house
on Broadway below Trinity, much nearer to the Federal
Hall. This was leased for one year. In March, the re
built Trinity was ready for consecration. Washington
and his family attended, sitting in the Presidential pew,
which was richly ornamented and covered with a canopy.
By the middle of August, Congress was ready to
adjourn, after a busy and profitable session. It had
listened to the reports on the finances which it had
ordered Secretary Hamilton to prepare, and had adopted
his suggestion that all the debts of the states and of the
Union be assumed and paid by the United States. In
order to get the debts of the states included, Hamilton
had made a bargain with Jefferson that the national
capital should be located eventually on the banks of
the Potomac, where every Virginian had long hoped it
would be. The votes of the Pennsylvania members were
necessary to get this agreement through Congress, and
the leaders had to allow the capital to stop ten years in
Philadelphia on its road south. This satisfied the lodg
ing-house keepers of that city and gave them some
chance of keeping the capital permanently.1
The New York people, who had spent so much money
on the Federal Hall and had begun a fine President's
1 This struggle for the seat of government had continued for many
years, and resembled closely a fight for spoils. Philadelphia, Harrisburg,
Morristown, and Annapolis were considered at different times.
/*?!
UNIVERSITY
208 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
mansion, protested vigorously; but they had to abide
by the decision, and prepared to bid farewell to the
departing President, who would return to Philadelphia
instead of New York for the next session. It was
many years before the growing interests of the country
demanded the permanent residence of the President at
the seat of government between sessions of Congress.
According to the newspapers, Washington " took
opportunity to express his great reluctance at leaving
the city and those who had taken so much pains to treat
him, not only with dignified respect, but with reverence
and esteem, as the Father and Patron of the United
States. Mrs. Washington also seemed hurt at the idea
of bidding adieu to these hospitable shores." A proces
sion composed of Governor Clinton and staff, the cabi
net, Chief Justice Jay, the city corporation, clergy and
citizens, escorted the President and Mrs. Washington to
the wharf, where the lines opened and the distinguished
couple passed through to a barge, rowed by thirteen
men in white jackets and black caps, which soon landed
them at Powles Hook (now Jersey City). The party
also included the two grandchildren of Mrs. Washington,
Major Jackson, Secretary Nelson, two maids, four white
and four black servants, and sixteen horses. They
remained four days in Philadelphia, Mrs. Washington
being indisposed. The President dined with several
companies and attended a Fete Chamfetre and banquet
at Gray's pleasure gardens on the Schuylkill. At Balti
more another reception awaited them, and at George
town the Potomac company was assembled to consult
with Washington about their work. The entire journey
had been made in twelve days.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
209
Before the last of November, Washington was back
in Philadelphia to attend the second session of the first
Congress. The city, not to be outdone by New York,
had provided him a large double house on Market street,
owned by Robert
Morris.1 Every
Tuesday afternoon,
a reception was
held in the dining
room, from which
the chairs were re
moved. The Presi
dent was
" clad in black vel
vet ; his hair in full
THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA
dress, powdered and
gathered behind in a large silk bag ; yellow gloves on his
hands ; holding a cocked hat with a cockade in it, and the
edges adorned with a black feather about an inch deep. He
wore knee and shoe buckles ; and a long sword with a wrought
and polished steel hilt, which appeared at his left hip ; the
coat worn over the sword, so that the hilt, and the part below
the coat behind, were in view. The scabbard was of white
polished leather. He stood always in front of the fireplace
with his face towards the door of entrance. ... He received
his visitors with a dignified bow, while his hands were so dis
posed of as to indicate that the salutation was not to be accom
panied with shaking hands. This ceremony never occurred in
i Philadelphia also began the erection of a permanent residence for
the President with the hope of retaining the seat of government, ^The
building, a cut of which is shown above, was never occupied by Wash
ington, since the furnishing would probably be at his expense. It was
afterward used by the University of Pennsylvania.
210 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
these visits, even with his most near friends, that no distinc
tions might be made." 1
The doors were opened at three and were closed fif
teen minutes later. The President then made a tour
of the room, speaking personally to every guest. Return
ing to his place, he was bidden adieu by each one, and
the function was ended. The alarm of those who feared
a monarchy was much increased by these receptions. A
senator pronounced them "a feature.of royalty, certainly
anti-republican. This certainly escapes nobody. The
royalists glory in it as a point gained. The republicans
are borne down by fashion and a fear of being charged
with a want of respect to General Washington. If there
is treason in the wish, I retract it, but would to God this
same Washington were in heaven!"2 Thornton, later
secretary of the British legation, described the President
as affecting state and not a little flattered because the
British minister always wore full dress in calling upon
him. He also noted that he travelled in a " kingly "
style. " On his last journey he foundered five horses, and
I am informed that his secretaries are not admitted into
his carriage, but stand with their horse's bridles in their
hands till he is seated, and then mount and ride before
his carriage." Another English visitor wrote home that
" he has very few who are on terms of intimate and
unreserved friendship ; and what is worse he is less
beloved in his own State (Virginia) than in any part of
the United States."
In truth, political parties were beginning to arise along
this cleavage of the old aristocracy and the new democ-
1 From Sullivan's " Public Men of the Revolution," page 120.
2 Maclay, of Pennsylvania, in his "Journal."
GEORGE WASHINGTON 211
racy. The country was too new to institute issues,
and therefore reflected the old-world struggle between
aristocratic England and the new democratic France.
Washington's descent from a Yorkshire great grand
father, his environment as one of the wealthiest men in
the United States, and his naturally reserved tempera
ment would have arrayed him on the side of England,
even if Hamilton, born in the British West Indies and
a cool calculator of men, had not urged that side upon
him. On the contrary, Jefferson, of Welsh descent, never
financially prosperous, a philosopher who believed in the
innate goodness of man and had hopes for his future,
would have been on the side of France even if he had
not caught the fever of the Revolution while serving as
minister to that country. Thus political parties, bound
to arise among thinking men, found leaders in the Presi
dent's cabinet, through the antipodal natures of two men.
Washington, unwilling to engage the young re
public in another war, issued a proclamation of neu
trality between the warring England and France, and
the storm broke forth. He was accused of ingratitude
to the country which had aided America in the Revolu
tionary struggle ; of yielding to the influence of the
British monarchy ; of assuming by royal edict the
power of declaring war or peace which' belonged to
Congress. He restrained his Virginia temper under
these vicious attacks from the French sympathizing
papers of Philadelphia, but to Henry Lee he wrote :
"For the result, as it respects myself, I care not; for I
have a consolation within no earthly efforts can deprive
me of, and that is that neither ambitious nor interested
motives have influenced my conduct. The arrows of
212 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
malevolence, therefore, however barbed and well-pointed,
can never reach the most vulnerable part of me ; though,
whilst I am up as a mark, they will be continually
aimed."
It was too late to think of withdrawing, for, yielding
to the manifestations of approval of the people in a
southern trip which extended as far as Georgia, and
supported by the unanimous opinion of his cabinet,
Washington had accepted a second term and had again
received every electoral vote. His enforced restraint
of the French minister to America, " Citizen" Genet,
brought out a scurrilous broadside called the funeral of
King Washington, where the President was pictured on
a guillotine. Jefferson said that at a subsequent' cabinet
meeting where this cartoon was very injudiciously intro
duced by the Secretary of War, the President got into a
passion and declared " that he had never repented but
once having taken a second term and that was every
moment since ; that he had rather be in his grave than
in his present position ; that he had rather be on his
farm than to made Emperor of the world ; and yet they
were charging him with wanting to be a King."
In 1795 Jay, who had been appointed special envoy
to England, brought back a treaty with that country,
which furnished to the French sympathizers a further
proof of what they called the English bias of the aristo
cratic President. They declared that he had been cap
tured by British gold ; that he was a hired employee of
the king of England ; and pictured the oblivion which
awaited him and his confidential adviser, Hamilton.
" Along with the awful sentence of execration which
awaits that ambitious Catiline, who has been the princi-
GEORGE WASHINGTON'
213
pal adviser and chief promoter of all your measures, the
name of Washington will descend with him to oblivion."
" Stript of the mantle of infallibility . . . you will ap
pear before them a frail mortal, whose passions and
weaknesses are like those of other men. Your voice
may have been heard when it called to virtue and glory,
but it will be lost in the tempest of popular fury when
ever it shall speak the language of lawless ambition."
When the President was at the capital, Philadelphia,
the opposition papers compared him with Caesar Augus
tus, Cromwell, George III., Louis XVI., Lafayette, the
Duke of Richmond, and Lord North ; when he made a
temporary visit to Mount Vernon they sneered that "We,
the people, are now on a tour with the Constitution."
Suspicion attended the regular celebration of the
President's birthday by artillery salutes, parades, and
, -
Tjyfi.
7VM i'RKS//>KXT'A' U/HTH Mf/r.
,'y/ / / ,/ // ^^^^ '^
j
,?,•/>,! {'„,„//,.„„. '"" '/>•.'/• //,////,.,-,.
i
calls, with a ball in the evening by the Dancing Assem
bly. Many thought the ceremonials attending the open
ing and closing of sessions of Congress, which were
borrowed from England, too aristocratic for a republic.
214 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Others criticised the President for attending the South-
wark theatre or Rickett's circus, especially since " The
President's March " had been composed to be played on
such occasions, and the audience was likely to applaud
as the President and suite entered his decorated box.
Much of the President's official and even private life
was borrowed from Europe or from the royal colonial
governors. It was offensive only to those persons
who mistook the American political Revolution for a
social revolution. There was never any attempt to
level social distinctions nor any promise to secure social
happiness.
As the days went quietly by and the people returned
to public order and a proper recognition of their civic
duties, the avenues of trade were opened, commercial
friction ceased under national control, and for the first
time Fortune smiled on the young nation. Its first
President had successfully avoided being drawn into the
foreign wars and had established for the United States
that unique position she was to occupy for almost one
hundred years — a neutral nation. When the presiden
tial machinery had been successfully tried a third time,
it quieted the voices of those who feared a return to
monarchy. The assured success of the new Constitu
tion may be dated from this time. A permanent form
of Union had been created ; it had begun through its
chief representative to gain the affections of the people ;
it had yet to gain sufficient power from its creators and
its later rivals — the states.
Nevertheless, political abuse followed Washington to
the end of his administration. Having clearly demon
strated to the people in a " Farewell Address " his
GEORGE WASHINGTON 21$
determination to retire, and satisfied with the election of
Vice-President John Adams as his successor, he received
numerous addresses during the closing days, and gave a
farewell dinner at which he brought tears to many eyes
by drinking for the last time as a public man the health
of his guests. On Saturday, March 4, 1797, he
attended the hall of the House of Representatives on
the corner of Sixth and Chestnut streets, to see his suc
cessor take the oath of office. When the crowd dis
persed, so many followed the ex-President that the new
President seemed by contrast to walk home unattended.
Some who thus accompanied him may have wished
to rebuke an editorial in the Philadelphia Aurora of
that day beginning, " Lord, now lettest thou thy ser
vant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salva
tion." It suggested the appropriateness of this text
because " the man who is the source of all the misfor
tunes of our country is this day reduced to a level with
his fellow-citizens." "When a retrospect is taken of
the WASHINGTON administration for eight years, it is the
subject of the greatest astonishment that a single indi
vidual should have cankered the principles of republi
canism in an enlightened people just emerged from the
gulph of despotism, and should have carried his designs
against the public safety so far, as to put in jeopardy
its very existence."
In the New York Minerva, Noah Webster insisted that
the writer of that article could not pass through the
eastern states without at least one coat of tar and feath
ers ; and one impetuous defender of the President pub
licly whipped the editor for printing the libel. A few
weeks later, far removed from such abuse, the serene
2l6 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Washington could write from Mount Vernon, " To make
and sell a little flour annually, to repair houses (going
fast to ruin), to
never want Biographers, Eulogists 0
Hifcorians.
United States, )
Dec. 22, 1799. f
JOHN" ADAMS.
WASHINGTON ENTOMBED.
George Town, Dec. 20.
On Wednesday- laft, the mortal part of
WASHINGTON the Great— the FatheH
of his Country and the Friend of man, w;
configned to the tomb, with solemn honor
and funeral pomp.
A multitude of persons affembled, from]
many miles round, at Mount Vernon, tin
choice abode and laft residence of the il<
luftrious chief. There were the groves-
the spacious avenues, the beautiful an<
sublime scenes, the noble manfion— 'but
alas! the auguft inhabitant was now no]
more. That great, soul .was gone. Hi
mortal part was there indeed ; but ah ! lr,>\\
build one for
the security of
my papers of a
public nature,
and to amuse
myself in agri-
cult u ral arid
rural pursuits,
will constitute
employment
for the few
years I have
to remain on
this terrestial
globe."
In writing
these lines,
Washington lit
tle thought that
two years more would bring that fatal ride in the cold
rain, the sad result of which stirred to its depths the
national heart which he had done so much to create.
Appropriate exercises were held in the chief cities and
in many villages. According to custom, a funeral cor
tege passed through the streets in Philadelphia1 and
New York, although the remains of the first President
were laid away within the grounds of his Mount Vernon.
1 The illustration of the funeral procession is from Janson's " Stranger in
America." The newspaper clipping is from the Ulster County, N.Y., Gazette.
CHAPTER VII
THOMAS JEFFERSON, THE EXPONENT OF DEMOCRACY
"They [the pieces written by Hampden] contain the true
principles of the revolution of 1800, for that was as real a revo
lution in the principles of our government as that of 1776 was
in its form ; not effected indeed by the sword as that, but by
the rational and peaceable instrument of reform, the suffrage of
the people." — JEFFERSON TO JUDGE SPENCER ROAN, 1819.
IT is impossible to say when the conviction that a
conflict must ensue between the state and general gov
ernments first became fixed. During the contest be
tween the large and the small states in the Philadelphia
Convention, a few delegates held " private meetings to
protect and preserve, if possible, the existence and
essential rights of all the states and the liberty and
freedom of their citizens." In the New York state
convention, Hamilton pronounced such an idea chi
merical, but Lansing replied : " I am, however, per
suaded that an hostility will exist between them. This
was a received opinion in the late convention at Phila
delphia." In the Virginia state convention, Patrick
Henry predicted the overthrow of state supremacy be
cause the new Constitution destroyed the Confederacy.
The attorney-general of Massachusetts found a danger
ous intention in " the consolidation of the Union," as
advocated in the letter of the Philadelphia Convention,
218
THOMAS JEFFERSON
210
which accompanied the
finished document to the
Congress.
Several of the states, in
ratifying the Constitution,
had expressly confined the
central agency to the pow
ers given it in that agree
ment and had reserved
the right to withdraw from
the Union if the central
government should exceed
that authority. How ne
cessity gradually made
impossible the latter pro
vision is to be told in the
later pages. The former
stipulation was impossible
from the first. The grow
ing oak cannot be bound
by bands covering it from
base to crown.
Perhaps the first depar
ture from a rigid observ
ance of the powers actually
given it, was when the
United States created a
bank as advocated by
Hamilton. Search as one
would, the word " bank "
did not appear in the Con
stitution. Hence the sum-
I
220 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
ming up or concluding provision "to make all laws
which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into
execution the foregoing powers " was declared elastic
enough to cover the bank. It has done service many
times since, and the actions under it sanctioned as
" implied " powers in contradistinction to the expressed
powers.
The masses were not interested in the bank question,
but a subsequent action of the central government
affecting citizenship attracted more attention, arrayed
thinking men, and clearly defined the attitude of parties
on this subject. Certain of the editors who attacked
the administration as described in the preceding chap
ter were men who had recently come from foreign
countries.1 Goaded by their assaults, the Federalists in
1798 raised the period of residence required for citizen
ship to fourteen years, gave power to President Adams
to banish dangerous aliens, and provided fine and im
prisonment for any one writing or printing " any false
scandalous and malicious writings " upon the govern
ment or its higher officers. The Constitution had left
the question of citizenship to the states. Here was
plainly an infringement on their rights. Where could
an agency be found to protect the citizens of the states
against these assaults of the Union ? Later, Jefferson
said: "The leading republicans2 in Congress found
themselves of no use there, browbeaten as they were by
1 Party spirit, just arising, produced an encounter in the House of
Representatives, an old cartoon of which is shown herewith.
2 Those who opposed the Federalist or aristocratic centralizing party
were called Republicans by their great leader, Jefferson. He objected to
using the word " Democratic," borrowed from the Democratic clubs of
France. Some modern writers call the party the Democratic-Republican.
222 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
a bold overwhelming majority. They concluded to re
tire from that field, take a stand in their state legisla
tures, and endeavor there to arrest their progress. The
Alien and Sedition laws furnished the particular occa
sion." Securing the cooperation of Madison, Jefferson ar
ranged to have the legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky
protest against this assumption of power and violation
of the contract between the states and the Union.1
Regardless of these legislative protests and of the
petitions which poured into the ensuing Congress for
the repeal of these acts, the Federalists in the rage for
war with France raised the regular army to thirteen
thousand men2 and prepared further to develop "the
rising navy of America." It was planned to add six
frigates, twelve sloops, and six small vessels to the Con
stellation, the Constitution, the President, and the
United States, and to raise the marine corps to nine
hundred. President Adams was authorized to buy
private vessels or those built by subscriptions. For
1 Since the legislatures of the states voiced the sentiments of the people,
it was customary for them to send memorials to Congress. Jefferson
framed the protest adopted by Kentucky, and Madison that by Virginia.
They declared that the Union was a compact created by the states without
a central judge, and each party must be its own judge; that in the Alien
and Sedition acts the Union had surpassed its powers, and that the states
were in duty bound to interpose. The following year (1799), the Kentucky
legislature went much farther, and declared the right of the state to make
null and void any unconstitutional act of the Union. Only a few states
responded to these appeals, and these generally unfavorably.
'2 Washington, who was called to the head of the provisional army,
was hailed in a ballad of the day :
" But hark ! the invading f >e alarms,
Responsive cannons rattle;
And Washington again in arms
Directs the storm of battle."
THOMAS JEFFERS
these unusual expenditures, he was permitted to borrow
five million dollars, two millions of which were to be
repaid from the proceeds of a direct tax levied on land,
dwellings, and slaves.
The war spirit aroused by the treatment of the
American envoys in France1 seemed to sustain these
expenditures. " Millions for defence, not one cent for
tribute" furnished enough sentiment; but when the
practical payment of the taxes began, opposition was
manifest among the common people. One more score
was laid up against the aristocrats who had always been
opposed to France. To Jefferson the protests of the
people were an assurance that no set of men would ever
be allowed to turn the government under the Constitu
tion far from its real intent without incurring their dis
pleasure and a removal from power. To an old friend
he wrote: "The Spirit of 1776 is not dead. It is only
slumbering. The body of the American people is sub
stantially republican." 2 He tried to rally public senti
ment by gentle means. He sent pamphlets containing
criticisms on the Federalist measures to his friends to
distribute, but not to "sound men." "It is the sick
who need the medicine, and not the well. Do not let
my name appear in the matter." He was Vice-President
at this time. The lawyers in North Carolina he called
1 Marshall, Pinckney, and Gerry had been sent over to adjust the
claims of the United States merchants because of French depredations on
our commerce, and to secure a cessation of the practice. The hints they
received that a gift must precede negotiations were made public when
they published their correspondence, with the substitution of the letters
X, Y, and Z for the names of the writers. A sudden rage against France
followed.
2 The quotations from Jefferson in this chapter are taken from Ford's
"Jefferson's Works," in ten volumes.
224 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
"Tories." Therefore, "The medicine for that state
must be mild & secretly administered." He had
prophesied, " If we can keep quiet, therefore, the tide
now turning will take a steady & proper direction."
In 1799, he could say of New York, "The public
opinion in this state is rapidly coming round" and "a
wonderful and rapid change is taking place in Penn
sylvania, Jersey, & N. York. Congress is daily plied
with petitions against the alien & sedition laws &
standing armies."
As the election of 1800 came on, and the Federalists
pushed through their final place-making scheme of form
ing a set of circuit courts, Jefferson wrote to a corre
spondent that perhaps modesty ought to forbid him
saying anything on the election question ; and that his
private gratifications would be served by being left at
home. " If anything supersedes this propensity, it is
merely the desire to see this government brought -back
to its republican principles." When a sufficient number
of electors had been chosen to insure the defeat of
President Adams and the Federalists, Jefferson looked
upon it not as a personal victory, nor yet as a victory
for a party, but as the revolt of the people, the return to
first principles, and the rescue of the country. In ask
ing Livingston to accept a cabinet position, he said :
" Come forward then, my dear Sir, and give us the aid
of your talents & the weight of your character towards
the new establishment of republicanism : I say its new
establishment ; for hitherto we have only seen it's
travestie."
This cabinet making received a rude shock, as the
completion of the choice of electors drew near, by the
THOMAS JEFFERSON 2 2 5
fear that there would be no election. According to
the Constitution, each elector placed two names upon
his ballot, and the name receiving the highest number
was to be President and the next Vice-President.
Seventy-three electors had written " Thomas Jefferson "
and " Aaron Burr " on their ballots. Sixty-five had
written "John Adams " and sixty-four of these had also
written " Charles Pinckney." Being tied, neither Jeffer
son nor Burr was elected President. The framers of the
Constitution, although perhaps not foreseeing this very
contingency, had provided for a possible hitch in the
electoral machinery by sending contested elections to
the House of Representatives for settlement.1 When
some of the Federalist members, after thirty-five bal
lots cast during the week, came over and voted for
Jefferson against Burr, thus making him President, he
saw in the action " a declaration of war on the part of
this band." But he thought the patriotic part of the
Federalists had been separated from their quondam
leaders and were now "in a state of mind to be con
solidated with us if no intemperate measures on our
part revolt them again." " If we can once more get
social intercourse restored to it's pristine harmony, I
shall believe we have not lived in vain."
Jefferson was right in believing that a revolt of the
people against ill-advised legislation had placed him in
the presidential chair. It was the first political revolu
tion ; the first revolt of the lower social orders against
the upper ; of the governed against the governing class ;
of the " plain people" against the "well-born." It is
true that Jefferson was a college-bred man and a large
1 According to the Constitution, Art. II., Sec. I., 3.
226
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
SOLEMN ADDRESS.
T O
CHRISTIANS & PATRIOTS,
UPON THE
APPROACHING ELECTION
Prefident of the United States:
IN ANSWER TO A PAMPHLET, ENTITLED,
Serious Confederations," &c.
NEW-YORK ;
PRINTED BY DAVID DENNISTON.
1800.
CAMPAIGN DOCUMENT OF 1800
land-holder ; that the democracy which supported him
contained many of the aristocratic tendency ; but it
was as nearly a democracy as the limited suffrage and
„._ . the small emi
gration from
Europe had
made possible
up to that time.
However, Jef
ferson was mis
led in thinking
that the entire
people had de
serted their
leaders and
parties were at
an end. In
deed, could he
have journeyed
into New Eng
land, the home
of Federalism,
he would have
found great
alarm over his
election.
The Feder
alists1 had
printed pamphlet after pamphlet before the election,
1 One of these pamphlets bore the title, " Serious Considerations on the
Election of a President." Another, "The Voice of Warning to Christians
on the Ensuing Election of a President of the United States."
THOMAS JEFFERSON 227
-pointing out that in his writings Jefferson had declared
that the mountains were formed first, and the rivers had
then burst through them ; whereas, the Scriptures said
clearly that the waters had been gathered in one place,
and the dry land had appeared. They also quoted his
doubts about the Deluge, since all the atmospheric
waters would cover the earth only to a depth of fifty-
two feet, and his saying that black men must have
always been black and could not have been created in
the image of God. He also had cast discredit on mis
sionary effort by saying that it did him no injury for his
neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no gods ; that
it neither broke his leg nor picked his pocket. Once
when approached for a contribution, he had said that a
broken church building was good enough for Him that
was born in a manger. At another time he had par
taken of a public dinner on Sunday.
Notwithstanding these warnings, the foolish people
had made him their President. They would have for
their ruler a man who believed that the only chosen
people on earth were those who labored in the earth ;
a philosopher who had invented a whirligig chair; a
scientist who had written a foolish account of a monster
which he called a mammoth ; a man of whom a for
eigner truly said that a good mechanical genius had
been spoiled by making a Vice-President. The well-
balanced administrations of Washington and Adams
were to be exchanged for what would be a series of
experiments under this " philosopher." His theories of
government were well suited, it was declared, for some
island savages, but not for civilized people. Rumors
were not lacking that he would declare in his inaugural
228 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
address a confiscation of property according to the ex
ample of his admired French Revolutionists. The
memory of confiscated Tory estates was too recent in
America to brand such rumors as idle tales.
President Adams, cut off with one term, explained
his defeat by saying that "a group of foreign liars,
encouraged by a few ambitious native gentlemen, have
discomfited the education, the talents, the virtues, and
the property of the country." A Connecticut news
paper deplored the rise of democracy : " The Rulers
are Servants of the People, is one of the favorite cant
ing doctrines of modern times. The true source of
much mischief in the world — it is putting those into
power who ought to be in servitude. ' Set a beggar on
horseback and he will ride to the Devil ' says the prov
erb."
Nor did the " well-born " Federalists refrain from
mocking the new rulers. When a poet of the people
wrote new words to the Federalist "Adams and Lib
erty " song containing such lines as,
" Let all true Americans join heart and hand
And witness this day their heart-felt satisfaction,"
a shout of ridicule went up from the Federalist critics.
In derision they composed a new " Liberty song" for
these yearners after liberty and reason, whose poets
played havoc with metre and rhyme :
" Liberty's friends thus all learn to amalgamate,
Freedom's volcanic explosion prepares itself;
Despots shall bow to the fasces of Liberty,
Reason and Philosophy, 'fiddledum, diddledurn.1
Peace and Fraternity, higgledy, piggledy,
Higgledy, piggledy, < fiddledum, diddledum.' "
THOMAS JEFFERSON 229
Under such circumstances, the inauguration and es
pecially the inaugural address were awaited with no
little anxiety. The new city of Washington, buried in
the woods, afforded little opportunity for ceremonies,
yet sufficient for the new President, who wished to de
monstrate to the people by contrast how far republican
simplicity had been changed into aristocratic ostentation.
Four years before he had insisted that the news of his
election as Vice-President should not be carried to him
by gentlemen of distinction, but "indorsed to the post
master at Charlottesville " to be delivered at Monticello.
" In addition to its usual populace," according to the
newspapers, the " city " of Washington on the 4th of
March, 1801, contained "a large body of citizens from
adjacent districts." The Washington artillery ushered
in the clay with a salute. " At ten o'clock the Alex
andria company of infantry, attended by the artillery,
paraded in front of the President's lodgings." At eleven
o'clock, Burr took the oath as Vice-President before the
assembled Senate. Soon after the President-elect, "at
tended by a number of his fellow-citizens, among whom
were many members of Congress, repaired to the capitol.
His dress was, as usual, that of a plain citizen without
any distinctive badge of office." There was a discharge
of artillery as he entered the building and another as
he left it. Having entered the Senate chamber, Burr
arose, and Jefferson occupied his seat. " After a few
moments of silence," Jefferson arose and read his inau
gural address. Reseating himself for " a short period,"
he then walked to the secretary's desk and took the
oath of office. At night there was a " pretty general
illumination."
230 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Compared with the inaugurations of Washington and
Adams, these exercises were simple ; but they occurred
under different environment. The woods surrounding
the new capital did not offer as much possibility for
display as did New York or Philadelphia. The story,
widely circulated at the time, that Jefferson rode unat
tended to the capital and tied his horse to a tree near
the spring was based to some extent on this contrast,
but to a greater degree upon the desire to magnify
democratic simplicity. The growth of party comity
and the subsidence of partisan alarm is illustrated by
comparing this inauguration with those of later times,
when the incoming and outgoing presidents, although
party enemies, occupy the same carnage in the pro
cession. President Adams, with one term to two of
Washington, could not endure the ordeal and left the
capital at four o'clock on the inauguration morning,
having sent Mrs. Adams on a few days before.
The death of a son a few weeks before, and a scurril
ous letter written by an enemy on the last day of his
administration, combined to make his farewell to official
life most unpleasant to remember. Having " trotted the
Bogs," to use his own expression, five hundred miles in
fourteen days, he reached his home and became "the
farmer of Stony field." 1
The inaugural address gave much comfort to the
Federalists ; it gave little hope to the extreme Republi
cans. Instead of declaring a proscription of property,
it insisted that the will of the majority must prevail, but
must be rightful and reasonable, and that the minority
should possess their equal rights which the laws must
1 "The Works of John Adams," Vol. XL, p. 364.
\
THOMAS JEFFERSON
231
SPEECH
OF
THOMAS JEFFERSON,
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
DELIVERED
AT UlS INSTALMENT,
MAICH 4, l80I,
AT THE CITY OF WASHINGTON.
-WITH TRANSLATIONS INTO THE
FRENCH, ITALIAN, AND GERMAN TONGUES.
protect, and to violate which would be oppression.
Where some thought that he would avow enmity to the
existing government, he said, " I believe this, on the
contrary, the
strongest gov
ernment on
earth." In
stead of declar
ing attainder of
treason upon
his political op-
ponents, he
said: ''We
have called
by different
names brethren
of the same
principle. We
are all Repub
licans; we are
all Federal
ists." It was
said in a Fed
eralist paper
that some rabid
Republicans,
who had cut
the legs from
their boots in imitation of the style " coming over the
ankle " as Jefferson wore them, were so disgusted with
such peaceful and forgiving doctrine that they repaired
to the outer portion of the capitol grounds and stitched
PARIS,
PRINTED AT THE ENGLISH PRESS.
TITLE-PAGE OF JEFFERSON'S INAUGURAL
ADDRESS
232 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
the legs on again. A Massachusetts paper pronounced
the address ''pertinent, judicious, and conciliatory."
The conciliatory spirit in which Jefferson entered
upon his duties was the reflection of his high ideal of
the presidency. He was to be the father of his people,
anticipating their wants, careful of their rights, swaying
them by love instead of force. The word "coercion"
was to be stricken from the national vocabulary. But
very early in his administration he was to learn that a
President in fact is quite otherwise from a President in
theory; that a part of the people as well as their leaders
would remain in opposition to the administration. At
first he wrote : " With the people I have hopes of
effecting it \_i.e. harmony]. But their Coryphaei are
incurables. I expect little from them." Presently he
noted " Hamiltonians, Essex-men and Revolutionary
tories, etc.," who should have "tolerance but neither
confidence nor power."
Harmony could never be brought to the government
with these opposing Federalists in possession of its
offices. This thought grew upon Jefferson as the
demand of his people for the positions of these aristo
crats increased to a clamor. The Federalist newspapers
added to the fury by pointing out how President Adams
"had taken pains to leave the several departments in
the hands of men of the most distinguished talents and
unquestionable patriotism." In completing this good
work he "continued filling all the offices till nine o'clock
of the night at twelve of which he was to go out of office
himself," as Jefferson complained. But this partisan
arrangement was not necessarily fixed; it could be reme
died by the President removing the appointees. It was
THOMAS JEFFERSON 233
the first time this question had arisen. The leading
Republican papers did not. doubt the right of displacing
these aristocrats. " To retain such men in trust under
such appointments would be political suicide, and the
new administration would MERIT every affliction which
could not but result from a sufferance of evil."
When Jefferson had brought himself gradually to
entering upon the "painful operation" of substituting
at least one-half Republicans for Federalists,1 the latter
began to alter the soft words which the inaugural address
had called out. Newspapers printed lists of removals
under the head, " We are all Republicans — We are all
Federalists ! ! ! ' When Jefferson petulantly assured
demanding applicants that death gave him few vacancies
to fill, the Federalists declared the assertion inhuman ;
that he said, in fact, " My foes are in my way and I
cannot wait the general operation of natural t demise to
remove them out of it." It was rumored that a system
of " denouncing " office-holders for removal would be
inaugurated according to the mode of the French Revo
lution.
Nor did Jefferson's Appointments please the Federal
ists. They had at first hinted he could not find enough
educated men in his whole mob to fill the cabinet posi
tions. Madison as Secretary of State was expected,
but Albert Gallatin as Secretary of the Treasury pro-
1 In 1807, Jefferson wrote to William Short: "Out of about six hun
dred offices named by the President, there were six Republicans only when
I came into office, and these were chiefly half-breeds. Out of upward of
three hundred holding during pleasure, I removed about fifteen, or those
who had signalized themselves by their own intolerance in office, because
the public voice called for it imperiously, and it was just that the Republi
cans should at length have some participation in the government. ... In
this horrid drudgery, I always felt myself as a public executioner."
