September 24th, 1771 Arthur St. Clair to William Allen
- Courtesy Stan
Klos
By 1774 Arthur St. Clair had risen in favor and was appointed
the Magistrate, as well as Prothonotary, in the newly formed
Westmoreland County. Colonial Virginia was in a bitter border
dispute with the Penn's of Pennsylvania over large parts of the
new Pennsylvania County including Fort Pitt.
In 1758 General Forbes, along with Colonel Washington, took
command of the Ohio River junction from the French garrison who
had burnt Fort Duquesne in their flight to Canada. The Fort
had been burnt beyond repair but the garrison left
behind to secure the source of the Ohio River needed shelter
from the winter. Colonel Hugh Mercer was charged as the
commander and oversaw fortification construction on the banks
of the Monongahela River 1000 or so feet from where it flowed
in the Allegheny River forming the Ohio River. Fort
Mercer was completed in January 1759 and was large enough to
shelter a force of 400 men. Here soldiers, engineers,
indigenous people, and citizens labored for 19 months to
construct an elaborate fortress on the three rivers triangle
consisting of two acres inside the fortress walls and 18 more
inside the outer earthen works.
Fort Pitt was considered royal possession. The western
Pennsylvania roads leading to the fort were constructed during
the Forbes Campaign open the area to settlement by
Pennsylvanians. Three years earlier, roads were
constructed by General Braddock’s during his campaign to
capture Fort Duquesne through the Virginia wilderness.
Braddock’s force were routed by the French and forced into
retreat after advancing to present day Braddock, Pennsylvania
on the Monongahela River.
General Braddock was mortally wounded in the battle and
of the
1,300 men he had led in the campaign, 456 were killed and 422
wounded. Braddock’s road, however, remained intact
opening the northern Ohio Valley for future settlement by
Virginians. Both colonies, therefore, were poised to claim Fort
Pitt once the British forces withdrew ending the royal
jurisdiction over the territory.
Peace between the colonies had reigned at Fort
Pitt for
the years while it was garrisoned by British troops.
A decision, however, was finally made to withdraw
British troops from Fort Pitt due to debts incurred over the
War for Empire better known as the French and Indian War in the
North American theater. In 1772, thirteen years
after it was built, the fort was sold by Captain Charles E.
Edmonstone of the 18th Royal Regiment to Alexander Ross and
William Thompson for fifty pounds of New York colonial
currency. The construction materials that were used in the
outer fort’s embankments were dismantled and utilized in the
construction of buildings that would eventually form the
earliest structure of the “Pittsburg” settlement. Jurisdiction
over the region passed from the English Crown to the
Pennsylvania Colony.
This did not settle the Boundary disputes between Pennsylvania
and Virginia. To protect its interest Pennsylvania, with
permission from the Crown, garrisoned a colonial militia to
protect the fort. This action did not deter Colonial Governor
Lord Dumore who insisted the land claims to the region,
including the settlement of Pittsburg, belong to Virginia.
On January 6, 1774, Dunmore commissioned and sent
Dr. John Connolly to Fort Pitt as the "Captain and
Commandant of Pittsburgh and its dependencies." Connolly
began rising a militia from local Virginians who quickly
garrisoned the dilapidated fort for Lord Dumore.
The fort, upon Connolly’s seizure, was renamed Fort Dumore in
honor of the Colonial Governor. Commandant Connolly
then issued a Fort Dumore Proclamation, calling on the people
of Western Pennsylvania to meet him, as a militia, on the 25th
of January 1774. Arthur St. Clair who was the King's
magistrate of Westmoreland County, founded only year earlier on
February 26, 1773 encompassing the fort, was appalled by
Connolly's seizure and issued a warrant for his arrest.
Connolly was captured and imprisoned by Magistrate St. Clair in
the jail at Hannastown, the Westmoreland County
seat.
In asserting the claims of Virginia, Lord Dumore insisted that
Magistrate St. Clair should be punished for his temerity in
arresting his Captain by dismissal from office. Governor Penn
declined to remove St. Clair instead commending him as a
superior magistrate by first providing proper legal notice to
Mr. Connolly who was only arrested after he refused to
surrender the Fort. Governor Penn wrote Governor Dumore
on March 31, 1774:
I am truly concerned that you should think the commitment of
Mr. Conolly so great an insult on the authority of the
Government of Virginia, as nothing less than Mr. St. Clair's
dismission from his offices can repair. The lands in the
neighbourhood of Pittsburg were surveyed for the Proprietaries
of Pennsylvania early in the year 1769, and a very rapid
settlement under this Government soon took place, and
Magistrates were appointed by this Government to act there in
the beginning of 1771, who have ever since administered justice
without any interposition of the Government of Virginia till
the present affair. It therefore could not fail of being both
surprising and alarming that Mr. Conolly should appear to act
on that stage under a commission from Virginia, before any
intimation of claim or right was ever notified to this
Government. The advertisement of Mr. Conolly had a strong
tendency to raise disturbances, and occasion a breach of the
public peace, in a part of the country where the jurisdiction
of Pennsylvania hath been exercised without objection, and
therefore Mr. St. Clair thought himself bound, as a good
Magistrate, to take a legal notice of Mr. Conolly.
Mr. St. Clair is a gentleman who for a long time had the honour
of serving his Majesty in the regulars with reputation, and in
every station of life has preserved the character of a very
honest worthy man; and though perhaps I should not, without
first expostulating with you on the subject, have directed him
to take that step, yet you must excuse my not complying with
your Lordship' s requisition of stripping him, on this
occasion, of his offices and livelihood, which you will allow
me to think not only unreasonable, but somewhat
dictatorial.
I should be extremely concerned that any misunderstanding
should take place between this Government and that of Virginia.
I shall carefully avoid every occasion of it, and shall always
be ready to join you in the proper measures to prevent so
disagreeable an incident, yet I cannot prevail on myself to
accede in the manner you require, to a claim which I esteem,
and which I think must appear to everybody else to be
altogether groundless.
[2]
Counter arrests and much correspondence followed, but the
controversy was soon obscured by the stirring events of Lord
Dunmore's War. Disturbances were renewed by Connolly on several
border fronts and once again he was arrested. The Virginia
Colonial Governor ordered the counter arrest of three of the
Pennsylvania justices and in an exchange Connolly was released.
The boundary troubles between Virginia and Pennsylvania were
finally settled by the Continental Congress while Arthur St.
Clair was commissioned in the Revolutionary War.
Arthur St. Clair was appointed a colonel of one of the
Pennsylvania regiments and received his recruiting orders on
the 10th of January, 1776. Colonel St. Clair raised and trained
a regiment in the dead of winter. He then marched six companies
of the regiment from Pennsylvania to Canada, a distance of
several hundred miles, and joined the American army in Quebec
on April 11th, 1776.
General Montgomery, who in the fall of 1775 defeated the
British at Chamblee, St. Johns, and Montreal, gave Congress a
fair prospect of expelling the British from Canada annexing
that province to the United Colonies. Unfortunately the General
was defeated and killed before St. Clair's arrival after the
disastrous affair at Three Rivers. St. Clair, therefore, could
only aid General Sullivan in the retreat as second in command
under General Thompson. St. Clair's familiarity with British
military strategy and the Canadian wilderness were key assets
that helped save the Northern army from capture.
According to 18th Century military historian David
Ramsay:
The Americans were soon repulsed and forced to retreat. In the
beginning of the action General Thomson left the main body of
his corps to join that which was engaged. The woods were so
thick, that it was difficult for any person in motion, after
losing sight of an object to recover it. The general therefore
never found his way back. The situation of Colonel St. Clair,
the next in command became embarrassing. In his opinion a
retreat was necessary, but not knowing the precise situation of
his superior officer, and every moment expecting his return, he
declined giving orders for that purpose. At last when the
British were discovered on the river road, advancing in a
direction to gain the rear of the Americans, Colonel St. Clair
in the absence of General Thomson, ordered a
retreat.
Colonel St. Clair having some knowledge of the country from his
having served in it in the preceding war, gave them a route by
the Acadian village where the river de Loups is fordable. They
had not advanced far when Colonel St. Clair found himself
unable to proceed from a wound, occasioned by a root which had
penetrated through his shoe. His men offered to carry him, but
this generous proposal was declined. He and two or three
officers, who having been worn down with fatigue, remained
behind with him, found an asylum under cover of a large tree
which had been blown up by the roots. They had not been long in
this situation when they heard a firing from the British in
almost all directions. They nevertheless lay still, and in the
night stole off from the midst of surrounding foes. They were
now pressed with the importunate cravings of hunger, for they
were entering on the third day without food. After wandering
for some time, they accidentally found some peasants, who
entertained them with great hospitality. In a few days they
joined the army at Sorel, and had the satisfaction to find that
the greatest part of the detachment had arrived safe before
them. In their way through the country, although they might in
almost every step of it have been made prisoners, and had
reason to fear that the inhabitants from the prospect of
reward, would have been tempted to take them, yet they met with
neither injury nor insult. General Thomson was not so
fortunate. After having lost the troops and falling in with
Colonel Irwine, and some other officers, they wandered the
whole night in thick swamps, without being able to find their
way out. Failing in their attempts to gain the river, they had
taken refuge in a house, and were there made prisoners.
[3]
In recognition of this service St. Clair was promoted to
Brigadier-General on August 9th, 1776 and ordered to join
George Washington to organize the New Jersey militia. Ramsay
reports of these desperate times:
This retreat into, and through New-Jersey, was attended with
almost every circumstance that could occasion embarrassment,
and depression of spirits. It commenced in a few days, after
the Americans had lost 2700 men in Fort Washington. In fourteen
days after that event, the whole flying camp claimed their
discharge. This was followed by the almost daily departure of
others, whose engagements terminated nearly about the same
time. A farther disappointment happened to General Washington
at this time. Gates had been ordered by Congress to send two
regiments from Ticonderoga, to reinforce his army. Two Jersey
regiments were put under the command of General St. Clair, and
forwarded in obedience to this order, but the period for which
they were enlisted was expired, and the moment they entered
their own state, they went off to a man. A few officers without
a single private were all that General St. Clair brought off
these two regiments, to the aid of the retreating American
army. The few who remained with General Washington were in a
most forlorn condition. They consisted mostly of the troops
which had garrisoned Fort Lee, and had been compelled to
abandon that post so suddenly, that they commenced their
retreat without tents or blankets, and without any utensils to
dress their provisions. In this situation they performed a
march of about ninety miles, and had the address to prolong it
to the space of nineteen days. As the retreating Americans
marched through the country, scarcely one of the inhabitants
joined them, while numbers were daily flocking to the royal
army, to make their peace and obtain protection. They saw on
the one side a numerous well appointed and full clad army,
dazzling their eyes with the elegance of uniformity; on the
other a few poor fellows, who from their shabby cloathing were
called ragamuffins, fleeing for their safety. Not only the
common people changed sides in this gloomy state of public
affairs, but some of the leading men in New-Jersey and
Pennsylvania adopted the same expedient. Among these Mr.
Galloway, and the family of the Allens of Philadelphia, were
most distinguished. The former, and one of the latter, had been
members of Congress. In this hour of adversity they came within
the British lines, and surrendered themselves to the
conquerors, alleging in justification of their conduct, that
though they had joined with their countrymen, in seeking for a
redress of grievances in a constitutional way, they had never
approved of the measures lately adopted, and were in
particular, at all times, averse to independence.
On the day General Washington retreated over the Delaware, the
British took possession of Rhode-Island without any loss, and
at the same time blocked up commodore Hopkins' squadron, and a
number of privateers at Providence.[4]
When George Washington and St. Clair retreated over the
Delaware, the boats and barges along the east side of the
Delaware River were removed and garrisoned by the remnants of
the Continental Army. This act halted the progress of the
British Forces into Pennsylvania in the winter months of
November and December. The English commanders, sure of eminent
conquest once the Delaware River froze, deployed their army in
Burlington, Bordentown, Trenton, and on other waterfront towns
in New Jersey.
On the Pennsylvania side of the river, General Washington
ordered Generals Sullivan and St. Clair to recruit and train
troops as the Continental Army was in desperate need of
reformation. Together, with the Philadelphia troop recruiting
successes of General Mifflin, Sullivan and St. Clair raised
over 2000 new troops to support the Revolution. St. Clair and
Sullivan joined Washington's beleaguered 400 troops in
Pennsylvania and prepared for Washington's Delaware crossing to
Trenton, New Jersey. On Christmas night 1776 St. Clair's
Continental troops, now under Washington's command, crossed
into New Jersey and attacked the Hessians at dawn on the 26th.
Twenty-two Hessians were killed, 84 wounded and 918 taken
prisoner. Ramsay account of the surprise attack states:
Of all events, none seemed to them more improbable, than that
their late retreating half naked enemies, should in this
extreme cold season, face about and commence offensive
operations. They [The British] indulged themselves in a degree
of careless inattention to the possibility of a surprise, which
in the vicinity of an enemy, however contemptible, can never be
justified. It has been said that colonel Rahl, the commanding
officer in Trenton, being under some apprehension for that
frontier post, applied to general Grant for a reinforcement,
and that the general returned for answer. 'Tell the colonel, he
is very safe, I will undertake to keep the peace in New-Jersey
with a corporal's guard.'
In the evening of Christmas day, General Washington, made
arrangements for recrossing the Delaware in three divisions; at
M. Konkey's ferry, at Trenton ferry, and at or near Bordentown.
The troops which were to have crossed at the two last places
were commanded by generals Ewing, and Cadwallader, they made
every exertion to get over, but the quantity of ice was so
great, that they could not affect their purpose. The main body
which was commanded by General Washington crossed at M.
Konkey's ferry, but the ice in the river retarded their passage
so long, that it was three o'clock in the morning, before the
artillery could be got over. On their landing in Jersey, they
were formed into two divisions, commanded by general Sullivan,
and Greene, who had under their command brigadiers, lord
Stirling, Mercer and St. Clair: one of these divisions was
ordered to proceed on the lower, or river road, the other on
the upper or Pennington road. Col. Stark, with some light
troops, was also directed to advance near to the river, and to
possess himself of that part of the town, which is beyond the
bridge. The divisions having nearly the same distance to march
were ordered immediately on forcing the out guards, to push
directly into Trenton, that they might charge the enemy before
they had time to form. Though they marched different roads, yet
they arrived at the enemy's advanced post, within three minutes
of each other. The out guards of the Hessian troops at Trenton
soon fell back, but kept up a constant retreating fire. Their
main body being hard pressed by the Americans, who had already
got possession of half their artillery, attempted to file off
by a road leading towards Princeton, but was checked by a body
of troops thrown in their way. Finding they were surrounded,
they laid down their arms. The number which submitted was 23
officers, and 885 men. Between 30 and 40 of the Hessians were
killed and wounded. Colonel Rahl, was among the former, and
seven of his officers among the latter. Captain Washington of
the Virginia troops, and five or six of the Americans were
wounded. Two were killed, and two or three were frozen to
death. The detachment in Trenton consisted of the regiments of
Rahl, Losberg, and Kniphausen, amounting in the whole to about
1500 men, and a troop of British light horse. All these were
killed or captured, except about 600, who escaped by the road
leading to Bordentown.
