sult of the union that the greater controversy with the Mother Country had called forth. Pitt's Estimate of the First Conti nental In a speech in the House of Lords on January 20, 1775, the Great Commoner, William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, said, in allusion to the First Continental Congress: "For myself, I must declare and avow that in all my reading and study of history, and it has been my favorite study-I have read Thucydides, and have studied and admired Congress. the master states of the world-that for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity and wisdom of conclusion, under such a complication of difficult circumstances, no nation or body of men can stand in preference to the general congress at Philadelphia.' men. Gage's Warlike During the summer of 1774 the people of English America, and Minuteparticularly those of Massachusetts, were earnestly preparing for the inevitable struggle with the Mother Country. They engaged daily in military exercises, chose leaders and held themselves ready to fly to arms at a moment's warning. On this account they were called Minutemen. Martial exercises continued throughout the ensuing autumn and winter, and public speakers everywhere encouraged the colonists to resist the tyrannical measures of the British Parliament. General Gage, governor of Massachusetts, and British commander-in-chief in America, becoming alarmed, fortified Boston Neck, and seized great quantities of ammunition found in the New England colonies. A false rumor, which spread over New England in September (1774), that British warships were cannonading Boston, produced such excitement that within two days thirty thousand armed men were on their way to that city. Gage's course in Massachusetts excited such temper in the First Continental Congress that Christopher Gadsden, of South Carolina, proposed an immediate attack upon Gage in Boston, under the authorization of the Congress. As we have already seen, the Massachusetts assembly had resolved itself into a Provincial Congress in October, 1774. Meeting at Cambridge, this Provincial Congress chose Joseph Warren as its president; and on October 26, 1774-the very day of the adjournment of the first session of the Continental Congress at Philadelphia-this Provincial Congress took a decisive step in the arming of Massachusetts which rendered war inevitable. This decisive step was the organization of the colonial militia, consisting of all the able-bodied men of the colony, one-fourth of them being Minute-men. Soon afterward the Provincial Congress made provision for supplying the equipments and munitions of an army, and the whole was placed under the direction of a Committee of Safety, of which John Hancock was chairman. The crisis had now plainly arrived, as the British authorities would not sit quietly while such warlike proceedings were in progress, nor could they Action at Boston. Arming of Massa chusetts. Arming of Other Colonies. A New ment. Parlia ment's New Oppres sive Acts. undertake any repressive measures without arousing the colonists to fly to arms at once. The example of Massachusetts was soon followed by her sister colonies. All the other twelve colonies, either by act of assembly or by colonial convention, or by individual resolution, assumed a state of defense or resistance toward the British imperial government. All this time the American national spirit was fostered by the American Association and by the committees appointed to enforce the policy of non-intercourse with the Mother Country. Though not universally prevalent the American Association had extended itself more widely and more deeply than any previous bond of union amongst the colonies. Eager to maintain their ties and their rights, the Anglo-Americans drew out their lines. In point of courage and of sacrifice this display of spirit was sublime, though it was no great show in a military point of view. The end of the year 1774 found a new Parliament in session in Great Britain, in which Lord North and his Ministry had an irresistible majority of supporters. Amongst the members of this new British House of Commons was Henry Cruger, a native of New York, who, after having settled as a merchant at Bristol, in England, was elected mayor of that great city and also chosen a member of the House of Commons. In the prime of manhood, flushed with generous feelings toward his native America, though opposed to her revolutionary action, he took the floor of the House of Commons to make his maiden speech against the severities which the Ministry were threatening to inflict upon the English colonies in North America. Said he: "Can it be believed that Americans will be dragooned into a conviction of this right of Parliamentary taxation?" His plea was reëchoed by some of the greatest men in the House of Commons, among them Edmund Burke; while in the House of Lords the great William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, also pleaded the American cause. With the opening of the year 1775 the Earl of Chatham and Edmund Burke exerted themselves to their utmost-the former in the House of Lords and the latter in the House of Commons-to obtain justice for the colonies; but vainly, as the petition of the Continental Congress to King George III. was refused a hearing, and Parliament declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion and the other colonies to be abetting her action. Parliament