234
THE MEN II 'HO MADE THE NATION
voked a howl of indignation. It was declared " a hand
some thing that Americans should hire a Genevan to
keep their money," that a man with "the brogue still
hobbling on his tongue " should assume the position
created by the great Hamilton. When the Republicans
pointed out that Hamilton was also a foreigner, the
Federalists said that Hamilton had served in the war
of the Revolution
fighting for his
adopted country,
while Gallatin had
been only in the
" whiskey war,"
and that against
his adopted coun
try.
Gallatin, a for
eigner who could
appreciate the op
portunities offered
in America, a col
lege man yet in
strong sympathy with the common people, a special stu
dent of finance, a resident of the frontier of that day, was
well calculated to fall in with Jefferson's cherished ideas
of ''individual freedom, economy, and reform." This
shibboleth had been put forth by Jefferson in the inau
gural address, and it has stood for democracy for a cen
tury. He was the father of the principles of the
modern Democratic party ; thirty years later Andrew
Jackson was to create the party machinery and party
organization.
FEDERAL CARTOON ON GALLATIN
THOMAS JEFFERSON 235
In the interest of economy, the circuit courts, the final
creation of the Federalists, were readjusted, and the
judges deprived of their life-tenure offices;1 a number of
consulates were abolished and replaced by cheaper " com
mercial agents " appointed from among the natives ;
nineteen inspectors of revenue were discharged, and their
duties placed on the supervisors. The forces of the
army and navy were reduced. The construction of the
warships was stopped. All but twelve of those built
were sold and only six left in commission. The United
States, the Constellation, the Gen. Greene, and the John
Adams were brought up to the Anacostia branch of the
Potomac at Washington, where they floated at high tide
or stuck in the mud when the tide went out. Their
guns lay rusting and the wheels rotting on the bank.
Work on the various fortifications was stopped. " En
couragement of Agriculture and of Commerce as its
handmaiden " had been advocated in the inaugural
address, but commercial New England thought the
handmaiden ill protected. A newspaper pictured the
Americans, after one hundred years of this Jacobin rule,
naked and having lost all knowledge of trade, manufac
tures, ships, and shipbuilding, gazing stupidly at some
chance ship as did Montezuma's people upon the arriv
ing Spaniards.
Jefferson at one time expressed the hope that a time
might come when no tax-gatherer should be seen in
America. At his suggestion, Congress cut out the
1 No doubt the Supreme Court of the United States began about this
time to feel the pressure of the great number of cases it must pass upon,
and to demand an intermediary body between itself and the District Court
already established.
236 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
excise law of Hamilton and the later direct taxes of
the Federalists. Yet so much did the receipts from the
customs duties increase during this period of prosperity
and before the rise of American manufactures that
they atoned for these abandoned taxes and yielded a
surplus year by year. Of the national debt, Jeffer
son said, " We can pay off his [Hamilton's] debt in
fifteen years ; but we can never get rid of his financial
system."1
Even while the President and his Secretary of the
Treasury were planning the emancipation of the people
from a debt, fate was placing the administration in a
position where not only an addition to the debt was
demanded, but where his constitutional principles and
his conscientious scruples were to be rudely shaken.
The time had arrived for the first expansion of territory.
In May following his inauguration, Jefferson wrote
to Monroe : " There is considerable reason to apprehend
that Spain cedes Louisiana and the Floridas to France.
It is a policy very unwise in both and very ruinous to
us." Ever since the birth of the United States, Spain
had proven a troublesome neighbor on the south, al
though not an aggressive neighbor. But under the
French, headed by the ambitious Napoleon, Louisiana
might easily revive the dream of a colonial empire in
America. No country was safe from that man. France,
in her struggle for liberty, fraternity, and equality, had
been the idol of Jefferson. England, in attempting to
restore monarchy, had been his detestation. He now
wrote to Livingston, the American minister to France :
1 During Jefferson's two administrations, Gallatin paid over $23,000,000
on the national debt.
THOMAS JEFFERSON 237
" France placing herself in that door [New Orleans]
assumes to us the attitude of defiance. Spain might
have retained it quietly for years. . . . The day that
France takes possession of New Orleans fixes the sen
tence which is to restrain her forever within her low-
water marks. . . . From that moment we must marry
ourselves to the British fleet and nation." He also sug
gested that France could reconcile the Americans to
the transfer of the whole of Louisiana to her only by
ceding to them the island of New Orleans and the
Floridas.
The " island of New Orleans " 1 once in the possession
of the United States would remove the immediate ques
tion of a seaport for the Mississippi trade. Appreciat
ing the " fever into which the western mind is thrown
by the affair at N. Orleans," Jefferson sent Monroe, a
man possessing " the unlimited confidence of the admin
istration and of the western people, and of republicans
everywhere," to France to effect the purchase, and,
failing in that, to "cross the channel." Only by a
successful mission could the country prevent getting
" entangled in European politics, and, figuring more, be
much less happy and prosperous."
Before Monroe's arrival, Livingston, haggling with
Napoleon's representative for the "island" and the
Floridas, was astonished to be asked, " What will you
give for the whole of Louisiana?" Upon Monroe's
arrival the bargain was struck, and soon Jefferson
i The " island " \vas formed by the Mississippi river, Lake Ponchar-
train and a bayou called the Iberville river. It included the city of New
Orleans, and its acquisition would solve the troublesome question of a
market and transfer place for western products.
238 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
could write, "The territory acquired, as it includes all
the waters of the Missouri & Mississippi, has more
than doubled the area of the U. S. and the new part is
not inferior to the old in soil, climate, productions &
important communications." As a man of peace he
rejoiced that war with France had been averted, and
this vast territory secured through negotiation. He had
visions of " giving establishments in it to the Indians
on the east side of the Missipi, in exchange for their
present country, and open land offices in the last &
thus make this acquisition the means of filling up the
Eastern side, instead of drawing off it's population.
When we shall be full on this side, we may lay off a
range of States on the Western bank from the head
to the mouth & so, range after range, advancing com
pactly as we multiply." The alarm of the Eastern
states over the purchase was to him quite natural.
" These federalists see in this acquisition the formation
of a new confederacy, embracing all the waters of the
Missipi, on both sides of it, and a separation of it's
Eastern waters from us." "The future inhabitants of
the Atlantic & Missipi States will be our sons ; . . .
and if they see their interests in separation, why should
we take side with our Atlantic rather than our Missipi
descendants ? It is the elder and the younger son
differing. God bless them both & keep them in union,
if it be for their good, but separate them, if it be
better."
The opposition rested not only on the danger of
separation by too large a domain, but also on the inabil
ity of the government under the Constitution to acquire
additional territory. Jefferson had always been a stickler
THOMAS JEFFERSON 239
for the exact powers as stated. On this point, he wrote
to Gallatin : " There is no constitutional difficulty as to
the acquisition of territory. ... I think it will be safer
not to permit the enlargement of the Union but by
amendment of the Constitution." He therefore drew
up such an amendment whose adoption would be the
ratification by the nation of the action of the President
and Senate. " It is a case of a guardian, investing the
money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent
territory ; & saying to him when of age, I did this for
your good ; I pretend no right to bind you ; you may
disavow me, and I must get out of the scrape as I can ;
I thought my duty to risk myself for you." But when
some one pointed out that such an avowal would be
taken by the opposition as a confession that the admin
istration had overstepped its powers, the President wrote
to his friends that "the less we say about constitutional
difficulties the better," and that "it will be desirable for
Congress to do what is necessary in silence.'"
To the end he thought : " I had rather ask an enlarge
ment of power from the nation, when it is found neces
sary, than to assume it by a construction which would
make our powers boundless. Our peculiar security is
in possession of a written Constitution. Let us not
make it a blank paper by construction." But the prece
dent has been followed without the amendment in many
subsequent acquisitions, and Jefferson stands as an un
willing violator of his foundation principle of strict con
struction. Necessity was continuing to make the nation.
In his message to Congress in October, 1803, Presi
dent Jefferson announced that the purchase of Louisiana
would add nearly $13,000,000 to the national debt,
OF T :
•UNIVERSITY
240 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
most of which would be payable after fifteen years ; 1
before which time the existing national debt would
all be paid. He therefore hoped that the interest on
this additional debt could be met without a new tax.
Already Gallatin had cast about for further means of
paring expenses, but could find nothing save the much
pared navy. The commercial interests protested in
vain. Many recalled the inauguration day of Jefferson
when, in a Philadelphia procession, a great barge or
boat on wheels bore the legend, " THOMAS JEFFERSON,
THE SUPPORTER OF THE NAVY." Events had soon shown
that Jefferson was more in sympathy with domestic than
foreign commerce, and that democratic retrenchment
could not favor a large expenditure for a navy. In
connection with the subjugation of the pirates on the
north African coast, Congress had authorized the con
struction of not more than fifteen " gun-boats." Modelled
on the plan of the celebrated vessels of Naples, they
were low and of narrow build, seventy-one feet long,
generally sloop rigged, and carried two long thirty-two-
pounders. They cost about $5000 each. Numbers in
stead of names were used to designate them. Numbers
2 to 10 inclusive saw service in the Mediterranean.
So impressed was Jefferson with this style of vessel,
its utility for harbor defence, facility of preparation and
movement, cheapness of its construction, and economy
of its service, that Congress from time to time ordered
157 of them of varying sizes, carrying one or two guns
and manned by about thirty sailors.
1 The Hartford Courant estimated that the purchase of Louisiana
would average a tax of $30 for each family in the state, and would
never be worth 30 cents to any family.
THOMAS JEFFERSON 241
Gallatin insisted that they were not to take the place
of a navy, but as no frigates were built after 1807, com
mercial interests declared that the country was being
sacrificed to a foolish economy. Some showed that
while a frigate of 56 guns would cost as much as 25
gunboats of one gun each, yet that the 420 gunners
necessary to man the frigate would be sufficient to man
only 10 gunboats ; that the 2520 men necessary to man
56 gunboats of one gun would man 6 frigates of 336
guns. Many later critics of Jefferson's economic policy
claim that the War of 1812 would not have gained such
adverse headway if the proper defence had not been
sacrificed to a theory.1
The decay of Spanish power in the new world coupled
with the meteoric career of Napoleon in the old had
inflamed the minds of many ambitious men in the
United States to build an empire on the Spanish ruins.
The age of romantic expeditions seemed to be returning.
Francis Miranda, a South American adventurer, sailed
from New York with a small number of men to liberate
his native Caracas from Spanish rule. An ex-Vice-
President, Aaron Burr, of New York, foreseeing the
revolt of Spanish Mexico, planned an incursion from
New Orleans into the upper portion of that country.
In his message to Congress in December, 1806, Jef
ferson reported that he had tried to prevent " a great
number of private individuals combining together, arm-
1 Before 1809, 176 gunboats, of the 257 planned, had been built at a
cost of $1,800,222. Seven were lost in gales, and five destroyed by the
British at New Orleans. They were of such little value in the War of
1812 that they were ordered laid up, and in 1815 forty were sold at prices
ranging from $220 to $690 each. See Goldsborough's " U. S. Naval
Chronicle."
242 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
ing and organizing themselves contrary to law to carry
on military expeditions against the territories of Spain."
To a friend he wrote, " The designs of our Catiline
are as real as they are romantic," and a little later thought
that Burr intended " to take possession of New Orleans
as a station from which to make an expedition against
Vera Cruz & Mexico." Still later : "Burr's enterprise
is the most extraordinary since the days of Don Quixot.
It is so extravagant that those who knew his under
standing would not believe it if the proofs admitted
doubt. He has meant to place himself on the throne
of Montezuma, and extending his empire to the Alle-
gany seizing on N. Orleans as the instrument of com
pulsion for our Western States."
Naturally opposed to the coercion of the people,
Jefferson waited quietly until Burr had actually started
on his way down the Mississippi and then set in motion
the whole military machinery to stop him. Although
he thought the expedition composed of " fugitives from
Justice or from their debts . . . and of adventurers &
speculators of all descriptions," " who were longing to
dip their hands into the mines of Mexico," he imag-
ined'that Burr after being captured was shielded by the
Federalists, who made his cause their own. It seemed
a good time to crush the remnant of that party. After
Burr had been convicted, he would commit for trial
those " who by boldness betray an inveteracy of crimi
nal disposition. Obscure offenders & repenting ones
should lie for consideration." Even Burr's counsel,
Luther Martin, should be tried as an accomplice, and,
if not convicted, the trial would at least " put down
this unprincipled & impudent federal bull-dog."
THOMAS JEFFERSON 243
The trial of Burr at Richmond, Virginia, on a charge
of treason assumed to Jefferson a political aspect.
Chief Justice Marshall, who presided in the circuit
court at Richmond, was a Federalist whose life term
under the Constitution had made his removal impos
sible. When he decided that Burr had not committed
an overt act of treason as denned in the Constitution, Jef
ferson asked whether his letters, his rendezvous, and his
flight were not "overt acts." It was all clearly a part
of politics ; of " that rancorous hatred which Marshall
bears to the government of his country, & from the
cunning & sophistry within which he is able to en
shroud himself." Yet if the escape of Burr from pun
ishment should bring an amendment to the Constitution
making the justices of the Supreme Court removable
by the President, it would be worth while. Meanwhile,
" the enterprise has done good by proving that the
attachment of the people in the west is as firm as that
in the east to the union of our country."
From a less partisan standpoint, the Burr episode
proved beneficial in showing that the charge of treason
is not to be used in the new world as a cloak for unde
served punishment ; that a centralizing of the Union by
such means must lead to tyranny ; and that our fathers
were wise to specify in the Constitution exactly in what
treason should consist. If a guilty person escape under
failure to prove an overt act, the sentence of social
ostracism which the public places upon a man even
charged with treason is sufficiently deterrent. The fate
of Aaron Burr stands as a warning to the American
who is tempted to incur even the suspicion of treason.
In a last and perhaps the saddest instance of his
244 THE MEN~ IVHO MADE THE NATION
administrations, Jefferson was doomed to find that man
is weak by nature, that patriotism dissolves rapidly
before material interests, and that it must at times be
replaced by coercion. In attempting to build up a
navy on an economic plan, England fed her sailors
upon such poor food that desertions were numerous.
Made drunk on shore, Jack came to his senses on board
a man-of-war to find himself duly articled as a sailor
and doomed to weevilled biscuits and a rope's end.
Upon the now abandoned theory of " once a subject
always a subject," England reserved the right of stop
ping any vessel, lining up its seamen on deck, and
selecting such men as could be proven deserters. Often
the proof was scanty, for the sailor had no fixed home
nor means of identification. Gallatin estimated that
the American vessels employed about 25,000 British
sailors annually since so many American sailors were
engaged in the fisheries. Various means were suggested
in America for stopping this impressment. Jefferson
opposed the plan of giving each American seaman a
certificate, since it might be lost so easily. He would
have the number of sailors apportioned to the tonnage
of a vessel, and let the overplus be taken. Neither
remedy was adopted, and the obnoxious practice con
tinued.
In 1807, the British frigate Leopard overhauled the
American frigate Chesapeake within sight of the Caro
lina shore and carried off four sailors, three of whom
were American citizens. The country was instantly
aflame. Jefferson wrote : " Never, since the battle of
Lexington, have I seen such a state of exasperation as at
present. And even that did not produce such unanim-
THOMAS JEFFERSON 245
ity. . . . ' Reparation for the past and immunity for
the future ' is our motto. Whether these will be yielded
freely or will require resort to non-intercourse, or to war,
is yet to be seen." War, with its " speculations of con
tractors and jobbers, and the introduction of permanent
military and naval establishments," was as objectionable
to Jefferson as to Gallatin. The latter said : " Money
we will want to carry on the war ; our revenue will be
cut up ; new and internal taxes will be slow and not
sufficiently productive ; we must necessarily borrow.
This is not pleasing, particularly to me ; but it must be
done." Indeed, war seemed the only thing left, unless
the insults were to be quietly borne. A treaty had been
attempted the preceding year, but England refused to
yield her right of impressment, and, as Jefferson said,
"we must back out of the negotiation as well as we
can." Also a mild retaliation had been tried by refus
ing to allow any trade with England or her colonies.
The action simply amused her. She was not dependent
on the American trade.
The proposition of a neutral nation was a novel one,
and, as the United States found it during the continued
Napoleonic wars, a most trying one. It makes the
American blood boil to-day to read the humiliating story
of England and France grinding American commerce
between the upper and nether millstone. Each was try
ing to starve out the other, and no American vessel must
bring in goods. By these continued insults, America was
often brought to the point of declaring war, but could
not decide which of the two countries gave the greater
cause. But the long-continued grievance about the
impressment of American seamen on British vessels,
246 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION'
coupled with the old animosity of Jefferson and his fol
lowers toward England, finally turned the scale.
War would have been supported eagerly by the coun
try, but Jefferson hesitated to abandon his principles.
He ordered all British vessels out of American waters,
organized the full quota of the Virginia militia, but did
not call together the war-declaring power, the Congress.
Me sent an armed vessel to the American agents in
England to demand reparation from that country. Two
days after Congress had revived the useless non-inter-
, course act of the preceding year, news was received that
England would sustain her officers in making impress
ments. The President at once advised that all American
commerce be withdrawn from the seas by an embargo,
in order to prevent impressments and seizures. It was
a part of the old system of commercial restriction. It
meant suicide to thwart your enemy.1 Yet so strong was
Jefferson's influence and so urgent the demand for action
that such a measure passed the House in three days and
the Senate in four hours.
The difficulty of enforcing the embargo law was
apparent from the beginning. The collector at New
Orleans let forty-two vessels go after he knew of the
embargo because he had no copy of the law. The mer
chant interests of Maryland continued to send out pro
visions, naval stores, and lumber, with no arrests, be
cause no one would accept the marshalship of that state.
Shut out of ports, captains started on foreign voyages
from obscure river points until a special law was passed
1 He thought it the only action which could " save us from immediate
war & give time to call home So millions of property, 20, or 30 ooo sea
men, & 2000 vessels."
THOMAS JEFFERSON 247
for ''vessels coming down the rivers." In the Maine
district of Massachusetts, lumber, flour, and pork were
slipped over into Canada until inspectors were given
power to guard any "collection" of goods "suspected
to be intended for exportation." So much flour was
sent into seaboard
states, undoubtedly
The Embargo. .
JUST publiflwd, nrf for Sic, by
J HASTINGS, BTHERIDGB & BUSS.
THE EMBARGO :-Or
SKETCH** o» Y»« TIM«»— • Sjtirr, th« fccood
EJittcm, corrtltcd nxl crhrged —Toother with
the SPANISH REVOLUT10M, anrf other Poem.,
Bj WltLIAM COVMM
to be smuggled out,
that the governors
were asked to make
application for flour
when needed and to
issue permits to reship it to other American ports.
When the governor of South Carolina permitted 57,250
barrels of flour and 129,400 bushels of corn to be
shipped away, the administration suspected that much
of it found its way abroad. The collector near St.
Lawrence, a region formerly supplying potash to Mont
real, resigned " from fear or at least a wish not to lose
his popularity with the people." The President re
moved the collector at New Bedford " for worse than
negligence." Editors encouraged this resistance by print
ing funeral notices of the burial of liberty. Authors
turned upon Jefferson the full strength of their invec
tive.1 The collector of Sullivan was "on the totter."
Evasions of the embargo law continued until it be
came necessary to consider as "suspicious" every vessel
apparently bound for another state which had on
1 William Cullen Bryant, aged thirty-one, wrote a satire on the embargo,
in which he addressed President Jefferson :
" Go, wretch ! resign thy Presidential chair,
Disclose thy secret measures, foul or fair."
248
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
' AXtt Jatt
n«fc and
FUNERAL
o Rccrs ana
erans, covered with tU'e fcsirs
ln the caufe of L
, K. G
M I SfORI TY , MT th( HtgjC tf
ffcrLAST EMiMRoo'"
Chittendeti, CnJpepjwrr,
^na, Davenport, jun. £•%,
G:udenier, Gard
ri$, Rd Jacktbn,
I-iVermorc, ,
Milnor, Mofelf, T. Pukim, jr
jr, KuiTeli.
V«t)
STATH of
ufetf*. kh-.«dr Him ?, C
New ^o•k, 1 >i%i,i\v«rs,
M.uvJr.vl.
anvi tbouAtnJs of C»ti
ot various dctu-tn-
Ai
July.
ros, 4»4
board articles in de
mand at foreign mar
kets.1 A force was
sent to Lake Cham-
plain, but the people
stole two of the gov
ernment rafts. When
the captors, who were
supposed to be Cana
dians, were made pris
oners, the judge re
fused to find bills
against them. All
the little gunboats in
commission and three
frigates were sta
tioned along the coast
and additional reve
nue cutters purchased.
Gallatin thought the
law could be enforced
only with a small army
along the Lakes and
British lines gener
ally. "The people
there now are alto
gether against the
1 The opposition news
papers insisted that under
this provision a cow was
seized in Vermont as she
was walking toward the Ca
nadian boundary line.
• THOMAS JEFFERSON 249
law." Collectors were harassed by suits in the state
courts. Fishing vessels allowed to go to the Banks "in
ballast" had secreted goods on board and sailed to the
Indies. Scores of captains took their chances and sailed
secretly without any papers. Quantities of flour and
pork were smuggled over to Canada on sleds during the
winter. An insurrection broke out at Oswego, New
York, where goods were being shipped to Canada, and
the militia was called out to aid the regulars. A mob
at Newburyport held the custom-house officers while a
vessel sailed away. Canadian traders claimed that the
embargo was an infraction of their treaty rights on the
Lakes, which had been guaranteed in the peace of
1783-
Jefferson himself, although loving his people, loved
his theory still more. He suffered with them, but was
satisfied to claim that " while the embargo gives no
double rations it is starving our enemies. This six
months' session [of Congress] has drawn me down to
a state of almost total incapacity for business." He
endeavored to set a pattern for patriotism by sending
to Colonel Humphreys for some deep blue cloth to
make a coat. "Homespun is to become the spirit of the
times." " My idea is that we should encourage home
manufactures to the extent of our consumption of every
thing of which we raise the raw material."
Holding such sentiments, he was " disposed to act
boldly" on the embargo. He regretted that "in some
places, chiefly on our northern frontier, a disposition to
oppose the law by force has been manifested." Still,
" could the alternative of war or the embargo have been
presented to the whole nation, as it occurred to their
250
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
representatives, there could have been but one opinion,
that it was better to take the chance of one year by the
embargo." Those Federalists who " are endeavoring to
convince England that we suffer more by the embargo
than they do," he considered " as subjects for a mad
house." " The Tories of Boston threaten insurrection
if their importation of flour is stopped."
NOTICE.
THE MAYOR decidedly disapproves the
mode of applieati*
Paper yesterday. !<
thisjx>rt, tor relict.
He informs the j.
on the present em<
former occasions, j
perfon, without disti
a Morning
\n*. pursued by the Sailors of
Mic thai the Corporation will,
:;enc\. as they have douc on
i>vide. fur the wants ot every
.lion, who mav lie confidered
proper objects of rt ief
The Mayor canm t a mcludc this notice, without
exhorting all classe of Citizens to refrain from
assembling in the mode as proposed, and el'pecial-
ly diffuadesthe Sailors from meeting in the Park,
MayorVOffiee, New- York, )
" January 9, 1808. )
B. C. So^rrawiCK.Priwtcr, 92, Broadway. 4 Doors frotu ^'all-st
Soon after the law was passed Jefferson confessed
to Gallatin : " This embargo law is certainly the most
embarrassing one we have ever had to execute. I did
not expect a crop of so sudden & rank growth of fraud
& open opposition by force could have grown up in the
U. S." Each month the handwriting on the wall grew
Riots occurred in the seaport cities.
more legible.
THOMAS JEFFERSON 2 5 I
The mayor of New York issued an appeal for order
and advised against agitation meetings. When Con
gress met, Gallatin assured the President: "What I
have foreseen has taken place. A majority will not
adhere to the embargo much longer." l He also told of
a rumored convention of the five New England states
and, possibly, New York. " Something must be done
to anticipate and defeat this nefarious plan." By Feb
ruary the crash came. Jefferson wrote : " I thought
Congress had taken their ground firmly for continuing
their embargo till June, and then war. But a sudden
and unaccountable revolution of opinion took place last
week, chiefly among the New England and New York
members, and in a kind of panic they voted the 4th of
March for removing the embargo, and by such a
majority as gave all reason to believe they would not
agree either to war or non-intercourse. This, too, was
after we had become satisfied that the Essex Junto had
found their expectation desperate, of inducing the people
there to either separation or forcible opposition."2 A
theory had again yielded to necessity.
The closing days of Jefferson's administration were
as sad as the inception was joyous. His embargo was
repealed, and to Jefferson the loss of a theory was as
1 Some of the opponents of the embargo claimed that Jefferson by
speculating in tobacco had made ^"30,000 out of the law. One of the
toasts offered at Salem, Massachusetts, was: "To THE MODERN JUDAS
ISCARIOT. He has received his thirty pieces of silver; let him now go
hang himself." A song went the rounds:
" Where, oh where is our highland daddy bound?
He's bound to his plantation with thirty thousand pounds,
With a gunboat embargoed to plough his native ground."
2 Ford's "Jefferson's \Vorks," Vol. IX., p. 244.
252 THE MEN IVPIO MADE THE NATION
the loss of a favorite child. A nomination sent to the
Senate was rejected. " This reception of the last of my
official communications to them could not be unfelt."
The public debt was not wiped out ; taxes were still
levied ; the presence of armed vessels and militia proved
the futility of non-coercion ; insurrection showed on all
sides ; the coming war spirit began to be felt. Only
democratic simplicity was left, and Jefferson, refusing
the offer of " the good citizens of our country to meet
MONTICELLO
me on the road on my return home, as a manifestation
of their good will," preferred "taking them individ
ually by the hand at our court house and other public
places." Sending the eleven servants and the house
hold goods forward in the great wagons which had been
brought from Monticello for that purpose, he started in
a one-horse vehicle with a driver, and another servant
on horseback. Escaping with difficulty at Culpeper
Court House a group of patriots who wanted to hear
" Old Tom " speak, he reached that notable home on
the mountain shelf, second in Amerfcan interest only to
THOMAS JEFFERSON
253
the home at Mount Vernon. It was a lonely home.
Forty-four years Jefferson lived a widower, faithful to
the promise given, it was said, to his dying wife. If he
had not lived longer than his retirement from office, so
many had been the disappointments, so radical had been
the contradictions which necessity compelled in his
theory and practice toward the Union, that his end
would have been sad to contemplate. But fate allowed
him seventeen years of enjoyment of ease, removed from
unpleasant contact with political life, pursuing scientific
investigation, improving the surroundings of Monticello,
254 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATTON
and, above all, seeing arise over on the opposite slope
four miles away, the white dome of that pride of his old
age, the non-sectarian University of Virginia.
^ Over his grave, halfway up the wooded slope of Mon-
ticello, stands a stone bearing an inscription written by
himself. It is a silent witness to his desire to forget the
discouraging eight years during which he was President
of the United States and the exponent of the rule of the
people. It was true that the national debt had been re
duced $33,580,000 under his administration and that a
clear surplus would remain after the expenditures of his
retiring year. It was also true that home production and
consumption had been stimulated under his restrictive
measures. But another would reap the fruits of this
new condition in an " American system," as yet not
elaborated. Even the sun of national prosperity was
obscured' by threatening war clouds. Above all, the
conviction must have been forced home that the re
stricted political form in which the Union had been
created could not continue if its', commercial interests
were allowed to grow as they naturally would.
CHAPTER VIII
HENRY CLAY, THE FATHER OF PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS
" I turn from this imposing pageant, so rich in glitter, so
poor in feeling, to think of him who should have been the cen
tral figure of this grand panorama — the distant, the powerless,
the forgotten ... the lifelong champion of a diversified Home
Industry ; of Internal Improvements. ... More grateful to
me in the stillness of my lonely chamber, this cup of crystal
water in which I honor the cherished memory with the old,
familiar aspiration —
" ' Here's to you, HARRY CLAY ! ' "
— GREELEY at the Inauguration of President Taylor.
THE English colonists had formed a thin fringe of
people along the Atlantic coast, gathered in little
groups about some harbor or navigable stream. They
had small means of communication save through the
mother country. All interests bound them to the east.
Upon- the west lay bewildering forests which concealed
foes both human and animal. Streams furnished nat
ural waterways, but these were often broken by rapids
or at certain seasons were too shallow to be navigable.
Although it was necessary to make a portage about
rapids and to confine travel to the high-water seasons, it
was easier than trying to make wagon roads out of the
Indian trails.
255
256 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Waterways, therefore, became a prominent factor in
determining the lines of movement. They had enabled
the French to form a complete chain about the English.
French traders and Jesuits went swiftly and silently in
their birch bark canoes, up and down the St. Lawrence,
over the Great Lakes, and on the Mississippi. They jour
neyed easily from Quebec to New Orleans, while the Eng
lish were confined to the Atlantic coast by the great
barrier of the Alleghany Mountains. Not a waterway,
save the Potomac, led toward the west. At various times
the English colonists called the attention of the home
government to these advances of the French, and in
1716 Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, led a party as far
west as the sources of a branch of the Rappahannock,
where bottles were buried containing the claims of
George I. to the land.
The expulsion of the French not only from the land
due west of the English, but from Canada as well, was
accomplished in the wars ending in 1763, and the atten
tion of the colonists was thus turned to their " back
country." The claim of the Indians was gradually
bought up in various treaties, and " settlers " flocked
into the "wild lands." Companies were formed for
securing grants of this new land and selling it to the
settlers or to immigrants brought from Europe.
For several reasons, the Virginians were most inter
ested in the new region. Being a country people, and
accustomed to depend upon their rifles for food, they
easily bore the solitude and the privations of pioneer
life. Their agricultural instincts carried them into the
interior and away from the commercial sea. The slave
labor which they employed cultivated the ground exten-
HENRY CLAY 2$?
sively rather than intensively, and their favorite crop,
tobacco, by impoverishing the soil, demanded new
lands. Under her charter, Virginia, as previously
stated,1 claimed all the land lying north of the North
Carolina boundary, and west of the other states. Be
cause of this claim, the Virginians had borne the brunt
of the western campaigns against the French, one of
her militia officers, George Washington, saving a rout
after Braddock's defeat. A further reason for Virginia
being foremost in settling the trans-Alleghanian region
lay in the fact that she was brought most closely in
touch with it by both natural and artificial roadways.
The Braddock expedition, in attempting to go from
tide-water to the head of the Ohio river, had chosen a
road long known to traders, and indeed for part of its
distance used by an earlier expedition. It went up the
Potomac river or a trail parallel to it as far as Will's
creek, where now stands Cumberland, Maryland, and
thence over the mountains, and crossing the Youghio-
gheny to the Monongahela, passed down that river to
the junction forming the Ohio. Braddock's soldiers
had made a good road over this route ; but the traveller,
after reaching Fort Pitt (now Pittsburg), must embark
on the Ohio, and run the risk of the savage on its
northern shore.
The line of movement, therefore, turned south from
Will's creek along the Shenandoah valley until it was
joined by another road leading directly from Richmond.
The two combined to make the " Wilderness road"2
1 In Chapter I.
2 A description and map of the "Wilderness road" may be found in
the publications of the Filson Club, Louisville, Kentucky.
258 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
leading along the New, Holston, and Clinch rivers, in
what is now the southwestern point of Virginia, to the
Cumberland Gap. Just before the Gap was reached, a
branch of the road passed down the Clinch into what is
now Tennessee. After passing the Gap, the main road
turned sharply north into the blue grass region of
Kentucky.1
Daniel Boone first "blazed" with his tomahawk
the trees along the two hundred miles of what became
the "Wilderness road." He removed his family from
North Carolina to the Kentucky country, only to be
captured by the Indians. After his escape he found
that his family had returned to Carolina. Unshaken in
his hope of the western country, he joined a company
which established Boonesborough. A blockhouse had
been built on the Elkhorn before 1775, and to the
few cabins erected under its protection the name of
" Lexington " was given when the news of April iQth
reached that distant region. Travellers began to find
their way into Kentucky and returned to excite the
imagination with stories of the wonderful land. The
forests abounded with game, the streams with fish, and
the open woods with berries and grapes. The fertility
of the soil was so marked that all vegetation assumed
unusual size. In various places were salty marshes or
1 The most northerly route used by the people in migrating to the Ohio
valley led up the Mohawk and over Lakes Ontario and Erie. Another
lay through Pennsylvania, up the Juniata, and sheer over the mountains to
the Conemaugh. A third went up the Potomac river to Will's creek, whence
a northern branch crossed the mountains to the Monongahela river along
the Braddock road. A southern branch led down through the Clinch
valley to Tennessee, or through the Cumberland Gap by the Wilderness
road to Kentucky. A fourth route brought the Carolinians into Tennessee
around the southern base of the mountains. — See U. S. Census, 1880.