The British had a strong battalion of light infantry at
Princeton, and a force yet remaining near the Delaware,
superior to the American army. General Washington, therefore in
the evening of the same day, thought it most prudent to
re-cross into Pennsylvania, with his prisoners.
The effects of this successful enterprise were speedily felt in
recruiting the American army. About 1400 regular soldiers,
whose time of service was on the point of expiring, agreed to
serve six weeks longer, on a promised gratuity of ten paper
dollars to each. Men of influence were sent to different parts
of the country to rouse the militia. The rapine, and impolitic
conduct of the British, operated more forcibly on the
inhabitants, to expel them from the state, than either
patriotism or persuasion to prevent their overrunning
it.
On the 28th, Washington re-crossed the Delaware and took
possession of Trenton. The British detachments that had been
distributed over the New Jersey river towns had now assembled
at Princeton. These troops were also reinforced by a British
detachment from New Brunswick, N.J. commanded by General
Cornwallis. From this position the English planned to overwhelm
Washington, by sheer numbers, hoping to defeat the Continental
Army on January 2nd. Realizing this Washington carefully
considered his options. A retreat to the city of Philadelphia
would have shattered the Continental Army's confidence that
permeated the new nation after their Victory at Trenton. George
Washington decided to stand, fight and see what opportunities
may arise in the heat of what would be a manageable late
afternoon battle. The Continental forces readied their
defenses.
[5]
The British began their advance from Princeton at 4 P.M.
attacking a body of Americans that were posted with four field
pieces just north of Trenton. This overwhelming military action
required the forces to retreat over Assunpink Creek. Here
Washington had posted cannons on the opposite banks of the
creek. The cannons, together with musket fire, stalemated the
pursuing British at the bottleneck created by the bridge. The
British fell back out of reach of the cannons, and made camp
for the night. The Americans remained defiantly camped on the
other side cannonading the enemy until late in the
evening.
Washington called a council of war that night on January 2,
1777 with his troops camped along Assunpink Creek. Many of St.
Clair's Biographers, and even St. Clair himself, claim that the
movement that culminated in the Victory at Princeton the
following day was his recommendation to the council. The
General's biographers purport that not only did St. Clair
direct the details of the march but also his own brigade
marched at the head of the advancing army.
Washington's decision to go around the British lines at night
and advance on Princeton was brilliant. The plan was a smashing
success and British losses were estimated at 400 to 600 killed,
wounded or taken prisoner. General Cornwallis and his troops
were forced to withdraw into Northern New Jersey to protect key
towns recently conquered by the British. Ramsay reports on the
battle:
The next morning presented a scene as brilliant on the one
side, as it was unexpected on the other. Soon after it became
dark, General Washington ordered all his baggage to be silently
removed, and having left guards for the purpose of deception,
marched with his whole force, by a circuitous route to
Princeton. This maneuver was determined upon in a council of
war, from a conviction that it would avoid the appearance of a
retreat, and at the same time the hazard of an action in a bad
position, and that it was the most likely way to preserve the
city of Philadelphia, from falling into the hands of the
British. General Washington also presumed, that from an
eagerness to efface the impressions, made by the late capture
of Hessians at Trenton, the British commanders had pushed
forward their principal force, and that of course the remainder
in the rear at Princeton was not more than equal to his own.
The event verified this conjecture. The more effectually to
disguise the departure of the Americans from Trenton, fires
were lighted up in front of their camp. These not only gave an
appearance of going to rest, but as flame cannot be seen
through, concealed from the British, what was transacting
behind them. In this relative position they were a pillar of
fire to the one army, and a pillar of a cloud to the other.
Providence favoured this movement of the Americans. The weather
had been for some time so warm and moist, that the ground was
soft and the roads so deep as to be scarcely passable: but the
wind suddenly changed to the northwest, and the ground in a
short time was frozen so hard, that when the Americans took up
their line of march, they were no more retarded, than if they
had been upon a solid pavement.
General Washington reached Princeton, early in the morning, and
would have completely surprised the British, had not a party,
which was on their way to Trenton, descried his troops, when
they were about two miles distant, and sent back couriers to
alarm their unsuspecting fellow soldiers in their rear. These
consisted of the 17th, the 40th, & 55th regiments of
British infantry and some of the royal artillery with two field
pieces, and three troops of light dragoons. The center of the
Americans, consisting of the Philadelphia militia, while on
their line of March, was briskly charged by a party of the
British, and gave way in disorder. The moment was critical.
General Washington pushed forward, and placed himself between
his own men, and the British, with his horse's head fronting
the latter. The Americans encouraged by his example, and
exhortations, made a stand, and returned the British fire. The
general, though between both parties, was providentially
uninjured by either. A party of the British fled into the
college and were there attacked with field pieces which were
fired into it. The seat of the muses became for some time the
scene of action. The party which had taken refuge in the
college, after receiving a few discharges from the American
field pieces came out and surrendered themselves prisoners of
war. In the course of the engagement, sixty of the British were
killed, and a greater number wounded, and about 300 of them
were taken prisoners. The rest made their escape, some by
pushing on towards Trenton, others by returning towards
Brunswick. The Americans lost only a few, but colonels Haslet
and Potter, and Captain Neal of the artillery, were among the
slain. General Mercer received three bayonet wounds of which he
died in a short time. He was a Scotchman by birth, but from
principle and affection had engaged to support the liberties of
his adopted country, with a zeal equal to that of any of its
native sons. In private life he was amiable, and his character
as an officer stood high in the public esteem.
While they were fighting in Princeton, the British in Trenton
were under arms, and on the point of making an assault on the
evacuated camp of the Americans. With so much address had the
movement to Princeton been conducted, that though from the
critical situation of the two armies, every ear may be supposed
to have been open, and every watchfulness to have been
employed, yet General Washington moved completely off the
ground, with his whole force, stores, baggage and artillery
unknown to, and unsuspected by his adversaries. The British in
Trenton were so entirely deceived, that when they heard the
report of the artillery at Princeton, though it was in the
depth of winter, they supposed it to be thunder: The Battle of
Princeton was another important Continental Victory as it
further raised the moral of the troops and the nation. The
surprised British troops quickly evacuated Princeton on the
onslaught and to Washington's delight; they re-deployed their
troops from quartering Bordentown and Trenton to New Brunswick.
The British also decided to evacuate their troops from Newark
and Woodbridge holding under force only Amboy, along with New
Brunswick, in Central New Jersey. The British retreat from the
victories of Trenton and Princeton sparked a resurrection of
patriotism that kept George Washington and his troops
invigorated throughout the winter of 1777.[6]
General Washington, upon St. Clair's council, made the decision
to winter in Morristown because its passes and hills afforded
geographical shelter to his suffering army. The negative
outlook that had ceased these United States of America in the
fall of 1776 had all but dissipated in the northern hills of
New Jersey. Recruiting that had been painfully measured just
before the Battle of Trenton was successfully rehabilitated. It
soon became clear to everyone that George Washington would
quickly organize and train a permanent regular force to resume
the offensive in the spring.
While in Morristown, the New Jersey militia was re-charged and
conducted several successful skirmishes killing forty and fifty
Waldeckers at Springfield. These were the same soldiers who
were, but a month before, overrun by the British without even
meager opposition. George Washington
remained, throughout his incredible life, steadfastly loyal to
Arthur St. Clair recognizing the Pennsylvania general's deeds
and council during the campaigns against Trenton and Princeton.
It was a beginning of a friendship that would positively serve
the United States, beyond anyone's expectations, for the next
24 years. For his service in 1776 and 1777 St. Clair was
promoted to Major-General.
Arthur St. Clair's next call to action was by John Hancock who
ordered him to defend Fort Ticonderoga. This upstate New York
fort was built to control the strategic route between the St.
Lawrence River in Canada and the Hudson River to the south.
Overlooking the outlet of Lake George into Lake Champlain, it
was considered a key to the continent. The fort was used in the
War for Empire and largely abandoned except for British
military stores that remained there at the beginning of the
Revolution. In 1775, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold surprised
the British and captured Fort Ticonderoga. The cannons and
armaments were used in the siege of Boston, which drove the
British out of Massachusetts. The fort was garrisoned with
12,000 troops to counter any invading force coming into America
from Canada.
In 1776 with Washington's losses troops deserted and were moved
to more pressing posts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. By the
spring of 1777 Fort Ticonderoga had fallen in disrepair with
only a handful of troops protecting the northern passage When
it became clear that the British, under General Burgoyne, were
marching to retake the position, Congress hastily ordered Major
General Arthur St. Clair to command and defend Fort
Ticonderoga, by a letter:
Philadelphia, April 30, 1777 John Hancock to Arthur St.
Clair - Courtesy of Stan Klos
To: Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair.
Sir:
-- The
Congress having received intelligence of the approach of the
enemy towards Ticonderoga have thought proper to direct you to
repair thither without delay. I have it therefore in charge to
transmit the enclosed resolve [not present] and to direct that
you immediately set out on the receipt
hereof.
John Hancock, Presidt.
Major-General St. Clair arrived in early June and set about
preparations for defense. Although Congress desperately wanted
to retain Fort Ticonderoga, St. Clair was only spared some
2,500 men and scarce provisions to hold it. A minimum garrison
of 10,000 men was required to check the British advance.
Burgoyne's army consisted of 8,000 British regulars and 2,500
auxiliary troops.
In preparation, St. Clair's
force was too small to cover all exposed points. In his
scramble to post his men St. Clair made the decision not to
fortify the steep assent to the mountain top which he deemed
impassable for heavy artillery.
When British arrived
in the area, he was proved disastrously wrong because Burgoyne
outflanked him by hauling his artillery batteries atop nearby
Mount Defiance. The British were now capable of bombarding Fort
Ticonderoga without fear of retaliation by the
Americans.
St. Clair and his officers held a council of war, and decided
to evacuate the fort. Matthias Alexis Roche de Fermoy, by
orders of Congress, and against the protest of George
Washington was made the commander of Fort Independence,
opposite Fort Ticonderoga. Fermoy made a grave military error
that almost caused St. Clair the loss of a large number of his
forces. Upon the retreat of St. Clair from Ticonderoga, Fermoy
set fire to his quarters on Mount Independence at two o'clock
on the morning of July 6th, 1777 thus revealing to Burgoyne St.
Clair's evacuation of Fort Ticonderoga. Had it not been for
this, St. Clair would have made good his retreat with minimal
causalities and loss of his supplies.
St. Clair fled through the woods, leaving a part of his force
at Hubbardto. These troops were attacked and defeated by
General Fraser on July 7th, 1777, after a well-contested
battle. On July12th, St. Clair reached Fort Edward with the
remnant of his men. St. Clair reported:
"I know I could have saved my reputation by sacrificing the
army; but were I to do so, I should forfeit that which the
world could not restore, and which it cannot take away, the
approbation of my own conscience".[7]
St. Clair's action forced General Burgoyne to divide his forces
between pursuit of St. Clair and garrisoning Fort Ticonderoga.
Burgoyne, after a long and arduous trek through the New York
frontier, made an unsuccessful attempt to break through
American Forces and Capture Saratoga. Burgoyne retreated and
ordered his troops to entrench in the vicinity of the Freeman
Farm. Here he decided to await support from Clinton, who was
supposedly preparing to move north toward Albany from New York
City. He waited for three weeks but Clinton never came. With
his supply line cut and a growing Continental Army he decided
to attack on October 7th ordering a recon-naissance-in-force to
test the American left flank. This attack was unsuccessful and
Burgoyne loss General Fraser primarily due to Benedict Arnold's
direct counter-attack against the British Center.
That evening the British retreated but kept their campfires
burning brightly to mask their withdrawal. Burgoyne's troops
took refuge in a fortified camp on the heights of Saratoga.
Clinton never arrived, the Continental Forces swelled to over
20,000. Faced with overwhelming numbers, Burgoyne surrendered
on October 17, 1777 to General Horatio Gates who was hailed
the "Hero
of Saratoga". This
was one of the great American victories of the war and made the
British retention of Fort Ticonderoga untenable. This surrender
shocked the European Nations and direly needed foreign aid
poured into US coffers from France and the Netherlands.
Despite this positive outcome General St. Clair was accused of
cowardice by the same faction (Conway Cabal) that
sought the ousting of George Washington as Commander-in-Chief
for "The
Hero of Saratoga".
George Washington supported St. Clair’s position who remained
with his army throughout the court-martial process. St. Clair
was with Washington at Brandywine on September 11th, 1777,
acting as voluntary aide.
The Court met August 25th, 1778, and continued the examination
of witnesses until September 29th with General Benjamin Lincoln
as its President. The charges were: neglect of duty,
cowardice, treachery, incapacity as a General, and shamefully
abandoning the posts of Ticonderoga and Mount
Independence.
General St. Clair testified in his own defense on September 29
which those in attendance found to be very able and
complete. The court acquitted him stating:
Indeed, from the knowledge I had of the country through which
General Burgoyne had to advance, the difficulties I knew he
would be put to subsist his army, and the contempt
he would naturally have for an enemy whose retreat I concluded
he would ascribe to fear, I made no doubt he would soon be so
far engaged, as that it would be difficult for him either to
advance or retreat. The event justified my conjecture, but
attended with consequences beyond my most sanguine
expectations. A fatal blow given to the power and insolence of
Great Britain, a whole army prisoners, and the reputation of
the arms of America high in every civilized part of the world!