accordingly rejected the Earl of Chatham's conciliatory proposals, and, instead, passed the New England Restraining Act, which prohibited the New England colonies from fishing on the banks of Newfoundland, and cut them off from all trade, except to Great Britain, Ireland and the British West Indies, thus striking a severe blow at the prosperity of New England. Parliament soon extended the provisions of this act to the other colonies, excepting New York, North Carolina and Georgia, which three colonies were excepted on account of their expected submission to the Mother Country. Lord North's Pretended At the same time Lord North introduced into Parliament what he called a conciliatory proposition, which provided that Parliament should not tax the colonies if the colonies would tax themselves and Conciliation. thus raise the sums which Parliament should consider necessary. To this proposal Edmund Burke replied: "They complain that they are taxed without their consent. You answer that you will fix the sum at which they shall be taxed. That is, you give them the very grievance for the remedy." As the Prime Minister's proposition was thus clearly understood by the greatest orator and statesman in the House of Commons, it was not likely to be misunderstood by the exasperated colonists. Outside of Parliament there were few Englishmen who took any active part in relation to American affairs, one of the few being Dr. Tucker, Dean of Gloucester, who suggested that Parliament should declare the colonies separated from the Mother Country until they humbly asked for forgiveness and restoration. Resist As Parliament refused justice to the colonists, they saw that they American must either defend their rights and liberties by force of arms or ance. slavishly submit to the oppressive acts of Parliament. They chose the former alternative; and, convinced of the justice of their cause, they resolved to bid defiance to the military and naval power of Great Britain. near Danvers. On February 26, 1775, a detachment of one hundred and fifty Collision British troops was sent from Boston to seize some cannon at Salem, but as they did not find it there they proceeded toward Danvers. their march thither they arrived at a bridge, at first occupied by a few country people, but soon defended by a company of militia under Colonel Pickering. The draw being up, the British troops endeavored to cross the stream in boats, and in doing so they wounded, by a free use of their bayonets, the men who prevented them from getting the boats. A serious conflict was prevented only by the mediation of the Rev. Mr. Barnard, of Salem, who persuaded the British officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Leslie, to return to Boston provided the troops were permitted to cross the bridge. The colonial militia consented to this; and the troops crossed the bridge, advanced a few rods, then faced about and retired without obtaining the cannon which they had come to seize. In the meantime, while affairs were rapidly approaching a crisis in New England and while Massachusetts was arming for the inevitable conflict with the Mother Country, the great orator, Patrick Henry, Patrick Henry's Great Speech. was arousing the Virginians to action by his fiery eloquence and his amazing boldness. In his ever-memorable speech in the Virginia assembly at Richmond, in March, 1775, he called upon his fellow Virginians to imitate their brethren in New England. He concluded this masterly speech thus: "It is in vain to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace; but there is no peace. The war is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death." at and Concord. SECTION III.-WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE (A. D. 1775–1783). Bloodshed On the 1st of April, 1775, there were three thousand British troops Lexington in Boston; and on the night of the 18th General Gage sent eight hundred troops, under Lieutenant-Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn, to destroy the stores of ammunition which the colonists had gathered at Concord, about sixteen miles north-west from Boston. Although this movement was made secretly, the people were aroused by the vigilant Dr. Joseph Warren and Paul Revere, who had obtained a knowledge of the designs of Gage. So thoroughly had the people been aroused by "the midnight ride of Paul Revere" that when, on the morning of the 19th (April, 1775), Pitcairn approached the village of Lexington, six miles from Concord, he found eighty armed Minute-men ready to oppose him. Pitcairn, riding forward, exclaimed: "Disperse, you rebels! lay down your arms and disperse!" And when they refused obedience, his troops, according to his orders, fired upon the patriots, killing eight of them. This was the first bloodshed in the great American Revolution. After the short skirmish at Lexington, the British immediately proceeded to Concord, killed several more Minutemen in a skirmish there, and destroyed the stores of ammunition. The king's troops then hastily retreated to Boston, fired upon along the whole route of their retreat by the people from behind trees, stonefences and buildings; and by the time they reached Boston, in the afternoon of the same day (April 19, 1775), they had lost in killed and wounded two hundred and seventy-three men, while the American loss was only one hundred and three men. This day's affray is often called The Battle of Lerington. |