HENRY CLAY 259
"licks," so called because wild animals came there to
lick up the salty earth. The noise of their bellowing
and fighting made the woods ring. The buffalo, one of
the wild animals frequenting these licks, had made
broad paths or "traces" by many years' passing of his
huge body and hard hoofs. Other animals of incredi
ble0 size must inhabit the country or have done so
heretofore, since bones of gigantic size were found in
the marshes at these licks.1 There were also springs of
various mineral tastes which were said to possess differ
ent curative powers.
With such attractions, a small exodus took place from
Virginia and the Carolinas for "old Kaintuck," which
continued many years.'2 A large proportion of the fam
ilies of Kentucky are descended from Virginians, but
generally of the middle class socially. They were dis
senters from the Established church of the Virginia
colonial aristocracy.
These dissenting sects, freed from persecution in the
Revolution, sprang up immediately after and increased
with amazing rapidity. The Baptists assumed that pre
dominance which they have since enjoyed in the south.
Their converts were made among the middle rather than
the upper class, which adhered to the successor of the
Established church, the Episcopal.
In all Virginia there is scarcely a less promising
region than the "slashes" or low, swampy ground on
1 Jefferson was interested in these bones of the extinct "mammoth."
The attention of Europe was called to them by Thomas Ashe in his
"Travels."
2 The attempt to imitate the spelling of the Indian word led to many
variations in the name of this region, until the modern form was adopted
by an act of the state legislature of Kentucky.
26o THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
the South Anna river. The Rev. William Clay, a
Baptist clergyman ministering to his parishioners in
that locality, and said to have done much of his preach
ing in the open air, could scarcely have dreamed that
the seventh child
born in his rap
idly increasing
^|';! l; IF T \ R K A S U N 8 family was d es-
.,J jjj tined to rise by
a new clemoc-
f, £j i ii^J j Jd 'E JNJ £ Y £ L i\ A/ 1 racy superior to
H ;j the Virginia ar
istocracy from
jU ELECTE]) 'PRESIDENT which he was
considered for-
y^Y^V% ever barred at
3hH:!.^|! Js4 \&W^- $ «* tne t^1116 °f his
birth. The good
man passed away
& when the boy,
IRISH ADOPTED CITIZEN : J
Henry, was but
four years of
jBatnm»r<; age, leaving lit
tle more than a
blessing to his
large family.
^j For ten years
the widow man
aged to pay tuition to one Peter Deacon, a dissipated
schoolmaster, who taught little Henry reading, writing,
and the science of arithmetic "as far as Practice."
Fate, in her apparent ill humor, was really smiling upon
HENRY CLAY 261
the lad for she not only placed him in a log schoolhouse
with an earthen floor and " puncheon" seats, but she
allowed him to sit on a bag of grain or flour on a horse's
back journeying to and from the mill of Mrs. Darricott
on the Pamunky river. " The mill boy of the slashes " 1
made the fortune of Henry Clay in the new strength
of democracy.
A second father, who had come into the household
in the meantime, was seized by the Kentucky fever and
carried the family, save Henry and one other, to the
promised land. Henry was left as a clerk in the high
court of chancery at Richmond, and, under the patron
age of the chancellor, was licensed by the state to sign
himself "Attorney at Law," when not quite twenty-one
years of age. What caused young Clay to take his for
tunes into the west must be a conjecture. Perhaps it
was the influence of the general migration ; perhaps the
good judgment which foresaw an environment better
suited to his qualifications than the polished Richmond ;
perhaps the ties of his family, now residing thirteen
miles from Lexington, Kentucky.
Lexington was the acknowledged leader of trans-
Alleghanian settlements at that time. In 1788, the
Transylvania Seminary, duly chartered by the Virginia
legislature, offered tuition for £$ a year, " one
half in cash, the other in property." " Property " was
explained as "pork, corn, tobacco, etc." At the same
time a dancing school was opened, as announced in
the Kentucky Gazette, founded the year before. Thus
Lexington became "the literary and intellectual cen-
1 The practice of rallying men under some sobriquet of the leader has
been replaced in later times by the names of the two great parties.
262 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
tre " of the west, although Frankfort, from its more
central position, was chosen as the first capital.
To this "western Athens" came the " mill boy of the
slashes." " Without patrons, without the favor or coun
tenance of the great or opulent, without the means of
paying my weekly board," as he said later, "I remember
how comfortable I thought I should be if I could make
one hundred pounds, Virginia money, per year, and with
what delight I received the first fifteen shillings fee."
The new country of that day presented opportunities
for rapid advancement unknown in the conservatism of
the older portion. The standards of excellence were a
vigorous body, great physical courage, and "a good
shot." The rifle was a constant companion of the com
mon people. Contests in marksmanship were inevita
ble and their arbitration final. The professional man
was not exempt from this requirement, and many a
young man was said to have " shot his way into the
state legislature." Clay did this when he was but
twenty-six years of age.1 The common agency for the
self-education of the professional man was the debating
society.2 Even in Richmond, Clay had availed himself
of that aid, and he continued it at Lexington. It was a
mimic of the combats in the state and national legisla
tive arenas in the days before the human voice was
replaced by the printing-press. Clay's forensic prowess
1 In later years, Clay was fond of telling the story of this accidental
shot which hit the centre of the target. A bystander demanded that he
repeat the shot if it were skill instead of accident, but Clay refused until
some one should do equally well.
2 The Danville Political Club, organized in 1786 to meet every Saturday
night, was one of the most famous of these early debating societies in
Kentucky.
HENRY CLAY 263
in the state legislature soon advanced him to a vacancy
in the United States Senate. The fact that he lacked
a few months of the age demanded by the Constitution
for that office was not considered a barrier on the
frontier.
The Journal of the Senate of the United States for
Monday, December 29, 1806, bears this record :
" Henry Clay, appointed a Senator by the Legislature
of the State of Kentucky, in the place of John Adair,
resigned, produced his credentials and took his seat in
the Senate. The credentials of Mr. Clay and Mr. Reed
were severally read, and the oath was administered to
them as the law prescribes."
Clay at once took his place as the representative of
the western people. During this one session he secured
a circuit court for the trans-Alleghanian states, made
easier certain land laws, secured the appointment of
commissioners to lay out a canal on the Kentucky side
about the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville, and voted
favorably on the call of Worthington, of Ohio, for a
report from the Secretary of the Treasury showing what
had already been done toward opening roads and canals
by the national government and describing plans for
the future.1 He also heard President Jefferson's report
upon a survey for the "Cumberland national road," a
project in which Clay was to become deeply interested
at a later time.
1 Albert Gallatin, of foreign birth and practical turn of mind, had never
shared the conscientious scruples of his* leader, Jefferson, on works of
public benefit. In 1808, he made an exhaustive report to Congress upon
the topography of the United States, suggesting a network of canals, roads,
and rivers to be improved by the central government, at an estimated cost
of Si 6,000,000.
264 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
The residents of the Atlantic coast plain, remaining
in the environment of their European ancestors, contin
ued to be a reflex of old-world types and ideals. The
compelling environment of the trans-mountain region
produced a new type out of their brothers who migrated
thither. It was closely allied to the soil and fiercely
American. Clay had shown the result during Jeffer
son's embargo struggle by offering legislative resolu
tions that the members should wear clothing of American
manufacture.1 The embargo kept out foreign goods. It
was an easy step to the thought of some kind of a per
petual embargo which would compel the American peo
ple to patronize their home productions and thus keep
the money at home. Now a high tariff would act as
an embargo. At the same time it would protect the
American workingman, who was manufacturing these
articles, from foreign competition. Those Americans
who persisted in buying foreign goods must pay the
tariff duties on them. The money thus obtained could
be used in improving the means of internal transporta
tion. These in turn would aid in getting both the raw
materials to the factories and the manufactured products
to the market. Thus Clay evolved his mutually recipro
cal "American system" of a protective tariff, domestic
manufacture, and internal improvements.
In 1810, discussing a Senate bill to give preference to
American products in supplying the army, Clay attacked
"Dame Commerce, a flirting, flippant, noisy "jade," as
opposed to domestic manufacture. He declared his
1 This resolution of Clay in the Kentucky legislature was ridiculed by a
fellow-member, and a duel followed in which Clay was wounded in the
shoulder.
HENRY CLAY 26$
pleasure and pride in being clad in American clothing.
" Others may prefer the cloths of Leeds and London,
but give me those of Humphrey ville." Such sentiment
held largely among Clay's western constituency, and, as
the balance of population was gradually shifted from
the Atlantic coast and its European influences to the
western valley, Clay was able to formulate his policy.
The patriotic sentiment engendered in the war of 1812
enabled him to announce the American system soon
after peace had come, when the times demanded a re
arrangement of the disordered finances and industries of
the country. This same westward movement had con
tributed in another way to Clay's policy by showing
the need of better means of communication over the
mountains.
The importance of connecting the waterways of the
Atlantic slope with those of the Ohio valley had been
realized before the Revolution, but assumed a new value
in the aspirations of the young republic. Railroads
were not yet contemplated ; it would be impossible to
find water to fill a canal over the mountains ; therefore,
a roadway was the only agency left. It would be a vast
enterprise, and one for which private capital had not
yet sufficiently accumulated. The wealthy state of Vir
ginia, particularly interested in the western country,
might undertake it. But if the shortest portage be
chosen, the highway would not lie entirely in one state.
Naturally the national government suggested itself as
a common agency well suited to undertake the road.
No one could have foreseen what effect this would have
on the Union.
The western people felt the importance of such com-
266
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
munication with the older section. When they crossed
the mountains, they bade farewell to friends, since the
journey was not one to be voluntarily undertaken.
Several of the middle western states, beginning with
Ohio, arranged with the national government for a share
of the public land sales to build roads from the Atlantic
to the states. From this fund, three commissioners
COMPLETED"
PROJ ECTED
THE CUMBERLAND ROAD, SHOWING APPROXIMATE DATES
OF COMPLETION
had been appointed in 1805 to search for the shortest
and most desirable portage over which to construct the
road. They determined upon a route from old Fort
Cumberland on the Potomac to the Ohio, a distance
of 141 miles. It lay for some distance along the old
Braddock road. Such was the report which Clay heard
during his first term in Congress.
Clay was a southern man, bred in the principles of
strict construction. When he made his first appear
ance in Congress, John Quincy Adams pronounced him
"a young man — an orator — and a republican of the
the first fire." Yet the republicanism and the strict
construction of Clay in Kentucky were not those of Jef
ferson in Virginia. They would not let constitutional
theories stand in the way of coveted benefits. Clay
appreciated the humor in Jefferson's dodging the point
HENRY CLAY 267
by saying that when states gave permission to the gov
ernment to build a road, then the constitutional objec
tion was removed. According to that reasoning, all
restrictions on the national government could be re
moved and strict construction and state sovereignty
would have committed suicide. Clay believed that the
money granted to the Cumberland road was fully
justified by the "common defence and general wel
fare " as well as by the power "to make all laws which
shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execu
tion the foregoing powers." If the Cumberland road
was justified, then any other road over which troops,
ammunition, or anything necessary for the common
defence must pass, would be justified. If the Congress
had power to make such a roadway, it had also power
to dig a waterway when that form of communication
was more desirable than a road. Post-roads Clay would
construct under the expressed power to establish post-
roads, but he would not restrict such improvements to
those over which the mails were to be carried. He
would not have a standing army, but would depend
upon a well-organized militia for which free means of
movement must be provided. Whatever illustration he
needed upon this point was supplied by the war of 1812.
In agitating the war, Clay and the other "war-hawks "
in Congress had boasted that the Americans would
invade Canada and "roll it up." The difficulty of
invading a thousand miles of border was early shown
in the northwest. Governor Harrison, of the territory
of Indiana, was placed at the head of over 10,000 ill-
equipped raw militia men, recruited in Kentucky, Vir
ginia, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. When no more men
268 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
could be accepted, Governor Shelby, of Kentucky, offered
to lead the independent militia from his state. The spirit
of the days of '76 seemed to have come again. But
when the troops in several divisions started through the
wilderness between the Ohio and Lake Erie, they could
find no roads leading to the enemy.
The governor of Ohio furnished a band of " pio
neers " who made a kind of cleared way for the middle
division. It was the autumn season, rainy, cold, and
muddy. When the columns tried to approach the west
ern end of Lake Erie they came into the Great Black
Swamp of the Maumee river. Three miles a day was
good progress. Provisions were so far behind that each
man had to carry enough for seven days. Many had
recourse to nuts and bark of trees. Contemporary
writers praise the endurance of the troops.
"From Urbanna to the Rapids of the Miami is 150 miles.
The route of the army was through a thick and almost track
less forest. As there were a great number of baggage waggons
attached to the army, it became necessary to open a new road
the whole distance. The soil of the land was moist, being in
many places a perfect swamp. The weather was rainy and
man and horse had to travel mid-leg deep in mud. Fre
quently the van had to halt for the rear, which was as often
detained on its march in relieving waggons and horses from
the mire. . . . The men themselves were destitute of many
articles of the first necessity. . . . When the horses themselves
were no longer able to draw, these gallant sons of Mars har
nessed themselves to the sleds and in this manner conveyed
their baggage sixty miles through frost and snow. . . .
" In this Swamp you lose sight of terra firma altogether —
the water was about six inches deep on the ice, which was very
HENRY CLAY 269
rotten, often breaking through to the depth of. four or five
feet. ... It was with difficulty that we could raise fires ; we
had no tents, our clothes were wet, no axes, nothing to cook
in, and very little to eat. A brigade of packhorses being near
us, we procured from them some flour, killed a hog (there
being plenty of them along the road ;) our bread was baked
in the ashes, and the pork we broiled on the coals — a sweeter
meal I never partook of. When we went to sleep, it was on
two logs laid close to each other to keep our bodies from the
damp ground." ]
On the same subject, Clay said in debate :
" We should not have lost Moose Island during the late war
if we had possessed military roads. Massachusetts and the
Union were unable to send a force sufficient to dislodge the
enemy. On the northwestern frontier, millions of money and
some of the most precious blood of the state from which I
have the honor to come, was wastefully expended for the want
of such roads. ... In travelling from Philadelphia in the fall
of 1813, I saw transporting by government from Elk river to
the Delaware large quantities of massy timber for war vessels.
The additional expense from wagons and horses would have
gone far to complete the canal."
All through the disastrous campaigns in the north
west the same lack of supplies continued. Flour was
transported by packhorses, each animal carrying only
one-half barrel. Additional horses had to accompany
the packhorses to carry forage for them. Much of
the flour was spoiled by rain or snow on the way. It
was said that the cost of that actually consumed was
$100 per barrel. Of the four thousand packhorses,
1 Brown's " Views of the Campaigns of the Northwest Army," pp. 39, 43-
2/0 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
but eight hundred survived. Many of the contract
ors who had not taken the lack of roads into con
sideration were ruined and forfeited their contracts,
leaving the government at the mercy of extortionists.1
These experiences were vividly portrayed in Congress
by members when pleading for appropriations to be
spent on means of communication. Speaking of the
highway which had been begun through the Black
Swamp, one said :
" Not a solitary traveller now finds his way along that road ;
it is principally indicated by broken fragments of baggage wag
ons and gun carriages, scattered remains of flour barrels and
the mouldering skeletons of horses and oxen, remaining as they
were left, just visible above the surface of the mud and wet
which destroyed them." 2
Others pictured the hardships of the emigrants in
crossing the mountains :
" A farmer with a fine family of children, finding a difficulty
of procuring subsistence in some of the older states, and look
ing forward to their future welfare, determines to go to the
western country where land is cheap ; he sets out with a little
cart and two poor horses, to carry his wife and half a dozen
children ; and not knowing the distance or the road accurately
his slender means is soon exhausted ; the horses are unable to
carry further all that is dear to him ; he is broken down by
sickness, and his children cry around him for that relief which
he is unable to afford them; and when he arrives at his desti-
1 General Harrison, the western commander, was accused of extrava
gance in having spent $1,160,000 for supplies in a year and a' half. See
" State Papers of the I4th Congress," 2d Session, Vol. I., Report No. 21.
2 "American State Papers," miscellaneous, Vol. I., p. 593.
HENRY CLAY
\Si
nation, he is separated forever from all those relations which he
may have left behind him." l
It was impossible to resist such appeals. The demand
of those who had migrated to the new country was aided
by the cry of their
friends in the east who
wanted to exchange let
ters and visits with them.
Commerce, ever aggres
sive, demanded better
facilities. Conscientious
scruples about constitu
tional construction must
vanish from each con
gressman's mind under
such pressure from con
stituents. The first
appropriations for the
Cumberland road were
made from the two per
cent fund.3 Later the
money was advanced
from the United States
1 Harrison, of Indiana. See
" Debates of Congress," Vol. II.,
Pt. 1.^(1826), p. 358.
'2 This public testimonial to
the father of theCumberland road
is located on that great highway
near Wheeling, West Virginia.
3 Ohio agreed not to tax the
public land lying within her
limits for five years, if the
United States would give her MONUMENT TO HENRY CLAY 2
2/2 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
treasury to be replaced from this meagre fund ; at last
all disguise was thrown aside, and money was voted
directly to complete the road not only to the Ohio
river at Wheeling, but through the state capitals of
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri.1
Although the American system contributed powerfully
to the making of the Union, since it ignored the agency
of the states, it begot a most pernicious practice of
"log-rolling" among the members of Congress, as well
as a never satisfied hunger among the people for further
public benefits. In order to gain the passage of some
local benefit measure, a member was obliged to promise
aid to a similar enterprise fathered by another. An
appropriation for one locality incited the cupidity of its
neighbors.2 When Clay pushed his Louisville canal
survey through the Senate during his first session by a
vote of 1 8 to 8, John Quincy Adams explained it as
having "obviously been settled out of doors." He also
made a calculation that the senators from the three states
interested in the canal (Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio),
five per cent of the proceeds of the sales of these lands for building
roads. Subsequently two per cent of this five per cent was granted for
making a road to the state of Ohio. The same agreement was afterwards
made with the states of Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. Having once
entered upon the building of this road, the Federal government found
it impossible to stop. Sixty distinct acts were passed for the road between
1806 and 1838, and almost $7,000,000 appropriated.
1 That is through Columbus, Indianapolis, Vandalia, and Jefferson City.
Before it was fully completed, the road was given by the United States to
these four states. They have given it to the respective counties through
which it passes, by whom it is still maintained.
2 In 1804, the Ohio Canal Company was incorporated by the legisla
ture of Kentucky for building a canal about the Falls at Louisville. The
enterprise solicited Congressional aid, since it would benefit the govern
ment salt works on the Wabash, and would hasten the sale of public lands
along the Ohio river.
HENRY CLAY 2/3
together with those interested in the Chesapeake and
Delaware canal (Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania)
could influence enough additional members to carry
both those measures.
The self-interest attached to all these claims for pub
lic benefit is illustrated by the Maysville road. The
people of central Kentucky desired an outlet to the
Ohio river, and a company was organized to construct
a road from Lexington to Maysville. In order to get the
national government to subscribe to the enterprise, it
was proposed to make it a link in a great " national "
road which should branch southwardly in Ohio from the
Cumberland national road, and, passing through Ken
tucky and other intervening states, eventually reach
New Orleans. Fortune seemed to favor the plan.
Henry Clay, the virtual father of "internal improve
ments," resided near Lexington, and Andrew Jackson,
the President of the United States, near the line of the
proposed road in Tennessee.
Notwithstanding the opposition of the southern
Atlantic states, whose hopes of a road to New Orleans
through their territory had been raised by surveys and
reports made at various times, the Maysville road meas
ure was put through both houses of Congress. In vain
did the opposition show the folly of spending $50,000
on three counties of Kentucky. At this rate it would
cost four millions to satisfy the state and seventy-two
millions to appease the eighteen states. They showed
that the national government had already incurred obli
gations for public improvements amounting to one hun
dred and six millions. Forty-two such projects were
now pending in Congress, including bridges, roads, rail-
274 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
roads, canals, and river improvements. The patronage
was raising up an army of contractors and wire pullers,
they said, equal to the standing armies of Europe. Clay's
" American system " was declared not a whit less
odious than the European system.
" The President is now supposed to allow the money
drawn from the pockets of the people of the nation by
indirect taxation to be squandered in making state and
neighborhood roads from the Ohio river to Mr. Clay's farm
at Lexington, merely that the credit of the project may
be given to Mr. Clay." President Jackson, although
approving appropriations for the Cumberland road, and
for rivers, harbors, and canals, vetoed the Maysville road
bill.
One effect of this veto was to recall the people to
their senses in the mad race for public benefits. No
one who knew Andrew Jackson could hope that he
would change his attitude toward the inauguration of
new projects. His influence was also so strong with
his understood successor,' Van Buren, that no hope
could be seen in the future. Before the end of Van
Buren's administration, the public improvement craze
had been transferred to the states, and their disastrous
experiences following the panic of 1837 cooled the ardor
of these internal expansionists.
Another effect was to bring Clay forward as the
champion of public improvements unlimited. " By the
injudicious exercise of the veto power," said one news
paper, "Jackson has lost all chances of a second term.
The cry is — Now FOR CLAY!" The veto made him
an opponent of Jackson in the election of 1832. It
made Jackson unpopular in districts expecting a share
HENRY CLAY 275
of the public usufruct. It was reported that at Mays-
ville, when the President passed down the river on his
way home after the adjournment of Congress, "not a
single bow" was offered to him. "As the boat rounded
off from shore, the General from the deck bowed to the
citizens — but not a HAT moved. Silent contempt was
his reward at this place."1 But indignation was not
sufficiently widespread to defeat Jackson and elect Clay.
The people were neither unappreciative nor ungrate
ful for the efforts of Clay in their behalf. His journeys
to and from Washington at the opening and closing of
Congress were continued ovations. Especially was this
true if he were bidding farewell to public life and
retiring to his Kentucky farm, as he so frequently did.
His carriage or the public coach was stopped at the
edge of every hamlet by the enthusiastic people, who
drew it by hand to the city tavern, where a speech
must be made by the great "Harry Clay."2 Later, a
public meeting, an informal serenade, or a banquet
awaited "the man who wins all hearts." If the time
of his arrival chanced to be so fortunate, he graced the
annual horse trot or the agricultural fair. The local
poet fashioned an appropriate stanza :
" The peopled favorite, Henry Clay,
Is now the ' Fashion ' of the day ;
And let the track be dry or mucky,
We'll stake our pile on old Kentucky.
Get out of the way, he's swift and lucky,
Clear the track for old Kentucky.11
1 Louisville Advertiser, July 9, 1830.
2 When Clay came to Washington in 1848 to address the Colonization
Society, Senator Crittenden said of him that he could get more people to
listen to him speak and fewer to vote for him than any man in the United
States.
276 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
If he chose to travel by the Cumberland road, public
recognition was doubly enthusiastic for the man whose
efforts were largely responsible for this great link
between the east and west.1 He himself testified : " I
have free passage across the mountains. I am invited
to dinners, suppers, and balls. Taverns, stages, and
toll-gates have been generally thrown open to me free
of charge. A monarch might be proud of the reception
with which I have everywhere been honored."
Much rivalry was manifest between the stage lines on
the road for the honor of carrying him. If he chose
the Old Line or the Oyster Line on one trip, he must
promise to patronize the Good Intent the next time.
The drivers of the Pathfinder, the Republic, and the Pro
tection contested with the drivers of the Erin go BragJi
and the Central America for the distinguished passenger.
The landlord of the Mount Vcrnon, the Pancake, the
White Goose and Golden Swan, or the Cross Keys stood
upon his steps to welcome the father of the "American
system." It was said that Clay knew by name many of
the drivers and landlords along the road.
His enemies sneered that the " hero of the knife and
fork" or "the table orator" was again upon his trav
els ; they suggested that the American system should be
1 " He was met on his entrance into the town by the Cumberland Band,
who escorted him to the hotel and there discoursed some of their best
music. Soon after his arrival, he received a large concourse of our citizens,
who, as has been the case many thousand times before in this and other
places, were delighted with his bland, courteous manner. After some time
spent in gazing upon the features and listening to the voice of this most
remarkable man of the present century, Mr. Clay in a few glowing words
returned his thanks to the assembled multitude, wished them many returns
of a happy new year, and amid loud cheering, retired to his room." — From
the Cumberland (Md.) Civilian.
HENRY CLAY 277
called the "Bribery system" or the "Eating system."
Nevertheless, when Clay visited Pittsburg the Anchor
paper mills gave its workmen a holiday and the cham
pion of American industry a mighty feast. The straw
manufacturers made for Mrs. Clay a mammoth straw
hat, and the silversmiths of New York presented a
tablet to their protector.
Clay's admirers delighted to pass along the story that
at one time, when he was thrown from a coach on a pile
of limestone broken to repair the road near Uniontown,
he remarked, " Well, we ought to have a good road now,
since we are mingling the limestone of Pennsylvania
with the Clay of Kentucky." His constituency espe
cially admired the reply of Mrs. Clay, who passed the
card room in the Capitol and was asked whether she
regretted seeing her husband play for money. " Oh no,
he nearly always wins."
By 1809, the art of applying steam to navigation, as
perfected by Fulton on the Hudson, had reached the
middle west. With the coming of the steamboat, a
demand arose for the clearing of streams and the
construction of harbors by the national government.
Although large appropriations were made, many
doubted whether the constitutional provision for regu
lating commerce covered internal as well as ocean com
merce. But the same law of compulsion which was
making the nation decided affirmatively.1 This hesitancy,
however, cut off artificial waterways or canals not a part
of rivers from national aid. A new departure was
1 According to a report of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army,
the total appropriation for rivers and harbors made by Congress between
1789 and 1892 amounted to over $236,000,000.
!?8 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
made in the Erie Canal constructed by the state
of New York after years of petitioning Congress for
assistance. Ohio and other states followed her example.
Ofihf Ptumgf <>f Ihe-fintt Boat from (he Grnutl Canal into the Hudson,
nl the Cily r,f .-Ilknuy, on Wftln<-*.tl<nj. Ortobrr 8, 1823.
ity »( .ill
in the Im
n<l the bells to ring. At which time disjoint com.
ami rhamplain Cimals, ami there join the Canal
1 Boat ; from thence tlown the canal. On their
\w ifc, iv.'d by another Boat, with ih« Milimry
bej wifl arm-cat 11 o'clock.
i-sM-d with flags, and moored i
Just when the canal and steamboat had reached their
highest point of popularity, their rival, and ultimately
their deadly foe, appeared. At the inauguration of
Jackson, a model of a newly invented railroad car had
been shown in the rotunda of the Capitol, in which
" eight persons were drawn by a thread of common sew
ing cotton." In his " First Book of History," Peter
Parley said :
" But the most curious thing at Baltimore is the railroad.
I must tell you that there is a great trade between Baltimore
and the states west of the Alleghany mountains. . . . Now in
order to carry on all this business the more easily, the people
are building what they call a railroad. This consists of iron
bars laid along the ground, and made fast so that carriages with
small wheels may run along them with facility. In this way
each horse will be able to draw as much as ten horses on a
common road. A part of this railroad is already done, and if
you choose to take a ride upon it you may do so. You will
mount a carriage something like a stage, and then you will be
drawn along by two horses at the rate of twelve miles an hour."
HENRY CLAY
279
The members of Congress went over to Baltimore by
stage for the purpose of riding on the new road, and
were surprised to
see one horse
draw four car
riages on which
were seated one
hundred and fifty
people. Soon the
steam locomotive
had replaced
horses and sails.1
The eccentric
Davy Crockett
described his ex
perience on the
railroad :
"This was a clean
new sight to me ;
about a dozen big
stages hung orito
one machine and
to start up a hill.
Baltimore and the states west of the
Alleghany Mountains. The western
people buy a great many goods at Bal
timore, and send in return a great deal
of western produce. There is, there
fore, a vast deal of travelling back and
forth, and hundreds of teams are con
stantly occupied in transporting goods
and produce to and from market.
Raa-road Car.
8. Now, in order to carry on aU this
Business more easily, the people are
Jmihling what is called a rail-road.
This consists of iron bars laid along il
(From Peter Parley's " First Book of History")
1 A very popular song to be heard in the theatres of the day, began as
follows :
" At the inns on our route
No ostler comes out
To give water to Spanker or Smiler;
But loll'd at our ease
We ask landlord to please .
Put a little more water in the boiler.
And we're no longer gee up and gee ho,
But tiz, fiz, fiz, off we go."
280 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
After a good deal of fuss, we all got seated and moved slowly
off; the engine wheezing as if she had tizzick. By-and-by she
began to take short breaths, and away we went with a blue
streak after us. The whole distance is seventeen miles, and
it was run in fifty-five minutes."
Railroads were used at first to connect waterways,
both natural and artificial. That they could ever
The Farmer, the .Statesman, m& Patriot,
BOSTON;
J. FISHER, No. h COURT STREET.
supplant canals was doubted. When a Cincinnati
newspaper in 1830 predicted that within twenty years
HENRY CLAY 281
the many hundreds of canals planned, at a cost of
$30,000,000, would be filled up or drained to make
foundations for railroads, other papers " recorded " it
as a "matter of curious speculation." Railways were
never considered fit subjects for national aid beyond the
granting of public lands through which they passed.
Private capital accumulated sufficiently to build them
before the demand for extensive construction arose.
They never entered into Clay's American system.
In many parts of the United States one may find a
well-kept railway running beside the grass-grown bed
of a deserted canal. Having passed the day of its use
fulness, it remains a silent witness to the fickleness of
popularity. Here and there over the land one finds
evidences of the dead hopes of the thousands who time
and again tried to reward their champion with the
presidency. No man ever had such followers as Clay ;
so faithful through many defeats, yet never sufficiently
strong to accomplish their purpose. Adopting a homely
phrase familiar to every Kentucky hunter, they " picked
flint and tried it again." A thousand voices were
always ready to respond :
" Here's to you, Harry Clay,
Here's to you with all my heart.
And you shall be the President,
And that before we part.
Here's to you, Harry Clay."
CHAPTER IX
ANDREW JACKSON, THE PEOPLE'S PRESIDENT
" But, unaided by any such or other improper means, and
opposed by an organized corps of Leading men, and intriguing
politicians, in almost every state of the Union, he is emphati
cally the CANDIDATE OF THE PEOPLE."- — /'Vw// an Address to
the People of Ohio on the Next Presidency. Cincinnati, 1824.
" Freeman, cheer the Hickory tree
In storms its boughs have sheltered thee ;
O'er Freedom's Land its branches wave,
Twas planted on the LION'S GRAVE."
— Campaign Song of 1828.
WAR is always a disturbing element in history. It is
revolution as opposed to peaceful evolution. Peace is
the normal condition, war the abnormal. The war spirit
is contagious ; it is unreasoning ; it is tyrannical. It
demands a harmony of action ; it denounces opposition
as unpatriotic ; it does not hesitate to restrict free
speech and civil rights. The man who opposes war
does so at his peril ; the political party which opposes
war invites defeat. Those who opposed taking up arms
in the Revolutionary war were proscribed, banished, and
their property confiscated. Those who opposed the
war of 1812 were accused of treason;1 their names
1 Tn Adams's " History of the Administrations of Jefferson and Madi
son," see the " blue light " charges.
282
ANDREW JACKSON 283
were held up to scorn in later years ; their political
hopes blasted, Not a man who took part in the pro
testing convention at Hartford could ever hope for
political preferment at the hands of the people.
The triumphant close of the war brought such pres
tige to the Republicans or Jefferson party that the Fed
eralists ceased to be recognized in national politics, and
the political "era of good feeling" followed. Men had
looked forward to a cessation of partisanship as a kind of
millennium. It was felt that with the abeyance of party
issues, the welfare of the entire country would be more
carefully considered. But it was soon seen that parties
form the mechanism of popular government; that the
people must have working lines if the government is to
be a thing of life ; that with the disappearance of party
issues, personal issues are sure to arise. In that case,
the good of the government is lost sight of in consider
ing the qualifications of the various leaders and in the
resulting personal strife.
This predominance of the personal element in " the
era of good feeling" was well illustrated in the election
of 1824. Four years before, party feeling may be said
to have reached its lowest point at the second election
of Monroe, when he received every electoral vote cast
save one.1 There was absolutely no national party or
issue. But in 1824, there were so many candidates
before the electors that no one had a majority.
In the quarter of a century since the people had
revolted and elected Jefferson, a state of affairs similar
to that time had arisen. Political power is constantly
1 It is said that one elector threw away his vote rather than have another
unanimously sleeted President after Washington.
284 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
slipping unperceived from the hands of the many to the
hands of the few. By 1824, it had come to be under
stood that the Secretary of State should be the next
President, the " Secretary succession" as it was called.