But what would have been the consequences had not the steps
been taken, and my army had been cut to pieces or taken
prisoners? Disgrace would have been brought upon our arms and
our counsels, fear and dismay would have seized upon the
inhabitants, from the false opinion that had been formed of the
strength of these posts, wringing grief and moping melancholy
would have filled the now cheerful habitations of those whose
dearest connections were in that army, and a lawless host of
ruffians, set loose from every social tie, would have roamed at
liberty through the defenseless country, whilst hands of
savages would have earned havoc, devastation, and terror before
them! Great part of the State of New York must have submitted
to the conqueror, and in it he could have found the means to
enable him to prosecute his success. He would have been able
effectually to have co-operated with General Howe, and would
probably have soon been in the same country with him; that
country where our illustrious General, with an inferior force,
made so glorious a stand, but who must have been obliged to
retire if both armies came upon him at once, or might have been
forced, perhaps, to a general and decisive action in
unfavorable circumstances, where by the hopes, the now
well-founded hopes of America, of liberty, of peace and safety,
might have been cut off forever. Every consideration seems to
prove the propriety of the retreat, that I could not undertake
it sooner, and that, had it been delayed longer, it had been
delayed too long.
The Court, having duly considered the charges against
Major-General St. Clair, and the evidence, are unanimously of
opinion that he is Not Guilty of either of the charges against
him, and do unanimously acquit him of all and every of them
with the highest honor. B. Lincoln, President.
[8]
Lafayette wrote to St. Clair,
I cannot tell you how much my heart was interested in
anything that happened to you and how I rejoiced, not that you
were acquitted, but that your conduct was examined.[9]
John Paul Jones wrote,
I pray you be assured that no man has more respect for your
character, talents, and greatness of mind than, dear General,
your most humble servant.
St. Clair assignment after the ordeal was to assist General
John Sullivan in preparing his expedition against the Six
Nations and later was appointed a commissioner to arrange a
cartel against the British at Amboy on March 9th, 1780. St
Clair was then appointed to command the corps of light infantry
in the absence of Lafayette, but did not serve, owing to the
return of General George Clinton. He was a member of the
court-martial that condemned Major Andre, commanded at West
Point in October 1780, and aided in suppressing the mutiny in
the Pennsylvania line in January 1781.
St. Clair remained active during the 1780's Campaigns raising
troops and forwarding them to the south to Lafayette and
Washington. Congress in an attempt to protect Philadelphia from
another British occupation ordered St. Clair's to round up
troops to defend the city from what was believed to be an
imminent attack by General Clinton:
By the United States in Congress Assembled September 19,
1781
Ordered that Major General St. Clair cause the levies of
the Pennsylvania line now in Pennsylvania to rendezvous at or
near Philadelphia with all possible exposition.
Extract
from the minutes
Charles
Thompson
Specifically the Journals of the Continental Congress
reported:
The report of the committee on the letter from Major General
St. Clair was taken into consideration; Whereupon, The
Committee to whom were referred the letter of the 28th. of
August last from Major General St Clair, beg leave to report--
That they have conferred with the Financier on the subject of
the advance of money requested by General St Clair for officers
and privates of the Pennsylvania line, and that he informs your
Committee that it is not in his power to make the said
advances--
That your Committee know of no means which enables Congress at
present to make the advance requested by General St Clair: and
they are therefore of opinion that his application ought to be
transmitted to his Excellency the President and the Supreme
Executive of the State of Pennsylvania with an earnest request
that they will take the most effectual measures in their power
to enable General St Clair to expedite the march of the troops
mentioned in his letter.
Ordered, That the application of Major General St. Clair be
transmitted to his Excellency the president and the supreme
executive council of the State of Pennsylvania and they be
earnestly requested to take the most effectual measures in
their power to enable General St. Clair to expedite the march
of the troops mentioned in his letter.[10]
Washington continued he maneuvers surrounding Cornwallis at
Yorktown. When Congress realized that the British were not
going to attack Philadelphia; orders were hastily given to St.
Clair to move his forces south to Yorktown. St. Clair joined
Washington at Yorktown only four days before the surrender of
Lord Cornwallis.
In November he was placed in command of a body of troops to
join General Nathanael Greene, and remained in the south until
October 1782. St. Clair writes of this period:
When the army marched to the southward, I was left in
Pennsylvania to organize and forward the troops of that State
and bring up the recruits that had been raised there. The
command of the American Army was kept open for, the General
intending to take it upon himself. Formally, the command of the
allied army, which hitherto he ha had only done actually. After
sending off the greatest part of that line under General
Anthony Wayne, and on the point of following them, Congress
became alarmed that some attempt on Philadelphia would be made
from New York, in order to diver General Washington from his
purpose against Lord Cornwallis, and they ordered me to remain
with the few troops I had left, to which it was purposed to add
a large body of militia, and to form a camp on the Delaware: of
this I immediately apprised Washington, who had written to me,
very pressingly, to hasten on the reinforcements of that State;
informing me of the need he had of them, and, as he was pleased
to say, of my services also. He wrote again on the receipt of
my letter, in a manner still more pressing, and I laid that
letter before Congress, who, after considerable delay and much
hesitation, revoked their order, and I was allowed to join the
Army at Yorktown, but did not reach it until the business was
nearly over, the capitulation been signed in five or six days
after my arrival.
From thence I was sent with six regiments and ten pieces of
artilleray, to the aid of general Greene in South Carolina,
with orders to sweep, in my way, all those British Posts in
North Carolina; but they did not give me trouble, for, on my
taking direction towards Willmington, they abandoned that place
and every other post they had in that country, and left me at
liberty to pursue the march by the best and most direct route;
and on the 27th of December, I joined General Greene, near
Jacksonburgh.
[11]
The war was effectively over after this assignment and Arthur
St. Clair was furloughed and returned home in 1782. His
Ligonier estate, including the mill which he had opened for
communal use, was in ruins. Titles to his lands were not
carefully managed and squatters occupied key tracts. St. Clair
noted in a letter that he lost £20,000 on one piece of real
estate alone. His biographer William Henry Smith summed up his
homecoming plight: as:
The comfortable fortune, and the valuable offices, which were
all his in 1775, and eight years of the prime of life were all
gone ---- all given freely, and without regret, for freedom and
a republic.
[12]
St. Clair, though still a major-general, was elected to the
Pennsylvania Council of Censors. He was an active member and
drafted the report of the Censors, who were charged with
correcting defects in the Pennsylvania Constitution. St.
Clair's authored the recommendations calling for a new
Pennsylvania State constitutional Convention. The measure,
however, was defeated as less than 2/3rds of the People
supported the Resolution. In that same year he was elected
Vendue-master of Philadelphia (auctioneer) which was thought to
be a very lucrative position in City government. The victory in
the war left the State with a lot of property to be sold of
which St. Clair received a portion of the revenue. St. Clair
later, as the 9th President of the USCA, declared
that he lost money in that office fronting expenses that were
never reimbursed by the financially distressed city.
In the summer of 1783, while General St. Clair was still
discharging his duties as Vendue-master of Philadelphia, a
crisis gripped the confederation government that would doom it
from ever assembling at Independence Hall again. President
Boudinot and the United States in Congress Assembled on a hot
summer day were faced with a mutiny of soldiers in Philadelphia
surrounding their session at Independence Hall. USCA requested
that the Pennsylvania Supreme Council, also in session at
Independence Hall, call out the Pennsylvania militia but they
declined seeking to settle the mutiny peacefully. The mutineers
demands were made in very dictatorial terms, that,
unless their demand were complied with in twenty minutes, they
would let in upon them the injured soldiery, the consequences
of which they were to abide.
[13]
Word was immediately sent, by President Boudinot, to General
St. Clair and his presence requested. General St. Clair rushed
to the scene and confronted the mutineers. St. Clair then
reported to President Boudinot, Congress and the State
legislators of Pennsylvania his assessment and the demands of
the mutineers. Congress then directed him
... to endeavor to march the mutineers to their barracks,
and to announce to them that Congress would enter into no
deliberation with them; that they must return to Lancaster, and
that there, and only there, they would be paid.
After this, Congress appointed a committee to confer with the
executive of Pennsylvania, and adjourned awaiting St. Clair’s
signal that it was safe to evacuate the building. The Journals
of the United States in Congress report on Saturday, June 21,
1783:
The mutinous soldiers presented themselves, drawn up in the
street before the statehouse, where Congress had assembled. The
executive council of the state, sitting under the same roof,
was called on for the proper interposition. President DICKINSON
came in, and explained the difficulty, under actual
circumstances, of bringing out the militia of the place for the
suppression of the mutiny. He thought that, without some
outrages on persons or property, the militia could not be
relied on. General St. Clair, then in Philadelphia, was sent
for, and desired to use his interposition, in order to prevail
on the troops to return to the barracks. His report gave no
encouragement.
In this posture of things, it was proposed by Mr. IZARD, that
Congress should adjourn. It was proposed by Mr. HAMILTON, that
General St. Clair, in concert with the executive council of the
state, should take order for terminating the mutiny. Mr. REED
moved, that the general should endeavor to withdraw the troops
by assuring them of the disposition of Congress to do them
justice. It was finally agreed, that Congress should remain
till the usual hour of adjournment, but without taking any step
in relation to the alleged grievances of the soldiers, or any
other business whatever. In the meantime, the soldiers remained
in their position, without offering any violence, individuals
only, occasionally, uttering offensive words, and wantonly
pointing their muskets to the windows of the hall of Congress.
No danger from premeditated violence was apprehended, but it
was observed that spirituous drink, from the tip-pling-houses
adjoining, began to be liberally served out to the soldiers,
and might lead to hasty excesses. None were committed, however,
and, about three o'clock, the usual hour, Congress adjourned;
the soldiers, though in some instances offering a mock
obstruction, permitting the members to pass through their
ranks. They soon afterwards retired themselves to the barracks.
[14]
Thanks to Arthur St. Clair's ability to reason with the
mutineers, President Boudinot, the Delegates and the
Pennsylvania legislators passed through the files of the armed
soldiers without being physically molested.
President Boudinot on June 23rd wrote his brother
requesting his aid to protect Congress in what would be the new
Capitol of the United States.
My dear Brother Philada. 23 June 1783 -- I have only a moment
to inform you, that there has been a most dangerous
insurrection and mutiny among a few Soldiers in the Barracks
here. About 3 or 400 surrounded Congress and the Supreme
Executive Council, and kept us Prisoners in a manner near three
hours, tho' they offered no insult personally. To my great
mortification, not a Citizen came to our assistance. The
President and Council have not firmness enough to call out the
Militia, and allege as the reason that they would not obey
them. In short the political Maneuvers here, previous to that
important election of next October, entirely unhinges
Government. This handful of Mutineers continue still with Arms
in their hands and are privately supported, and it is well if
we are not all Prisoners in a short time. Congress will not
meet here, but has authorized me to change their place of
residence. I mean to adjourn to Princeton if the Inhabitants of
Jersey will protect us. I have wrote to the Governor
particularly. I wish you could get your Troop of Horse to offer
them aid and be ready, if necessary, to meet us at Princeton on
Saturday or Sunday next, if required.[15]
A committee, with Alexander Hamilton as chairman, waited
on the State Executive Council to insure the Government of the
United States protection in Philadelphia so Congress could
convene the following day. Elias Boudinot, however, received no
pledge of protection by the Pennsylvania militia and ordered
an adjournment of the USCA on June 24th to Princeton, New
Jersey. This was the last time the Confederation Congress
would convene in Pennsylvania.
The President issued and released this Proclamation to the
Philadelphia newspapers explaining the USCA’s move to
Princeton:
A Proclamation. Whereas a body of armed soldiers in the service
of the United States, and quartered in the barracks of this
city, having mutinously renounced their obedience to their
officers, did, on Saturday this instant, proceed under the
direction of their sergeants, in a hostile and threatening
manner to the place in which Congress were assembled, and did
surround the same with guards: and whereas Congress,
inconsequence thereof, did on the same day resolve, " That the
president and supreme executive council of this state should be
informed, that the authority of the United States having been,
that day, grossly insulted by the disorderly and menacing
appearance of a body of armed soldiers, about the place within
which Congress were assembled; and that the peace of this city
being endangered by the mutinous disposition of the said troops
then in the barracks, it was, in the opinion of Congress,
necessary, that effectual measures should be immediately taken
for supporting the public authority: and also, whereas Congress
did at the same time appoint a committee to confer with the
said president and supreme executive council on the
practicability of carrying the said resolution into due effect;
and also whereas the said committee have reported to me, that
they have not received satisfactory assurances for expecting
adequate and prompt exertions of this state for supporting the
dignity of the federal government ; and also whereas the said
soldiers still continue in a state off open mutiny and revolt,
so that the dignity and authority of the United States would be
constantly exposed to a repetition of insult, while Congress
shall continue to fit in this city; I do therefore, by and with
the advice of the said Committee, and according to the powers
and authorities in me vested for this purpose, hereby summon
the Honorable the Delegates composing the Congress of the
United States, and every of them, to meet in Congress on
Thursday the 26th of June instant, at Princetown, in the state
of New Jersey, in order that further and more effectual
measures may be taken for suppressing the present revolt, and
maintaining the dignity and authority of the United States; of
which all officers of the United States, civil and military,
and all others whom it may concern, are desired to take notice
and govern themselves accordingly.
President Boudinot chose Princeton for the seat of
government because he was a former resident, a Trustee of the
College of New Jersey, and his wife was from a prominent
Princeton Stockton family. Additionally, Princeton
was located approximately midway between New York and
Philadelphia and the College of New Jersey had a building large
enough in which the USCA could
assemble.
Assembled in Princeton, the USCA turned to a resolution
that was proposed by
Alexander Hamilton
ordering General Howe to march fifteen hundred troops to
Philadelphia to disarm the mutineers and bring them to
trial. The matter was sent to a committee. General
Washington had already taken action and dispatched the troops
in response to President Boudinot’s letter of the
21st requesting is aid. General Howe had
already arrived just outside of Princeton that evening writing
Commander-in-Chief Washington on the 1st
“I
arrived yesterday with the Troops within four Miles of this
Place where they will halt until twelve to Night.”
