amended, the declaration was adopted, and signed by CHAPTER most of the members present. XXXIII. The new Provincial Congress of New York, which 1776. met a few days after at White Plains, with authority July 9. to form a government, gave their sanction to the Declaration, which thus became the unanimous act of the Thirteen UNITED STATES. It was presently ordered to be engrossed on parchment, and was subsequently signed by all the delegates then present, including several who Aug 2. were not members at the time of its adoption. A State Convention assembled at Philadelphia took July. the government of Pennsylvania into its own hands. The Assembly, indeed, continued to meet, but no quorum could be obtained; and that old colonial Legislature expired at length in the utterance of a vain protest against Sept. the new system. Dickinson, Andrew Allen, late chief justice of Pennsylvania, and others who had opposed the Declaration, were recalled from Congress. Dickinson, who had hitherto exerted a great influence, experienced a sudden and total prostration. Alsop, of New York, resigned his seat in disgust. Some others, also active hitherto in the colonial cause, now drew back. William Allen, a brother of Andrew, threw up his commission of lieutenant colonel in the Continental army; but the example was not followed. In the position of that considerable class of persons who had remained in doubt, the Declaration of Independence and the assumption of state government made a decided change. It was now necessary to choose one side or the other. Very serious, too, was the change in the legal position of the class known as Tories, in many of the states a very large minority, and in all respectable for wealth and social position. Of those thus stigmatized, some were inclined to favor the utmost claims CHAPTER of the mother country; but the greater part, though XXXIII. determined to adhere to the British connection, yet dep1776. recated the policy which had brought on so fatal a quarrel. This loyal minority, espécially, its more conspicuóus members, as the warmth of political feeling increased, had been exposed to the violence of mobs, and to all sorts of personal indignities, in which private malice, or a wanton and insolent spirit, of mischief, had been too often gratified under the disguise of patriotism. The barbarous and disgraceful practice of tarring and feathering, and carting Tories-placing them in a cart, and carrying them about as a sort of spectacle-had become, in some places, a favorite amusement. To restrain these outrages, always to be apprehended in times of tumult June 18. and revolution, Congress had specially committed the oversight of Tories and suspected persons to the regularly appointed committees of inspection and observation for the several counties and districts. But even these committees were not always very judicious or discriminating in the exercise of the despotic powers implied in that delicate trust. By the recent political changes, Tories and suspected persons became exposed to dangers from the law as well as from mobs. Having boldly seized the reins of government, the new state authorities claimed the allegiance of all residents within their limits; and, under the. lead and recommendation of Congress, those who refused to acknowledge their authority, or who adhered to their enemies, were exposed to severe penalties, confiscation of property, imprisonment, banishment, and, finally, death. The new governments, however, were slow in resorting to extreme measures. The most obnoxious Tories had already emigrated; and, for the present, the new governments contented themselves with admonitions, fines, re cognizances to keep the peace, and prohibitions to go be- CHAPTER yond certain limits. Το many of the more ardent lead XXXIII. ers this leniency appeared dangerous, "Can we sub- 1776. sist," wrote Hawley to Gerry, "did any state ever sub- July 17. sist, without exterminating traitors? It is amazingly wonderful that, having no capital punishment for our intestine enemies, we have not been utterly ruined before now." The committee of one from each state, on the terms of confederation and the powers of Congress, soon reported a plan in twenty articles. That report, of which July 12. eighty copies were printed-the printers as well as the secretary being put under an oath of secrecy not to disclose the contents or furnish copies to any body-was presently debated in Committee of the Whole, and, after July 22. warm discussions as to the equal vote of the states, `and whether, in fixing the ratio of taxation, slaves should or should not be included in the count of population, the plan was amended and reported back to the House. But Aug. 23. the serious differences of opinion which had been developed, and the intervention of other more pressing business, prevented any further action during the current year. Two additional issues of paper money had been found necessary, each of five millions of dollars. So long, indeed, as these issues kept Congress in funds, that very command of money gave an authority which any articles. of confederation would rather tend to restrict than to amplify. Aug. 13. CHAPTER XXXIV. CHAPTER XXXIV. DEFENSE OF NEW YORK. NAVAL OPERATIONS ON LAKE CHEROKEE WAR. KENTUCKY. IN N no part of the confederacy was the British party more numerous or influential than in the city of 1776. New York and its environs. Both for that reason, and because of its fitness as a central point for military operations, it was expected that the main efforts of the enemy would soon be directed thither. April 26. Having assumed the command in that city, Washington had issued a proclamation strictly prohibiting all intercourse with the enemy's shipping. But to break up the communication between ex-governor Tryon and his friends was no easy matter. The mayor of the city, detected in a correspondence with Tryon, was thrown into prison. A plot was even discovered for seizing the American commander-in-chief, and conveying him on board one of the British ships. This scheme was to have been accomplished through the agency of some of the soldiers of Washington's guard, corrupted for the purpose, one of whom was tried and shot for his participation in this affair. Including the troops found at New York, Washington's whole army, exclusive of the regiments left in garrison at Boston or sent to the northern department, did not exceed eight thousand men, very imperfectly equip ped and scantily provided. To supply this deficiency, XXXIV. Congress had called for thirteen thousand eight hundred CHAPTER militia from New England, New York, and New Jer-. sey, and for ten thousand more from Pennsylvania, Del- 1776. aware, and Maryland, these last designed to constitute June 3. "a flying camp" for the protection of New Jersey. Washington gave the command of this camp to Mercer, just promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Though his opposition to the Declaration of Independence had cost him his popularity, Dickinson did by no means abandon the cause. When the associated Philadelphia militia were ordered to New Jersey to form a part of the flying camp, he marched at the head of his regiment. Fort Wash While waiting the arrival of these re-enforcements, obstructions were sunk, under Putnam's direction, in the North and East Rivers, and forts and batteries were erected to guard the narrowest passages. ington, at the northern end of York or Manhattan Island, and Fort Lee, on the opposite Jersey shore, were the strongest of these works; but, with the limited means at Washington's disposal, it was no easy matter to put the city into a satisfactory state of defense. The proclamation of independence was signalized at July 6. New York by destroying a picture of the king which had decorated the City Hall. The king's leaden statue, which stood in the Bowling Green, was also thrown down and run into bullets. This feeling of exultation was, however, far from unanimous. A large number of the wealthier citizens looked on with distrust; and the Episcopal clergy showed their dissatisfaction by shutting up the churches. The question of independence had been brought forward at a favorable moment. During the discussion, no British troops had a foothold any where in the Thirteen Colonies. Just before the declaration was adopted, |