Therefore, John Quincy Adams received some electoral
votes. But a certain element in Washington rallied
about William H. Crawford, of Georgia, Secretary of
the Treasury, and tried to change the order of succes
sion to the presidency. Adams was from the north
Atlantic and Crawford from the south Atlantic section,
the former seats of political contests. The migration of
the people, as described in a previous chapter, had
brought forth a new and unperceived element — the
west. Its people were grateful to the champion of
their great internal improvement system, and the elec
toral votes of Ohio, Kentucky, and Missouri were given
to Henry Clay. He was the choice of the people as
opposed to the politicians, but of the higher class of
people. He might have been elected had not another
candidate been put forward by the masses of the people.
This fourth candidate, Andrew Jackson, is an illustra
tion of war as a disturbing agent in political plans. His
war record was his great and almost sole qualification.
In the local Indian wars on the southwestern frontier,
he had endeared himself to the borderers as the pro
tector of their homes and families ; in the battle of New
Orleans he had made himself a national hero, since it
was a kind of redeeming victory in a rather inglorious
contest on the land.1 The American people have, since
1 A handbill in the New York Historical Society, reproduced on page 286,
shows that no news of the battle of New Orleans had reached that city until
after the news of the peace came.
ANDREW JACKSON
285
the days of Washington, deemed the presidency the only
suitable reward for a war hero. Much to the dismay of
politicians, the rough
old Indian fighter re
ceived the highest
number of electoral
votes, although not a
majority.
When the unsettled
election went into the
House of Representa
tives, Clay, the low
est on the list, was
dropped.1 His strength
lay in the west and
would naturally go to
Jackson. They were
the two candidates of
the people ; they rep
resented the new as
against the old. But
contrary to all expec
tation, Clay lent his
influence to Adams ANDREW JACKSON a
and secured his election. When Adams made up his
cabinet, Clay was made Secretary of State. His turn
would come next. Clay could not believe that "the
; killing of two thousand five hundred Englishmen at New
Orleans " qualified Jackson for the presidency.
Immediately arose the cry of "a corrupt bargain."
1 According to the Constitution, Amendment XII., Sec. I.
2 From an old print of the painting by Earle.
286 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Clay had sold himself for thirty pieces of silver.1 It
was " a coalition of Blifil and Black George — a com-
bination, un
heard of till
now, of the
Puritan and
the blackleg."
The hero of
the people had
been defeated
by a political
trick. But a
clay of reckon
ing was only
four years
away.
Under un
known and un
trained leaders,
but men who
matched the
keenness of the
politician with
the subtlety of
the borderer,
the "Jackson men" devoted themselves for four years
1 A stanza of doggerel, current at the time, runs :
" Harry Clay was a cunning chap,
His debts had thrown him all aback.
So he felt a longing for Treasury pap.
He made a bargain with John the great,
I shan't the particulars here relate,
But Harry was placed in the chair of State,
Heigh-ho, says Harry."
LausDfoI
Glorious
PEACE.
An express passed thlwity this
at New.York, which w*«fcliv*red to Mr, Havens,
who, politely shewed us it* contents, which are as
follow {
« A British Sloop of War,* with Mr. Carrol, and
a Treaty of PEACE has just arrivM-iigncd on
the 24lh December.
When the Expres. left New-York, at deven
o'clock, Ian night, the city was brilliantly ilhj.
atnated.
KP Ko Mail from New-0cle»n*
•ftwrib, /, Mv^fUtfiOgm^
ANDREW JACKSON 287
to the interests of their candidate. They marked every
representative who had voted for Adams, and defeated
many of them. They changed the complexion of Con
gress until the Adams administration was turned into a
series of defeats. This they were able to do largely
through the extension of the suffrage.
When the Declaration of Independence declared
the political equality of men, it was not thought wise
to put the theory into practice. The suffrage was con
trolled by the states and was, in all save two, restricted
to holders of property. Such had been the custom in
England and the colonies. It is estimated that not
more than one person in twenty-three had sufficient prop
erty to vote when Washington was elected President.
Gradually, in state after state, new constitutions were
formed which removed or lowered suffrage restrictions.
Although thus securing the privilege of voting, the
people had small share in the election of President and
still less in determining the candidates to be voted upon.
The makers of the Constitution questioned the judgment
of the masses and therefore provided that the people
should choose electors, presumably the best men in each
community, who should meet and select the man in the
United States best qualified to be President. But it was
soon seen that electors could be chosen who would
undoubtedly vote for a certain man, and in that indirect
way the people have been in reality voting for the Presi
dent since the very first election.
The Constitution allowed the several states to decide
how these electors should be chosen, and the state
legislatures seemed to furnish a ready agency. In the
first election of Washington, the electors were chosen
288 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
by the people in only three out of the eleven states.
The President was thus twice removed from the direct
choice of the people. Democracy has gained slowly by
sloughing off old political forms and methods. For
years the people slowly gain strength through evolu
tion, and then suddenly break through the upper
stratum in what is called a political revolution. Such an
upheaval came in 1800, as already described; another
was preparing in 1824.
In the election of 1824, the people as usual had no
power in choosing candidates. Crawford had been
named by a caucus of the members of Congress. That
method had been invented, after the unanimous elec
tions of Washington, and was followed during the subse
quent elections to 1824. Yet the state legislatures felt
themselves nearer to the people than Congress, and
they began to nominate candidates. Adams was nomi
nated by the legislatures of several New England states ;
Clay by Kentucky and four other states ; and Jackson
by his own state of Tennessee and by Pennsylvania.1
No nominations were necessary for the campaign of
1828. All were either "Jackson men" or "Adams
men." No party names were known. The administra
tion papers, especially those that read their doom in the
coming in of the masses, attacked the record of Jackson.
They claimed that he " possessed only the bravery of a
RUFFIAN and the warlike cunning of an INDIAN CHIEF.
. . . CONSTANTINE was violent, uxorious, and a gambler :
1 By 1840 this system of nominating by state legislatures had begun to
give way to a nomination made by a convention of delegates chosen by the
people of a state. This in turn was superseded by a national convention
consisting of delegates chosen from the different states, a custom prevalent
to the present day.
ANDREW JACKSON
289
JACKSON is all this beside a Duellist and a Murderer."
He would make a fine contrast to the polished, religious
Adams, with "his CHICANERY, — his BRAWLS, — his
SWEARING, — his SHOOTING and DAGGERING." He was
called "the man of the Pistol and Dirk, the fireside
HYENA of character, the Tennessee SLANDERER, the
GREAT WESTERN BLUEBEARD." Pamphlets were printed
giving the particulars of Jackson betting $5000 in 1806
on one of his race-horses and then killing the owner of
the rival horse on the duelling field. When an editor
contemplated putting mourning lines on his paper for
Jackson's unfortunate opponent, that bully threatened
any one found sympathizing with his victim. The
pamphlets also described how General Jackson and his
friends in 1813 attacked Colonel Benton and his brother
with pistols and dag
HUZZA
FOR
<KCii.Ja<*kson!
gers, during which
Jackson's arm was
shattered by a ball.
Thus they pictured
the man who was
proposed for the
presidency instead
of the polished
gentleman, John
Quincy Adams.
The Jackson men
ridiculed the piety
of Adams, a piety which asked twenty thousand dollars
in addition to the regular appropriation of fourteen thou
sand for furnishing the President's mansion. One-third
of this money had been lavished, they said, on the apart-
WITH THE
YANKEES!
POSTER OF 1828
2QO THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
ments of Adams's British wife and part in buying —
Shades of Puritanism — a billiard table! Also $2613 had
been spent for " Dry Goods." What did that mean ?
No wonder that while most presidents have retired poor,
this man had amassed a fortune. Also contrast the
record of the two men. Jackson had always been a
man of the people ; Adams was a descendant of the
" well-born " and had "turned a complete political som
erset " to the Jeffersonians when he saw the Federalists
losing power in Massachusetts. While Jackson was
pledging his estate to raise money for his troops, Adams
was investing his salary in Russian bonds. Jackson
had resigned the governorship of Florida, declined a
cabinet position under Monroe, and had always surren
dered his commission when he took off his sword ; Adams
had been a public pensioner for almost a quarter of a
century, must have received at least $200,000 in salaries,
and had never resigned nor declined an office.
When the Adams men called Jackson " half horse —
half alligator," his followers accepted it as a tribute.
The term had originated among the rougher element in
the new west, who boasted that they were not of women
born. The printing-presses were few in the Jackson
country and the illiterates many ; hence they had re
course to the "oldest campaign agency in the world — the
song. One of the most popular began :
" We are a hardy, free-born race, each man to fear a stranger,
Whate'er the game, we join the chase, despising toil and danger,
And if a daring foe annoys, whate'er his strength or force is,
We'll show him that Kentucky boys are alligators-horses.
" I s'pose you've read it in the prints how Pakenham attempted,
To make old Hickory Jackson wince, but soon his scheme repented ;
ANDRE I V JA CKSON
291
For we, with rifles ready cocked, thought such occasions lucky,
And soon around the General flocked, the hunters from Kentucky."
The Adams men accepted this challenge to make the
issue on Jackson's war record. Pamphlets were issued
describing how General Jackson had put to death sixteen
helpless Indians on the morning after the battle of the
Horse Shoe ; l how he arbitrarily invaded Spanish Flor
ida and put to death two Englishmen, Arbuthnot and
Ambrister, whom he found there ; how the Secretary
MOURNFUL TKACJED1
Jacob Webb, David Morrow, John Han-is, Henry Lewis, David Hunt,
and Edward Lindsav,
of War had suggested that he be court-martialled for his
conduct ; how he had hoisted a British flag at St. Mark's
and so decoyed four Indians on board and then hanged
them ; how he had sworn by the Eternal to execute
Woods, a volunteer, who had an altercation with an offi
cer while the army was near Mobile, and had done so.
JA rare pamphlet in the Library of Congress bears the title, "A
Review of the Battle of the Jlorse Shoe and of the Facts relating to the
Killing of Sixteen Indians on the morning after the Battle by the Orders
of Gen. Andrew Jackson."
292 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Above all they dwelt upon Jackson putting to death
:- six militiamen at New Orleans for having returned to
their homes under the impression that they had been
called out for three months' instead of six months' ser
vice. Handbills were circulated showing the six black
coffins with descriptive stanzas beneath. One stanza
runs :
" See Six BLACK COFFINS rang'd along,
Six GRAVES before them made ;
Webb, Lindsay, Harris, Lewis, Hunt,
And Morrow kneel'd and pray'd."
The only attack which touched the war hero was that
aimed at his wife and her past history. It is a story al
most incomprehensible now, when the frontier with its
unconventional life has passed away. Jackson, the young
lawyer, crossing the mountains from his native Caro
lina to a pioneer life in western Tennessee, took lodg
ings with another young man in the side cabin of Mrs.
Donelson, who lived with her deserted but not divorced
daughter, Mrs. Robards, in the main cabin. The condi
tion of the woman, deserted by her jealous husband,
appealed to the chivalrous nature and impulsive tem
perament of Jackson. Simply upon rumor that the hus
band had obtained a divorce from the legislature of
the state of Virginia, Jackson married Mrs. Rob
ards. As a lawyer he should have been more careful.
Even the later action of having a second and legal
marriage ceremony after the divorce had been really
granted could not amend his past carelessness. When
he came into political life his enemies would not take
into consideration the extenuating circumstances of the
lack of communication on the border, the fierceness of
ANDREW JACKSON 293
the loves and hates of the borderer, and the lack of a
rigid standard of life.
0*;«»1*R Or THE MMXflJ? OEKm
GENERAL .1 A € Si SO A
Jf/;/*V« A SVffLBMf.\T TGtTJIK "CO/'f/.v /,'.
n M. j ii ?i i. i) i! ' v i
f if iff
i
COFFIN HANDBILL, CAMPAIGN OF 1828
The Adams papers in the campaign found a rich
morsel in this " scandal." " Who is there in all the land
that has a wife, sister, or daughter, that could be pleased
to see Mrs. Jackson (Mrs. Robards that was) presiding in
the drawing-room at Washington? There is POLLUTION
in the touch, there is PERDITION IN THE EXAMPLE OF
A PROFLIGATE WOMAN." Jackson writhed under these
stings, but comforted himself with his coming revenge
when this slandered woman should be the first lady in
the land; when her defamers must grant her the defer
ence due to a President's wife. As the campaign drew
to a close and his election became assured, no prospect
was as pleasing as his coming revenge. Mrs. Jackson,
or " Aunt Rachel " as her friends called her, had been
in Washington when her husband was senator. She
was a woman not without a certain beauty, but falling
294 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
short of the present standard by the defects of her
border training and life. She was said to be illiterate and
fond of her fireside and her pipe. But to Jackson's faith
ful nature she was the embodiment of attractiveness.
After Jackson's election had been assured, the people
of Nashville prepared an elaborate dinner and ball for
him and Mrs. Jackson before their departure for Wash
ington. On this occasion, kind women of that city pre
pared for the wife of the President-elect a gown more
in keeping with her station than the ones she usually
wore. At nine o'clock on the night prior to the recep
tion, Mrs. Jackson died. Rumor said that in a hotel at
Nashville, while on a visit connected with the prepara
tion of the gown, she had overheard a comment upon
the weight that her past record would be about the neck
of her husband ; that she returned to the Hermitage in
tears, and in a week was dead. Her husband sat by
her body day and night unwilling to believe that fate
had snatched from his hands the prize now that it was
within his grasp. When he started on his lonely journey
to Washington it was with a firm resolution to defend
and protect all women against the tongue of slander.
Only when one knows the story of Mrs. Jackson can
one appreciate her husband's defence of Mrs. Eaton.1
Down the Cumberland to the Ohio and up that stream
to Pittsburg by boat, and across the mountains by " a
plain two-horse wagon," came the presidential party. At
every city there was an artillery salute, but from any
O'Neal was the daughter of a Washington tavern-keeper. She
married Major Eaton a few weeks before he became Jackson's Secretary
of War. Some gossip concerning them, which had been current, was
renewed by the politicians. Jackson defended her, even to the extent of
disciplining his niece and threatening the Dutch minister.
ANDREW JA CKSON- 295
further courtesies the recent affliction of the President ex
cused him. He arrived quite unexpectedly at Gadsby's
tavern in Washington d^i the morning of February 12.
In the afternoon a salutevwas fired and another at sunset.
As the 4th of March approached, the newspapers
announced " a great concourse of strangers in the city
of every degree in life." They were Jackson men, who
seemed to fear that their hero would be again tricked
out of his rights. They proposed to see " Old Hickory "
in the " White House." Many had come in carts» and
on horseback for hundreds of miles. The aristocratic
office-holders compared them to the barbarians descend
ing on ancient Rome. To Webster they appeared to
feel a relief as if the country had been freed from some
awful danger. It was democracy coming into its own.
The committee of arrangements announced that there
would be no military array on the inauguration day but
such as was voluntary. The new President was to be
''surrounded by no praetorian guard." In truth the
only military company in Washington was commanded
by an Adams office-holder, who refused to call it out to
grace these barbarians. Two companies of artillery
were hastily formed to fire salutes as the President,
escorted by the Congressional committee, a few old
Revolutionary soldiers, and a great rabble, went from
Gadsby's to the Capitol. Ten thousand people "gave
salutations" when he appeared on the eastern portico
of the buildirig to read his very brief address. They
swept away like whipcord a wire cable stretched to
keep the multitude back from the " privileged class."
Later, amidst more salutes, "Old Hickory " was escorted
by the throng to his future place of residence..
296 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
That night came the reception. For hours were heard
the crash of glass and the breaking of furniture as the
crowd surged through the President's mansion, eager to
see their representative in possession of his own. A
Massachusetts man said : " I never saw such a mixture.
The reign of King MOB seemed triumphant. I was glad
to escape from the scene as soon as possible." Not
withstanding the warning published by a man who had
lost a purse of $400 at the theatre the night before, the
"cut-purses " were busy and but few arrested. A Jack
son newspaper acknowledged, " At the Mansion of the
President, the Sovereign People were a little uproari
ous, indeed, but it was anything but a malicious spirit."
The next day a heavy rain drove away some of the
spectators, but many remained. They thought there
ought to be " a clean sweep " of the office-holders instead
of stopping with the President.1 They were said to have
" flocked here in crowds in the vain hope of reward for
services which they believe themselves to have rendered
during the campaign." " The situation of the Presi
dent himself is far from enviable." Other newspapers
reported that the office-seekers intruded upon his private
hours and " perforated " the whole of his mansion to
get a peep at him.2 Webster pronounced the multitude
1 The Baltimore Patriot said that when a gentleman apologized for
making such a lengthy call on the President, the latter replied, " Sit down,
sir, and stay. I like to have you. You are the first man who has come to
see me without asking for an office."
2 " Turn out ! turn out !
They are rogues no doubt;
And honest men and true are come to put them all to rout.
Why the d— 1 should they stay
In their seats a single day
For noble fellows like ourselves they all should clear away."
— The Massachusetts Journal, 1829.
ANDREW JA CKSOtf
too many to be fed without a miracle. They construed
the promise of reform in Jackson's inaugural address to
mean turning out the professional office-holders. " The
power of removal," said a Virginia paper, "is founded
on the idea that no radical reform of abuses of the
government was to be expected from gentlemen who
were hacknied in the abuses of office and opposed to
the cause of Jackson and reform." The Jackson organ
in Washington promised that the President " would
reward his friends and punish his enemies." 1
The Adams men were soon in a panic. They had
taken comfort from a resurrected letter from Jackson to
Monroe written years before in which he advised against
the removal of officers. At a farewell dinner given to
Clay on the day after the inauguration, that departing
statesman had proposed the toast, " Let us never despair
of the American Republic." But what was the republic
to men who saw the political guillotine before their eyes ?
Fifteen postmasters were dismissed in New Hampshire
in ten weeks ; yet, when a dismissed clerk in Washing
ton committed suicide, a New Hampshire newspaper
said, " The People bid the Executioner go on in the
good work of reform even if some do bleed by their
own hands."
1 The Central Hickory Club summed up the situation from its stand
point in a circular issued in 1832:
When Gen. Jackson came into power there were in office in this city :
Of his enemies about 288
Of his friends about 71
Majority of enemies 217
At the end of 1831, the relative strength of parties was as follows:
Gen. Jackson's enemies 173
His friends 140
Majority of enemies 33
298
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Andrew Jackson has always borne the odium of the
father of the spoils system, but a larger view will see
that system as a result of this democratic revolution.
To say that Jackson discovered in it any moral wrong
would be to ascribe to this old Indian fighter a sentiment
of to-day which has taken years to build up and is held
only by the highest civic type. His standard, as formed
by his war training, was embodied later in the immortal
saying of Marcy, " To the victor belong the spoils."
With such men in power, personal encounters were not
uncommon. The general rule was to employ fists for
ruffians and the duel for gentlemen. The practice of
11 posting " men by handbills was not uncommon.1
Jackson never contemplated himself in the role
assumed by Jefferson — the political saviour of his coun
try ; but he had
been called forth
To the Public.
I publish (inicRil JHFF
OKEEX to HIP world, as a
ami a C<ncur(f.
. WATSO.'V WKIIlt,
Of *«•»» York.
bnmn, «. 1S32,
reluctantly to re
form the abuses
under which his
people labored."
When ever he
found such abuse
he would destroy
it. He soon found
one in the second
United States bank. Adopted by Congress at the close
of the war of 1812 to restore the national finances,
and chartered for twenty years, this great corporation,
on a first capital of $35,000,000, earned more than
$3,000,000 annually. Its headquarters were located
1 Two of these handbills are shown in illustrations in this chapter.
ANDREW JACKSON 299
in Philadelphia, with twenty-five branch banks in
vajious cities, employing over five hundred people.
Its bank-notes were accepted at par the country over.
Jackson had known little about the bank until a quar
rel concerning the appointment of its officers reached
him. Now a bank is always an object of suspicion
among the masses of the people, and the methods of
the banker are always suspected. Those who have
not the faculty of making money suspect those who
have. In his second message, Jackson raised the in
quiry whether the United States could not manage a
bank exclusively and get all the profits where it now
held one-fifth the stock and received only that share
of the profits. Three times in as many annual mes
sages this suggestion was made.
In 1832, Clay brought before Congress a petition for
rechartering the bank, although it had four years yet to
run. It must have time to close up its affairs, he said,
if this hostile suggestion of the President should be
adopted. Immediately the Jackson men brought for
ward twenty-two charges against the bank, chiefly of
using undue influence in the national and state legis
latures, and of accommodating politicians with loans.
Nevertheless the bill to recharter passed both houses,
but was vetoed by the President on the ground that it
was a monopoly. " Many of our rich men have not
been content with equal protection and equal benefits,
but have besought us to make them richer by the act
of Congress." It was the old Jeffersonian protest
against privilege legislation.
Once aroused against the bank, the wrath of Jackson
knew no bounds. He paid his bills in gold instead of
300
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
United States bank-notes, and his followers aroused fur
ther distrust by calling constant attention to the ninety-
five counterfeit bank-bills which had been detected.
The President now ordered the receivers of the public
money to make no further deposits with the branches
of the bank and to draw out whatever remained of the
$8,000,000 annually deposited. He also deprived the
CITY OF
NEW-YORK
POSTING " AN ENEMY
United States bank of distributing the pension money.
But the United States continued to receive money and
there was no place to put it. A treasury in a treasury
building had not yet been thought of. Why not let the
smaller banks throughout the country, those which could
with difficulty compete with the great monopoly, have
the use of this money ?
The banks thus chosen were immediately named
" Jackson's pet banks." Under their unexpected for
tune, they began to speculate. Jackson detested paper
ANDREW JACKSON
301
money, but his action brought out a flood of it. Banks
sprang up like mushrooms.1 From 1834 to 1836 the
banking capital increased $81,000,000. The reaction
was sure to come, and it brought the panic of 1837.
Even this was precipitated by the President issuing an
arbitrary order that the land offices should refuse to
accept anything save specie in payment for the public
lands. This panic Jackson bequeathed to his protege,
Van Buren, with the presidency.
The disastrous results of this meddling with the
national bank brought no discredit to the President in
MEDAL ON JACKSON DESTROYING THE BANK
the opinion of his followers. They thanked God that
he knew nothing of finance since then he would be
honest with them. But the affair formed such an
example of amateur juggling with national finances that
no one has since dared to repeat it. The chief Executive
had learned a lesson.
1 This stanza was copied extensively in the opposition papers :
" He managed the people, he governed the Banks;
And played while in office all sorts of queer pranks;
He killed the old monster, and then with a grin,
He got many little ones of the same kin."
302 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
As will be described in the next chapter, the always
smouldering contest on the relative power of the state
and national governments had broken forth under Jack
son. It was, to a certain extent, made possible by the
defeat of the New Englanders or Adams men and the
election of Jackson. The triumphant southerners
wished to reap advantage of their victory and bring
the national government back to its restricted origin.
Opportunity was given in the tariff legislation which
had imposed higher duties on coarse stuffs, such as
clothing for slaves, until it was felt in the south to be
unbearable, and received the title, " the tariff of abomi
nations."
The state of South Carolina, the state of Calhoun and
Hayne, took the lead and prepared to resist the collec
tion of the duty in its ports. The action was grounded
by Calhoun in a doctrine foreshadowed by the Vir
ginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798-99, but now
elaborated into a specific remedy. " When the United
States government transcends the powers given to it by
the states, any state has the right to declare such law
null and void and forbid its enforcement within her
borders." Calhoun and his followers in " nullification "
wished to trace this doctrine back to Jefferson, the
father of democracy. The election of Jackson recalled
Jefferson afresh to the public mind. He had died only
three years before. New editions of his writings were
published. His library was being sold at auction in
Washington when Jackson was inaugurated.
A great celebration of his birthday was planned for
the dining room of the " Indian Queen " in Washington,
April 13, 1830. The guests assembled at five o'clock
ANDREW JACKSON
303
and found a list of twenty-four toasts. The fourth was
indicative of the spirit running through the whole :
" The Kentucky Resolutions of '98 : drawn by the same
EXPOSITION
SE
BY TltK SPECIAL COMMITTEE
T?HE TARIFF;
I MID OlUlKBKD «0 1
SOUTH CAROLINA TARIFF PAMPHLE
i
hand which drew the Declaration of Independence, a
practical illustration of Jefferson's republican principles,
and a correct definition of the relative powers of the
State and Federal governments." In a later toast the
304 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
action of Governor Troup, of Georgia, in resisting
the United States government in the case of the Ind
ians, was linked with the Resolutions of '98, "He planted
upon her borders the standard of States' Rights."
President Jackson arrived at the beginning of the
banquet and sat through the regular toasts and speeches.
As a native of South Carolina, he was supposed to be in
sympathy with the sentiment of the occasion. Thirty
years before he had written to a candidate: " Have you
always been an admirer of State authorities ? Will you
banish the dangerous doctrine of implication ? " But he
was now the President of the United States and had
taken an oath to execute its laws and support its au
thority. One may imagine the increasing wrath with
which he heard through the four hours of the regular
toasts and speeches these attacks upon the power he
represented, and one may image the satisfaction he felt
when called upon for the first volunteer toast. Every
ear was strained. The promoters of the banquet, who
hoped to commit the chief executive to an approval of
the resistance of South Carolina, expected such a senti
ment as, "South Carolina: may the Federal Union
under the principles of '98, remember the rights of a
sovereign state." l But upon the astonished listeners
fell the words, " Our Federal Union : it must be pre
served."
Perhaps no one was more surprised than Calhoun, but
none was less daunted. Called upon as Vice-President
for the second volunteer toast, he gave, " The Union :
1 In December, 1829, at a dinner in Charleston, South Carolina, this
toast was "drunk with cheers": "The President and Vice-President of
the United States: South Carolina gave them to the Union for the com
mon benefit; she hopes everything from their wisdom and patriotism."
ANDREW JACKSON 30$
next to our liberty the most dear ; may we all remember
that it can only be preserved by respecting the rights
of the States and distributing equally the benefit and
burden of the Union." Here was the essence of the
doctrine of nullification. A Virginian also offered the
sentiment, " Our Federal Union must be preserved, by
doing equal justice to all its parts."
The President departed soon after his toast, the Penn-
sylvanians followed, and many others withdrew to the
anterooms to discuss the unfortunate incident, but the
banquet continued until near morning, the account fill
ing the unusual space of eleven newspaper columns.
The opposition editors claimed that the President's
toast was a challenge to the nullificationists. " It was
as much as to say, * You may complain of the tariff and
perhaps with reason ; but so long as it is the law it
shall as certainly be maintained as that my name is
ANDREW JACKSON.' ' No one who knew the stubborn
nature of Jackson could doubt that. Nevertheless, Cal-
houn persisted, and South Carolina passed a nullification
ordinance. Governor Hayne made a vow to resist "if
the sacred soil of Carolina should be polluted by the
footsteps of an invader." Buttons bearing a palmetto
tree appeared by thousands, and medals were struck
bearing the words, " John C. Calhoim, First President
of the Southern Confederacy." There was already one
President, and he was the President of the United
States. There was no room for two. On his death-bed
he is said to have lamented his dereliction in not hang
ing the other "president" as a "traitor." However
much a southern man or states' rights man, he was
above all the President. He ordered the revenue col-
306 THE MEN" WHO MADE THE NATION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
WASHINGTON. DEC. IOTH, mt.
lectors in South Carolina to employ gunboats if neces-
sary to collect the duties under the tariff, quietly sent
the general of the army, Scott, to Charleston, and
shifted land and naval forces to have all in readiness.
He likened the
situation to a bag
of meal open at
both ends. " Pick
it up in the mid
dle or endwise,
PROCLAMATION , .. .„
and it will run
out. I must tie
the bag and save
the country." To
the same listener1
he said, ''Dale,
they are trying
me here ; you will
witness it ; but
by the God of
heaven, I will up
hold the laws."
Yet he tempered
his measures with
a proclamation to
South Carolina
beginning, " Fel
low-citizens, of my native state," in which he appealed
to them not to incur the odium of treason by resisting
the execution of the laws.
The effect in the northern states was magical. A
1 See the Autobiography of Gen. Nathan Dale.
JOHN MILLER, HENRIETTA STREET,
P*m Om SUlliq a* I
COPY OF JACKSON'S SOUTH CAROLINA
PROCLAMATION
ANDREW JACKSON
southern man, a borderer, a man never in touch with
centralizing tendencies, Jackson had quickened the
national feeling as had not been done since the days of
Hamilton. Union meetings were held in various cities,
and the section formerly at enmity with Jackson sud
denly became his supporter.
Certain ones who indulge in conjecture are inclined
to believe that if Jackson had been allowed to bring to a
close this contest with his native state, the country
might have been spared a later experience with nulli
fication and its offspring— secession. But Clay, the
great pacificator, came forward, with a mathematical
compromise by which the objectionable tariff was scaled
down gradually for ten years, and the contest was be
queathed to posterity. South Carolina, however, never
forgot the " Force bill " passed to give power to the Pres
ident, and she patiently bided her time for nearly thirty
years until she found herself sufficiently supported to
attempt secession.
Perhaps the good feeling so unexpectedly manifested
in New England toward the President persuaded him to
listen to an invitation which came to him in March, 1833.
" The Republican citizens of Boston would feel proud
to exhibit to the victor at New Orleans the plains of
Lexington and the trenches of Bunker Hill." There
was no political reason why the President should further
endanger his feeble health by touring the country. He
had been triumphantly inaugurated for a second term.
Some thought his purpose was to exhibit the " heir
apparent," Van Buren, who was to accompany the
party ; others imagined the old war hero coveted a
revenge in thus penetrating the enemy's country, con-
308 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Goit,>eCrij>p!«*!
Democratic Ticket.
FOR PRESIDENT, )
fident of winning their hearts as he had won others by
the charm of his personality. In the political campaigns
he had been caricatured by his enemies in the eastern
states until people were pre
pared to believe anything
about him. " Captivating
as he renders himself with
his bandanna handkerchief,
his frock coat, his amiable
condescensions and the fas
cination of his barroom and
public talk," said one news
paper. Opposed to this de
scription was an item which
went the rounds of the press
written from Washington at
the time of the inaugura
tion, describing him "not
the tall, muscular, rawboned,
weather-beaten, and stern-looking soldier. He is not
much if any above middle size, of rather weak and deli
cate form, very thin flesh, not erect or commanding in
figure. His eyes are dim or weeping and obscured by
spectacles. In his dress he is exceedingly plain —
rather negligent. In his manners, he is courteous and
engaging. He would be taken for a Tennessee Farmer
rather than the Chief Magistrate of a Republic."
In May, the " Grand Cavalcade " started for Balti
more.1 As it moved from city to city, day after day
brought out the flags, the processions, the banners, the
1 Two of the many cartoons put forth on the tour are reproduced on
pages 309 and 313. They are in the Library of Congress.
FOR VICE PRESIDENT,
RICHARD M. JOHNSON;
'OUJb KLKCTOKX.
j"OHN M, GOODENOW,
OTHNIEL LOOKER,
JACOB FELTER;
JAMES B, CAMERON*
DAVID 8. DAVIS, •*
JAMES FIFE,
ELECTORAL TICKET OF 1836
310 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
thousands struggling to reach the hand of the people's
President. In the old Independence Hall at Phila
delphia, he was obliged to recline on a couch whilst a
multitude still struggled to get the coveted hand-shake.
So great became the crush, that some leaped from the
windows for safety. The venerable Bishop White, chap
lain of the old Continental Congress, struggled with the
crowd to pay his respects, but retired defeated.
The Adams papers much lamented this exhibition of
sycophancy, this "almost man worship." One said,
" Many a time did President Adams arrive at our
wharves unannounced and walk up from the wharf
almost unattended, like any other citizen of the repub
lic." But Adams was not democracy's hero. The
friendly newspapers said that Jackson's hand grasp
was something more than Mr. Adams's " pump-handle
shake."
Whenever possible, Jackson rode on horseback in the
processions. In Philadelphia, for five hours he was in
the saddle, and even the opposition newspapers admitted
that he was a "superb horseman." At New York,
" many persons did not scruple to run between the legs
of the prancing animal at the imminent risk of being
trodden down so that they might grasp the hand of
their beloved President or even touch the hem of his
garments." The bedstead in which he slept was sup
ported by four marble columns with a mirror at each
corner. The counterpane and pillow cases were made
of figured white satin, trimmed with silver fringe.
" Nothing is too good for the man who saved our
country."
As he entered New England a cooler air was encoun-
BORN TO COMMAND
is
•BZ
AOTREW THE FIRST.
A CARTOON OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1832
312 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
tered. A Boston newspaper congratulated the people
because they had made "no such ridiculous or servile
exhibitions of sycophancy as at Philadelphia and New
York." It thought there was too much military display
for a civic officer. But civic display was not wanting.