The following day, the USCA resolved:
That Major General Howe be directed to march such part of the
force under his command as he shall judge necessary to the
State of Pennsylvania; and that the commanding officer in the
said State he be instructed to apprehend and confine all such
persons, belonging to the army, as there is reason to believe
instigated the late mutiny; to disarm the remainder; to take,
in conjunction with the civil authority, the proper measures to
discover and secure all such persons as may have been
instrumental therein; and in general to make full examination
into all parts of the transaction, and when they have taken the
proper steps to report to Congress.[16]
With the resolution in hand, Howe set out for
Philadelphia. He spent the night of July
2nd encamped in Trenton and started crossing the
Delaware River into Pennsylvania the following morning. Near
Trenton Howe met with General St. Clair coming to Princeton and
he updated the general on the situation. General St. Clair
pressed on to Princeton and met with the President that
evening. Boudinot wrote General Washington:
General S'. Clair is now here, and this moment suggests an Idea
which he had desired me to mention to your Excellency, as a
Matter of Importance in his View of the Matter in the intended
Inquiry at Philadelphia.— That the Judge Advocate should be
directed to attend the Inquiry — By this Means the Business
would be conducted with most Regularity — The Inquiry might be
more critical, and as several of the Officers are in Arrest,
perhaps a Person not officially engaged, may Consider himself
in an invidious Situation — It is late at Night, and no
possibility of obtaining the Sense of Congress, and therefore
your Excellency will consider this as the mere Suggestion of an
individual & use your own Pleasure.[17]
George Washington, after receipt of the letter, ordered Judge
Advocate Edwards to repair at once to Philadelphia.[18]
The USCA resolution directing General Howe to move with the
troops against the mutineers affronted
General St. Clair
and he regarded it as an attempt to supersede his command and
undermine his negotiations. General St. Clair took it upon
himself to write Congress the following letter:
[General Howe came to
enquire into the conduct of the officers and Sergeants after
the Mutiny that drove Congress from
Philadelphia]
Sir, When I had the honour
to wait upon you at Princetown I was pleased to find that
General Howe had been ordered to Pennsylvania and at the same
time I was flattered to hear, as I did, from several of the
members of Congress that It was left at my discretion either
to direct the enquiry into the late disorders amongst the
troops this State, or leave it entirely to him. For though it
was not more than had a right to expect it was a piece of
attention that could not fail to be
gratifying.
At the time I left
Princetown I had determined to leave the matter entirely to
General Howe, but upon selection finding myself in command in
this state, having been called to it by the secretary at War
previous to his departure for Virginia and that I had also
been brought into view by Congress, it struck me that another
officer taking up the business would have an odd appearance
and must beget sentiments unfavorable to me. I therefore
acquainted General Howe that I had understood the Resolution
of Congress left me, at least an option. [struck out -
"justify the appointment of a Junior Officer to carry into
effect what a Senior had began"] I read the Resolution and
understood it as he did that the business was to be conducted
by him; but upon reconsidering it, the expressions I see will
admit of another construction. I wish they had been more
explicit on my own account, because if they had, there could
have been no doubt about the line I should pursue, nor could
there have been insinuations (underlined) to my prejudice. My
conduct must have been either satisfactory to congress or not
-- if not, the instances should have been pointed out, and I
might have defended myself, but against an implied censure,
there is no defence, and nothing in my opinion but
incompetence or worse, can justify the appointment of a
junior officer to carry into effect what a senior officer had
began. On General Howe's because he might have found himself
in a disagreeable circumstances from not fully comprehending
the views of congress and my situation. I beg Sir I may not
be misunderstood. I am not soliciting to be continued in
command here. I have the highest respect for Congress but I
owe something to myself also, and I have to declare to them
in the most express terms, that I can take no farther command
in the State and to require that they will please to direct
the Secretary at War to order General Howe or some other
officer to manage the business of dismissing the Pennsylvania
line.* I have been long enough in publick life to know that
there are injuries a man must bear they have and been so
often repeated to me as to have rendered me callous, nor are
the conversations that arise from them the less poignant that
cooperation cannot be demanded. I have the honour to be sir,
etc,.
*To General Howe I
shall afford all the assistance I can and shall attend the
court Martials as an evidence whenever I receive notice of
its being convened.
President
Elias Boudinot chose not to bring the letter before Congress
replying:
I duly recd your favor of yesterday but conceiving that you had
mistaken the Resolution of Congress, I showed it to Mr.
Fitzsimmons and we have agreed not to present it to Congress,
till we hear again from you. Congress were so careful to
interfere one way or the other in the military etiquette, that
we recommitted the Resolution to have everything struck out
that should look towards any determination as to the Command,
and it was left so that the Commanding officer be him who it
might, was to carry the Resolution into Execution; and it can
bear no other Construction. If on the second reading you
choose your Letter should be read in Congress, it shall be done
without delay.
I have the honour to be with Great respect
Your very Humble Servt
Elias Boudinot, President
P. S., You may depend on Congress having been perfectly
satisfied with your conduct.
[19]
Boudinot undoubtedly trusted St. Clair’s judgment and spared
him the embarrassment of making his letter known to Congress.
William Henry Smith, the complier of Arthur St. Clair’s Papers
concludes his chapter on this incident stating:
While
St. Clair was engaged in closing up the accounts and furloughing
the veteran soldiers, in 1783, the new levies, stationed at
Lancaster, refusing to accept their discharges without immediate
pay, mutinied and marched for Philadelphia, for the avowed
purpose of compelling Congress to accede to their demands. The
mutineers were reinforced by the recruits in the barracks of
Philadelphia, and, as they marched to the hall where Congress was
in session, they numbered three hundred. Their demand was made in
very peremptory terms, that, "unless their demand was complied
with in twenty minutes, they would let in upon them the injured
soldiery, the consequences of which they were to abide." Word was
immediately sent to General St. Clair, and his presence
requested. After hearing a statement of the facts by him,
Congress directed him to endeavor to march the mutineers to their
barracks, and to announce to them that Congress would enter into
no deliberation with them; that they must return to Lancaster,
and that there, and only there, they would be paid.1 After this,
Congress appointed a committee to confer with the executive of
Pennsylvania, and adjourned. The members passed through the files
of the mutineers, without being
molested.
The
committee, with Alexander Hamilton as chairman, waited on the
State Executive Council; but, receiving no promise of
protection, on the 24th of June, advised an adjournment of
Congress to Princeton. The day after their arrival there, a
resolution was passed directing General Howe to march fifteen
hundred troops to Philadelphia to disarm the mutineers and
bring them to trial. Before this force could reach
Philadelphia, St. Clair and the Executive Council had succeeded
in quieting the disturbance without bloodshed. The principal
leaders were arrested, obedience secured, after which Congress
granted a pardon. The resolution directing General Howe to move
with the troops, gave offense to General St. Clair, who
regarded it as an attempt to supersede him in his command.
Thereupon, he addressed a sharp letter to the President of
Congress, who very considerately refrained from laying it
before that body. Explanations followed, showing that St. Clair
had misconstrued the order, and peace prevailed once
more. [20]
It was not until two years later that Arthur St. Clair
would enter onto the stage of national politics. In
November of 1785 he was elected a Pennsylvania delegate to the
USCA and joined the ranks of the same body he freed from the
military mutiny two years earlier. His tenure as a
delegate to the USCA was plagued with quorum failures. By
January 1, 1787, the USCA had gone almost two months without
forming a quorum and replacing President Gorham who had
returned to Massachusetts in early November
1786.
So paralyzed was the federal government that on January
12th, when Massachusetts General William Shepard
wrote to Knox
[21]
pleading with him to endorse the
decision to arm 900 local militia using guns and ammunition
commandeered from the U.S. Arsenal he was marching on to
protect at Springfield, Knox replied that he lacked authority
to give that permission. That authority, Knox wrote, rested
with the United States Congress, which was not currently in
session. General Shepard decided to go ahead without
Knox’s permission lest the Arsenal "fall into into Enemies
from too punctilious observance of Forms." Shepard
reached the armory before Shays and commandeered the weapons
stored there.
1787, the most eventful legislative year in United States
history, began with only eight states assembling to form the
USCA in New York City. The delegates, after much debate, turned
to Major-General Arthur St. Clair, who freed the Third USCA
from mutineers in Philadelphia in 1783. Aside from
Revolutionary War military experience, St. Clair also had close
personal ties to former Commander-in-Chief George
Washington. These were qualities the Seventh USCA
Delegates deemed essential to lead the nation in this time of
civilian crisis. The five states that had no representation,
New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and
North Carolina, were notified the other eight States elected
Arthur St. Clair President by Charles Thomson on February 2,
1787.
Little did these states
realize that February 2, 1787 would usher in a Presidency, USCA
and Philadelphia Convention that would transform rebellion and
their crumbling
Perpetual Union
into a prosperous nation
committed to citizen liberty and free enterprise. Today Arthur
St. Clair’s Election Day is
celebrated heatedly in
Western Pennsylvania. Since 1841, St. Clair’s fellow
Western Pennsylvanians revel this momentous date by anxiously
awaiting Punxsutawney Phil’s emergence from a
“burrow”
to see or not to see his
shadow. Few, if any, realize the importance of Ground Hog
Day
[22]
in
U.S. Founding history.
After St. Clair’s election, the USCA ordered a report on 1787
fiscal estimates, adopted the report of committee on delegate
qualifications, and poured over the mountain of accumulated
treasury and war office reports. On February 14th
nine states were represented for the first time in three months
permitting the enactment of laws and resolutions binding all
thirteen states. The USCA spent almost the entire day debating,
reorganizing and drafting:
An Ordinance for regulating the Post Office of the United
States of America. Whereas the communication of intelligence
with regularity and dispatch, from one part to another of these
United States, is essentially requisite to the safety as well
as the commercial interest thereof; and the United States in
Congress assembled, being by the articles of confederation,
vested with the sole and exclusive right and power of
establishing and regulating Post Offices throughout all the
United States; and whereas it is become necessary to revise the
several regulations heretofore made, relating to the Post
Office, and reduce them to one act.[23]
The following day Congress authorized the postmaster general to
contract for mail delivery and then turned to debating the
Annapolis Convention’s recommendations for revising the
Constitution of 1777.
On February 19th, Congress elected Lambert Cadwalader of New Jersey USCA Chairman because President St. Clair was not present. On February 21, 1787 Chairman Cadwalader presided over the USCA while it considered the report of the Annapolis
Convention, which was a "Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government." James Madison wrote:
The Report of the Convention at Annapolis in September 1786 had
been long under consideration of a Committee of the Congress
for the last year; and was referred over to a Grand Committee
of the present year. The latter Committee after considerable
difficulty and discussion, agreed on a report by a majority of
one only, which was made a few days ago to Congress and set
down as the order for this day. The Report coincided with the
opinion held at Annapolis that the Confederation needed
amendments and that the proposed Convention was the most
eligible means of affecting them. The objections which seemed
to prevail against the recommendation of the Convention by
Congress were with some. That it tended to weaken the federal
authority by lending its sanction to an extra-constitutional
mode of proceeding with others 2. that the interposition of
Congress would be considered by the jealous as betraying an
ambitious wish to get power into their hands by any plan
whatever that might present itself …
All agreed & owned that the federal Govt. in its
existing shape was inefficient & could not last long. The
members from the Southern & middle States seemed generally
anxious for some republican organization of the System which
wd. preserve the Union and give due energy to the Government.
[24]
The USCA formally tweaked and then
approved the New York Delegation’s resolution calling for a
Philadelphia Convention at Independence Hall to revise the
Articles of Confederation beginning in the 2nd week of May
1787.
Resolved that in the opinion of Congress it is expedient that
on the second Monday in May next a Convention of delegates who
shall have been appointed by the several States be held
at
Philadelphia for the sole and express purpose of revising the
Articles of Confederation and reporting to Congress and the
several legislatures such alterations and provisions therein as
shall when agreed to in Congress and confirmed by the States
render the federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of
Government and the preservation of the Union. [25]
Just after the passage of the
Philadelphia Convention resolution, Congress received this
communication for the State of Massachusetts:
The delegates of Massachusetts in Obedience to the Instructions
of the legislature of that Commonwealth and to the end that
their constituents may claim and possess all the benefits and
advantages to which by the articles of Confederation and
perpetual Union they are or may be entitled, represent to the
United States in Congress assembled the information contained
in the three subjoined papers; 1 Being the speech
of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to the
general court thereof; 2. The reply of the general
court to the speech of the Governor; 3. The
declaration of a rebellion within that commonwealth and the
said delegates in conformity with the instructions of their
constituents farther represent to the United States in Congress
assembled that the legislature of Massachusetts are firmly
persuaded that by far the greater part of the citizens of that
commonwealth are well affected to the government thereof and
that there is the highest probability by the blessing of
Almighty God that the present rebellion will be speedily
suppressed. The said legislature confiding that had it been
necessary the firmest support and most effectual aid would have
been afforded by the United States to that Commonwealth for
putting an end to the insurrections and rebellion which have
happened within the same, such support and aid being expressly
and solemnly stipulated by the Articles of Confederation and
perpetual Union.
The report, fully published in the March 9th, 1787
USCA Journals went on to inform the President that the
insurrection was crushed, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial
Court sentenced fourteen of the rebellion's leaders, including
Shays, to death for treason. Only two men, John Bly and Charles
Rose of Berkshire County, were hung for their part in the
Rebellion as the others, including Shays’ case were held under
review.
What occurred a month earlier was that General Shepard's
militia, numbering 1200 men, reached the Springfield Arsenal
before Shay’s forces on January 25th. The
Rebellion’s forces were split on either side of the river due
to miscommunication between Daniel Shays and
Luke Day who wrote the leader he was unable to reach the
Arsenal until January 26th. The message was never
received and
1,400 men, led by Captain Daniel Shays, advanced on the Arsenal
a day early.
It was bitterly cold and the Arsenal barracks, as well as the
arms, embolden Shays’ men to challenge Shepard’s militia.
General Lincoln’s 4,000 man Army, marching from Boston, had not
arrived as Shays had predicted. It was therefore up to
General Shepard’s forces, armed with the federal arsenal’s
muskets, ammunition, and two canons, to prevent Shays' column
from taking the take the Arsenal.
The general’s first move was to send out an officer requesting
Shays’ men disband but they continued to march towards the
arsenal believing their fellow citizens would not fire on their
neighbors. Shepard ordered the canons to fire warning shots
above the heads of the advancing column but again they failed
to disperse. The order was given to fire directly into
the approaching army "at waistband height." Several rounds of
cannonballs and grapeshot were ablazed into the center of the
rebellion, killing three men and wounding two dozen. Crying
"Murder," with no musket fire from either side, Shays’
forces fled north.
Luke Day, whose forces were still across the River disbanded
and headed north.
This action ended Shays Rebellion.