As the President entered Providence " mounted on a
beautiful white palfrey," he rode under arches made of
hickory boughs. As he approached Norwich, a young
lady placed a wreath of roses on his head. At Lowell,
three thousand young women, operatives in the mills,
dressed in white and wearing different colored sashes,
formed an escort. School children were drawn up at
the roadside to see the President pass by. In Boston,
the " girls in white dresses and the boys in white under
clothes and dark jackets " waited in the churches for
hours to form a procession. One lad is said to have
burst into tears on beholding the object of their atten
tions because he was only a man.
Throughout Jackson displayed that gentleness and
courtesy so inconsistent with the stories of his cruelty
and revengeful spirit. Instead of devouring children,
as some imagined this southwestern ogre would do, he
kissed them and presented gold pieces to the proud
mothers, according to the newspaper accounts. To a
woman who had walked from Germantown to Phila
delphia to see him and had been accorded a private
view, he was quoted as saying, " My dear woman, had I
known it, I would cheerfully have met you halfway."
He tarried in New Haven over Sunday, attending the
Trinity Church service in the forenoon, the North Pres
byterian in the afternoon, and the Methodist in the
evening. His horsemanship won especially the hearts
ANDREW JACKSON
313
of the ladies. " He completely eclipsed all the young
sparks on the review," wrote a Boston reporter. " He
sat on his horse as though he had been a part of the
animal, waving his hat on either side as he passed the
multitude."
New England and the higher class of the north
generally were receiving not democracy's hero but the
President who had scotched " nullification." He was
not allowed to forget this fact. He rode under banner
CARTOON ON JACKSON'S TOUR
after banner bearing his famous toast, " The Union : it
must be preserved," or, " The Union : it must and shall
be preserved." 1 The governor of Massachusetts referred
in his address to "that National Sovereignty and Inde-
pendence which you so valiantly defended when assailed
by Foreign Foes and that Union under the Constitution
which . . . you no less triumphantly asserted on a late
1 In the official account of the banquet, the toast of Jackson was
worded as given on page 304. In many other accounts the latter part
was changed to " It must and shall be preserved."
314 THE MEN- WHO MADE THE NATION
memorable occasion against internal Disaffection and
Disloyalty:' Human nature could not be proof against
such adulation. When the spokesman for the select
men of Roxbury closed his welcome with the sentiment,
"And may his powerful arm long remain nerved
Who said The UNION — it must be preserved,"
the general was said to have replied most emphatically,
" It shall be preserved, Sir, as long as there is a nerve
in it."
This prolonged excitement soon told on a body en
feebled by arduous Indian campaigns. The President
was able to visit Bunker Hill, where the details of the
battle were described to him, and he was presented with
I* two harmless memorials of the i;th of June, encased
in a box." But because of illness he had to forego
Lexington, the docking of the Constitution, and a con
clave of the Grand Lodge of Masons, to which order
Jackson was devotedly attached. Leaving Boston after
several days' illness, he reached Portsmouth, New Hamp
shire, where he was presented some goods woven from
the cotton grown on his own plantation. From this
point word came that the tour was abandoned and that
the President was hastening home by the quickest route.
Various rumors arose. Some said he was disgusted
with the strife between his own party men, who thought
they had a monopoly on him, and the general populace,
who had been won by his personality and now wished
to do him honor. The administration newspaper at
Washington when he reached home said that he feared
further exposure to the northeast winds. The opposi
tion hinted that he had become alarmed at the feeling
ANDREW JA CKSON 3 1 5
aroused among his old friends in the south and west by
this flirting with the enemy. A Richmond paper longed
for the days of a real democratic President like Jefferson,
who when he had occasion to go to the Capitol, went
alone, attired in his red breeches and white waistcoat,
and tied his horse at the rack. " Imagine him like his
snobbish successor, making a tour through his provinces,
aping the fashions of European potentates, surrounded
by courtiers and dependants." Jackson's triumphal
tour was compared with the contemporary progress of
George IV. to Dublin and Edinburgh. But his greatest
offence was in accepting the degree of Doctor of Laws
from that hotbed of aristocracy and Federalism -
Harvard College.
His defenders pointed to a similar honor conferred
upon President Monroe, but the critics replied that
Monroe was a college man and deserved it. Jackson
had never before seen the outside of a college. How
could he reply to the President's Latin address as was
customary ? Indeed, this part of the ceremony caused
much conjecture. It was rumored that, as in so many
instances, the President would rise to the occasion.
Major Jack Downing said that he nodded his head to
the address, but possibly at the wrong time since some
of the students tittered. It was agreed that he made
no response save a bow.1
1 "Major Jack Downing" (Seba Smith), in his burlesque description
of the tour, wrote that at Cambridge some students took him into an adja
cent room and conferred on him the degree of A.S.S., which they assured
him stood for " amazin' smart skolar." A counterfeit Major described the
President visiting Downingville. " « You must gin 'em a little Lattin, Doc
tor,' says I. Here he off hat agin and says, ' E pluribus unum,' says he,
' my friends — sine qua non ! ' '
THE MEN" WHO MADE THE NATION
However, said the opposition, the degree of Doctor of
Laws may not be so inconsistent, because the President
is so very fond of doctoring the laws. A South Carolina
newspaper denounced "the triumphal entry of General
Blowblubber and his kitchen cabinet among the lick
spittles of the North — a sorry scene of mutual degrada
tion." A toast was offered in the same state —
" Let slaves bow down and kiss his toes
Freeman defy — and pull his nose." 1
LAWRENCE'S ATTACK ON JACKSON
Colonel David Crockett, of Tennessee, who had served
under the General in the Indian wars, insisted upon the
1 Lieutenant Randolph, a dismissed naval officer, once tried to pull
Jackson's nose. A lithograph of the attempt of Richard Lawrence to
shoot the President is preserved in the museum of the Pennsylvania
Historical Society. Jackson refused to believe that he was insane but
suspected a political motive for the act.
ANDREW JA CKSON 3 1 7
floor of Congress, that he had been a Jackson man until
Jackson had turned into a Van Buren man. In a speech
in Philadelphia he told " the story of the red cow,"
justifying his desertion of the ex-Democrat. 1 When
Crockett reached Boston, he refused to visit " Cam
bridge where the big college or university is ; where
they keep ready-made titles or nicknames to give peo
ple. . . . There had been one doctor made from Ten
nessee already, and I had no wish to put on the cap and
bells."
Perhaps the gain in new constituency would have off
set the loss of the old if opportunity had been given of
testing it in a third election. Certainly Jackson is the
one President upon whom opinion is unanimous as to
the possibility of a third term if he had so desired it.
His refusal assured the permanence of the limitation
established by common consent. His nomination had
been a rebuke to the professional office-holding in the
nation ; his election was a return of power to the peo
ple ; his interference with the national finances was a
deterring example ; his attitude toward nullification was
the temporary salvation of the Union, although he after
wards tried to explain it away ; his triumphal tour was
a fortunate harmonizing of the lower and the upper, the
newer and the older classes, which healed the breach
otherwise likely to result from the political revolt of the
people in his election.
1 A farmer, teaching his son to plough, told him to plough across the
field to the red cow. " He kept a ploughing and she kept a walking all
day, and at night they had the worst looking field you ever saw. I fol
lowed Jackson as long as he went straight, but when he began to go this
and that way, I wouldn't follow him any longer."
CHAPTER X
DANIEL WEBSTER, THE DEFENDER OF THE CONSTITUTION
So fallen ! so lost ! the light withdrawn
Which once he wore !
The glory from his gray hairs gone
Forevermore !
— WHITTIER ON WEBSTER, 1850.
Thou shouldst have lived to feel below
Thy feet Disunion's fierce upthrow, —
No stronger voice than thine had then
Called out the utmost might of men,
Breaking the spell about the wound
Like the green withes that Samson bound ;
Redeeming in one effort grand,
Thyself and thy imperilled land !
— WHITTIER ON WEBSTER, 1861.
THE middle period of national growth had now been
reached, when it was possible to recognize certain
Union-making elements. The consent of Washington
to assume the leadership, the show of national force
in putting down the "whiskey rebellion," and gratitude
toward the central government for paying the Revolu
tionary debts of the respective states had a fitting close
in the voluntary retirement of the war hero and the
peaceful inauguration of his successor. Part of the
revenue collected by the national government had been
spent by it in improying means of communication and
DANIEL WEBSTER 319
providing for the safety of commerce. Jefferson's elec
tion gave the masses a confidence that they were not
to be barred from power in the Union. His purchase
of Louisiana and his coercion during the embargo, no
less than his suppression of Burr's expedition, strength
ened the power whose encroachment he so much feared.
Burr's fiasco settled forever the possibility of a division
of the Union between east and west along the line of
the dividing mountains.
The pride of the people in the city of Washington,
although the capital grew very slowly, could not be
ignored. It was the independent seat of an indepen
dent government, under neither the jurisdiction nor the
protection of any state.1 In it the highest court of the
nation sat, giving decision after decision which declared
the supremacy of the Union over the states in the
unexpressed powers.2 The national government was
visible to the people in the branches of the two United
States banks,3 and in the tariffs on imported goods which
Congress changed from time to time at will.
Many of these actions of the central power were
undoubtedly departures from the thoughts of the fathers
when they conjectured the future scope of the Federal
agency. Yet the fathers could not possibly have imag
ined the development of the country, the expansion of
1 This was due to the foresight of the framers of the Constitution. (Art.
I., Sec. 8, Par. 17.) A lithograph (1848) is reproduced on the next page.
2 These " formative cases " may be studied in the Supreme Court reports
and in any constitutional history. The principal ones of the early period
are : McColloch vs. Maryland, Chisolm vs. Georgia, Fletcher vs. Peck,
United States vs. Peters, and Marbury vs. Madison.
3 The first bank existed from 1791 to 1811; the second, from 1816 to
1836. They were joint stock enterprises, in which the United States was a
shareholder.
DANIEL. WEBSTER 321
territory and population, and the increase of trade,
which had made these departures necessary and caused
them to be supported by a majority of the people.
That they should cause alarm was very natural ; that
a protest was demanded equally so. South Carolina,
noting the increasing number of her homes deserted by
emigrants to the western country, and ascribing the
cause to the withdrawal of capital under the burden of
the high tariff, had assumed the leadership once held by
Virginia, and inaugurated resistance to the tariff-mak
ing power. Calhoun became her spokesman. He was
not a large slave owner and would not be heavily
oppressed by the tariff, but he gave himself up to his
state and to the southern slavery interests, although
thereby he endangered his chances of national prefer
ment through the increasing strength of the anti-slavery
sentiment. To meet this danger threatening his South
Carolina as well as the other states, he revived and
formulated more clearly the nullification doctrine of the
Kentucky resolutions of 1799, as described in a pre
ceding chapter.1
This increasing power of the national government
being once recognized and its danger realized, the
original intent of the founders as we'll as the nature of
the Constitution itself was sure to be discussed in the
debates in Congress. It was precipitated most unex
pectedly in the Senate in December, 1829, through a
resolution offered by Foote, of Connecticut, that inquiry
should be made as to the advisability of offering for
sale any more of the public lands until more of the sev
enty-two million acres already surveyed and offered had
Y ! In Chapter VII.
DANIEL WEBSTER
323
been sold. Benton, of Missouri, the accepted champion
of the western lands, replied that the unsold land was
largely refuse and swamp; that settlers should be
encouraged by opening new lands; that only in this
way could the best blood be secured for the new coun
try. In the second week of the general debate on this
question, Senator Hayne, of South Carolina, the recog
nized spokesman of Calhoun and his nullification doc
trine, accused the so-called " American system " of being
the father of this idea of not opening more western
land since "it wanted for its factories that low and
degraded population which infests the cities and towns
of Europe . . . and will work for the lowest wages. It
could overcome this need only by preventing the draw
ing off this population from the manufacturing states."
It had brought about "a manufactory of paupers to
make rich proprietors of woollen and cotton factories."
In this combination of interests, Hayne saw a dangerous
growth of the Union, which was being, consolidated for
selfish purposes.1
Hayne was the son of a Revolutionary soldier, pos
sessed of a winning personality, and a man high in the
counsels of his state. He was the most dashing orator
in the Senate, perfectly fearless, and with sustaining con
fidence. He was much more polished, more judicious,
and more popular than Benton. To his attack, there
fore, a reply must be made. There was no question upon
the choice of a defender for manufacturing New England.
1 One of the cartoons of the day, which is shown on the opposite page,
represents Daniel Webster playing a hand-organ and assisting Henry Clay
in his great American system. The effect of Clay's project is suggested in
the American people as a cage of monkeys. Andrew Jackson, entering
the room with his white hat, pronounces the whole thing a humbug.
324 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
The issue was far from a part .of the daily routine of
debate. Indeed, it penetrated the inmost parts of the
national existence. Its words would later become deeds.
For such a task nature seemed to have reserved Daniel
Webster. His soul revelled in lofty themes, far above
the average politician of his time. His imagination
framed the possibility and trend of future events. Im
practical and negligent in business, lacking the high
moral nature of the people he represented, he was
a strange instrument to word the theory upon which
one section of the people would wage war on another
section thirty years later.
Webster had not reached Washington until the ses
sion was almost a month old, and he was occupied with
a case then being heard in the Supreme Court. How
ever handicapped, he was still a New England man, and
he arose immediately to reply to Hayne, but an adjourn
ment postponed his speech until the following day. The
increased attendance the next day showed that the event
of the session had begun, although few realized that the
opposing theories on the nature of the government were
to be represented in flesh and blood. Sections and the
ories now coincided, and a dispute over the past record
of the one was to grow into a contest over the merits of
the other. The attitude of Massachusetts and the south
toward the west was to be lost sight of in the Union
versus the individual states. It was to be a mental
combat, free from the brutality of the old gladiatorial
shows ; yet, unfortunately, but the prologue to a mortal
struggle thirty years later.
Webster's reply was a calm, scholarly history of the
western land question. His eloquence was ponderous,
DANIEL WEBSTER
325
his gestures few, his cool manner a strong contrast to
his nervous opponent. Only once did he notice the
great question of consolidation raised by Hayne. " I
am a Unionist. ... I would strengthen the ties that
hold us together."
Hayne could scarcely wait for " an opportunity of
returning the shot." He insisted that the debate should
not be postponed because of his antagonist's engage
ment in the Supreme Court. Webster, with good effect,
folded his arms and in his sonorous voice exclaimed :
" Let the discussion proceed, I am ready. I am ready
now to receive the gentleman's fire." For parts of two
days, Hayne repelled the " uncalled-for and unprovoked
attack " on the south and made a bitter personal show
ing of the "unpatriotic" record of New England and
Webster in the embargo of 1809 and the war of 1812.
Webster afterward said that to gain this material "the
vicinity of my former residence was searched, as with
a lighted candle. New Hampshire was explored from
the mouth of the Merrimack to the White Hills."
In his reply, Hayne had the sympathy and support
of three-fourths of the Senate. Even Vice-President
Calhoun, the presiding officer, was said to have sent
suggestive notes to him by the pages. He was ready
to meet Webster on the Union question. "Who, then,
are the friends of the Union ? Those who confine the
Federal Government strictly within the limits prescribed
by the Constitution ; who would preserve to the States
and the People all powers not expressly delegated ;
who would make this a Federal and not a National
Union. . . . And who are its enemies ? Those who
are in favor of consolidation ; who are constantly steal-
326 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
ing power from the States and .adding strength to the
Federal Government. . . . Our fathers desired not the
consolidation of the government, but the consolidation
of the Union. We want a Federal Union ; not a Na
tional Union." When he concluded, an adjournment
was made to the following day, although Webster had
arisen to reply.
The friends of Hayne rejoiced, claiming a victory.
The friends of Webster questioned whether the New
England orator could refute the apparently authentic
statements concerning his own past history, his state,
and the intentions of the fathers of the Constitution. On
the latter point only did he himself seem to have any hes
itation, and that upon grounds of expediency rather than
ability. To a friend on the evening before his second
reply, he expressed the conviction that the attack upon
New England was secondary to Hayne's exposition of a
system of politics which went far to change the form of
government from that which was established by the
Constitution into that which had existed under the
prior Confederation. He expressed his intention of
putting that attempt to rest forever, so far as it could
be done by an argument in the Senate. Yet the fol
lowing morning, in the cloak-room of the Capitol, he
unfolded to another friend l his doubts about the advis
ability of the action. Being assured that it was high
time that the people should know what the Constitution
really was, Webster replied, " Then, by the blessing of
Heaven, they shall learn, this day, before the sun goes
down, what I understand it to be."
News of the intellectual combat had gone forth, and
1 Bell, of New Hampshire.
DANIEL WEBSTER 327
many visitors had come into the city. Before the hour
of opening, twelve o'clock, the Senate chamber was
packed, the very stairs being filled with men who clung
on to each other "like bees in a swarm." Across the
rotunda, the Speaker sat in the deserted House of
Representatives. One member who had come over to
the Senate found himself wedged in behind one of the
swinging doors back of the Vice-President's chair, and
broke the glass in the door, so that he might hear the
speaker.1 The statement of the anti-Jackson men that
they were returning to the old Whig principles of Revo
lutionary days may have suggested the blue coat and
buff waistcoat which Webster wore on this occasion.
None knew better than he the effect of appropriate
dress.
All opening preliminaries were postponed to hear the
great senator from Massachusetts. Having presented in
consistency for inconsistency in the past record of both
men and sections, he came to consider the nature of the
Union, and to show that there could be no nullification
save in revolution. If the states had created the Union,
then it was bound to obey four and twenty masters of
different wills and different purposes. " It is, sir, the
people's constitution, the people's government ; made
for the people ; made by the people ; and answerable to*
the people. . . . The State legislatures as political
bodies, however sovereign, are not yet sovereign over
the people." He closed with the well-known appeal
for " liberty and union, now and forever, one and
inseparable."
The new theory had been pronounced. The silent
1 Wentworth, of Illinois.
328 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
and necessary growth of power in the central govern
ment was now to be understood as having been there
intentionally and from the beginning. The listeners
sat silent as if amazed, although the Vice-President
pounded lustily with his gavel and cried angrily,
" Order ! Order ! " A group of Massachusetts men
who clustered in a corner of the gallery and who " shed
tears like girls " felt that Calhoun was trying to break
the spell of the concluding appeal. Once, indeed, he
had sharply interrupted the speaker to inquire if he
meant anything personal. Hayne had done the same
thing. But the imperturbable Webster assured each that
such was far from his intentions. The listeners may
have felt otherwise.
In a rejoinder, Hayne pointed out the words in the
preamble to the Constitution — " We the people of the
United States." " It is clear they can only relate to
the people as citizens of the several States, because the
Federal Government was not then in existence." In a
counter-rejoinder, Webster showed that " so far from
saying that it is established by the Governments of the
several States, it does not even say that it is established
by the people of the several States ; but it pronounces
that it is established by the people of the United States
in the aggregate." l
The debate on the Foote resolution dragged on until
May, but it was only the firing of the smaller pieces.
The twenty-pounders had spoken. Each side claimed
1 In the first draught of the Constitution, the preamble had read : " We
the people of the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts," and so on
through the list of thirteen states; but, since no one knew how many of
the states would adopt the new government, the preamble was changed to
" We the people of the United States."
DANfEL WEBSTER
329
Mn. HAYNE, OF SOUTH CAHOLW.
'JHE
CMWBUK0 BY MR.
the victory. "They say that the Southern Orator is
more than a match for the New England Lawyer " a
southern newspaper asserted. Another said, "The
theory of Webster
that for a state
to resist an uncon
stitutional law is
treason; that the i DANlEL WKB8TEH,
General Govern
ment derives its
power not from the
concessions of the
States but by the
grant of the peo
ple; that Congress
is the sole judge of
the extent of its
powers under the
Constitution ; that
the federal judici
ary is the tribunal
of last resort and
irresponsible ex
cept to Congress
by impeachment
— these views de
stroy the sovereign
character of the states and tend to concentrate power
in the central government."
The Jacksonian newspapers claimed that " Mr. Web
ster has been foiled in his great object. Mr. Hayne's
are the true views of the Constitution — that it is a lim-
THE PUBLIC
BKIKG UNDER CONSIDERATION.
.IKATK, JAW UAH IT 25, 18391
WASHINGTON
KAtKS (^ SKAT03
1835.
330 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
ited constitution : formed by sovereign states and pos
sessing certain specified powers. Mr. Webster's theory
would give it substantially unlimited authority over the
state governments and in effect reduce them to mere
corporations." It was a revival of the old theory of
government by a select few which had fallen with the
first Adams and had arisen with the second Adams, but
to be crushed by Jackson. Again they said : ''The im
portance of this debate must be apparent to all. It is
deeply felt here. . . . Webster depends upon his speech,
which is to go forth North and West, to rally all that can
be collected in the crusade against the States, against
the South, and against the present Administration."
The latter prophecy seemed likely to be fulfilled. At
the office of the National Intelligencer in Washington
forty thousand copies of Webster's speeches were struck
off. The Massachusetts presses added as many more.
Fulsome praise attended the circulation, until the Jack-
sonian papers cried " the force of puffing can no further
go." Some compared the services of Webster with
those of Jefferson in saving the country. Others com
pared him with Washington.
" When erst oppression's iron hand
Bore long and heavy on our land,
A cry arose, and Heaven anon
Sent the deliverer, Washington.
" So when a second crisis came
(Rebellion, glorying in the name,
Reared high her flaming torch elate),
Webster appeared and 'saved the State.' "
Addresses from various bodies, and resolutions from state
legislatures of New England, were showered upon him.
DANIEL WEBSTER 331
Clay, who was in temporary retirement, wrote that the
speeches were the theme of praise from every tongue.1
Soon after, Webster made a triumphant tour as far
west as Ohio, where he was turned back by the preva
lence of the cholera. He was feasted and toasted all
along his journey "for his devotion to the stability of
the Union." The new theory of the Union was widely
discussed as a new idea — "a newfangled idea in an old
democracy." Wags compared the union of the states
with the union of man and wife, having a resultant ri^ht
o G
of revolution. A toast was offered to "The Fair —
While they are for Union we defy the world."
From an unprejudiced view point, Hayne was histori
cally correct in his stand. The people through the states
had sent the delegates to the two conventions which
finally resulted in the Constitution. That document was
reported to the several states and ratified by the people
residing therein. The senators and representatives are
chosen by the people of the states. But whatever the
fathers had meant or understood, Webster was pro
phetically correct. It had been found impossible to
retain the reserved powers in the states. The Union
had been made and was to be made not by theory but
by necessity. Geographically and commercially the
whole must be superior to one of its parts. Hayne
was speaking the language of the past; Webster that of
1 The friends of the Union pronounced it a victory over Calhoun and
his theory of nullification.
The chorus of a song of the day ran :
" John C. Calhoun, my Jo John, I'm sorry for your fate,
You've nullified the tariff laws, you've nullified your state.
You've nullified your party, John, and principles, you know,
And now you've nullified yourself, John C. Calhoun, my Jo."
332 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
the future. The " cause " was " lost " thirty years before
the first gun was fired.
A debate could settle nothing. Even the compromise
between South Carolina and the Union, which closed the
tariff incident, left sectional theory open to further dis
cussion. Unfortunately these theories found exemplifi
cation in a sectional fact in the annexation of Texas and
the resulting war with Mexico.
In the light of the present day, one must see the
accession of Texas as an event in the territorial expan
sion of the American people. It was an evidence of
the land hunger inherited from our English ancestry.
The ensuing war with Mexico, entirely unprovoked, was
another result of overbearing English blood, the desire
to fight something, to take a gun occasionally and go
out to kill something. The American settlers in Texas
had been drawn largely from the southern states.
They had taken their slaves with them. To the north
ern view, the war seemed to be undertaken by the
southern slave owners against a weak sister republic
in which slavery had been abolished. The fact that
President Polk, whose orders had precipitated the war
and who notified Congress that war existed by the act
of Mexico, was a southern man and a slave owner gave
further color to this charge of a war for the benefit of
slavery.
In truth, the first lines were drawn, not on sections,
but on the support of the President. Senators from the
following states supported, for instance, the first war
measure: New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania,
Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Mis
souri, Arkansas, Florida, and Texas. Those from the
DANIEL WEBSTER 333
following states opposed it : Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Vermont, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland,
Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, and
Maine. The following states were divided, one senator
voting affirmatively and the other negatively: Connecti
cut, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, and Michigan.
It was not a slavery war in its beginning, but it had that
appearance to the anti-slavery element in New England.
Calhoun voted in the affirmative and supported the
war throughout. Webster was absent when the first
measures were passed, but opposed the war unto the
end, thereby still further endearing himself to the anti-
slavery people of New England as their champion.
New Hampshire had first sent Daniel Webster to
Congress in 1813, where he served two terms. When he
removed to Boston, he again served four years in Con
gress and was then made United States Senator from
Massachusetts. Thrice was he chosen to this position
by the legislature of his state. Although far from
possessing the habits of the Puritan, he was felt to be
the protector of New England both as to character and
interests against the attacks of the other sections.
After listening to his reply to Hayne, " New England
men walked down Pennsylvania Avenue . . . with a
firmer step and bolder air. . . . You would have sworn
they had grown some inches taller in a few hours' time.
They devoured the way, in their stride. ... No one
who was not ready to exclaim, with gushing eyes in the
fulness of gratitude, 'Thank God, I too am a Yankee!'"1
When the "Godlike Daniel," as they called him, re
signed to accept a cabinet position under Harrison,
1 March's " Reminiscences of Congress," page 125.
334 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Massachusetts waited patiently until he was again free,
and upon the first opportunity, in 1845, sent him back
to his old place. Other senators exceeded in time the
eighteen years served by Webster in the Senate. Few
endeared themselves so much to their constituents ;
none made such a reputation for oratory on so few
speeches.
When the " Force bill " which Jackson put through
Congress to punish South Carolina, as described in the
last chapter, was pending in the Senate, Calhoun arose
as the protector of the rights of that state to hurl his
condemnation and even defiance at it and its author.
The reply of Webster drew crowded galleries and at its
close made them, despite the rules, rise to cheer " Daniel
Webster, the defender of the Constitution." Had not
the Hayne- Webster controversy preceded and overshad
owed it, this would have been the great constitutional
debate. Soon after, the censure by the Senate of Jack
son's conduct in the bank controversy brought forth a
"protest" from the chief executive. Webster's reply
was considered by many to have surpassed his previous
efforts in constitutional argument. Upon these three
great occasions the reputation of Webster as the " de
fender of the Constitution " rested. The crucial test
was drawing near.
Those who conceded to genius the right of inconsist
ency readily pardoned Webster for having changed his
attitude upon the tariff and other questions at different
times. In truth, shifting conditions in a growing body
make a permanent attitude impossible either in a party
or a leader. Webster once said, "Politicians are not sun
flowers ; they do not turn on their god when he sets the
DANIEL WEBSTER 335
same look that they turned when he rose." The great
strength which the anti-slavery element was gaining in
his own Massachusetts was not unknown to Webster,
nor the importance of cultivating it unappreciated.
Would he fall in with the rapidly rising sentiment in
favor of the national regulation of slavery, or would he
abide by the old idea of leaving the matter to the indi
vidual states ?
In 1833, Webster had written to an inquirer: "Con
gress has no authority to interfere in the emancipation
of the slaves or in the treatment of them in any of the
States. That was decided in 1790. I regard slavery
as a great evil, morally and politically, but the remedy
lies in the several States." In 1848, when the Whigs
overlooked Webster as a presidential possibility and
were carried away by the war hero, General Taylor,
Webster might have repudiated the candidate and
thrown his influence to Ex-President Van Buren, who
had reappeared as a Free-Soil or anti-slavery candidate.
When in a speech at his home, Marshfield, he ignored
Van Buren, and decided of the two evils of Whig and
Democratic candidates to support the Whig, he bitterly
disappointed the anti-slavery people of his state. His
efforts to keep back the growing slavery question and
to bring out the old issues of the tariff and the bank
are almost pitiful. He was like some giant trying by
main strength to hold in place the floodgates beyond
which surged the constantly increasing tide of public
sentiment. The people had been "fooled" for some
time, but they could not be fooled all of the time.
Sentiment in the south grew with that in the north,
but from an opposite standpoint. With the increase of
336 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
means of transportation and communication between
the two sections, the property of the slave owners
became more in peril. Pamphlets and newspapers
came over the border to tell the slave that he was
bound to his master by no moral right. School-teachers
followed to teach the slave to read. The " under
ground railroad " with its scores of routes and its
thousand stations offered a premium to the runaway
slave who could reach the border. If the master
ignored a runaway, he encouraged the others to take
a similar leave. If he pursued him into the north,
every mind conspired against him to keep him out of his
property. If an example was not made of the returned
slave, the effect on his companions was lost. A run
away slave was like a runaway horse — he simply awaited
another opportunity. Escaping again to the north, he
showed his scars and wounds, and in a moment's time
created more anti-slavery sentiment than constitutional
theories and judicial decisions could overcome in a life
time.1
The Constitution had distinctly recognized slaves as
property to be restored to lawful owners, and the Con
gress had assented to this hypothesis with very few
dissentients in the act of 1793. According to its
provisions, the owner could reclaim his property before
either a national or state magistrate, and the governor
of the state was bound to return the slave as he would
return a criminal escaping from justice. The chief
difficulty in enforcing the law lay in identification. The
blacks had no distinctive marks, no identity, no lineage,
1 The New York Tribune of Feb. 28, 1851, estimated the number of
fugitive slaves escaping the preceding year at ion.
DANIEL WEBSTER 337
and often no definite names. No doubt free negroes
were sometimes taken by mistake, and the people of the
north came to believe every seizure an abduction.
A disposition became manifest as the cases increased
to ignore the old fugitive slave law — through state
court decisions, refusals of governors to honor requisi
tions, and "retaliatory laws" passed by various state
legislatures. To make matters worse for the slave
owner, the United States Supreme Court decided that
the national government could not compel state officers
to execute the old law.1 Hence the growing demand on
the part of the south for a new fugitive slave law which
should ignore the states and give more strength to the
national officers in returning fugitives. The northern
states had been encouraging the growth of the Union ;
the southerners wanted to have the benefit of it.
As this proposed Fugitive Slave law took shape in
Congress, sectional animosity flamed up afresh. The
anti-slavery men insisted that the machinery of the
United States government should never be prostituted
to returning men to bondage. The south hoped that
the attitude of the north would be assumed only after
mature deliberation, since the decision would be final.
If justice to their interests could not be obtained in the
»Union, then it must be obtained out of the Union. One
member of the Senate in a speech gave only a week's
respite before the south would take action. A southern
convention was called to meet at Nashville and filled all
with apprehension.2
1 In the case of Prigg vs. Pennsylvania (1842).
2 Two sessions of this convention were held in 1850. Delegates were
present from seven southern states. Nothing save resolutions resulted.
z
338 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Between these two hostile camps of radicals or hot-
bloods of both sections, the conservative commercial
men who saw ruin in the threatening disunion ran to
and fro, crying, " Peace ! Peace! The Union! The
Union ! " A Washington newspaper asked what was to
become of its invested capital when the Union was at an
end. Three and four columns from Washington on the
signs of the times could be found in every outside news
paper.
" Union " meetings were held in many cities and reso
lutions adopted condemning " the fanatical efforts of the
Abolition and free-soil agitators." Calhoun, the protector
of the south, who sat "with cast-iron countenance" in
the shadow of coming death, hoped for nothing from
such demonstrations. " The cry of 'Union, Union, the
glorious Union ! ' can no more prevent disunion," said
he, "than the cry of 'Health, health, glorious health !'
on the part of the physician can save a patient lying
dangerously ill."
In this tension, Clay, the great pacificator, again came
forward with a compromise by which each side should
gain something and yield something.1 The north, for
one thing, was to allow the Fugitive Slave measure to
pass. The proposition met a storm of protest. James
Russell Lowell paid his compliments to the proposed-
" compromise " :
"Now God confound the dastard word!
My gall thereat arises :
Northward it hath this sense alone,
1 The several provisions of the Compromise of 1850 may be found in
any text-book. They were popularly known as the " five bleeding wounds
in the body politic."
DANIEL WEBSTER 339
That you, your conscience blinding,
Shall bow your fool's nose to the stone,
When slavery feels like grinding."1
All awaited the attitude which Webster would take.
It was the last combat of the old gladiators. Clay was
there, even then having premonitions of that ailment
which soon proved fatal. Calhoun was there, too feeble
to speak, but gesturing whilst his speech was read by
another through the courtesy of the Senate. A reporter
described him as " pale and thin and seemed quite feeble.
He appeared more like a corpse than a living being, he
was so ghastly and pale." Webster alone seemed to
retain both the physical and intellectual strength of the
past.
In February, 1850, a Washington correspondent wrote
to his paper, " All are looking forward with no incon
siderable interest for the long-promised speeches of
Calhoun, Benton, and Webster. . . . What course Mr.
Webster will take I will not attempt to foreshadow. I
believe no man knows and that all rumors in respect to
it are idle and utterly unfounded." On March 3, he
wrote : "We yet see no signs of Mr. Webster appearing
as compromiser for the benefit of the South. It is evi
dent he elects to play the part in which he has been told
he would be sure to make a great hit"; — and that was
as a Massachusetts anti-slavery man.
A few days later it was rumored that the great oracle
would speak on the ;th of March. "Our city is now
teeming with strangers," said a Washington news
paper. It afterward declared that " the Senator from
Massachusetts rose to address the most crowded audi-
1 From "An Interview with Miles Standish."
340 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
ence we have ever seen on the floor and in the galleries
of the chamber." The official Congressional Globe
says :
"THURSDAY, March 7, 1850.
"At an early hour this morning, the Senate chamber was com
pletely occupied by ladies and such few gentlemen as had been
able to obtain admittance, who endured several hours patient
possession of seats, and even of the floor, that they might hear
the long-expected speech of the Senator from Massachusetts."
Upon this great assemblage the deep voice of the
orator fell in a fresh plea for the Union : " Mr. Presi
dent, I wish to speak to-day not as a. Massachusetts
man, nor as a northern man, but as an American and
a member of the Senate of the United States. ... I
speak to-day for the preservation of the Union." For
three hours he continued with a rather tedious history
of human slavery, and a review of the necessity for each
point in the proposed compromise. Upon the Fugitive
Slave provision he was not uncertain. "I propose to
support that bill to the fullest extent, to the fullest ex
tent." In a portion of the speech, when depicting the
horrors of a dissolution of the Union, he glowed with
the old-time fire, but as a whole the effort must rank only
as an historical dissertation.
An outline of the speech reached Boston the next
day and was printed under the head " By Magnetic
Telegraph." 1 When the entire speech came by mail
1 The use of the telegraph had been greatly extended by the Mexican
war, but the service for many years after was very inadequate. Sometimes
the transmission of a speech would suddenly end, and the editor would be
compelled to add a note, " The remainder of this message will be printed
to-morrow."
DANIEL WEBSTER
341
there was a diversity of opinion corresponding with the
attitude on slavery. One newspaper, which had learned
"from Washington that Mr. Webster will speak in the
Senate on Wednesday and make a whole-souled Union
speech," failed to relish a speech which conceded too
much to the Union. " It has caused considerable sen
sation in this city (Boston), and, we must add, not a
very satisfactory one. We do not so much desire
SPEECH OF MR..WEBSTE
MR^CLAY'S RESOLUTIONS.
IN rits SEN ATI OF TUB U»mtu STATES, MARCH 7, 1860.
SECOND EDITI0
Seno!wfro
•'" . 3V Vies PRIMIDBNT. Th» raaoluuons tubmiUed by the SenoWfrom Kentucky were made tie
4*»l«»rd«*a£ tbedagat 12 o'clock- The Senator from Wwcoiuin (Mr. WAUUW) hu Uke floor.
./, ji». W«U!M. Mr^resiiienl, this v^t audience has (tot assembled to bear me ; and there w'.fclt
"*!jlftjl|J)ll. in my opMon, woo can asstmblc *uch an audience. They^Jxp«ct to hear turn, and I fe^it
orators to enlarge upon the beauties of our Union as
statesmen who will have the courage to propose means
forits preservation." Another Boston editor pronounced
it a speech to promote the unity of the Nation — a spirit
of compromise, forbearance, and generosity. When one
newspaper said, " We expect very little from Mr. Web
ster," another replied, "We trust in Heaven he has not
spoken in vain."
Garrison's Abolition Liberator declared that Webster
had "betrayed the cause of Liberty, bent his supple
342 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
knees anew to the slave power, and dishonored the State
which he was sent to Congress faithfully to represent."
Wendell Phillips reviewed the speech in many columns.
Whittier called it "the scandalous treachery of Webster"
and turned upon him the full strength of his scorn in
" Ichabod." A public meeting of colored people in
Boston pronounced the speech " wicked." Demon
stration counteracted demonstration. When the Aboli-
ILLUSTRATION IN AN ABOLITION PUBLICATION
tionists held a condemnation meeting in Faneuil Hall,
the Whigs sent Webster a congratulatory address with
three hundred signatures for his efforts "toward the
common good of the country." Similar addresses were
sent from New York and other cities. A citizen of
California sent Webster a chain of solid gold, to which
the New York merchants hung a magnificent watch.
When a Whig newspaper asserted that Webster's use
fulness as a public man was gone forever, a Democratic
DANIEL WEBSTER 343
editor equally insisted that he had burst the narrow
and prejudiced sectionalism which had heretofore con
fined and cramped his mind.
This very praise of Webster by the Democratic
press was the most disgusting to the anti-slavery peo
ple, since it showed to them the price Webster was to
receive for their betrayal. Phillips thought it " the best
bid that has yet been made for the presidency. It is the
shrewdest thing Daniel ever did." An anti-slavery
writer said : " It has been attempted to glorify this
speech by giving to it the title ' For the Constitution
and the Union.' Less grandiloquently, perhaps, but
quite as truthfully it might have been entitled, ' A job
for the presidential chair.' '
Was Webster candid ? Did he really believe the
Union was in danger unless the south obtained its
demands? No amount of human logic can determine
the hidden motives of a man, and a man who defiantly
refuses to make explanations while still being criti
cised. It is likely that his lordly nature, refusing to
be driven by radicals, set itself in the old way of the
Union and there remained defiantly. He had even gone
out of his way in the speech to defy instructions from his
constituents and to abuse the Abolitionists. " I do not
think them useful. I think their operations for the
last twenty years have produced nothing that is good or
valuable." "He even defies the instructions of federal
Massachusetts and offers the open hand of friendship to
the south," said a Pennsylvania editor.
Two months later, Webster visited Boston and spoke
for twenty minutes in front of the Revere House. He
denied that he had stepped backward or abandoned his
344 THE ME^ WHO MADE THE NATION
old position. " In that course of pacification I shall per
severe regardless of all personal consequences." Some
reports of the occasion describe the immense enthusiasm,
and others the lack of it. A cart loaded with iron which
at one time drowned the voice of the speaker was attrib
uted to the trickery of his enemies.
During the ensuing days, Webster said there had not
been an hour in which he had not felt a crushing sense
of responsibility and fear for the Union. He drew
applause from the gallery of the Senate by declaring,
" I shall know but one country. The ends I aim at
shall be my country's, my God's, and Truth's." When a
friend suggested that he make some apology for his
attitude he replied, " Like the old Deacon, I never
make paths until the snow ceases to fall." But the
snow of criticism was not likely to be checked by his
continuing in his speeches to abuse both Abolitionists
and Free-Soilers, especially when the speeches were
delivered as far south as Virginia.
Even then, as the presidential election of 1852 drew
near, some hoped the prize would be his. Clay was ap
proaching his end ; there was no other Whig leader. But
on the first ballot in the Baltimore convention Webster
received only 29 out of 293 votes! Through the fifty-
three ballots, the south never once rallied to Webster.
If the Abolitionist charge was true that he had betrayed
them, he never received the thirty pieces of silver. A
military hero, General Scott, had again won the honors
from a civic idol. Determined yet to win, his friends in
Massachusetts nominated him as an independent Whig
candidate, and issued pamphlets in his behalf. The
action was followed in Pennsylvania and Georgia. Three
DANIEL WEBSTER
345
weeks before the election, word came that his name had
been withdrawn, and one week later, the news followed
that Daniel Webster was dead.
It is as specu- L i
lative to say that
a broken heart
caused his physi
cal death as that
the /th of March
caused his politi
cal death. Web
ster was the idol
of New England,
but she never won
ADDltESS AND PROCEEDINGS
FRIENDS OF DANIEL WEBSTER.
ASSEMBLED IN FANKH1. HALL
©n toe&tua&fts, 0fptcmbcr 1311), 1832,
MASS COX VKNTIOX.
for him a single
state outside her
section. In truth,
she had lost the
balance of politi
cal power to the
newer west, but
failed to realize it.
Every attempt of
Webster to gain
legislation for her
interests, alien
ated him from the
agricultural south. Every time he accepted relief from
eastern manufacturers in the hard-pressed condition of
his finances, due to careless business habits, he caused the
western and southern people to fear that as President he
would be the servant of such masters.
A WEBSTER CAMPAIGN PAMPHLET, 1852
346 THE MEN IV HO MADE THE NATION
In the making of the Nation, the matter of the
presidency, which closed in failure the career of the
preeminent New Englander, was as unimportant as his
attitude on the tariff, which gave question to the open
ing of his career. Higher than the petty details of
economic legislation, higher than the services of any
President before his time, must be reckoned the efforts
of Webster for the Union. He put into usable terms
the silent growth of the central power, and couched the
whole in such eloquent language that it became an all-
potent watchword against disunion, — " Liberty and
Union, now and forever, one and inseparable ! "
CHAPTER XI
HORACE GREELEY, THE ANTI-SLAVERY EDITOR
CLINTON, LENAWEE Co., MICH.
Feb. 4, 1848.
H. GREELEY, ESQ. : Please send me the New York Daily
Tribune and I will pay you at the end of the year. By so do
ing you will promote the Whig cause in this section of country
and oblige,
Yours, etc.,
HENRY W. STEVENS.
NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 1848.
H. VV. STEVENS, ESQ. : . . . I published newspapers seven
years on credit with lots of subscribers and came near starving
to death thereby. For the last seven years I have gone on the
opposite track. ... I have since had not only a goodly array
of subscribers, but enough to eat, a good suit of clothes, and
very often some change in the vest pocket. Wishing you a
share of the same blessings, I am,
Yours truly,
HORACE GREELEY.
Newspapers had been printed in the American colo
nies seventy years before the Revolution, yet at the
beginning of that struggle they numbered less than
forty. They had no part in the formation of public
opinion. The political contests involving the adoption
or rejection of the Federal Constitution put a new value
347
348 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
The JBaffle of Liberty,
Strangling the
•r
upon printed communications, and the number of publi
cations increased rapidly. As has been previously said,
the rise of political parties was marked by an abusive
press,1 but the cessation of party spirit in the " era of
good feeling " caused a subsidence of this acrimony. The
first thought was that the home of the newspaper would
be at the headquarters of
politics — the national capi
tal. The development of
business enterprises later
showed that the newspaper
demanded a commercial
foundation, and would thrive
best in the greatest business
centre.
In 1835, James Gordon
Bennett, after numerous ex
periments in founding jour
nals, left the city of Wash
ington and started a penny
paper, the Herald, in New
York City. Four years ear
lier, there had reached that
city a kind of tramp printer,
whose gaunt and awkward
figure, light hair, and high voice made him the ridicule
of his fellow-printers, as he sought work among them.
Horace Greeley had been a precocious child in the Ver
mont hills, where he had later learned his trade. Now,
like Whittington of old, he had come with $10 in his
pocket to the "great Metropolis," as he called it, to make
1 See Chapter VI.
True American Ticket.
For President,
HENRY- HiRMSON.
HORACE GREELEY
349
his fortune. As a lad in the country school, he was
reported to have replied to a questioning visitor, " Sir, I
intend to be an editor." This ambition caused him to
attempt the Morning Post, and then the New Yorker,
but each failed.
The campaign year of 1840 brought a change in Gree-
ley's ill fortune. The Whigs, profiting by the success
of the Demo
crats with Jack
son, decided to
pass by all po
litical possibil
ities and to
take up an old
soldier with a
military record.
Jackson had
represented
the frontier element on the southwest, and William
Henry Harrison was selected to catch the frontier vote
on the northwest.1 Political preference thus followed
closely the migration of the people.
The Democrats scoffed at the idea of sending to the
White House a candidate of the wilderness, who needed
only a log-cabin to dwell in, a coonskin cap to wear,
hard cider to drink, and a pension to make him con
tented where he was. The Whigs accepted the chal
lenge and rallied the people under these symbols. The
party leaders in New York asked Greeley to assume the
editorship of a campaign paper to be issued simulta-
1 Harrison had been a candidate in 1836, although the Whig party as
a whole had not nominated him in a convention.
CAMPAIGN SYMBOLS OF 1840
350 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
E LOG
CABIN.
neously in New York City
and Albany. On Saturday,
May 2, 1840, the Log Cabin
appeared under the manage
ment of H. Greeley & Co.
With the financial backing of
the New York Whigs, it was
a success, and the compensation it afforded enabled
Greeley to undertake still another journalistic venture.
The following April, he announced a " New Morning
Journal of Politics, Literature, and General Intelli
gence," which would be "a welcome visitant at the
family fireside." Associating with himself in this Trib
une a competent business manager, he soon brought the
paper to an unprecedented circulation, ranging for weeks
at a time above one hundred thousand copies.
As a reformer by nature, Greeley opened the columns
of his paper to every worthy cause. When the Trib
une was over thirty years old, he said, " Doubtless
many readers have heard of the Isms of the Tribune
. . . and yet as one mind has presided over its isms
from the outset, so one golden thread of purpose may
be traced through them all." At another time he
declared that one had " better incur the trouble of test
ing and exploding a thousand fallacies than, by reject
ing, stifle a single beneficent truth."
His impetuous nature made him a militant reformer.
HORACE GREELEY
351
Dfcturrs cf
In discussing the subject of woman's rights, he went to
the extreme of a division of labor between the sexes,
and was cartooned accordingly by his critics. As a
vegetarian and a follower of the theories of Dr. Graham,1
he scrupulous
ly carried out
in his private
life the sys
tems which he
advocated as
editor. He met
the obliga
tions which he
thought rested
upon the edi
tor to instruct
the people
orally by mak
ing lecture
tours through
out the coun
try, until it was
said that his
face was as
well known as
that of Washington. Stones of his eccentricity of dress
and habits frequently preceded him. As one reporter
said : " Horace Greeley is advertised for another lecture
1 Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian clergyman, published in 1840 his
" Bread and Bread Making," in which he advocated the use of unbolted
flour. In a Grahamite boarding-house in New York City, Greeley first met
Miss Cheney, a Connecticut schoolmistress, who afterwards became his wife.
Cor. of t\6 Triliune, Feb. 19?A.
352 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
to-night at the Odd Fellows Hall and for a sermon on
Sunday at Temperance Hall. His novel appearance
attracts more attention than his lectures, and always
secures him a good audience." 1
Although.too liberal for a partisan, Greeley imagined
himself a rigid party man. " An eager, omnivorous
reader, especially of newspapers, from early childhood,
I was an ardent politician when not half old enough to
vote."2 On the contrary, he was often so at variance
with leaders and principles that people were obliged to
choose between Greeley and the party. He felt that
his efforts for his party often went unrewarded. "We
have done our share at shouting, screeching, hurrahing,
exhorting, entreating, to influence our readers to vote
for this or that ticket or party." Beginning with Jack
son, the value of the partisan newspaper had been ap
preciated, and its editor supposed to be rewarded. But
Greeley was given nothing. When the election of Har
rison first brought the Whigs into power, there " came
the great scramble of the small mob of coon minstrels
and cider suckers at Washington, I not being counted
in," said Greeley. " I was sent once to Congress for
ninety days merely to enable Jim Brooks to secure a
seat therein for four years." He was usually patient,
but the letter3 from which these sentences are taken
was the lament of the outraged and yet instinctive
spoilsman.
If the party leaders ever had a disposition to reward
1 Baltimore correspondence in the Washington Union, March 16, 1850.
2 The quotations from Greeley in this chapter are taken from his
"Recollections of a Busy Life."
3 To Governor Sevvard of New York. " Recollections," p. 315.
HORACE GREELEY 353
Greeley, his conduct during those ninety days in Con
gress must have shown them what a dangerous man
he would be in office. He created more general dis
turbance than the proverbial bull in the china shop.
No sooner did he see the manifold abuses which have
come to be accepted as incident to legislative bodies,
than the politician was lost sight of in the reformer.
He was no respecter of party issues nor party men in
his reform movements.
Scarcely had he taken his seat when he wrote to the
Tribune about the shameful waste of time by men being
paid from the public money, although custom was too
strong to hope for much relief. " Brethren," said the
wise African preacher, " blessed are they who expect
nothing, for they will not be disappointed." Subsequent
editorials were headed, — " A Day Overboard " and " Kill
ing Time." "The House devoted the interval to doing
nothing — an employment for which it possesses ex
traordinary capacities." On another day, "The House
accomplished the funeral honors of one member last
week, and by dint of rigid economy saved one over on
whom to spend to-day." He found but one method of
checking adjournment and that by demanding the yeas
and nays upon every such motion. " Blessed be the
memory of the man who invented the yeas and nays."
Eventually this failed, since he could not find enough
supporters to demand the call. One measure only was
he certain would pass — that appropriating money for
the pay of the members.
Aside from attacking the pay granted by law as being
excessive, he investigated the amount of mileage charged
by each congressman in going to and returning from
2A
354
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Washington. The law, framed many years before this
time, supposed that travel could be performed at the
rate of twenty miles per day, and allowed $8 for
every twenty miles between the capital and the mem
ber's residence. By the introduction of railways and
steamboat lines, one could now travel one hundred miles
per day at a cost of $5, but the original rate had
not been changed. Even this liberality had not pre
vented abuse, as it seemed to Greeley in examining
the records. One day there appeared in the Tribune
the name of every member of Congress, followed by sta
tistics showing the sum collected by the member and
the real distance between his home and Washington.
Here are some of the largest excesses and the excess
charged by some of the principal members of Congress
at that time, as shown in Greeley's table :
Name
Actual No.
of Miles by
Post Routes
Miles
charged
Mileage
charged
Excess of
Mileage
charged
Albert G. Brown, Miss.
1047
233°
$1864.00
$1026.40
John C. Calhoun, S.C.
531
923
738.00
3I3-60
S. R. Giddings, O.
338
850
680.00
409.60
Andrew Johnson, Tenn.
437
590
472.00
122.40
Abraham Lincoln, Ills.
780
1626
1300.00
676.80
Isaac E. Morse, La.
1281
26OO
2O8O.OO
1055.20
W. W. Downes, La.
1190
2800
224O.OO
1288.00
Lewis Cass, Mich.
524
1081
864.00
445.60
Daniel Webster, Mass.
440
530
42O.OO
68.00
Total extra mileage charged — $62,105.20.
Greeley's comments were amusing. "Thirty years
ago the member from Cincinnati jolted in stage-coaches
and charged $400 for the trip. His successor by steamer
HORACE GREELEY
355
and cars sleeps like a top and
travels like a lord and yet charges
$632.40." In Alabama, the great
turnpike crossed two branches of
a river. A member who lived
near one branch charged mileage
down that branch and up the
other to the pike road. One
man in Ohio lived nearer Wash
ington than another and yet
charged $400 more. A Louisiana
member in his "circumbendibus"
charged mileage down the Red
river to the Mississippi, down
that stream to New Orleans, and
back up the same river to the
Ohio and then to Washington.
When the Tribune containing
these compilations of Greeley
reached Washington, a "question
of privilege" brought it to the
floor of the House. Greeley was
denounced as a falsifier and de-
famer of the honor of the mem
bers, and 'almost personally as
saulted. He replied that he
regretted the figures as much
as anybody, but since they were
taken from the public records, he
could not change them. In the
Tribune s account of the day, he
said, "Contrary to usual usage in
If
356 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
the Holiday season, I believe, and contrary to my expec
tation, we have had a breezy, stirring, spicy sitting in
the House to-day." And he assured his readers that
it was quite worth the money it cost whether anything
came of it or not.1
The reform ended as most reforms do. The commit
tee on mileage was made the scapegoat, the incident
attributed to "a demagogue who wants to make ap
plause," and a committee of investigation appointed. A
few weeks later, Greeley chronicled "the funeral of
Mileage Reform."
Meanwhile, the messengers selected to carry the votes
of the electoral colleges which chose Taylor for President
had arrived in Washington, and Greeley began to investi
gate the mileage charged by them. A man from Maine,
whose actual expense Greeley estimated at $60, claimed
and received $148.75. One from Arkansas charged
$266.25 f°r IQ65 miles of travel, "by Congressional cir
cles," as the Tribune put it. These messengers com
plained that even this pay was insufficient, and Congress,
" to avoid reducing their own," as Greeley claimed,
doubled it.
Writing daily to the Tribune, Greeley next conceived
a system of increased compensation for members of
Congress, based on increased length of service. "The
longer a man serves the more useful he becomes," was
1 In a lecture on Lincoln, published in the twentieth volume of the
Century, Greeley said of Lincoln's attitude on this question, " But as I
had made most of the members my enemies at an early stage of that short
session by printing an elaborate expose of the iniquities of Congressional
mileage; and as he did not join the active cabal against me, though his
mileage figured conspicuously and by no means flatteringly in that expose,
I parted from him at the close of that Congress with none but grateful
recollections."
HORACE GREELEY 357
the principle. In the same way, the chairmen of com
mittees on whom extra labor devolved were to be given
greater pay. When he offered another resolution, to
deduct pay for absenteeism of members, an insinuat
ing amendment was offered and adopted, to deduct pay
for the time spent by members while in the House
engaged in writing for their newspapers.
In some such spirit each of Greeley's reform measures
was met. He was always frank, and added in his reports,
"Voted down by a large majority." In this way went
his effort to prevent a gift of $250 which Congress was
accustomed to grant each clerk and page before adjourn
ment ; his labor to prevent flogging in the navy; to stop
the payment of a bounty to recruits for the army ; and
to cut off the liquor ration given to the sailors of the
navy.
When the House finally adjourned after giving the
usual gratuities, Greeley went over to the Senate, but
soon left. The next day he wrote, "The Senate was
still passing extra gratuities to everybody — and if the
bottom is not out of the Treasury, may be doing so
yet for aught I know." Returning to New York, he
issued an address to his constituency and the people,
explaining his efforts in their behalf, and closing with a
characteristic request :
It is that you and they will oblige me henceforth by remem
bering that my name is
HORACE GREELEY.
So closed the public service of the reform editor in
politics. A fortnight later he was lecturing throughout
New England on "My Experience in Congress." James
358 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
Gordon Bennett said in the Herald, " We have not
probably, in the last thirty years, been blessed with such
a perfect specimen of a little mean pettifogging dema
gogue in Congress as Hon. Mr. Greeley has furnished
in his own career during the last few months."
Social reforms Greeley would encourage by the proper
education of the people; political reforms he would leave
to government action through parties. The Abolition
reform is now considered as affiliated with the great
agitation for equality of the second quarter of the cen
tury, but to Greeley it seemed a political question,
which could be solved best through the regular political
parties. It had arisen from small beginnings.
Save for an occasional anti-slavery petition from the
Friends or Quakers to Congress, the question had lain
idle for the first forty years under the Constitution.
The northern states had provided for emancipation, and
it was gradually dying out in that section. The profit
arising from the increased growth of cotton in the ex
treme south had made slave labor very profitable, and,
creating a demand for slaves, had overcome the early
anti-slavery sentiment in the border states. Into this
quiet there came slowly and at first imperceptibly the
disturbing factor of Abolitionism.
The great reform wave which swept around the civil
ized globe about 1830 took many shapes in the United
States. The churches assumed new vigor, especially in
the missionary field. There was talk of evangelizing
the world and of the coming of the millennium. Peace
societies and temperance bands were formed. An agita
tion was begun against carrying the mails on Sunday,
against the theatres and lotteries. The condition of the
HORACE GREELEY 359
Indian and of the slave was considered. The return of
the latter to Africa seemed feasible, and colonization was
tried anew. One reformer would devote the proceeds
of the public land sales to the purchase of the slaves
after the public debt had been paid. Another would
raise the necessary $2,000,000,000 by subscription. In
the dissemination of these reform ideas the Abolition
press played no small part.
Benjamin Lundy, a saddler, son of a Quaker preacher,
wandering from place to place with a small printing
outfit, subsisting no one knew how, content if only he
might occasionally issue his Genius of Universal Eman
cipation, was not a heroic figure in the political world.
Statesmen were apt to sneer at this John the Baptist
of Abolitionism crying in the wilderness. He pro
nounced a new dictum, — that slavery was wrong not
from the generally accepted standpoint of political econ
omy, but that it was an ethical wrong ; that it was for
bidden by God speaking through the Scripture ; that the
negro was a man and brother.
William Lloyd Garrison, issuing his Liberator from
the third story of an old building in Boston, with the
THE LIBERATOR.
THE X, I BE n A TO It
aid of a printer and a negro apprentice, was unlikely to
appeal to a young man like Greeley, who looked to great
parties and party organs for needed reforms. Greeley
360 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
would entertain only practical methods, and Garrison's
cry for " unconditional emancipation " seemed most
impractical. Emancipation thus far in nearly all the
states had been conditioned on age or service. Slavery
lingered long in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jer
sey, and Pennsylvania.1 As late as 1827, the last
emancipation law of New York had gone into effect
in that state and had freed almost ten thousand slaves.
Garrison, on the other hand, argued that if slavery were
wrong, emancipation was right ; that if emancipation
were right in ten years or for persons born hereafter in
slavery, it was right at the present time. He would
have no conditions.
Nor was much more to be expected from another
editor, Elijah P. Lovejoy of Illinois, who persisted in
buying one printing-press after another as they were
destroyed by the mobs and thrown into the Mississippi,
until the local warfare culminated in his death. " He
dieth as the fool dieth," declared the Attorney-general
of Massachusetts in the public meeting called for Fan-
euil Hall. " He took refuge under the banner of liberty
— amid its folds ; and when he fell, its glorious stars
and stripes, the emblem of free institutions, around
which cluster so many heart-stirring memories, were
blotted out in martyr's blood," replied the young
Wendell Phillips.
Of these apparently futile attempts to enlist the
American press in a philanthropic movement, Greeley
afterward said: "Whatever of impunity they enjoyed
1 In 1840, there were 1129 slaves in the so-called "free " states. Maine,
Vermont, Massachusetts, and Michigan, alone of all the states in the Union,
held no slaves at that time.
HORACE GREELEY 361
throughout the greater portion of the North was accorded
them rather through contempt for their insignificance
than willingness to let them be heard. . . . And while
I could not withhold from these agitators a certain
measure of sympathy for their great object, I was utterly
unable to see how their efforts tended to the achieve
ment of their end." Those who claimed that the circu
lation of these Abolition papers and the pamphlets which
frequently accompanied them bred insurrection among
the slaves, found an example in the Nat Turner rising
of 1831. In one day, sixty-three whites were murdered
on Virginia plantations. A similar plot was discovered,
it was claimed, in North Carolina. The whites in Vir
ginia soon restored order, killed thirty of the negroes,
and then demanded the suppression of these disturbing
papers by the northern state governments.
A South Carolina paper called upon the governor of
that state " to demand of the governors of the Northern
states those moral assassins of life and character, virtual
Robbers of property, and actual Incendiaries, to be
delivered up to justice here to suffer condign punish
ment for their enormous crimes against God, man, their
country, and society." The editors of the Liberator
were indicted in North Carolina, and the taking of a
copy from the post-office by a negro made a crime.
The Georgia legislature was reported to have offered
a reward for the arrest and conviction of its editors.
Abolition efforts continued. In his Seventh of March
speech, 1850, Webster estimated that "within the last
twenty years as much money had been collected and
paid to the abolition societies, abolition presses, and
abolition lecturers, as would purchase the freedom of
362
THE MEN ITHO MADE THE NATION
every slave, man, woman, and child, in the State of
Maryland and send them all to Liberia."
(tod defeat the
wolutionnry
chemc of a
I deceitful gang
«f bypocritical.
THK
DEVIL
IS IN THE
CAMP !
fOlLADEI.PHtA
1839
PRK E 10 CENTS
ANTI-ABOLITION PAMPHLET
A Richmond newspaper had once insisted that " the
people of the North must go to hanging these fanatical
wretches if they would not lose the benefit of the South
ern trade, and they will do it." And again, ''Depend
HORACE GREELEY 363
upon it, the Northern people will never sacrifice their
present lucrative trade with the South, so long as the
hanging of a few thousands will prevent it." Although
the commercial interests of the north might not use
such extreme measures, the spirit took shape in mob
bing these persistent disturbers of trade. " Hootings,
howlings, blackguard revilings, rotten eggs, stoned win
dows, &c., &c., were among the milder demonstrations of
repugnance to which they were habitually subjected,"
says Greeley. He went so far as to predict that had it
been supposed slavery was endangered by their efforts,
the Abolitionists would scarcely have escaped with their
lives from any city or considerable village whence they
attempted to hold forth.
Although sympathizing with this proscribed band,
Greeley had no part with them. As he himself said,
" I was never a member of any distinctively Abolition
Society, and very rarely found time to attend an Aboli
tion meeting." Yet not one man in ten south of the
Mason and Dixon line but would have declared that
Horace Greeley was one of the blackest of black Aboli
tionists, while many upon the north of that line held
the same opinion.1 The confusion arose from a failure
to distinguish between Abolition and " non-extension of
slavery" feeling. Greeley would not have slavery inter
fered with except by lawful means ; he would simply con-
1 Editors of southern newspapers circulated lists of merchants who
advertised in the Tribune, suggesting that patronage be withheld from
them. Greeley was indicted at Richmond, Virginia, for circulating an
incendiary publication — the J^ribune. Some postmasters refused to
deliver the paper at their offices. Greeley was assaulted personally in the
streets of Washington, and his reporters were at one time excluded from
the gallery of the House of Representatives.
364
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
fine it to the states where it already existed. However,
to the slave-holder the distinction seemed slight since
each aimed at his property. The one would deprive
him of it at home, the other would prevent him taking
it with him to the western country.
Greeley belonged to the poorer class of the north and
was unrestricted in his sentiment by fear of losing
trade or property. Further, his was an unusually sym
pathetic nature, easily appealed to by human suffering.
He had been reared in the broken parts of New Hamp
shire and Vermont, where slavery had scarcely been
known. Above all, his erratic disposition, when once
he had taken a stand, knew no moderation nor tolerance.
\
ESCAPE OF HENRY Box BROWN
To him it seemed that the southern statesmen were
inclined to demand too much protection for their pecul
iar institution, and during his one term in Congress he
HORACE GREELEY 365
reported in the Tribune that there was " too much foot-
licking by the Northern members on the slavery ques
tion." As far back as 1851 he did not hesitate to say
editorially : " We loathe and detest all laws which give or
withhold political rights on account of color. ' A man's
a man for a' that,' and ought to have the full rights of
manhood whether his ancestors were Celts, Goths, or
Hottentots, whether his complexion be ebony or ivory."
Abolitionists had not gone beyond that. When a negro
was shipped from Baltimore to Philadelphia in a box,
Greeley said: "If a box should come directed to us
with a live man in it, we should at the very least pre
sume him the owner of himself until somebody else
proved a title to him. That done, we should let that
somebody take his property running, recognizing no
obligation resting on us to help him catch it." 1
As a party man, Greeley could not embrace such
independent movements as the Liberty and Free-Soil
offshoots, although he applauded their aim. "We care
not how fast Messrs. Birney & Co.2 may ripen public
sentiment in the North for Emancipation, we will aid
them to the best of our ability, but we will not refuse
the good now within our reach, out of deference to
that which is unattainable." He had no sympathy
1 The experience of Henry " Box " Brown, who was shipped from Balti
more to Philadelphia in a box, was widely published and illustrated. In
1850 he was noted in the newspapers as engaged in painting a panorama
in the city of Philadelphia.
2 In 1840, the Abolitionists split into two factions on the question of
running a candidate for the presidency. One wing nominated James G.
Birney of New York; the other formally withdrew from participation in
the national government. In 1848, the Birney faction united with the Free-
Soilers or Free Democrats in nominating Ex-President Van Buren of New
York.
366 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
with the radical or extreme Abolitionists like Garrison,
Phillips, and Tappan, who accused the people of allow
ing the government to be prostituted to the use of the
slave-holders. Restricted constantly by the guarantees
of slavery to be found in the Constitution, they refused
to take further part in public life. The American Anti-
slavery (Abolition) Society resolved " That Secession
from the United States government is the duty of every
Abolitionist ; That the Abolitionists of this country
should make it one of the primary objects of this agita
tion to dissolve the American Union." In the heat of
his indignation, Wendell Phillips cried : "The Constitu
tion of our fathers was a mistake. Tear it to pieces and
make a better. . . . It does what its framers intended —
protects slavery." Garrison went further and declared
the "Union a Lie, an Imposture, a Covenant with
Death, and an Agreement with Hell ! " 1 " Up with the
flag of DISUNION that we may have a free and glorious
Republic of our own ; and when the hour shall come,
the hour will have arrived that shall witness the over
throw of slavery."