In New York, with the rebellion crushed, the USCA turned their
attention back to the west and the opportunities for raising
revenue though land sales of the new Territory. Congress
understood that the Ohio River was navigable to the Mississippi
opening up trade routes to New Orleans and the warm waters of
the Gulf of Mexico. A Spanish treaty for free and
uninhibited access to the Mississippi Delta meant new business
development for the Northwest Territory who lands bordered the
Ohio and the mighty Mississippi rivers. This marked
increase in land acquisition applications and eventually, the
USCA’s land would greatly increase in value.
The Spanish Treaty was followed up with yet another foreign
accomplishment by Secretary John Jay’s establishment of a
consul at Lisbon, Portugal:
Jay's report had been prompted by a February 20 letter from the
American agent at Madiera, John Marsden Pintard. Pintard, who
had been on leave in New York and was on the point of returning
to Madiera, had recommended that Congress extend his "Agency"
to include the port of Lisbon, adding that he would serve
there, as he had in Madeira, without "any pecuniary
Compensation or salary." Although expressing a preference for
having "a Resident or Minister with consular Powers" at Lisbon,
Jay essentially endorsed Pintard's recommendation, and Congress
resolved March 13 "That a commercial Agent to reside at the
Port of Lisbon be appointed.
[26]
No appointment was made because Congress' had yet to settle the
claims of the former United States agent at Lisbon during the
war. Arnold Henry Dohrman, who had fronted over $25,000
on behalf of captive Americans brought into Portuguese ports
during the War, had yet to be reimbursed four years later. The
USCA Journals report that the day set for the election of the
new Lisbon Minister, “March 19, was also the date the board
of treasury submitted its report on Dohrman's claims, but its
recommendations were not adopted until October 1.”
[27]
Arthur St. Clair like his predecessors was constantly plagued
with juggling precarious personal finances in a debt ridden
economy, with the duties of a Presidential office that provided
no salary. By mid-March, St. Clair’s personal debt
obligations were weighing heavily on his shoulders. He
took the time to write John Nicholson of Philadelphia
concerning money owed to him by Pennsylvania so he could settle
some private debts that were quite deficient. This letter
also indicates that the USCA was considering relocation to
Philadelphia. President St. Clair writes from New York:
Tomorrow is the day which was fixed by you as the longest day
to which any delay in the payment of our Arrears could be
extended. I am not informed what payments or whether any have
been since made. It is most unfortunate for me that I am at
present confined to this City, by my public Duty, because I am
certain I could if it had been possible to have got back to
Philadelphia have obtained Money to answer the Demand in some
way or other in the present Situation all I have been able to
do has been to insist on the other two Gentlemen’s paying up
their respective Balances which will amount to a considerable
part of the Sum; my own I have no other way of providing for,
but by a Sale of Certificates, which I will send on for the
purpose by tomorrows Post or the next day at farthest unless
Council should be pleased to allow me to place them as a
deposit in your hands for farther assurance and grant some
farther time for the collection of our Debts, which I have
requested. … I have only to request that you will not
issue process until my certificate gets to hand; that can be
turned into Money in a few Hours, tho' to my very great Injury
but the loss of Money is a trifle in my Eyes, compared to the
loss of Reputation. There is a probability that Congress will
remove to Philadelphia, but should that not happen, I suppose
my presence may be dispensed with for a short time, but I can
take no steps about it until I hear from Philadelphia which I
expected by last post, and anxiously look for by the next.
[28]
April’s business in the USCA centered around 1787 fiscal
estimates, more Spanish negotiations on the Mississippi,
another land sales plan for the Northwest Territory, the
establishment of copper coinage, and the discharge of the
troops who had enlisted to put down Shays' Rebellion. On
April 13, 1787 the USCA and the President found it necessary to
send a circular letter to all the States reminding them that
they must comply with the Treaty of Paris. This is yet
another testament, signed by the President of the United
States, that the Articles of Confederation were a
constitution:
Let it be
remembered that the thirteen Sovereign States have by express
delegation of power formed & vested in us a General, though
limited Sovereignty, for the General & National
purposes Specified in the Confederation. In this Sovereignty
they cannot severally participate except by their Delegates nor
with it have concurrent jurisdiction, for the 9th Article of
Confederation most expressly conveys to us the Sole and
exclusive right & power of determining war & peace and
of entering into Treaties and alliances, &c. When therefore
a Treaty is constitutionally made, Ratified and Published by
us, it immediately becomes binding on the whole Nation and
Superadded to the Laws of the Land without the intervention of
State Legislatures. Treaties derive their obligation from being
Compacts between the Sovereignty of this, and the Sovereignty
of another Nation.[29]
![April 7th, 1787 Columbia University's invitation to President Arthur St. Clair and the members of Congress to attend its graduation ceremonies.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXIiuKtdTtmmRp_5oUKoT3OM1ykYQGVyZvvcqWX12gdA_bmgCJ42NNs6NYrBPt9iCrhPp78WI7aVOOtOj7DMn4Iw3x79QEdsyqyu71aJA-FvX2touJ7w2YvUsjQf4s6x4V_11Yhyphenhyphenu88zn1/s640/St+Clair+President+request+to+attend+Columbia+Commencement.jpg) |
Columbia University's invitation to President Arthur St. Clair and the members of Congress to attend its graduation ceremonies.
|
Only on the 16th and 17th did Congress
fail to achieve a quorum. On the 21st
the following resolution was enacted for the copper coinage:
That the board of treasury be and they are hereby authorized to
contract for three hundred tons of copper Coin of the federal
standard agreeably to the proposition of Mr. James Jarvis;
provided that the premium, to be allowed to the United States
on the amount of copper Coin contracted for, be not less than
fifteen per cent; that it be coined at the expense of the
contractor, but under the inspection of an Officer appointed
and paid by the United States.
That the Obligations to be given, for the payment of the copper
coin to be delivered under such contract, be redeemable within
twenty years after the date thereof, that they bear an interest
not exceeding six per cent per annum and that the principal and
interest accruing thereon be payable within the United States.
That the whole of the aforesaid loan shall be sacredly
appropriated and applied to the reduction of the domestic debt
of the United States and the premium thereon towards the
payment of the interest of the foreign debt.[30]
This resolution was followed with land resolution assigning
parcels to the Army and adopting terms for the sale of western
land:
Resolved, that after the Secretary at War shall have drawn for
the proportionate quantity of the lands already surveyed which
were assigned to the late Army, agreeably to the
Ordinance1
of the 20th May 1785, the remainder shall be advertised for
Sale in one of the Newspapers at least of each of the States,
for the Space of four months from the date of the
Advertisement, [and] at the expiration of which time [five
months from this day], the sale of the land shall commence in
the place where Congress shall sit, and continue from day to
day until the same shall be disposed of; provided that none of
the Land shall be sold at a less price than one dollar per
Acre, and that the Sale shall be made agreeably to the mode
pointed out by the Ordinance aforesaid.
Resolved, that one third of the purchase money shall be
immediately paid in any of the public securities of the United
States to the Treasurer of the said States; and that the
remaining two thirds shall be paid in like manner in three
months after the date of the sale, on which payment (a
Certificate thereof being previously furnished by the Treasurer
to the Board of Treasury) Titles to the lands shall be given to
the purchasers by the Board of Treasury, agreeably to the terms
prescribed by the said Ordinance; provided, that if the second
payment shall not be made in three months as aforesaid the
first payment shall be forfeited, and the land shall again be
exposed to Sale.
Ordered, that the Board of Treasury take the Necessary measures
for carrying the aforesaid resolutions into effect, and also
for exhibiting the Surveys of the Lands. [31]
On April 23 the USCA approved extending franking privilege to
the delegates of Philadelphia Convention. On the
24th Congress was forced to order recapture of Fort
Vinncennes
[32]
which was a very important
fortification during the Revolutionary War. George Rogers Clark
had captured Vincennes in 1779 and Virginia established the
county of Illinois which marked the beginning of U.S. control
of the Northwest Territory. Virginia’s secession of the
territory and Fort to the Federal Government prompted squatters
and settlers to take a bold action against the Congress. The
Journals reported that “a body of men who have in a lawless
and unauthorised manner taken possession of post St. Vincent’s
in defiance of the proclamations and authority of the United
States.”
[33]
This action forced Congress to
dispatch troops to regain possession.
Good news followed this action with the notification that the
Massachusetts-New York land dispute was finally
settled. On April 25th and 26th
Congress received and debated North Carolina’s formal protest
against their Native American treaties. From April
27th to May 1 the Congress failed to achieve a
quorum.
The USCA was able to gather itself together again from May 2nd
to the 11th debating proposals concerning interstate
commercial conventions, the Northwest Ordinance, the location
of federal capital and once again Mississippi River
negotiations with Spain. From May 12th-31st the USCA failed to
achieve quorum due to the loss of delegates from certain States
to attend the Philadelphia Convention at Independence
Hall. On May 18th even the President found it
to be a waste of his time to appear each day in the USCA only
to adjourn the session due to a failed quorum call. St. Clair
explains this in a letter to Secretary Thomson this letter just
before he departed for Philadelphia:
Having some pressing Business, in a distant part of
Pennsylvania, that cannot well be done without my being
personally present, I avail myself of the Situation of Congress
at this time to attend to it. It will probably be five or six
Weeks before I can return, but I am the easier on that account
as there seems little probability that Congress will be fuller
within either of these periods. Should however a sufficient
number of States for the dispatch of Business present
themselves earlier, be so obliging as to make them acquainted
with the necessity there was for my Absence, and my request
that they will please to appoint a Chairman until I can get
back, an Event that I will hasten as much as possible. The
Adjournment from Day to Day until seven States appear you, of
course, will attend to, and I find by the Journals that the
presence of the President, merely for the purpose of adjourning
has not been thought necessary but has often been done by the
Secretary.
[34]
Despite the Presidential directive, Secretary Charles Thomson
also left for Philadelphia and did not return to New York until
June 24th. William Grayson of Virginia
[35]
was elected chairman of Congress to
perform presidential duties until St. Clair’s return on July
17th. Who was discharging the duties of Secretary Thomson in
late May is still a question of scholarly concern.
After three years of hotly contested debates the time was right
for the approval of an Ordinance for governing the Northwest
Territory. The treasury was utterly empty, the United
States had defaulted on its loan payments to France opting to
pay Holland or risk impressments of its ships, and USCA was in
the right frame of mind to consider plans for bringing the
government lands into market because the Ohio Company
was willing to purchase millions of acres
for private development. Additionally, earlier in the month
Delegate James Monroe’s committee on the western government
proposed the replacement of Jefferson’s 1784 eleven states’
plan with a system that would result in no less than three or
more than five states.[36]
Earlier that year, the Ohio Company replaced Parsons with the
Reverend Manasseh Cutler aligned himself with William
Duer,[37]secretary
of the U.S. Treasury Board. Pressures on the U.S. Treasury were
dire and Duer and his associates formed a steadfast group of
New York speculators determined for the settlement of the
Northwest Territory. It was the economic strain added to
the influence of Duer and
Massachusetts Delegate
Nathan Dane[38]that
persuaded President Arthur St. Clair and key delegates to
permit Dr. Cutler[39]to
work directly with the committee assigned the task of drafting
the Northwest Ordinance.
The Committee consisted of only Virginia Delegate Edward
Carrington[40]and
Massachusetts
Delegate Nathan Dane because committee members James Madison
and Rufus King were in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia
Convention. In the afternoon, the USCA appointed
three new members, former President Richard Henry Lee, John
Kean,[41]and
Melancton Smith[42]to
replace the three absent delegates. The new delegates
outnumbered the old delegates who had been working on the
measure for over a year. Additionally, Carrington was
elected as the Chairman and they with Ohio Company Agent Cutler
took up James Monroe’s plan. This committee did not
merely revise the ordinances of 1784 and 1785; they began to
draft an entirely new plan for the territory northwest of the
Ohio government.
The committee, animated by the presence of Lee, went to its
work in good earnest. Dane, who had been actively employed on
the colonial government for more than a year, and for about ten
months, had served on the committee which had the subject in
charge, acted the part of scribe. Like Smith and Lee, he had
opposed a federal convention for the reform of the
constitution. The three agreed very well together, though Dane
secretly harbored the wish of finding in the West an ally for "
eastern politics." They were pressed for time, and found it
necessary finally to adopt the best system they could get. At
first they took up the plan reported by Monroe; but new ideas
were started; and they worked with so much industry that on the
eleventh of July their report of an ordinance for the
government of the territory of the United States north-west of
the river Ohio was read for its first time in congress.
[43]
Cutler added an educational provision which was revised by the
committee and became part of Article III. Other revisions were
made after input from the President. Dr. Cutler,
satisfied with the changes, did not remain in New York for the
vote in Congress and left for Philadelphia that
evening.
The ordinance required seven votes to pass and the States were
divided four South and five North. The reading by Chairman
Nathan Dane on the 11th did not include the
provision abolishing slavery. The Chairman who has been
credited, along with Cutler, with the primary drafting of the
ordinance thought it best to leave the anti-slavery language
out. He and other anti-slavery delegates believed this
would enable the southern delegations to focus more clearly on
the favorable attributes of the ordinance. On July
12th, the ordinance was read again by Dane but this
time the anti-slavery provision was added.
In a strange twist of events on July 12th, as the
all-important Northwest Ordinance bill was being debated on the
floor, President St. Clair decided to take a three-day leave of
Congress along with what surely would have been a yes vote from
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Eight states remained and with William Grayson serving as Chairman on July 13th, the
ordinance passed unanimously.
[44]
It has been charged that both Arthur St. Clair and Dr. Cutler
left New York to cover-up their back room dealings of the
President’s appointment to the governorship. St. Clair’s
biographer writes:
On the 13th of July he [President Arthur St. Clair]did not
preside. He had gone the day before to New Jersey to visit a
friend, and he did not return until two days after the passage
of the Ordinance. Only eight States out of thirteen voted for
that instrument: Pennsylvania was one of the five not
represented. When St. Clair returned to New York, he was
accompanied by General Irvine, one of his colleagues. In a
letter of the latter, written 19th July, and addressed to
Colonel Richard Butler, he refers to the Ordinance which had
passed two days before his return, and adds: "Who the officers
of that government will be I have not heard, nor
inquired."
If the name of General St. Clair had been canvassed, or, if he
had had any understanding with the New England people, as is
alleged, it would have been known to a friend as intimate as
General Irvine. But, furthermore, we have his own testimony,
which is of the best, to sustain us. In a letter to the Hon.