Thereafter meetings of Abolition societies were re
ported in the Tribune as gatherings of "union-breakers,"
although in 1854 some radical stanzas on the Anthony
Burns case appeared in the Tribune, utterly at variance
with the editorials, but for which Greeley made no
apology.2
1 The Liberator, June 20, 1856.
2 They were addressed to the American flag, and contained these lines :
" All hail the flaunting Lie ! " It shields a pirate's deck,
The stars grow pale and dim, It binds a man in chains,
The stripes are bloody scars, It yokes the captain's neck,
A he the vaunting hymn. And wipes the bloody stains.''
BOSTON SLAVE RIOT,
SPEECHES OF COUNSEL ON liOTH KlUtb, (
368 THE MEAT WHO MADE THE NATION
Greeley had not joined in the criticism of Webster
for his support of the Fugitive Slave law, but the execu
tion of the law would impress his tender nature most
unfavorably. At first, there seemed to be no spirit of
resistance to this act of the general government. A
Kentucky paper described the return of thirty slaves
from Ohio " without encountering the least obstacle, or
even an unkind word." Within two years, over one
hundred fugitives are recorded as returned, in addition
to the many of which accounts never found their way
into the newspapers.
The first evidence of mob resistance appeared quite
naturally in Boston, the home of Abolitionism. The
story of the rescue of Shadrach from the hands of a
United States commissioner, which brought out a proc
lamation of President Fillmore by the hand of Secretary
Webster, was printed and widely circulated. The ex
ample was imitated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and in
the famous case of Addison in central Ohio. The
unnecessarily brutal methods employed by some of the
northern " nigger hunters" added to the sense of indig
nation. Stimulated by rewards offered by owners, the
lowest class of men in the northern cities scoured the
country in search of negroes. Newspaper columns
teemed with stories of unconscious negroes dragged
before the commissioners with blood oozing from their
wounds. In retaliation the negroes were sometimes
supplied with arms by their sympathizers. Similar
stories were circulated of wounded and dying United
States marshals and deputies. Identification was almost
impossible, and the courts often hastened judgment for
fear of a rescue. Naturally many captives claimed an
HORACE GREELEY 369
alias, and the suspicion grew among the northern people
that free blacks were being impressed into slavery.
Every impediment was placed in the way of the claim
ants to these fugitives. A writ of habeas corpus was the
first step, followed by an attempt to quash the indict
ment, or by an appeal from the commissioner to the
state court. A prolonged war was inaugurated between
marshals, sheriffs, and deputies, which claimed at least
a score of victims.1 A justice of the United States
Supreme Court said : " If any tuppeny magistrate or
any unprincipled interloper can come in and cause to be
arrested the officers of the United States, whenever they
please, it is a sad affair. ... If habeas corpuscs are to
be taken out after that manner, I will have an indict
ment sent to the United States Grand Jury against the
person who applies for the writ, or assists in getting it,
the lawyer who defends it, and the sheriff who serves
the writ. ... I will see that my officers are supported." 2
On the other hand the governor of the state of Ohio
declared, " The process of the United States courts
must not be slighted or resisted ; but as long as I repre
sent the sovereignty of our state, I will see that the
process of our state courts shall not be interfered
with or resisted, but shall be fully enforced." 3 It was a
strange position into which this making of a nation had
brought a northern state. Consistency is an impossi
bility in a growing body.
1 Many of these cases are described in a pamphlet entitled " The Fugi
tive Slave Law and its Victims," published in New York City in 1861. The
illustration on page 375 of the escape of a fugitive slave by jumping from
a window is taken from the Child's Edition of Torrey's " Slave Trader."
2 Justice Grier.
3 Governor Chase.
3/0 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
The governor of Ohio was sustained in this nullifica
tion attitude by the " personal liberty " laws which many
of the northern states had passed in opposition to, and
defiance of, the national Fugitive Slave law. Vermont,
Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Wisconsin, Kansas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania
placed such laws on their statute books. Although not
uniform, they provided generally that the claimed person
should have the benefit of habeas corpus and a jury trial ;
that he be given counsel at the expense of the state ;
that two witnesses were necessary for identification, and
that the use of the state jails and the assistance of the
state officers be absolutely forbidden in all fugitive cases.
Heavy punishment was also provided for any attempt to
seize a free person. These laws were almost prohibitive.
With possibly no place to lodge a captured black, an
noyed by writs, faced by good lawyers, unprotected from
the mob, the United States official did not enter will
ingly upon such duty. The slave claimer, in the prob
able event of an unfavorable verdict by a jury, found
himself fined and imprisoned for attempting to take a
free person.
The states based these laws upon the assumption that
the rendition of fugitives should have been left to the
respective states. If it should not have been so left,
the action of the states was unconstitutional. If it
should have been, they were compelling their officers to
violate the oath which they had taken to support the
laws of the United States as well as the state. It was
also a breach of faith on the part of the states toward the
Union. In any event, the states were assuming to them
selves the right to judge the actions of a superior body
HORACE GREELEY 3/1
the Congress. Although in the past insisting that the
implied powers belonged to the Union and that the final
arbiter was the Supreme Court, they now found them
selves resting upon state sovereignty and state courts.
When the United States Supreme Court reversed such
a decision of the Wisconsin court,1 the state legisla
ture resolved that when the Federal government tran
scends its power, " positive defiance " is the only remedy.
Wisconsin, in 1859, had become the Virginia and Ken
tucky of 1798-1799 and the South Carolina of 1832.
People become forgetful of traditions and past policies
only in the face of unbearable conditions and on the
verge of revolution. To this condition they had been
brought, not only by the sight of slave hunting, but by a
bit of fiction which made every runaway a hero and pos
sibly a martyr.
Literary "hits" were uncommon in those days.
The editor of the National Era, a weekly "Anti-slav
ery, Literary, and Political" newspaper, published at
Washington, knew not what the future had in store for
his rather meagre subscription list when he made the
announcement at the head of his editorial page in the
spring of 1851 of a new story entitled "Uncle Tom's
Cabin, or the Man that was a Thing."2 During the run
of the serial, although the editor was compelled fre
quently to apologize for the absence of instalments
because of the non-arrival of the manuscript, readers
began to send in testimonials accompanied by lists of
new subscribers. " We hope she will not be in a hurry
to finish it," wrote one, while another prayed that she
1 The case of Ableman vs. Booth, in the Wisconsin Reports for 1859.
*- This sub-title was afterward changed to " Life Among the Lowly."
372 THE Ml-:N WHO .MADE THE N ATI Off
VOL. V.-NO. 23.
might keep it going all winter. By January, the editor
was talking of twenty thousand subscribers, and before
the serial closed in March he had more than that num
ber. The matter was
stereotyped as it ap
peared in the Era, and
one week before the
last instalment was due,
" Uncle Tom's Cabin "
appeared in two vol
umes in Boston. The
demand was enormous.
" Three paper mills are
constantly at work man
ufacturing the paper,
and three power presses
are working twenty-four
hours per day in print
ing it, and more than
one hundred bookbind
ers are incessantly ply
ing their trade to bind
them, and still it has
been impossible as yet
to supply the demand." In two months, over one hun
dred thousand copies had been sold at prices ranging
from $i to $2, plus the postage.
In 1852, the Tribune gave five columns to .a review of
this new work of fiction in two volumes,1 in the course
of which it said, "We are informed by the author that
1 A copy of the first edition of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," the title-page
of which appears on the opposite page, is in the Library of Congress.
THE NATIONAL ERA.
WASHINGTON, JUNK v>, 1851.
UUPVllOIIT SgcrtHH BY THK Al'TKOK.)
Forth* N»rWn»l Kr».
UNCLE TOM'S CABIN:
OR,
LIFE AMONG THK LOWLY.
a Hanoi //"minify.
L»te in the afternoon of a chilly J»j in Kol>
raarj,lwo gentlemen weresittiug aloneovrr their
»ti.» U a »»ll.fnrai«h*.l .lining nirlor. <B the
HORACE GREELEY
373
UNCLE TOM'S CABIN;
-IFF, AMONG THE LOWLY.
for many years of her life she avoided all allusions to
the subject of slavery, on account of its painful and
repulsive character, believing that it would pass away
with the advance
of light and civil
ization. The en
actment of the
Fugitive Slave
law in 1850 com
pelled her to look
at the subject
with newly awak
ened interest,
and the result is
to be found in
the present vol
umes." The re
view expressed
a profound con
viction that this
" Uncle Tom's
Cabin" was des
tined to add im
measurably to the
cause of human
freedom.
The final effect was not seen at first. A Washing
ton political paper pronounced it excellent fiction, with
its " scenes of life and frolic, which are likely to make
the book current everywhere, North and South, for we
are informed this book is not confined to the limits of
our land." Another writer said that the sales at first
BOSTON:
JOHN P. JEWETT & COMPANY.
CLEVELAND, OHIO:
. JEWETT. PBOOTOK * WOBTHIKGTON.
1852. .
3/4 THE MEW I t'MO MADE TV/A" NATION'
were fully as large proportionately to population in one
section as in another ; in the south as in the north. But
to the amazement of the people of the south, the readers
in the north accepted the work as fact instead of fiction.
"The human being who can read it through with dry eyes
is commended to Barnum," wrote a reader to the Era.
The reason for this northern view is easily found.
The publication of the story was coincident with the
execution of the Fugitive Slave law of 1850. The
columns in which the serial appeared were surrounded
by descriptions of the capture and return of actual fugi
tives. Any negro returned to bondage might be a
saintly Uncle Tom doomed to a later death at the hands
of some cruel overseer. Any woman with her child
might be an Eliza trying to join her husband in a free
land. The novelist had created a sentiment for every
runaway slave.
Under the influence of the printing-press, this great
question had virtually passed beyond the politicians to
the people. It is astonishing that party leaders still
hoped to settle it by ignoring it and introducing some
other subject.1
The election of 1852 was as nearly a farce as the
American people, bound in their political machinery,
have ever been compelled to go through. Each party
in making nominations was seeking for a man without
a record on this disturbing slavery question ; a neutral
1 In an editorial just before the Whig nomination of 1852, Greeley said :
" And it is so easy and natural for forty or fifty good fellows around a
bountiful dinner table to harmonize and fraternize on a suggested course,
and fancy the people will readily fall in — forgetting that the rich, warm
light in which the matter glows through their wine-glasses will be absent
when it strikes the public eye."
HORACE GREELEY
375
man who would not bring tint to litmus paper; a light
so dull that no radiance should be expected upon this
problem, or so brilliant that it would blind the eyes of
the people to this domestic issue. The Democrats
selected Pierce of New
Hampshire, almost
unknown, and hence
uncommitted on the
disturbing question.
The Whigs chose a
war hero, General
Winfield Scott, of the
regular army, who was
therefore an ideal can
didate. The flag of
our country ! Glori
ous war record in
Mexico ! No civil rec
ord on anything !
With these ideal can
didates, standing on
conservative plat
forms and the Com
promise of 1850, the
party leaders fondly
imagined that they EsCAPE OF A FUGITIVE SLAVE
could continue to throw dust in the eyes of the people
and keep down the slavery issue.1
1 The Whigs had never succeeded in electing a candidate except Har
rison and Taylor, both war heroes. They hoped to repeat the story with
" Old Chippewa " Scott. Lowell ridiculed this practice under " Old Tim-
bertoes" in the first series of the " Biglow Papers."
^ c
^ -v-»,-^ — * •._"» > ^""
eJ
X ^
S|
**••«-« _
> -*»«»^, .,
G
-* "S
*'' >X" ^ '~ S -
^' K
.° u2
K. rO
. ) - Jr -a.
(A
\-\ '- yP 3>
•>
> s? **T*
• §
K $
W
v l-
f ^ i'?f
- ; y
•** "2
is* -y s"1' '"
jf-'- ^7 /-* >
^
.! -
*-• rt
>*- -«
>^^
^t*$y '
-"',-* / f
^' S * 2 : ,\
p> * .•* f 4' fi
.1 J
s «
o
w J3
X 0
D '-C
*o lr
i* ^ flf £,y \
||
/£+: ,/ /^
• / • n sT
IP v°
S §
2 '5
«/ /
u £
rtK A »
c <
-^ J'?
O qj
^ r1 / /
^f
1/1 £
^
c
HORACE GREELEY 377
If strong men cried out because of the darkness of
the night, indications were not wanting that a dawn of
new and better things was approaching. It was the
last campaign for the eld Whig party. It had forfeited
its life. Horace Greeley in the Tribune began to speak
of "the late Whig party,." and; soon "changed the name
of his widely circulated "Whig Almanac" to "The
Tribune Almanac." Although supporting the Whig
candidate for party's sake, he " spat upon " the plat
form, as he said editorially. With the deaths of Clay
and Webster the compromising party perished, to be
replaced by a new spirit of uncompromising hostility to
the further growth of slavery. It was to come from
the masses of sound thinking, right judging, plain peo
ple, who could no longer be led by a " Godlike " coun
sellor or "an idol of the people," but were to bring for
ward a new guide, untrained by surroundings other than
their own. For years, Horace Greeley and his Tribune
had been preparing just such an independent thinking
constituency. His was the hand that closed the dying
eyes of the old Whig party ; but his also was the hand
which helped rock the cradle of the heir to the throne
— the infant Republican party.
CHAPTER XII
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, A NEW TYPE OF AMERICAN
"I am young and unknown to many of you. I was born, and
have ever remained, in the most humble walks of life. I have
no wealthy or popular relations or friends to recommend me.
My case is thrown exclusively upon the independent voters of
the county." -— Address of A. Lincoln to the voters of Sanga-
mon county, Illinois, 1832.
THE quiescent years which immediately followed the
compromise of 1850 gave comfort to those who had
feared the dissolution of the Union and for the time
proved their prediction that compromise alone could
accomplish this salvation. The old leaders seemed to
have passed with the old regime. Calhoun had died in
the midst of the conciliatory measures ; two years later,
Henry Clay and Daniel Webster passed away ; Benton
had finished his thirty years' service in the Senate and
was gradually retiring from national view. There
remained only the statesmen of a later school — Cass,
Everett, Buchanan, Marcy, Davis, and Seward — edu
cated men, trained in the art of diplomacy and the
finesse of political management. Their footsteps were
not easily regulated by the march of the people. They
had been taught to believe that the voice of the politi
cian is the voice of the people ; that the masses must be
led and are willing to be led blindly.
378
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 379
On the contrary, the time was at hand for a new
leader, one able to hear and willing to obey the public
will. He must come from the people themselves and be
trained by their environment. Presumably such a char
acter had arrived on foot in the little village of Win
chester, in western Illinois, some twenty years before.
With thirty-seven and one-half cents in his pocket,
Stephen A. Douglas, a Vermonter, began a public
career which placed him in the United States Senate
before 1850, and retained him there fourteen years.
Higher honors seemed within his reach. During the
forty-nine ballots taken in the Democratic convention
at Baltimore in 1852, the name of Douglas at one time
attracted ninety-two votes,1 although Pierce was finally
nominated. Of these ninety-two votes not one-third
came from the south, where the strength of the party
lay.
Douglas was a man of unusual ability and of pardon
able ambition. If he deliberately set about to gain the
gratitude of the south before the next election, to
secure the 117 votes which that section would hold, the
action would not be blamable if the means employed
should be equally free from criticism. One marvels
that such a shrewd man should have chosen the buried
slavery question as the means to this end. Its resur
rection alone would prejudice its case. However, Doug
las's shrewdness may have caused him to see that the lull
was only temporary ; that it must break out again in the
course of the western expansion of the people. The man
who could offer a satisfactory solution for this coming
problem must secure the good-will of both sections.
1 The number necessary to a choice was 188.
380 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
The word " Nebraska" covered a vast tract of Indian
country, extending from Iowa and Missouri to the
Rocky Mountains, and in a north and south direction
from Indian Territory to the Canadian line. The Cali
fornia migration across the plains demanded some kind
of territorial organization, and Douglas, as chairman of
the Senate committee on territories, brought in a report
to that effect. Lying to the north of the slavery indus
tries belt, and in the due west line of free labor, the
chances were that the laws of the movement of the
people would make it a non-slavery country. This law
of nature had been supplemented by the Compromise of
1820, which admitted the slave state of Missouri, and
then drew a hard and fast line between slave and free
soil on the line of "thirty-six thirty."1
Some questioned whether an agreement so restrict
ing the future was binding upon succeeding generations.
Others thought that Congress possessed no power to
prevent slavery in a territory, but that the question
should be left to the people who formed a state out of
that territory. Dividing the region into two territories,
Kansas and Nebraska, and incorporating an amendment
explicitly repealing the Missouri Compromise, Douglas
pushed such a bill through the Senate in thirty-three
days, arbitrarily and almost discourteously. His political
1 The Mason and Dixon line, the boundary between Pennsylvania and
Maryland, which had been run by those two surveyors, became the first
dividing line between slave and free states, simply because all the states
lying to the north freed their slaves. The ordinance of the Northwest
Territory made the Ohio river an extension of this dividing line. The
larger part of the proposed state of Missouri lay to the north of the mouth
of the river, but south of the head of the river. Therefore, that state was
admitted as slave, but all other states formed from the Louisiana purchase
west of her and north of her southern boundary (36° 30') were to be free.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 381
fortune was at stake, and he could not risk delay until
the north had become aroused. On the last day of
debate in the Senate, he spoke until daylight to crowded
galleries, and in the gray light of dawn he won by a vote
of 37 to 14. The firing of cannon at the navy yard
announced his victory, but one of his opponents truly
said that the echoes would not die away until slavery
itself was dead.
Douglas followed the bill over to the House, using
his lieutenants and the administration, and in two
months secured its passage by 113 to 100. Excitement
ran high; 128 speeches were made; one session of
thirty-six hours exhausted the members ; arms were
brought on the floor ; and at one time bloodshed was
with difficulty avoided.1
The effect upon the north was beyond description.
Douglas had said : " I shall be assailed by demagogues
and fanatics there, without stint or moderation. Every
opprobrious epithet will be applied to me. I shall prob
ably be hung in effigy in many places. This proceed
ing may end my political career. But acting under the
sense of duty which animates me, I am prepared to
make the sacrifice." He made the mistake of think
ing that the ensuing "tornado" had been raised "by
Abolitionists, and Abolitionists alone." The northern
newspapers almost regardless of party blew the first
blasts. They devoted columns to descriptions of the
1 This theory of home rule, or "squatter sovereignty," had been formu
lated by Cass, of Michigan, some years before. Douglas's bill declared
that it was " the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery
into any territory or state, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the
people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institu
tions in their own way."
382 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
indignation meetings, and one declared that if it had
three times as much space and were issued thrice a
day room would still be wanting for the resolutions.
Greeley assured Douglas that he had made more
Abolitionists than Garrison and Phillips had done in
fifty years. Ten state legislatures added their voices of
protest. Two thousand censuring sermons were said
to have been preached in New England. Memorials
poured into Washington. One was presented which
bore the signatures of over three thousand clergymen.
Douglas himself presented one from five hundred Chi
cago clergymen. Rash characters were not lacking to
write him insulting rejoicings at the recent death of
his wife, a southern woman, and to predict still more
bereavements.
Stephen Arnold Douglas became Benedict Arnold
Douglas. Men demanded to be shown the thirty pieces
of silver for which he had betrayed his master — the
people. In derision, that sum was sent him by some
women of Ohio. He testified that he could have trav
elled from Washington to Chicago by the light of him
self burning in erfigy. When he did reach home the
people of Chicago jeered and hissed him until, after
three hours' attempt, he retired from the platform with
out speaking. If, as his critics said, Douglas had "de
sired to buy the South at the presidential shambles,"
he paid the penalty.1 He may have gained the good
will of Missouri and the few states directly interested
1 It should be stated that Douglas and his friends always contended
that he had been moved by his sense of justice and not by ambition. He
used frequently to say : " God Almighty placed man on the earth and told
him to choose between good and evil. That was the origin of the Nebraska
bill."
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 383
in opening new slave territory, but his scheme did not
appeal to the Gulf states, where the price of slaves
would be increased with each extension of slavery. He
lost the leadership of the young Democracy of the
north, those who might wish to migrate to Kansas but
had no desire to compete with slave labor. The Ger
mans shared this feeling, and they held the preponder
ance of political power in the northwest.
The farthest-reaching effect of this reopening of the
slavery question was not the failure of Douglas, but the
turning of public men again into politics. Their ser
vices were needed to fill the breach made in the com
promise bulwarks of a free north. Among these was
the man destined by a natural endowment of sound
judgment and an environment of practical training to
assume the vacant leadership which Douglas had tried
for but lost. " I was losing interest in politics when
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me
again," declared Abraham Lincoln in a subsequent
speech. Douglas was in 1860 what was called a west
ern man and a man of the people ; yet he had been
born in Vermont, and represented only the transplanted
product of the west. Lincoln was for two generations
at least the creation of the American frontier.
The westward movement of the people had produced
that peculiar line along the front edge of population
known as the frontier.1 Occupying succeeding lines
of position westwardly, its advance may be noted by
chronological order. The type of people on the Atlantic
1 A study of the sociological aspects of the building of the American
nation during the crossing of the continent may be found in the author's
"The Expansion of the American People."
384 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
coast plain was a reflection of the old world. Clay rep
resented the first frontier after the movement across the
mountains had begun. Jackson, of Tennessee, illustrates
a frontier farther removed from eastern influence, and
therefore a cruder and more native element. Abraham
Lincoln represents a later and more westward location,
and is therefore a still more representative product of
American environment. Clay and Jackson were born
• JL
-•-''^•^mtK..
CARTOON ON LINCOLN COERCING THE SOUTH
on the Atlantic slope. Lincoln was entirely a creation
of the inland region. If the American people, under
possibilities of wealth and luxury surpassing those of
Rome, have avoided the enervation and effeminacy which
destroyed that nation, it is largely because of this fron
tier, which has constantly stimulated and revived the
older portion with rich young blood from near to nature's
heart.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 385
Lincoln is the first and, by a combination of circum
stances, the foremost representative of this isolated
frontier type. At the same time, he is the last of his
kind, since the rapid increase of means of communica
tion and the passing of the crude frontier have made a
duplication impossible. He was a new type of American.
Those who believe in the preparation of an agent for
a given purpose need not search far for the influences
which fitted Lincoln for his peculiar task.
The environment of the frontier begot self-help. This
was illustrated by every step in the training of Lincoln.
Whether mastering English grammar at the age of
twenty-three or six books of Euclid when he was past
thirty-five, whether he guided his flatboat down the
Sangamon, or procured a compass and chain, studied
Flint and Gibson a little, and "went at it " as a deputy
surveyor, the lesson was preparing him for a rulership
where he must cast aside a multitude of discordant
counsels and depend upon his own judgment. The
problems of the frontier life were not to be solved
by a text-book ; neither were the problems confronting
that President who should follow the reopening of the
slavery discord. Precedent was wanting in both cases.
Originality was demanded.
The spirit of investigation engendered by life on the
frontier was an excellent fitting for thorough inspection
and for slow action. When the question of internal
improvements was paramount in Sangamon county in
1832, Lincoln in his address to the voters was able to
speak from actual experience of the stages of water
in the Sangamon river concerning the possibility of
making it navigable for large craft. His patent for
386 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
buoying up vessels over shoal water was due to flatboat
experience. When he gave his lecture on " Discoveries,
Inventions, and Improvements," he was reflecting this
side of the border training. His dissection of the me
chanical toys of his children illustrates the same thing.
For his utensils and tools, the frontiersman must depend
largely upon his ingenuity, and must be extremely care
ful in their use, since they could not easily be replaced.
The peculiar characteristic of Lincoln's administration
was, that he never did anything so hastily that he was
obliged to undo it.
When Lincoln addressed the people his language was
the simple speech of the frontier, convincing in its direct
ness and offensive only to overtrained ears. When he
delayed issuing the Proclamation of Emancipation, in
accord with his promise to himself and his Maker, until
the enemy had been driven out of Maryland, he was
simply demonstrating the reliance of the borderer on a
personal God.1 In the lonely vastnesses of frontier sur
roundings, religious feeling was closely akin to both
superstition and melancholy. In his private correspond
ence, Lincoln sometimes says, " I always was super
stitious," and again, "I was drawn to it by fate." In
condoling with a friend upon his fears lest he do not
love the woman he is about to wed, Lincoln insists that
"our forebodings are all the worst sort of nonsense."
But he adds, " You know the hell I have suffered on
that point and how tender I am upon it." Sometimes
he is "quite free from the 'hypo,'" and again "My
spirits are gotten so low that I feel that I would rather
1 Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, describes the dramatic situation in
his diary for September 22, 1862. See Shucker's " Life of Chase," p. 453.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 387
be in any place in the world than here." Only an
appreciation of this element in Lincoln's life can explain
his conduct in his love affairs ; nothing save his own
realization of this tendency can explain the manner in
which this strong man by his homely stories and sorry
jests tried to avoid the end to which this melancholy
would naturally lead.
Removed from the conservatism of the older states,
the frontiersmen were never bound by strict allegiance
to party. Nearly every variation from the established
parties had come from the western people. This ten
dency was now to have a fresh illustration, and Lincoln's
attitude was to be typical of his people.
The long-continued agitation of the slavery question
had cut deep lines across the Whig and Democratic
parties, although enough supporters remained in each
to maintain their existence. Men from both parties,
who opposed the extension of slavery in the territories
in general, had formed the Free-Soil party.1 Where
its membership was made up most largely of former
Democrats, the party was called Free Democrat or Free-
Soil Democrat. The passage of the Douglas bill crystal
lized these elements, together with the Know-Nothings,2
into a regular party. A state convention was called at
Jackson, Michigan,8 July 6, of "all our fellow-citizens,
without reference to former political associations, who
think that the time has arrived for a union at the North
1 The Free-Soil party was formed from a fusion of the Liberty party and
the Barnburners of New York in 1840.
'2 The Know -Nothing or Native American party, formed about 1842, was
another of these offshoots which indicated the political unrest of the times.
3 A local convention was held at Ripon, Wisconsin, in March preceding,
to form a new party.
388
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
to protect liberty from being overthrown and down-trod
den." Thousands gathered under the oaks near the race
track, on ground
now a part of the
city of Jackson,
adopted the name
" Republican," and
drew up a platform
protesting against
the repeal of the
Compromise line
and the opening
of the territories
to the chances of
slavery. Candi
dates for the state
offices were nomi
nated on this plat
form.1
SCENE OF THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION,
JACKSON, MICHIGAN
Similar " Repub
lican " party con
ventions were held
a week later in Wisconsin, Vermont, Ohio, and Massachu
setts. During the ensuing October, while the Illinois
state fair was being held at Springfield, public announce
ment was made, at a political meeting, of a convention to
organize the Republican party in that state. Lincoln
1 The Jefferson men were called " Republicans " in 1800. After the end
of the era of good feeling, the Clay and Adams men were sometimes called
"National Republicans." The Whigs frequently used the word " Repub
lican" in their platforms. It was by no means a new name, but under it
was organized a new party. The favorite campaign song of 1860 had for
a chorus, " Ain't I glad I joined the Republicans."
ABRAHAM LINCOLN- 389
objected to his name being added later to the call for a
Republican state convention. " I suppose my opposition
to the principle of slavery is as strong as that of any
member of the Republican party ; but I have also sup
posed that the extent to which I feel authorized to carry
that opposition, practically, was not at all satisfactory to
that party." He was satisfied later, and became an ac
tive member of the party. In its national convention in
1856, he received 101 votes for the nomination for Vice-
President. He was one of four men constituting a
"mass" meeting at Springfield to ratify the action of
the Republican state convention.
The Illinois friends of this unusual man began to
entertain the most ambitious hopes for him, and in their
unskilled but effective manner they tried to make his
good qualities known to the east. He had acquired
some fame as a stump speaker at the agricultural fairs,
in the local campaigns, and especially as the opponent
of the " Little Giant," Douglas, in the arranged debate
of I858.1 He was also known as a lecturer. One must
appreciate the use to which the lyceum was put in the
middle west, where newspapers were few and periodicals
a luxury, to understand why Lincoln trained himself by
writing serious lectures upon Law, Slavery, Temperance,
Sectionalism, and The Perpetuation of our Political Insti
tutions. He delivered some of these lectures before vari
ous clubs throughout Illinois and Kansas.
1 Political debates were not at all uncommon in the western country.
At nearly every patriotic celebration or agricultural fair there was " speak
ing," which frequently led to an impromptu debate. Lincoln and Douglas
often met thus upon the platform prior to the set debate between them,
which was held at seven different places and covered several months. The
immediate prize was the United States Senate, and Douglas won.
390 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
It was this combined reputation which secured for
him an invitation to deliver a " political lecture " in
New York City, although he was afterward criticised
for accepting $200 for it.1 The Tribune declared that
" No man ever before made such an impression on his
first appeal to a New York audience." Those who
expected to be amused by a medley of homely stories
and crude western colloquialisms found a polished dic
tion oddly at variance with his reputation among them.
The habit of recasting the thoughts of others in the
best words he could find had given Lincoln command
of the style of the classics with the vocabulary of the
Saxon, whenever he chose to exercise them.
If Lincoln's friends hoped that a favorable impression
made in New York could persuade the eastern people
to look upon him as a presidential possibility, they could
not have read with patience the statement made in the
most enthusiastic report of the lecture, that "it is not
probable that Mr. Lincoln will be heard again in our
city this year, if ever." Nor could they have been more
pleased with the three cheers for Seward which the
audience gave before dispersing. Their candidate was
truly in the enemy's country.
With all his ability, Seward was not the man for the
hour. He would have dealt with the problem as a
trained statesman. Not indeed along the old line of
compromise and conciliation, but as a radical northern
man, hostile to the slavery system and hostile to the
1 The invitation came from the Young Men's Central Republican Union,
and the address was delivered in the Cooper Institute. Lincoln had sup
posed he was to speak in Beecher's church. Since an admission fee was
charged, he could not see why he should be criticised for receiving pay.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 39 1
slave owners. Some Princeton students, who burned
him in effigy as the supposedly remote cause of the
John Brown raid, were not the only ones who dreaded
while they detested his attitude. Lincoln was never
accused of supporting Brown. The final great task
before the new leader was not to kill slavery, not even
to suppress rebellion ; but to preserve the Union and
especially to restore the Union. A rabid anti-slavery
man who believed in a higher law might have brought
about the former ends ; he could not have accomplished
the latter. Bayonets could be only a temporary agency.
As the campaign year of 1860 opened, Greeley declared
in the Tribune that the political leaders talked to the
people as if they believed them to be fools, and at the
same time he gave warning that the people could not be
misled much longer. When the time came for discuss
ing possible candidates, the Courier and Enquirer said
that the Republican party, being sane, would nomi
nate no other man than William Henry Seward. This
was the accepted opinion in the eastern states, with the
possible exception of Greeley, who favored Bates, of
Missouri. Seward, virtually the head of the Republi
can party, a college-bred man, trained by a long career
in public life, an unyielding advocate of northern prin
ciples, where the strength of the party lay, possessed all
the qualifications necessary for an "available" candi
date. Aside from personal animosity against Seward,
Greeley was keen enough to see that the times demanded
a change ; that the continued westward movement had
brought the period for another shifting of the balance
of political power. He gave space in his columns to
letters from western correspondents describing as a pos-
392 THE MEN- WHO MADE THE NATION
sible candidate "Abe Lincoln." An "Old Man" sent
a short biography from Mason county, Illinois, describ
ing Lincoln reading his borrowed law books by candle
light and splitting rails to pay for the candle. His kind
ness was illustrated by a story of his helping an oppo
nent in a law case. Another correspondent told how
young Lincoln had pulled fodder two days to pay for
Weems's " Life of Washington " which he had borrowed
and had accidentally damaged by water. From an " Hon
est Carpenter" came the story of Lincoln, the man of
the people, defending a case for two days and charging
a poor man only two dollars. " A Thrilling Episode in
the Life of 'Abe Lincoln' ' was a description of his
defence of young Armstrong for murder. The men of
the prairie might lack political training, but they knew
how to bring things to pass.
The people of the eastern states began gradually to
learn about the campaign methods of the westerners.
They heard of the scene in the Illinois state Republi
can convention at Decatur, which met in "a rudely con
structed shelter," when two men came forward from the
entrance bearing a banner stretched between two com
mon walnut fence rails. On the banner was printed : —
ABE LINCOLN
The Rail Candidate
for President in 1860
Two rails, being part of 3000 cut in 1830, ten
miles south of Decatur, by Abe Lincoln and
John Hanks
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 393
It was said that Lincoln himself rose above such
small tricks to catch popular favor ; that when asked
about the rails he had said : " I did land in Macon
county a very poor boy; cleared ground, put up a log
house, and split about 3000 rails. Now, whether these
two rails are specimens of what I made then, of course
I cannot say; but one thing I will say — I've made a
good many better-looking rails than either of these."
The correspondent who sent this story to the eastern
papers added that this reply "brought down the
house." J
As public interest began to turn more to this unpol
ished man of the west and his crude though virile con
stituency, newspaper reporters were sent to sound the
people in that locality. One wrote back that " here on
the shores of one of the Upper Lakes and near the head
springs of the Father of Waters, you catch the first
breath of western enthusiasm for 'Old Abe.' The
country has so long been accustomed to contemplate
only the political sections of ' north and south ' that it
is slow to grasp the idea that there is a WEST — that it
is mighty in number and power — that it is determined
to make its influence felt in the politics of the nation."
The abuses of Buchanan's administration which culmi
nated in the Covode investigation was breeding a spirit
of distrust of professional statesmen. Another corre
spondent wrote: "You eastern men, politicians espe-
1 This story, and especially the motto on the banner, was printed in
many different versions in the eastern papers. The one given here is
taken from the Tribune. The story as it reached England made Lincoln
and Hanks split 3000 rails in one day. See " A Memoir of Abraham
Lincoln, President-elect," London, 1861.
394 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
cially, can hardly realize the strong hold upon the
western heart which can be gained by a man like
Lincoln — a pioneer as well as a statesman; a great
man, and yet a simple and unostentatious dweller on
the prairie like the rest of us."
No doubt, in the light of later events, the Seward
people deplored the holding of the Republican national
convention in Chicago — the enemy's country. But
the western people were ever ready to reply that the
party had really been organized by them before it was
taken up in the east. No convention had ever been
held so far from the Atlantic coast. Political power
had drifted westward unperceived. Of the eight men
who made a showing on the first ballot of the conven
tion, five came from west of the Alleghany Mountains.
In finesse the westerners soon showed themselves the
equal of their more trained opponents. The " shouters,"
whom the Seward men had brought along, took posses
sion of the great "wigwam" the first day,1 but while
they were serenading their candidate that night, the
Lincoln supporters, headed by a strong-voiced captain
of a lake steamer, packed the galleries and did the
shouting on the day it was most effective. Correspond
ents wrote that "the Chicago mob" did the loudest
shouting, although the Seward people started it.
On the third ballot the convention was stampeded
fjr Lincoln, ancTthc man on the roof of the "wigwam,"
who was hauling up by a string the results of the voting
and throwing the papers down to the crowd in the street,
1 This was a large temporary frame structure on Lake street, near the
river. It was decorated for the occasion by the women of Chicago. Its
site is now occupied by a business block.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 395
was able to announce that " Old Uncle Abe " had the
prize. The roar of the crowd and the boom of cannon
started a campaign of noise if not of education. Rati
fication meetings were held all through the Mississippi
valley, at which " rails, wedges, and ox-goads, ten feet
high," were to be seen. Some young men desiring to
protect their shoulders and heads from the dripping
of their torches, made capes and caps of oilcloth, and
this " Wide Awake " organization was imitated every-
'
LINCOLN AS GREELEY'S MAN
where. Rails were carried on the shoulders of men,
and mounted flatboats were drawn through the streets.
It was said in the western vernacular that Lincoln
would " spread like wildfire over the prairies," and that
he would "sweep the northwest like a herd of buffalo."
The nomination was naturally a disappointment to
the Seward people. Some declared that it was " a mat
ter of impulse," "purely an accident," and "decided
more by the shouts and applause of the vast con-
396 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
course." 1 Thurlow Weed, of the Albany Evening Jour
nal, shed bitter tears ; but Greeley wrote to his paper
that the Illinois people were claiming a victory of the
people over the politicians. " It will be a campaign of
the 1840 stamp."
When a speaker in the New York ratification meet
ing said that " if we had had a choice we would have
preferred the great statesman from New York," he was
greeted with "prolonged applause." Yet he begged
the audience to allow the Lethean stream to flow over
their disappointments and blot them out forever. Most
of the speakers, according to even Republican papers,
were "lugubrious in spirits." When the Brooklyn
"wigwam" was dedicated, a speaker thought it "a
deplorable lesson of the Chicago convention that a man
who had adhered his life long to a principle, which prin
ciple built up the party, should have his throat cut from
ear to ear by that party." At Albany, " very many
were heartsick at the result of the nomination." Ac
cording to the Tribune correspondent in Washington,
the keynotes of the ratification meeting at that place
were "disappointment" and "acquiescence." In Pitts-
burg, Seward's defeat was "sadly received," but "all
deferred to the wisdom of the Convention." The New
York Herald thought the Democratic party, if it could
get together, would "sweep the country, through advan
tage given it by the Chicago philosophers." 2
1 Henry J. Raymond, in the New York Times, said, "The arrangements
for the convention were in the hands of Mr. Lincoln's friends, and they
had been made with special reference to securing the largest possible con
course of his immediate neighbors and political supporters."
2 A campaign " Life " was a necessity. The official one of Lincoln
could not describe the national and diplomatic positions he had held, but
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
397
A Philadelphia editor asked : " Why should Lincoln
be President? He has no record. He is unknown in
HON. ABRAHAM LINCOLN I
Congress. His coarse style was seen in the Lincoln-
Douglas debate. He is only a flatboatman and a rail-
splitter ; a county court lawyer and a ready stump
speaker." A Democratic paper characterized him as
"a third-rate, slang-whanging lawyer, possessing no
had to be satisfied with describing how he had once been kicked by a
horse, had shot a wild turkey, and had kept a store which " winked " out.
It was humiliating to the eastern Republicans.
398 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
proper qualification but as Old Abe Lincoln, Old Uncle
Abe, Honest Old Abe, and people are expected to
accept nicknames instead of fitness."
Among some of the eastern Republican papers, there
was at first a ludicrous attempt to improve this product
of the western plains. One tried to find a good family
tree for him ; to show that he came originally of aristo
cratic blood. Under a headline, " Good Blood," one
article traced his family to the Lincolns of Hingham,
Massachusetts, "who came over in 1637." "He un
doubtedly came of this parentage, since he has the same
qualifications as the New Englanders." Editors in the
middle states claimed that he was descended from the
Lincolns of Virginia, who had formerly been residents
of Chester, Pennsylvania. Greeley said that " some
fastidious gentlemen appear to be a good deal disturbed
at the presentation made of the Republican candidate
for the presidency as having once been a rail-splitter" ;
but that it proved the possibilities of America, since a
man emanating from the class called mud-sills should
have risen so high.
After the convention had adjourned, many of the
delegates from the older states paid a visit to Spring
field to see this man whom accident, as they supposed,
had placed upon their ticket. They departed saying that
they would trust his honest face anywhere. Reporters
in the governor's office in the State House described
the crowds,1 which had come from Chicago "to see the
elephant." Some of the Ohio delegates brought back
with them a rail, "one of the 3000 split by old Abe."
1 Owing to the courtesy of the governor of Illinois, Lincoln received the
delegations in the governor's office instead of his own rather limited home.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 399
When the nominating committee arrived, there was
manifest a certain lack of reverence for the prairie
candidate, together with some apprehension for the
conventionalities of the occasion. The speaker who
introduced the delegates was reported in the eastern
papers as saying, " Come up, gentlemen ; it's nobody
but Old Abe Lincoln." One of the number said after
ward that he was afraid lest he should meet " a gigantic
rail-splitter with the manners of a flatboatman and the
ugliest face in creation " ; but he added, " he's^ a com
plete gentleman."
On this occasion, the neighbors, with true western hos
pitality, brought in refreshments of various kinds, but
Lincoln sent them away and regaled his visitors with ice
water. One newspaper correspondent described Mrs.
Lincoln ; "standing beside her almost gigantic husband,
she appears almost petite, but is really about the average
height of ladies." Another assured the public that she
was "presentable."
It was the fate of this isolated environment to make
a man raised in it misunderstood by those of his con
temporaries who had not experienced its peculiar forma
tive influences. It is the natural inclination of each
man to judge others by his own standard. Few who
looked for the new leader imagined that he would come
from beyond the mountains ; fewer yet that he would
come from a lower class of society, but little removed
from the "poor white" of the south. If competition
with slavery caused that class, it was especially retribu
tive that the system itself should breed the man under
whom it was destroyed.
It is easy now in retrospect to laud Lincoln, and place
400 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
him upon a pedestal as the foreordained agency to smite
the shackles from the slave ; but it is harder to trace the
causes which made him the agency and still more diffi
cult to realize how much misunderstood he was at the
time. Much of his campaign was taken up, not in prov
ing that he was the friend of the slave, but that he was
not an Abolitionist,1 had never favored the political
"THE NIGGER IN THE WOODPILE"
equality of the black and the white, and had never
declared for emancipation even in the District of
Columbia save with compensation to the owner. As
a border man he had seen the evils of the system, but
he was a lawyer believing in preventive legislation for
the future and not retroactive legislation for the past.
Of southern descent, he believed in the right of property
1 Two of the many cartoons representing Lincoln and Greeley as
Abolitionists are reproduced on this and a preceding page.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 401
and home rule — the two principles for which the south
was contending. As a northern resident he believed in
liberty and equality — the principles for which the north
was contending.
During the campaign, to every delegation which came
to beg a promise that he would not interfere with slavery
in the states, he insisted that his words at no time could
have given alarm to the southern people ; that as a
northern man he had always been known to be opposed
to the system ; that as President he would enforce the
laws ; and if any power could be found in the Constitu
tion or the laws, enabling him to interfere with slavery
in the states, he would do so. He knew full well that
no such power existed. Even after his election, he
wrote to Alexander Hamilton Stevens, whom he had
known in Congress : " Is it possible that the South
entertains fears that a Republican administration would
directly or indirectly interfere with their slaves or with
them about their slaves ? The South would be in no
more danger in this respect than it was in the days of
Washington."
Perhaps no President-elect had ever been seen by so
few people at large as Abraham Lincoln. This may
explain the extended system of invitation arranged by
the Republicans to have Lincoln pass through the prin
cipal northern cities on his way to be inaugurated.
Such a post-election tour was indeed a novelty. Or the
purpose may have been to counteract secession and to
create additional supporters for the coming administra
tion. Attempt was made to have Bates, of Missouri,
and others join the "grand cavalcade." No one can
believe that the initiation of this visionary project lay
2 D
402
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
with the plain man ostensibly at the head of it, but
rather that he was in the hands of his friends. Noth
ing could possibly come of it. The President dared not
commit himself in his speeches. Lacking the gift of
saying nothing gracefully, he was obliged to mouth
commonplaces which satisfied no one. If he tried to
brighten up these compulsory speeches with some of
his subtle wit or naive jokes, they fell harshly on the
ears of men deeply oppressed by the solemnity of the
times.
No indignity was offered the party, but there was a
sneering tone in all the eastern papers reporting the
progress of this wild west caravan. " Old Abe kissed
by a Pretty Girl " was a poor headline to add dignity to
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 403
a President, even if it appeared in a Republican news
paper.1 " Simple Susan " was the nickname for the
rail-splitter in other papers. Northern cartoonists pic
tured him supporting the dignity of his office on the
point of bayonets or as a hunter recoiling from his first
shot at the bird Confederacy. The New York City
committee of reception, boarding his train at Albany,
tarried at one end of the car and viewed with aristo
cratic horror Mrs. Lincoln adjusting the President's tie
and ''fixing him up a little bit." They, like others,
saw the exterior man only. They could not go beneath
the surface. They did not realize, as is now seen in
retrospect, that Nature had departed from her usual
form and had reverted to a rudimentary type near to
her own likeness.2 They contrasted him in his manners
and appearance with the polished Seward, who would
have adorned this great office.
New York City received him in "a sulky unbroken
silence, such as never before characterized so great
a New York crowd." The same witness,3 standing
1 The New York J^ribune, February 18, 1861. This incident of Grace
Bedell, which occurred at Westfield, Indiana, was indicative of the great
heart in a homely man, who could not be made unnatural by being chosen
President.
2 " Nature, they say, doth dote,
And cannot make a man
Save on some worn-out plan,
Repeating us by rote :
For him her Old World moulds aside she threw,
And, choosing sweet clay from the breast
Of the unexhausted West,
With stuff untainted shaped a hero new."
— LOWELL, Commemoration Oder
3 Walt Whitman, the poet, himself a resident of that city.
404 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
amidst the enormous crowd opposite the Astor House
when the distinguished guest arrived, saw a tall figure
which " step'd leisurely out of the centre of these
barouches, paus'd leisurely on the sidewalk, look'd up
at the granite walls and looming architecture of the
grand old hotel, — then, after a relieving stretch of
arms and legs, turn'd round for over a minute to slowly
and good-humoredly scan the appearance of the vast
and silent crowd." Walt Whitman feared to hear at any
moment the crack of the assassin's pistol, or, escaping
that, some marked insult or indignity. " For he pos
sessed no personal popularity at all in New York City
and very little political." The whole reception was
just such a " dash of comedy as Shakspere puts in his
blackest tragedy."
The culmination of this most unfortunate trip occurred
at Harrisburg, when the President-elect, yielding again
to the persuasion of his friends, abandoned the tour and
slipped into Washington by night. Even the replacing
of his high hat by a comfortable soft felt was sufficient
ground for the story that he went in disguise. Fate
was trying to show in his true light this uncouth noble
man whom she had brought forward for the great task ;
but, to the people, Fate seemed trying to humble their
pride still further by fresh evidences of his crudity. For
tunately, becoming President could not spoil Lincoln.
The White House was to him a place of residence —
nothing more. A reception was simply a meeting with
friends. But one may imagine the consternation of his
forced supporters and the delight of his enemies when
the story was freely circulated that at his first reception
he came into the drawing-room holding Mrs. Lincoln
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
405
by the hand and, to relieve the situation, remarked,
" Here come the long and short of it."
After the inauguration, the eastern statesmen, whom
he had taken into his cabinet for the sake of party har
mony, slowly awoke
to the fact that Lin
coln was the Presi
dent. It seemed
incredible that this
untrained man, who
opened cabinet ses
sions with readings
from wretched "com
ic " papers of the day,
and who interlarded
the gravest discus
sions with his back
woods stories, could
safely guide the gov
ernment without
their dictation. Only
in the later light
may one see how this
Union.
If Lincoln had yielded to Greeley and other hotbloods
and declared emancipation under war powers before he
had exhausted his civil powers, he would have destroyed
the little law-abiding sense preserved through an aggra
vating civil war. His border training had taught him
caution and patience. Few civil wars, if any, have been
followed by so little punishment inflicted upon the van
quished by the victors. No forfeitures of life or even
MR. READY-TO-HALT
dallying man was saving the
L
406 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
liberty for any time, few forfeitures of estates and those
with due compensation, no working of treason or at
tainder of blood, marked the close of the contest. The
sense of law, order, and fairness had been preserved by
the deliberate movements of the President.
If Lincoln had closed the war by compromise, as so
many begged that he would do, the Union would have
been impaired, and slavery, the basic cause of the con
flict, would have remained. But the borderer had never
learned to compromise ; that was left to the professional
statesman. Nature, the standing enemy of the fron
tiersman, neither gives nor takes quarter, and that was
the school in which this unprofessional statesman had
been taught.
If at any time Lincoln had met any representative of
the Confederacy, as he was frequently urged to do, he
would have recognized the existence of another govern
ment within the territory occupied by the United States,
and the Union could never have regained its dignity and
supremacy. But his sound judgment and tact, trained
by experience for emergencies, gave back the central
government as pure and uncompromised as when it was
entrusted to his hands.
Frequent disappointment and long delays taught the
backwoodsman patience. Generations before, the fron
tier of Virginia had taught a soldier the same lesson of
retreat and waiting. Washington, the wealthy and high
born Virginian, would not have expressed it as did this
first great typical American, " I never cross the Sanga-
mon until I come to it " ; but the principle was the same.
In floating down the Mississippi, Lincoln had found it
sufficient to meet the obstacles of each day ; as President,
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 407
he never anticipated the problems of the next day or the
next year. In this he furnishes a striking contrast to
his successor.
Therefore, during the progress of the war, Lincoln
never troubled himself with the question of how the
Union was to be restored when the war should be closed ;
how the taint of secession was to be wiped out ; what
should be done with the leaders of the fallen enterprise;
what the status of the freedman should be. Although a
lover of the law, he had little toleration for its sophis
tries and its mazes. He would apply to legal questions
the simple tests of his early life and say, " This is right."
His simple nature, unprejudiced by class distinctions,
would have exercised its accustomed charity toward a
vanquished foe. His sympathy as a borderer, a curse
to him during the war, would have been a blessing after
its close. Years before, he had said of the southern
people : " If slavery did not now exist among them,
they would not introduce it. If it did now exist among
us, we should not instantly give it up."
To say that had Lincoln lived, the country might have
been spared the dark period of reconstruction,1 is specu
lation. Yet such a conclusion is forced by his simple
words on this subject spoken to a serenading party on
the night after the fall of Richmond and but three days
1 During the years following the close of the Civil War, while the
southern people, starved into submission, but unconvinced that they were
wrong, were trying to adjust their new relations with the freedmen, many
northern statesmen believed that they could be brought back to their
personal and commercial relations by the force which had been employed
in restoring their political relations. To this unfortunate period the term
" reconstruction " is applied. It may be said to have ended with the final
withdrawal of the Federal troops in 1877.
408
THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
before his death. For four years, Congress had been
anticipating this question of reconstructing the Union
and had been splitting hairs over words. Lincoln said
that whether the states had been out of the Union or
not was merely a " pernicious abstraction." "We are
all agreed that the seceded States, so called, are out of
LINCOLN'S LAST RECEPTION
their proper practical relations with the Union, and that
the sole object of the government, civil and military, in
regard to those States, is to again get them into that
proper practical relation." Nothing could be simpler.
Walt Whitman, who had become a hospital nurse in
Washington, thought he saw something new in Lincoln's
face as the long war days drew to a close. " It was that
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
409
new virtue unknown to other lands, and hardly yet really
known here — Unionism." At his last reception,1 Whit
man saw Lincoln "dressed all in black, with white kid
gloves and a claw-hammer coat, receiving, as in duty
bound, shaking hands, looking very disconsolate and as
if he would give anything to be somewhere else." A
few weeks later, Whitman felt " as if the world had come
to an end " when he heard in the early dawn the news
boys crying the assassination of the President. A few
THE IHESIDEMT IS DEAD!
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, April 15, 1865.
To MA J GEN, MX,
Abraham Lincoln died this
morning at 22 minutes after
Seven o'clock
EESTANTON.SecofWar,
hours more and the dead walls were placarded with the
black-bordered bulletins of the Secretary of War an
nouncing the end.
All the mysticism of the border and of Lincoln's early
life seemed to appear as the end drew nigh. Premoni
tions in this man of destiny cannot be satisfactorily dis
missed as creations of a disordered intellect. As well
1 The illustration of Lincoln's last reception reproduced on the opposite
page is taken from an old lithograph in the Library of Congress.
XT*
-r^ftf
410 THE MEN WHO MADE THE NATION
might one attempt to assign Lincoln's recourse to read
ing Scripture prophecy and mysteries to the same cause.
He is not to be judged by ordinary rules. Few men
would have dared to describe to a cabinet the vision of
his own death, even if he thought he had seen it. Few
would have ventured to predict a military victory solely
on the recurrence of a former dream of a vessel coming
into a harbor in full sail. To Whitman's poetic mind,
the interpretation of the dream was otherwise. The
precious ship of the Union had been saved ; she was
even now entering the port amidst the rejoicing of the
people; but — the captain of the vessel lay dead upon
the deck.
" The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won ;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells !
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead."
INDEX
ABOLITION reform, 358-368, 382, 400.
Adams, John, quoted, 3, 55, 80, 127 ;
and Samuel Adams, 61 ; delegate to
First Continental Congress, 77, 84-
104; on commander-iii-chief, no;
on Independence, m-ii8; chosen
Vice-President, 186-188 ; becomes
President, 215 ; war measures of,
223 ; on election of 1800, 228 ; retires
to his farm, 230.
Adams, John Quincy, 266, 272, 284,
288-294, 310-
Adams, Samuel, the father of, 49 ;
appears in Boston town meeting,
50-53 ; suggests committees of cor
respondence, 51 ; on the Boston
Massacre, 56-60; attracts others to
the patriot cause, 61-64; a pro
scribed rebel, 63 ; and the tea party,
64-69; and the Port Bill, 69-76; a
delegate to the Continental Congress,
77, 84, 94-100; welcomes President
Washington, 203.
Albany Congress, 18.
Alexandria commissioners, 154.
Alien and Sedition laws, 220-223.
Allen, Ethan, 12.
" American system," 264-266.
Annapolis Convention, 155-157.
Articles of Confederation, formed, 137-
139; financial troubles of, 139-150;
commercial difficulties under, 151-
154-
BANK, Jackson on the, 298-301.
Birney, James G., 365.
Birthday, Jefferson's, celebration, 302-
306.
Boston, Massacre, 56-60; Tea Party,
64-69; Port Bill, 69-76; visit of
President Jackson, 307-315.
Braddock's expedition, 257.
Brown, Henry Box, 364, 365.
Burns, Anthony, 367.
Burr, Aaron, in election of 1800, 225;
organizes an expedition into the
southwest, 241-243.
CALHOUN, John C., 302-305, 321, 325,
328, 332, 338, 354, 378.
Canals as public improvements, 278.
Capital of the United States, 178, 207.
Charters, colonial, 11-15.
Clay, Henry, early life of, 259-263 ; in
the Senate, 263 ; evolves his Ameri
can system, 264-266; and the Cum
berland Road, 266; on the War of
1812; 267-270; and the Maysville
Road, 273; as a presidential candi
date, 274-281, 284 ; a traveller on the
Cumberland Road, 276; as Secretary
of State, 285 ; Compromise of 1833,
307; Compromise of 1850, 338; death
of> 375. S?8 ; as a frontiersman, 384.
"Coffin handbills," 291.
Colonial discord, 1-15.
Colonists, isolation of the, 255.
Commissioners, Virginia and Mary
land, 154.
Committees of Correspondence, 51,
72.
Compromise of 1850, 335-345.
Concord and Lexington, 105-108.
Congress, a, suggested, 72, 77.
411
Congress, First Continental, 72-104;
Connecticut delegates to, 86.
412
INDEX
Congress, financial troubles of, 119-
123, 127-136, 139-150; calls a con
vention, 157.
Congress, Second Continental, 108-
iii.
Constitution of the United States
framed, 157-172; adopted, 173-180.
Continental money, 119-123; 127-136,
140.
Convention, Annapolis, 155-157.
Convention, Constitutional, 157-172.
Convention, national nominating, 287.
"Critical period," the, 148.
Crockett, David, 279, 316.
Cumberland national road, 266, 271,
276.
DEANE, Silas, 86, 127-132.
Debates of Lincoln and Douglas, 389.
Declaration of Independence, 113-118.
Dickinson, John, 54, 80, 81, 102, 137,
157-
Douglas, Stephen A., 379-384.
Duche, Rev., 95-99.
ELECTION, of 1800, 224-229; of 1824,
283; of 1852, 344, 374; of 1840,
349-
Embargo of 1808, 246-251.
England and impressment, 244-246.
English predominance in the colonies,
14-17.
" Era of good feeling," 283.
Established Church, 2-7, 259.
Examination of Franklin, 29.
FEDERAL Hall, New York City, 185.
Federalist party, formed, 174; rash
actions of, 220-224 ; oppose election
of Jefferson, 226; death of, 319.
" Federalibt, The," 176.
First Continental Congress, called, 72-
78 ; delegates to, 79-92 ; action of,
92-101 ; entertainment of, 101-104.
Fitch, John, 166.
Foote's resolution, 321.
France, aids America, 127-132; war
fever against, 222; and the Missis
sippi valley, 256.
Franklin, Benjamin, third trip to
England, i ; efforts for union, 17 ;
and the Stamp Act, 23-32 ; examina
tion of, 29; on Parliamentary cor
ruption, 33 ; on the navigation laws,
36; daily life in England, 40-44;
and the Hutchinson letters, 42-45;
returns to Philadelphia, 45 ; secures
aid from France, 127-132; in the
Constitutional Convention, 163-172.
Frontier, the American, 255-259, 383-
387.
Fugitive slaves, 335-342, 368-370, 373.
GALLATIN, Albert, 234, 236, 239-241,
244-251.
Garrison, William Lloyd, 341, 359-368.
Graham, Dr., reforms of, 351.
Greeley, Horace, on Clay, 255; early
career of, 348 ; in the campaign of
1840, 349 ; founds the Tribune, 350 ;
as a social reformer, 351 ; in Con
gress, 352-358 ; and the Abolition
reform, 358-366; and the Fugitive
Slave law, 368-370 ; on " Uncle Tom's
Cabin," 371-374; and the election
of 1852, 374-377 ; handwriting of,
376 ; effects of his labors, 377 ; quoted,
382; and Lincoln, 391-398, 405.
Grenville, George, 19-26.
" HALF horse and half alligator," 290.
Hamilton, Alexander, an aide, 135;
delegate to Annapolis Convention,
155-157; delegate to Philadelphia
Convention, 161-171; and "The
Federalist," 176; in the New York
State Convention, 177-180 ; made
Secretary of the Treasury, 202; his
reports, 207; head of party, 211 ; on
the implied powers, 219.
Hancock, John, 62, 109, 179, 204.
Harvard College and President Jack
son, 315.
Hayne, Robert Y., 302, 323-332.
Henry, Patrick, 2, 90, 104.
Hughes, stamp agent, 26.
Hutchinson letters, 42-45.
INDEX
I
IMPRESSMENT of American sailors,
244-246.
Improvements, internal, 255-281.
Inauguration, of Washington, 195 ; of
Jefferson, 230; of Jackson, 294-296.
Independence, growth of sentiment for,
111-113; declared, 114; committee
on declaration of, 112, 114-116.
Internal improvements, 255-281.
JACKSON, Andrew, on internal im
provements, 274 ; in the election of
1824, 284-286; in the election of
1828, 286-294; journey to Washing
ton, 294; inauguration, 295-297 ; and
office-seekers, 297; as a foe to the
bank, 298-301 ; and Jefferson's birth
day celebration, 302-304 ; and nulli
fication, 304-306 ; tour to New Eng
land, 306-316; contribution to the
Union, 317; and Clay's "American
system," 323.
Jackson, Mrs. Rachel, attacks upon,
291-294.
Jefferson, Thomas, writes Declaration
of Independence, 113-118; becomes
Secretary of State, 202 ; head of
party, 211 ; rallies people against the
Federalists, 220-224; elected Presi
dent, 224-229; inaugurated, 229-232;
and the offices, 232-235 ; economic
plans, 235 ; purchases Louisiana,
236-240; and the navy, 240; and
Burr's expedition, 241-243 ; on im
pressment, 244; tries an embargo,
246-251 ; retires to Monticello, 252-
254; birthday celebration, 302-306;
as a frontiersman, 384.
KANSAS and Nebraska, 380, 383.
Kentucky, beginnings of, 257-259 ; Lex
ington, 261.
LEXINGTON and Concord, 105-108.
Lincoln, Abraham, and mileage reform,
354. 356; on the Kansas-Nebraska
Bill, 383; as a frontier product, 383-
387 ; and the new Republican party,
387-389 ; as a prospective candidate,
413
389-393 ; nominated, 394 ; and Sew-
ard, 395-398 ; campaign of, 399-401 ;
en route to Washington, 402-405 ;
efforts for the Union, 405-407; on
reconstruction, 408 ; death of, 409.
Log-cabin campaign, 349.
" Log-rolling," 272.
Louisiana, purchase of, 236-240.
Lovejoy, Elijah P., 360.
Lowell, James Russell, 338, 375, 403.
Loyalists, treatment of, 143-146.
Lundy, Benjamin, 359.
MADISON, James, 4, 153, 154-158, 168,
175, 176, 233.
Marshall, Christopher, 117; diary of,
46.
Massachusetts, Colonial Church in, 3,
4 ; delegates to First Continental
Congress, 84-86.
Maysville Road, 273.
Mileage reform, Greeley on, 353-355.
Missouri Compromise line, 380.
Morris, Robert, early career, 124-126;
efforts in Philadelphia, 133-136 ; as
financier, 139-141 ; as a friend of
Washington, 149; misfortunes of,
150; nominates Washington in the
Constitutional Convention, 164.
NAVIGATION Acts, 35-37.
Nebraska and Kansas, 380-383.
New Hampshire delegates to First Con
tinental Congress, 83.
Newspapers, and the Stamp Act, 27;
early history of, 347.
New York, on Port Bill, 72; delegates
to First Continental Congress, 91 ;
commercial troubles of, 152; adopts
the Constitution, 177; Lincoln in,
390- 403.
Non-importation, Associations of, 52-
54-
North, Lord, 61, 64, 65, 131.
Nullification, 302-307, 331.
"PARLEY, Peter," on the railroad.
279.
Pennsylvania, race differences, 7-9;
414
INDEX
charter of, 13 ; delegates to First Con
tinental Congress, 81 ; ratifies the
Constitution, 173.
Personal liberty laws, 370.
" Pet banks," 300.
Philadelphia, on Port Bill, 72; Sons of
Liberty of, 79-81 ; First Continental
Congress at, 79-104; second Con
gress at, 108-111; captured by the
British, 132-136; entertains the Con
stitutional Convention, 165; as the
capital, 209; visit of President Jack
son, 308-310.
Phillips, Wendell, 342, 343, 359.
Port Bill, Boston, 69-76.
Potomac navigation commissioners,
154-
RACE prejudices, 7-9.
Railroads, beginnings of, 278-280.
Reconstruction, period of, 408.
Religious persecution, 3-7.
Removals from office under Jefferson,
232-235.
Republican party, the, 377, 387-389.
Revere, Paul, 68, 71, 105.
Rhode Island delegates to First Conti
nental Congress, 87 ; not represented
in the Philadelphia Convention, 156,
159-
SERVANTS, indentured, 9-11.
Seward, William H., 390-398.
Shays's Rebellion, 160.
Smuggling, colonial, 20-22.
Sons of Liberty, 54-56; of Philadel
phia, 79-81.
South Carolina delegates to First Con
tinental Congress, 81-83.
Spoils system, Jefferson and, 232-235;
Jackson and, 296-298; Greeley on
the, 352.
Spotsvvood, Governor, 256.
" Squatter sovereignty," 381.
Stamp Act, 23-32, 37.
States rights and the Union, 218.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 371-374.
Suffolk resolutions, 99.
Suffrage extension, 287.
TARIFF, the first, 199; of 1832, 302;
South Carolina on, 302-307.
Taxation of America, 19-41.
Tea and the American colonies, 64-69.
Thomson, Charles, 79-81, 93, 94, 186,
1 88.
Tories, treatment of, 143-146.
Town meeting, the, 47-49.
Townshend, Charles, 38-40, 61, 64.
Troops in Boston, 56-60.
" UNCLE TOM'S CABIN," 371-374.
Union, beginnings of the, 14-19, 98,
101 ; Morris's efforts for, 139; Ham
ilton and the, 169; Washington's
services for the, 214, 318; Jefferson
and the, 224, 254; Clay's contribu
tion to the, 255, 281 ; Jackson on the,
317; the silent growth of the, 318-
320; and the states, 321 ; in danger
in 1850, 338 ; Webster's contribution
to, 346.
VIRGINIA and Kentucky resolutions,
220-223, 303.
Virginia, Colonial Church in, 2-7; dele
gates to First Continental Congress,
88-91 ; adopts the Constitution, 175;
and the Ohio valley, 256-259.
WAR, Revolutionary, 105-149; with
France in 1798, 223; of 1812, 267-
270, 282 ; with Mexico, 332.
Washington, George, delegate to First
Continental Congress, 89, 102; made
commander-in-chief, no; quoted,
in; faith in the government, 149;
entertains Potomac commissioners,
154; at the Constitutional Conven
tion, 162-172; suggested for the
Presidency, 178 ; accepts the Presi
dency, 181-186; journey to New
York, 188-195 ; inauguration of, 195-
197; administration of, 197-216;
journey to New England, 203 ; po
litical attacks upon, 210-215 ; expe
dition to the Ohio, 257 ; and Lincoln,
406.
INDEX
415
Waterways as means of communica
tion, 255.
Webster, Daniel, on Clay's "American
system," 323 ; debate with Hayne,
324-331; political career of, 333;
reputation as an orator, 334; on
slavery, 335; on the Fugitive Slave
Act, 338; Seventh of March speech,
339-343 ; and the Convention of 1852,
344; as an independent candidate,
345; contribution to the Union, 346;
and Abolitionists, 361 ; on Webster,
368 ; death of, 375, 378.
Webster, Noah, 167, 215.
Whig party, 327, 375.
Whitman, Walt, 403-410.
Whittier, John Greenleaf, 318, 342.
Wilderness Road, 257.
Writs of assistance, 21,
14 DAY USE
RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED
LOAN DEPT.
•* This book is due on the last date stamped below, or
on the date to which renewed.
Renewed books are subject to immediate recall.
YC 27901
iHJr
^*J