William B. Giles, he says that the office of Governor was, in a
great measure, forced upon him by his friends, who thought
there would be in it means to compensate for his sacrifices to
his country, and provide for his large family. But it proved
otherwise. He had "neither the taste nor genius for speculation
in land; nor did he consider it consistent with the office." He
declared the accepting of the Governorship the most imprudent
act of his life, for he was then in possession of a lucrative
office, and his influence at home was very considerable. But he
had the "laudable ambition of becoming the father of a country,
and laying the foundation for the happiness of millions then
unborn."
[45]
On the day of the ordinance’s passage, Chairman Dane, transmits
a copy to Rufus King with this letter shedding more light on
the negotiations on the land purchase:
We have been much engaged in business for ten or twelve days
past for a part of which we have had eight States. There
appears to be a disposition to do business, and the arrival of
R. H. Lee is of considerable importance. I think his character
serves, at least in some degree, to check the effects of the
feeble habits and lax modes of thinking in some of his
Countrymen. We have been employed about several objects; the
principal ones of which have been the Government enclosed and
the Ohio purchase.
The former you will see is completed and the latter will be
probably completed tomorrow. We tried one day to patch up M;
Systems of W. Government; Started new Ideas and committed the
whole to Carrington, Dane, R. H. Lee, Smith, & Kean; we met
several times and at last agreed on some principles at least
Lee, Smith & myself. We found ourselves rather pressed, the
Ohio Company appeared to purchase a large tract of the federal
lands, about 6 or 7 million of acres; and we wanted to abolish
the old system and get a better one for the Government of the
Country; and we finally found it necessary to adopt the best
system we could get.
All agreed finally to the enclosed except A. Yates; he appeared
in this Case, as in most other not to understand the subject at
all. I think the number of free Inhabitants 60,000, which are
requisite for the admission of a new State into the Confederacy
is too small, but having divided the whole territory into three
States, this number appeared to me to be less important, each
State in the Common Course of things must become important soon
after it shall have that number of Inhabitants. The eastern
State of the three will probably be the first, and more
important than the rest; and, will no doubt be settled chiefly
by Eastern people, and there is, I think, full an equal chance
of it adopting Eastern politics. When I drew the ordinance
which passed (in a few words excepted) as I originally formed
it, I had no idea the States would agree to the sixth Article
prohibiting Slavery; as only Massa. of the Eastern States was
present; and therefore omitted it in the draft; but finding the
House favorably disposed on this subject, after we had
completed the other parts I moved the article; which was agreed
to without opposition.
We are in a fair way to fix the terms of our Ohio sale, &c.
We have been upon it three days steadily. The magnitude of the
purchase makes us very cautious about the terms of it, and the
security necessary to ensure the performance of them.
[46]
The negotiations with the Ohio Company and their New York
Associates syndicate later known as the Scioto Company was
fruitful.
The contract between the Board of Treasury of the United States
(which then administered land affairs), and the Ohio Company
stipulated the sale to the company of 1,500,000 acres in what
is now southeast Ohio for $1,000,000. The contract acknowledged
the payment of one-half the purchase price, the second $500,000
to be paid one month after the completion of a survey of the
exterior lines of the tract. Within seven years the company was
to provide the federal government an internal survey of the
grant "Laid out and divided into Townships [six miles square]
and fractional parts of Townships and also divided into Lots,"
according to the Land Ordinance of 1785. In addition to the
company’s purchase, Congress granted lot (that is, section)
sixteen in each township for schools, lot twenty-nine for
purposes of religion, and two townships for a university.
Sections eight, eleven, and twenty-six remained “Congress
lands.” Samuel Osgood and Arthur Lee signed the contract for
the Board of Treasury; Cutler and Winthrop Sargent for the Ohio
Company …
Appointed superintendent of the Ohio Company, Putnam arrived at
the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers on 7 April 1788
with a company of men to found a settlement, subsequently named
Marietta. While the work of surveying, clearing, and building
went on, the company's directors attempted to raise the
remaining $500,000 owed to the government. In October 1789
Richard Platt, a New York merchant and the company’s treasurer,
reported that shareholders were almost $300,000 in arrears for
their subscriptions of company stock, but had all of them paid
up, the company still would have been short of the money that
was owed. In addition, trouble with the Indians on the
company's land meant the hiring of guards, the building of
fortifications, and the curtailing of settlements. In 1790
Congress accepted a plan proposed by Alexander Hamilton,
Secretary of the Treasury, to fund all outstanding federal and
state debts, a plan that effectively raised the depreciated
currency to par value.
[47]
The passage of the Northwest Ordinance under Arthur St. Clair's
Presidency was rightfully praised, in the 19th
Century, by U.S. Senator Daniel Webster:
We are accustomed to praise lawgivers of antiquity ... but I
doubt whether one single law of any lawgiver, ancient or
modern, has produced the effects of more distinct, marked, and
lasting character than the Ordinance of
1787.[48]
In 1787, the world was now put on notice that the land north
and west of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi would be
settled and utilized for the creation of "… not less
than three nor more than five territories." Additionally,
this plan for governing the Northwest Territory included
freedom of religion, right to trial by jury, the banishment of
slavery, and public education as asserted rights granted to the
people in the territory. This ordinance was and still remains
one of the most important laws ever enacted by the government
of the United States and it begins:
An Ordinance for the government of the Territory of the United
States northwest of the River Ohio. Section 1. Be it ordained
by the United States in Congress assembled, That the said
territory, for the purposes of temporary government, be one
district, subject, however, to be divided into two districts,
as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make
it expedient. …
[49]
Specifically, this ordinance was an exceptional piece of
legislation because Article Five permitted the people North and
West of the Ohio River to settle their land, form their own
territorial government, and take their place as a full-fledged
state, equal to the original 13. The Northwest Ordinance's
Article Five became the principle that enabled the United
States rapid westward expansion, which ended with the inclusion
of Alaska and Hawaii as our 49th and 50th states. This
ordinance also guaranteed that inhabitants of the Territory
would have the same rights and privileges that citizens of the
original 13 States enjoyed.
Equally important, Article Six provided that slavery
and involuntary servitude were outlawed in the Northwest
Territory.
There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the
said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes,
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided
always, that any person escaping into the same, from whom labor
or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original
States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to
the person claiming his or her labor or service, as aforesaid.
[50]
Article Sixwas
the first federal law that finally gave some merit to "...
all men are created equal...” written 11 years earlier in
the Declaration of Independence. In 1865, when Abraham
Lincoln succeeded in passing through Congress the 13th
Amendment that finally abolishing United States slavery, he
changed only one word in Article Six, “territory”
became “states.”
Theism was also openly expressed in the legislation as
Article Three of the Ordinance stated:
Religion, Morality and knowledge being necessary to good
government and the happiness of mankind, Schools and the means
of education shall be forever encouraged.[51]
This measure essentially legislated that religion and morality
were indispensable to good government but it was not carried
out by the federal government because the United States
confederation was financially insolvent in 1788 and faded away
in 1789. A second constitution emerged from Philadelphia that
laid the legal foundation that Jefferson would refer to as
"thus
building a wall of separation between Church &
State.”[52]
Several western state governments adopted similar legislation
to
Article Three
and provided financial assistance to the churches up and until
the early 19th
Century. Today the second U.S. Constitution finds itself
an opponent to both
Article Threeand
States that support churches and/or religion with public
funding.
With the Northwest Ordinance passed, the 1787 Congress turned
to international matters ratifying a commercial treaty with
Morocco, orders John Adams to seek a convention with Britain on
violations of the treaty of peace, approves appointments of
commercial agents to Morocco, orders report on formation of
"a Confederacy with the powers of Europe" against the
Barbary States; instructs Jefferson on consular convention with
France and continues debates through August on Native American
holdings in the Northwest Territory.[53]
Five days after the passage of
the Northwest Ordinance, the USCA ratified a commercial treaty
with Morocco. The Moroccan sultan, Muhammad III, included
the United States in a list of countries to which Morocco’s
ports were open in December of 1777. Morocco became the first
country whose head of state publicly recognized the new United
States and the relations were formalized with the
Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship negotiated by
Thomas Barclay, and signed by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and
Muhammad III in 1786. Ratified by
the USCA and President St. Clair on July 18, 1787, this treaty
has withstood transatlantic stresses and strains for more than
220 years, making it the lengthiest unbroken treaty
relationship in United States history.
|
Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship Ratification
dated July 18, 1787 by “Arthur St. Clair, our President,
at the City of New York” - Image Courtesy of the Library
of Congress
|
Meanwhile, in 1787 Philadelphia
a
reasonable quorum of States did not convene to
“revise” the Articles of Confederation
and
ultimately form the new constitution until May 25th.
On that day James Madison writes:
Friday 25 of May … Mr Robert Morris
informed
the members assembled that by the instruction & in behalf,
of the deputation of Pena. he proposed George
Washington
Esqr.
late Commander in chief for president of the Convention. Mr.
Jno. Rutlidge seconded the motion; expressing his confidence
that the choice would be unanimous, and observing that the
presence of Genl Washington forbade any observations on the
occasion which might otherwise be proper.
General (Washington) was accordingly unanimously elected by
ballot, and conducted to the chair by Mr. R. Morris and Mr.
Rutlidge; from which in a very emphatic manner he thanked the
Convention for the honor they had conferred on him, reminded
them of the novelty of the scene of business in which he was to
act, lamented his want of (better qualifications), and claimed
the indulgence of the House towards the involuntary errors
which his inexperience might occasion.
The convention was attended by 12 States (Rhode Island sent no
delegates) and produced an innovative new Plan of the New
Federal Government. Volumes have been written on the
convention that produced the current constitution of the United
States of America and here are some
highlights.
President George Washington began
the first session by adopting rules of order which included the
provision of secrecy. No paper could be removed from the
Convention without the majority leave of the members. The
yeas and nays of the members were not recorded and it was the
unwritten understanding that no disclosure of the proceedings
would be made during the lives of its delegates. At the
end of the convention Washington ordered that every record be
burned except the Journals which were merely minutes, of which
he took personal possession. “We the
People”
of the United States, therefore, knew very little about the
Convention until the Journals were finally published in
1819. It was not until the death of President James
Madison that
his wife, Dolley, revealed she possessed his account of the
convention. Dolley Madison sold the journals to the
Library of Congress in 1843.
The delegates of the convention had no authority to scrap the
Articles of Confederation and
construct a new constitution in its place. Throughout the
proceedings this fact was addressed in debate and federally
minded delegates led by George Washington
,
James Madison,
Benjamin Franklin,
Alexander Hamilton and
Charles Pinckney all
stood firm on formulating an entirely new constitution. To this
end, the larger states (by population) were determined to
change the one state one vote system adopted under the Articles
of Confederation. The smaller states sought to
preserve their sovereignty and equality in casting votes. The
two sides, as they did in York
Pennsylvania
formulating
the Articles of Confederation in 1777, clashed ten years later
on this same issue of States rights over
federalism.
Edmund Randolph submitted
the large states “Virginia
Plan”
that was primarily drafted by James Madison
.
There were other plans, most just seeking revisions to the
Articles of Confederation.
Surprisingly, the 29 year old delegate from South
Carolina,
Charles Pinckney,
provided a plan of a federal structure and powers that were
more tangible than any other plan. Pinckney's plan was
actually a nascent form of the constitution that would be
eventually be passed by the Philadelphia
convention
of States.
The small States clashed with the large States over
representation in the newly proposed bi-cameral legislature.
They went into committee to develop their plan, emerging only
seeking to amend the Articles of Confederation
’s
one-state one-vote system. The proposed
improvements consisted primarily of weak federal
executive and judiciary branches in addition to the unicameral
legislature.
The
federal government, under the small States’ “New
Jersey Plan”
[54]would
remain a confederation with
the requirement of at least nine states voting in the positive
to enforce their decrees.
There were many compromises in the Philadelphia
convention
but none was more crucial than how the representatives and
senators would be numbered in the two newly proposed
legislative houses. The large States insisted that all members
be selected based on population. The small States disagreed and
they lost the convention vote on this matter to the large State
voting bloc, which embittered many of the members. James
Madison wrote
of one small State delegate:
Mr. L. MARTIN
resumed his discourse, contending that the Genl. Govt. ought to
be formed for the States, not for individuals: that if the
States were to have votes in proportion to their numbers of
people, it would be the same thing whether their
representatives were chosen by the Legislatures or the people;
the smaller States would be equally enslaved; that if the large
States have the same interest with the smaller as was urged,
there could be no danger in giving them an equal vote; they
would not injure themselves, and they could not injure the
large ones on that supposition without injuring themselves and
if the interests, were not the same, the inequality of suffrage
wd. be dangerous to the smaller States: that it will be in vain
to propose any plan offensive to the rulers of the States,
whose influence over the people will certainly prevent their
adopting it: that the large States were weak at present in
proportion to their extent: & could only be made formidable
to the small ones, by the weight of their votes; that in case a
dissolution of the Union should take place, the small States
would have nothing to fear from their power; that if in such a
case the three great States should league themselves together,
the other ten could do so too: & that he had rather see
partial confederacies take place, than the plan on the
table.
This was the substance of the residue of his discourse which
was delivered with much diffuseness & considerable
vehemence.
[55]
On June 28, 1787 the small States gave an ultimatum to the
convention that unless representation in both branches of the
proposed legislature was on the basis of equality, one-state
one-vote, they would forthwith leave the proceedings.
With tempers flaring, Benjamin Franklin
rose
and called for a recess with the understanding that the
delegates should confer with those whom they disagreed rather
than with those with whom they agreed.
This recess resulted in a crucial compromise of the
convention. The House of Representatives were to be
elected by the people based on population thus providing more
representation in the new federal government to the large
states. This House, however, was to be checked by the
Senate where each state, regardless of size, would have two
votes. This solved the great convention crisis and the
delegates would labor another two months to create, arguably,
one of the most elastic forms of government in human
history. The new plan for the federal government that
scrapped the Articles of Confederation
consisted
of less than four thousand words.
The innovative Plan of the New Federal Government was
passed on September 17, 1787
and
rushed to New York by
stagecoach. The new constitution was presented to
Congress along with a letter from the convention’s President,
George Washington to
President Arthur St. Clair:
SIR, -- WE have now the honor to submit to the
consideration of the United States in Congress assembled, that
Constitution which has appeared to us the most
advisable.
The friends of our country have long seen and desired, that the
power of making war, peace and treaties, that of levying money
and regulating commerce, and the correspondent executive and
judicial authorities should be fully and effectually vested in
the general government of the Union: but the impropriety of
delegating such extensive trust to one body of men is
evident—Hence results the necessity of a different
organization.
It is obviously impracticable in the federal government of
these States, to secure all rights of independent sovereignty
to each, and yet provide for the interest and safety of
all—Individuals entering into society, must give up a share of
liberty to preserve the rest. The magnitude of the sacrifice
must depend as well on situation and circumstance, as on the
object to be obtained. It is at all times difficult to draw
with precision the line between those rights which must be
surrendered, and those which may be reserved; and on the
present occasion this difficulty was encreased by a difference
among the several States as to their situation, extent, habits,
and particular interests.
In all our deliberations on this subject we kept steadily in
our view, that which appears to us the greatest interest of
every true American, the consolidation of our Union, in which
is involved our prosperity, felicity, safety, perhaps our
national existence. This important consideration, seriously and
deeply impressed on our minds, led each State in the Convention
to be less rigid on points of inferior magnitude, than might
have been otherwise expected; and thus the Constitution, which
we now present, is the result of a spirit of amity, and of that
mutual deference and concession which the peculiarity of our
political situation rendered indispensible.
That it will meet the full and entire approbation of every
State is not perhaps to be expected; but each will doubtless
consider, that had her interests been alone consulted, the
consequences might have been particularly disagreeable or
injurious to others; that it is liable to as few exceptions as
could reasonably have been expected, we hope and believe; that
it may promote the lasting welfare of that country so dear to
us all, and secure her freedom and happiness, is our most
ardent wish.
With great respect, we have the honor to be, SIR, Your
EXCELLENCY'S most obedient and humble Servants,
George Washington
,
President.
By unanimous Order of the CONVENTION.
HIS EXCELLENCY
The President of Congress [56]
|
Plan of The New Federal Government, Printed by
Robert Smith, September 1787 Original
Manuscript from the Stan Klos Collection.
|
The Convention delegates called for the Plan of The New
Federal Government to be sent to the states for their
consideration with only 2/3rds of their legislatures being
required to discard the Articles of Confederation
for
the new constitution. The convention overstepped
its authority granted by the seventh USCA
on
February 21, 1787 by first discarding the Articles instead of
revising the constitution and second, completely dismissing the
modification requirements set forth in Article XIII of the
federal constitution that stated:
Every State shall abide by the determination of the United
States in Congress assembled, on all questions which by this
confederation are
submitted to them. And the Articles of this Confederation shall
be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be
perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be
made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a
Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by
the legislatures of every State.
[57]
The proposed obliteration of the Articles of
Confederation by
convention was to be accomplished without the unanimous
approval by the States. It was a constitutional crisis that, to
this day, has not been equaled in the United States save the
southern succession of the 1860s.
Throughout
the month of September USCA failed to achieve a quorum until
the 20th when the Constitution of 1787 arrived in
New York from the Philadelphia Convention. While the
Constitution was being examined by the delegates, the USCA
convened and reelected treasury commissioners Arthur Lee,
Walter Livingston, and Samuel Osgood on the 21st
while cutting civil employee jobs. On September 24th
Congress accepted John Adams' retirement request from Foreign
Service and reviewed a report on the Netherlands.
Finally, on September 26th and 27th
President Arthur St. Clair called for the debate to begin on
the proposed Constitution of 1787 and the Philadelphia
Convention’s recommendation to send it on to the thirteen
States for ratification without any alterations.
Only sketches of the great debate that
ensued exist due to the veil of secrecy that surrounded
Congress. We do know from the notes by New York delegate
Melancton Smith, which became publicly available in 1959, that
a majority of the delegates believed they had the right to
alter the Constitution of 1787 before it was sent on to the
States. James Madison, Rufus King, and Nathaniel Gorham,
all Philadelphia Conventioneers, argued to the contrary. Unlike
the Articles of Confederation, the unanimous 13 state
ratification of the second constitution was not required.
Richard Henry Lee who sought full 13 State ratification would
lead the opposition to amend the Constitution of 1787 with this
condition and a Bill of Rights. Smith writes in
his notes:
RH LEE -- The convention had not proceeded as this house were
bound; it is to be agreed to by the States & means the 13;
but this recommends a new Confederation of nine; the
Convention has no more powers than Congress, yet if nine States
agree becomes supreme Law. Knows no instance on the Journals as
he remembers, opposing the Confederation the impost was to be
adopted by 13.
This is to be adopted & no other with alteration Why so?
good things in it; but many bad; so much so that he says here
as he will say everywhere that if adopted civil Liberty will be
in eminent danger.
[58]
After both Rufus King and James
Madison made their arguments to send the Constitution of 1787
on to the States without any changes or amendments Smith
records Lee’s response as:
Strangest doctrine he ever heard, that referring a matter of
report, that no alterations should be made. The Idea the common
sense of Man. The States & Congress he thinks had the Idea
that congress was to amend if they thought proper. He wishes to
give it a candid enquiry, and proposes such alterations as are
necessary; if the General wishes it should go forth with the
amendment.; let it go with all its imperfections on its head
& the amendments by themselves; to insist that it should go
as it is without amendments, is like presenting a hungry man 50
dishes and insisting he should eat all or none.[59]
Smith records James Madison’s response as:
The proper question is whether any amendments shall be made and
that the house should decide; suppose altercations sent to the
State, the Acts require the Delegates to the Constitutional
Convention to report to them; there will be two plans; some
will accept one & some another this will create confusion
and proves it was not the intent of the States.[60]
In addition to the discussions on
whether or not the United States, in Congress Assembled should
alter or amend the Constitution the case, “If not altered
how it should be submitted to the States?” was
debated. It was reported of Delegate Clark by
Smith:
Don’t like any proposal yet made; he can’t approve it; but
thinks it will answer no purpose to alter it; will not oppose
it in any place; prefers a resolution to postpone to take up
one, barely to forward a copy to the States, to be laid before
the Legislatures to be referred to conventions.[61]
It was reported of Delegate Grayson:
This is in a curious situation, it is urged all alterations are
precluded, has not made up his mind; and thinks it precipitous
to urge a decision in two days on a subject took 4 Months. If
we have no right to amend, then we ought to give a silent
passage; for if we cannot alter, why should we deliberate. His
opinion they should stand solely upon the opinion of
Convention.
[62]
James Madison and Rufus King’s arguments won out in the end.
The final resolution of Arthur St. Clair’s Congress passed the
Constitution unaltered onto the States and read:
Congress having received the report of the Convention lately
assembled in Philadelphia: Resolved Unanimously that the said
Report with the resolutions and letter accompanying the same be
transmitted to the several legislatures in Order to be
submitted to a convention of Delegates chosen in each state by
the people thereof in conformity to the resolves of the
Convention made and provided in that case.[63]
On September 30, 1787 James Madison wrote George Washington,
the President of the Philadelphia Convention, about the
September debate on the Constitution of 1787 in the United
States, in Congress Assembled:
It was first urged that as the new Constitution was more than
an alteration of the Articles of Confederation under which
Congress acted, and even subverted these articles altogether,
there was a Constitutional impropriety in their taking any
positive agency in the work. The answer given was that
the Resolution of Congress in February had recommended the
Convention as the best mean of obtaining a firm national
Government; that as the powers of the Convention were defined
by their Commissions in nearly the same terms with the powers
of Congress given by the Confederation on the subject of
alterations, Congress were not more restrained from acceding to
the new plan, than the Convention were from proposing it. If
the plan was within the powers of the Convention it was within
those of Congress; if beyond those powers, the same necessity
which justified the Convention would justify Congress; and a
failure of Congress to Concur in what was done, would imply
either that the Convention had done wrong in exceeding their
powers, or that the Government proposed was in itself liable to
insuperable objections; that such an inference would be the
more natural, as Congress had never scrupled to recommend
measures foreign to their Constitutional functions, whenever
the Public good seemed to require it; and had in several
instances, particularly in the establishment of the new Western
Governments, exercised assumed powers of a very high &
delicate nature, under motives infinitely less urgent than the
present state of our affairs, if any faith were due to the
representations made by Congress themselves, echoed by 12
States in the Union, and confirmed by the general voice of the
People. An attempt was made in the next place by Richard Henry
Lee to amend the Act of the Convention before it should go
forth from Congress. He proposed a bill of Rights; provision
for juries in civil cases & several other things
corresponding with the ideas of Col. M---;---;. He was
supported by Mr. M---;---; Smith of this State. It was
contended that Congress had an undoubted right to insert
amendments, and that it was their duty to make use of it in a
case where the essential guards of liberty had been
omitted.
On the other side the right of Congress was not denied, but the
inexpediency of exerting it was urged on the following grounds.
1. That every circumstance indicated that the introduction of
Congress as a party to the reform was intended by the States
merely as a matter of form and respect 2. That it was evident
from the contradictory objections which had been expressed by
the different members who had animadverted on the plan that a
discussion of its merits would consume much time, without
producing agreement even among its adversaries. 3. that it was
clearly the intention of the States that the plan to be
proposed should be the act of the Convention with the assent of
Congress, which could not be the case, if alterations were
made, the Convention being no longer in existence to adopt
them. 4. that as the Act of the Convention, when altered would
instantly become the mere act of Congress, and must be proposed
by them as such, and of course be addressed to the
Legislatures, not conventions of the States, and require the
ratification of thirteen instead of nine States, and as the
unaltered act would go forth to the States directly from the
Convention under the auspices of that Body; Some States might
ratify one & some the other of the plans, and confusion
& disappointment be the least evils that could
ensue.
These difficulties which at one time threatened a serious
division in Congress and popular alterations with the yeas
& nays on the journals, were at length fortunately
terminated by the following Resolution; "Congress having recd.
the Report of the Convention lately assembled in Philada.,
Resold. unanimously that the said Report, with the Resolutions
& letter accompanying the same, be transmitted to the
several Legislatures, in order to be submitted to a Convention
of Delegates chosen in each State by the people thereof, in
conformity to the Resolves of the Convention made &
provided in that case."
[64]
Fellow Virginian, Richard Henry Lee, wrote to another prominent
Virginian, Patrick Henry on his view of the USCA
proceedings:
I have waited until now to answer your favor of September 18th
from Philadelphia, that I might inform you how the Convention
plan of Government was entertained by Congress. Your prediction
of what would happen in Congress was exactly verified. It was
with us, as with you, this or nothing; & this urged with a
most extreme intemperance. The greatness of the powers
given, & the multitude of Places to be created, produces a
coalition of Monarchy men, Military Men, Aristocrats, and
Drones whose noise, imprudence & zeal exceeds all
belief; Whilst the Commercial plunder of the South
stimulates the rapacious Trader.
In this state of things, the Patriot voice is raised in vain
for such changes and securities as Reason and Experience prove
to be necessary against the encroachments of power upon the
indispensable rights of human nature. Upon due
consideration of the Constitution under which we now Act, some
of us were clearly of opinion that the 13th article of the
Confederation precluded us from giving an opinion concerning a
plan subversive of the present system and eventually forming a
New Confederacy of Nine instead of 13 States. The
contrary doctrine was asserted with great violence in
expectation of the strong majority with which they might send
it forward under terms of much approbation.
Having procured an opinion that Congress was qualified to
consider, to amend, to approve or disapprove; the next game was
to determine that tho a right to amend existed, it would be
highly inexpedient to exercise that right; but surely to
transmit it with respectful marks of approbation. In this state
of things I availed myself of the Right to amend, & moved
the Amendments copy of which I send herewith & called the
ayes & nays to fix them on the journal.
This greatly alarmed the Majority & vexed them extremely;
for the plan is, to push the business on with great dispatch,
& with as little opposition as possible: that it may be
adopted before it has stood the test of Reflection & due
examination. They found it most eligible at last to transmit it
merely, without approving or disapproving; provided nothing but
the transmission should appear on the Journal. This
compromise was settled and they took the opportunity of
inserting the word Unanimously, which applied only to simple
transmission, hoping to have it mistaken for
an Unanimous approbation of the thing.
It states that Congress having Received the Constitution
unanimously transmit it &c. It is certain that no
Approbation was given. This constitution has a great
many excellent Regulations in it, and if it could be reasonably
amended would be a fine System. As it is, I think 'tis
past doubt, that if it should be established, either a tyranny
will result from it, or it will be prevented by a Civil
war.
I am clearly of opinion with you that it should be sent back
with amendments Reasonable and Assent to it withheld until such
amendments are admitted. You are well acquainted with Mr. Stone
& others of influence in Maryland. I think it will be a
great point to get Maryland & Virginia to join in the plan
of Amendments & return it with them. If you are in
correspondence with our Chancellor Pendelton, it will be of
much use to furnish him with the objections, and if he approves
our plan, his opinion will have great weight with our
Convention, and I am told that his relation Judge Pendleton of
South Carolina has decided weight in the State, & that he
is sensible & independent. How important will it be then to
procure his union with our plan, which might probably be the
case, if our Chancellor was to write largely & pressingly
to him on the subject; that if possible it may be amended there
also. It is certainly the most rash and violent proceeding in
the world to cram thus suddenly into Men a business of such
infinite Moment to the happiness of Millions.[65]
On October 5th Richard Henry Lee also wrote a
lengthy letter to his dear friend Samuel Adams
concluding:
But I think the new Constitution (properly amended) as it
contains many good regulations, may be admitted; And why may
not such indispensable amendments be proposed by the
Conventions and referred With the new plan to Congress, that a
new general Convention may so weave them into the proffer'd
system as that a Web may be produced fit for free men to weave?
If such amendments were proposed by a capital state or two,
& a willingness expressed to agree with the plan so
amended; I cannot see why it may not be effected. It is a mere
begging the question to suppose, as some do, that only this
Moment and this Measure will do. But why so, there being no war
external or internal to prevent due deliberation on this most
momentous business. The public papers will inform you what
violence has been practiced by the Agitators of this new System
in Philadelphia to drive on its immediate adoption as if the
subject of Government were a business or passion, instead of
cool, sober, and intense consideration.
[66]
The USCA, in less than one year, enacted the Northwest
Ordinance, produced legislation that called for the
Philadelphia Convention, provided the second U.S. Constitution
be submitted unchanged to all the 13 States for ratification,
and sold 1.5 million acres in the Northwest Territory.
All of this presided over by a President whose office and name
are forgotten by the 300 million Americans who enjoy daily, the
fruits of his USCA labors.
|
Arthur St. Clair Military Commission as President
of the United States of America,
in Congress Assembled – Courtesy of Stan
Klos
|
On October 5, 1787 the USCA turned west and elected a
territorial Governor and Secretary:
Congress proceeded to the election of a governor for the
western territory pursuant to the Ordinance of the 13th of July
last and the ballots being taken the honorable Arthur St Clair
was elected. Congress proceeded to the election of a secretary
pursuant to the said Ordinance and the ballots being taken Mr.
Winthrop Sargent was elected. [67]
While Congress debated the terms of the land sale it was
decided to table the matter and consider a resolution to honor
John Paul Jones with a gold medal. On October 16th, the
USCA passed the following resolution:
Ordered, That the Secretary of Foreign Affairs prepare a
letter for the above purpose, to be signed by the President,
and that the Chevalier Jones be the bearer of the said
letter.
Resolved
unanimously, that a medal of gold be struck and presented to
the chevalier John Paul Jones, in commemoration of the valour
and brilliant services of that officer, in the command of a
squadron of French and American ships, under the flag and
commission of the united states, off the coast of Great
Britain, in the late war; and that the honourable Mr.
Jefferson, minister plenipotentiary of the united states at
the Court Of Versailles, have the same executed, with the
proper devices.
Resolved,
that a letter be written to his Most Christian Majesty,
informing him that the united states, in congress assembled,
have bestowed upon the Chevalier John Paul Jones, this medal,
as well in consideration of the distinguished marks of
approbation which his majesty has pleased to confer upon that
officer, as from a sense of his merit: and, that as it is his
earnest desire to acquire greater knowledge in his
profession, it would be acceptable to congress, that his
majesty would be pleased to permit him to embark with his
fleets of evolution, convinced that he can no where else so
well acquire that knowledge which may hereafter render him
more extensively useful.
Ordered,
that the Secretary Of Foreign Affairs prepare a letter for
the above purpose, to be signed by the president, and that
the chevalier jones be the bearer of the said
letter.
|
CAPTAIN JOHN PAUL JONES GOLD MEDAL, Capture of the
Serapis - JOANNI PAVLO JONES CLASSIS PRÆFECTO.
COMITIA AMERICANA. (The American Congress to naval
commander John Paul Jones). Bust of Captain Jones, in
uniform, facing the right. On edge of bust, dupré
fecit. HOSTIVM NAVIBVS CAPTIS AVT FVGATIS. (The
enemy's vessels taken or put to flight) Naval action
between the United States frigate Bonhomme Richard,
of forty guns, Captain John Paul Jones, and the
British frigate Serapis, of forty-four guns, Captain
Pearson. Both vessels are grappled, lying head and
stern. The Bonhomme Richard is on fire, and her crew
are boarding the Serapis. To the left, a third
vessel.Exergue: AD ORAM SCOTIÆ (sic) XXIII SEPT.
(Septembris) M.DCCLXXVIIII. (Off the coast of
Scotland, September 23, 1779.) dupré. fecit.
The bust of John Paul Jones, on the obverse of
this medal, is from a plaster cast by Houdon, the
celebrated sculptor.
|
|
The legend on the reverse of the medal is the second
of the two proposed by the French Academy of
Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres. The first was,
primus americanorum triumphus navalis. The Chevalier
John Paul Jones was born at Arbingland, in the parish
of Kirkbean, in Scotland, July 6, 1747. He went to
sea when young, and settled in Virginia in 1773. In
1775 he was appointed a lieutenant in the navy,
through the recommendation of General Jones, of North
Carolina, and in gratitude to him, he added the name
of Jones to his family name of Paul. He joined the
Alfred, of thirty guns and three hundred men, and on
her deck, October 10, 1776, when off Chestnut street
wharf, Philadelphia, under a salute of thirteen guns,
hoisted with his own hands the first American naval
flag. This had thirteen stripes, but without the blue
union, and bore across the field a rattlesnake with
the motto "Don't tread on me." Appointed captain in
October, 1776, he was soon afterward sent by Congress
to France, to arrange certain naval matters with the
American commissioners. Subsequently he carried
terror along the coast of England, and on September
23, 1779, fought his famous action off Flamborough
Head, near Scarborough, in which he took the Serapis,
Captain Richard Pearson. He was enthusiastically
received in France, and King Louis XVI. presented him
with a sword of honor and with the cross of Military
Merit. Congress gave him a vote of thanks and a gold
medal, in 1787, and sent him to France, Denmark, and
Sweden, as agent for prize money. The same year he
entered the Russian service with the rank of
rear-admiral, and received from the Empress Catherine
II. the cross of St. Anne. He had a command in the
squadron stationed in the Black Sea, where he greatly
distinguished himself, but embittered by slanderous
calumnies, he left the Russian service and settled in
Paris, where he died in poverty, July 18, 1792. The
National Assembly of France, then in session,
expressed their regret for him by wearing mourning,
and sent a deputation to attend his funeral.
|
On October 21st,
the USCA approved the sale of over one million acres to the
Ohio Company. Governor St. Clair was now responsible
for governing, settling and subdividing the territory of
what are now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and
Minnesota whose lands, at that time, comprised more than one
half the geographic area of the United States of
America. No one was more positive about the Northwest
Territory’s vast lands’ ability to retire the U.S. Debt than
former
Land Ordinance of 1785 President,
Richard Henry Lee who wrote to George Washington:
We have the pleasure to see the first Act of Congress for
selling federal lands N.W of Ohio becoming productive very
fast. A large sum of public securities being already paid in
upon the first sales: and a new Contract is ordered to be made
with a company in N. Jersey for the lands between the two
Miamis that will rid us of at least 2 millions more of the
public debt. There is good reason to suppose that by the next
spring we shall have reduced the domestic debt near six
millions of dollars. And it seems clear that the lands yet to
be disposed of, if well managed, will sink the whole 30
Millions that are due.
[68]
|
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Here to view the
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USCA Journals report this chronology of the St. Clair's
Congress:
1787 - February 2
Achieves quorum; elects Arthur St. Clair president, Samuel
Provost and John Rodgers chaplains. February 3 Reads
correspondence received since early November February 5 Orders
report on 1787 fiscal estimates. February 6-9 Fails to achieve
a quorum. February 12 Adopts report of committee on
qualifications; reads accumulated treasury and war office
reports. February 14 Nine states represented for first time;
reads draft Post Office ordinance. February 15 Authorizes
postmaster general to contract for mail delivery. February 19
Elects Lambert Cadwalader chairman in absence of President St.
Clair. February 21 Receives report on Annapolis Convention;
endorses Philadelphia convention called to "render the federal
Constitution adequate to the exigencies of Government and the
preservation of the Union." February 22-23 Fails to achieve a
quorum February 26 Receives Virginia call for an interstate
commercial convention.
March 5-7
Fails to achieve quorum March 8 Reaffirms specie requirement
for quota payments. March 9 Receives Massachusetts report on
Shays' Rebellion; adopts report on western posts. March 13
Receives report on military stores; authorizes appointment of
unsalaried commercial agent at Lisbon. March 23 Adopts
reduction of the Continental civil list. March 28 Debates
motions on the loan or sale of Continental property. March 30
Receives report of seizure of American property at
Natchez.
April 2
Receives 1787 fiscal estimates. April 4 Orders John Jay to
report on Spanish negotiations: receives report on the military
establishment. April 5 Receives report on land sales plan.
April 9 Orders discharge of troops enlisted against Shays'
Rebellion except two artillery companies; receives treasury
report on copper coinage. April 10 Debates location of federal
capital. April 13 Adopts letter to the states recommending
repeal of all state acts repugnant to the treaty of peace;
receives John Jay reports on Spanish negotiations. April 16-17
Fails to achieve quorum (three and six states attending). April
18 Receives draft ordinance on settlement of state accounts;
debates sending commissioner to Spain to negotiate Mississippi
question. April 20 Receives John Jay report on sending
commissioner to Spain; receives committee report on copper
coinage. April 21 Adopts copper coinage plan; adopts western
land sales plan. April 23 Extends franking privilege to
Philadelphia Convention delegates. April 24 Orders recapture of
Fort Vinncennes; receives notification of the settlement of the
Massachusetts-New York land dispute April 25 Receives North
Carolina protest against federal Native American treaties;
receives report on western land ordinance. April 27 Fails to
achieve quorum.
May 1
Fails to achieve quorum May 2 Authorizes sale of surplus
Continental arms. May 3 Receives British Consul Phinease Bond;
receives report on the military establishment. May 7 Appoints
commissioners for settling departmental accounts; adopts
ordinance for settlement of state accounts. May 8 Debates
proposal concerning interstate commercial conventions. May 9
Debates Northwest Ordinance. May 10 Debates Northwest
Ordinance; debates location of federal capital. May 11 Debates
Mississippi negotiations with Spain. May 12-31 Fails to achieve
quorum.
June 1-29
Fails to achieves quorum July 2-3 Fails to achieve quorum. July
4 Achieves quorum; elects William Grayson chairman in absence
of President St. Clair; receives report on Spanish
negotiations. July 5 Fails to achieve quorum. July 10 Receives
report on sale of western lands to land companies. July 11
Reads Northwest Ordinance; receives report on issuance of
indents for Continental quotas; receives report on Native
American hostilities. July 13 Adopts Northwest Ordinance. July
14 Orders report on 1787 requisition. July 18 Ratifies
commercial treaty with Morrocco; receives report on southern
Native American land claims. July 19-21 Debates measures for
Native American pacification July 20 Instructs John Adams on a
convention with Britain on violations of the treaty of peace.
July 23 Approves appointments of commercial agents to Morocco.
July 25 Debates measures for pacification of western Native
Americans. July 26 Debates measures for pacification of
southern Indians; authorizes postal contracts; receives report
on foreign loans. July 27 Orders report on formation of "a
Confederacy with the powers of Europe" against the Barbary
States; instructs Jefferson on consular convention with
France.
August 3
Debates southern Native American affairs. August 6-8 Fails to
achieve quorum. August 9 Accepts South Carolina land cession;
receives report on northern Ne American affairs. August 10-31
Fails to achieve quorum.
September 3-19
Fails to achieve quorum September 20 Receives report of the
Philadelphia Constitutional Convention. September 21 Reelects
treasury commissioners Arthur Lee, Walter Livingston, and
Samuel Osgood; reduces civil list. September 24 Accepts John
Adams' retirement (post February 24, 1788); receives report on
Netherlands protest. September 26-27 Debates Constitution
submitted by Philadelphia Convention.. September 28 Resolves to
submit Constitution to the states. September 29 Receives report
on prize money received by John Paul Jones; receives report on
1787 requisition.
October 2
Receives report on foreign debt. October 3 Sets civil list and
military establishment for Northwest Territory. October 5
Elects Arthur St. Clair governor of the Northwest Territory,
Winthrop Sargent, secretary; resolves that a treaty be held
with the western Native Americans; receives report on U.W.
embassy at London. October 8 Terminates federal proceedings in
Massachusetts-New York land dispute. October 11 Ratifies John
Adams' contract for Dutch loan; authorizes indents for loan
office interest in payment of Continental quotas; directs
payment of prize monies received by John Paul Jones.
October 12 Authorizes ransom of American
captives at Algiers; reelects Thomas Jefferson minister to
France; receives Postmaster General report. October
13 Orders arrest of Lt. John Sullivan for jeopardizing
American-Spanish relations; debates Virginia infringement of
U.S. treaty obligations. October 15 Authorizes
postal contracts. October 16 Elects John Armstrong, Jr., Samuel
Holden Parsons, and James Mitchell Varnum judges of the
Northwest Territory, commends John Paul Jones. October
17 Authorizes sale of the Carlisle barracks. October
18-19 Fails to achieve quorum. October 20
Appeals for North Carolina and Georgia land cessions; reduces
postal rates. October 21 Authorizes sale of
one million acres to the Ohio Company. October
22 Sets aside military bounty lands; authorizes treaty
with the western Native Americans. October 26
Adopts instructions for holding Native American negotiations.
October 29-31 Fails to achieve
quorum
November 1-2
Fails to achieve quorum. November 5 New Congress assembles;
five delegates attend, two states represented. November 6-30
Fails to achieve quorum.
Arthur St. Clair would serve his country as the "colonial"
governor for 14 years amidst controversy and the disgrace of
losing more men in a battle against Native Americans than
George Custer lost at Little Big
Horn.
In 1789, President
George Washington asked Governor St. Clair to determine
whether the Native Americans living along the Wabash River
and Illinois River were inclined for war or peace with the
United States. St. Clair reported that the tribes wanted war,
and called for militia forces to be assembled at Fort
Washington (now Cincinnati, Ohio) and Vincennes, Indiana.
President Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox ordered
General Harmar to lead these forces on a punitive expedition
into the Shawnee and Miami lands as retaliation for settler's
killings. The Harmar Campaign attempted to subdue Native
Americans and featured a series of battles that were all
overwhelming victories for the Native
Americans.
President George Washington, frustrated with Hamar's losses,
ordered General Arthur St. Clair, who served both as
governor of the Northwest Territory and as a major general in
the Army, to mount a vigorous effort by Summer 1791.
Congress agreed to raise a second regiment of Regular
soldiers for six months. The Army under St. Clair
included 600 regulars, 800 six-month conscripts and 600
militia at its peak, for a total of around 2,000 men.
Desertion took its toll and when the force finally got
underway, it had dwindled to around 1,486 total men and some
200-250 camp followers (wives, children, laundresses and
prostitutes). Going was slow and discipline problems were
severe; St. Clair, suffering from gout, had difficulty
maintaining order, especially among the militia and the new
levies. The force was constantly shadowed by Indians and
skirmishes occasionally erupted.
By
the end of November 2, through desertion and illness, St.
Clair's force had been whittled down to around 1,120,
including the camp followers. He had 52 officers and 868
enlisted and militia present for duty on November 3. The
force camped on an elevated meadow, but did not construct any
defensive works, even though Indians had been seen in the
forest. While St. Clair's Army continued to lose soldiers,
the Western Confederacy quickly added numbers. Buckongahelas
led his 480 men to join the 700 warriors of Little Turtle and
Blue Jacket, bringing the war party to more than one thousand
warriors, including a large number of Potawatomis from
eastern Michigan and the Saint
Joseph.
The Battle of the Wabash was fought on November 4, 1791 in
the Northwest Territory between the United States and the
Western Confederacy of American Indians, as part of the
Northwest Indian War. The American Native Americans were led
by Little Turtle of the Miamis, Blue Jacket of the Shawnees
and Buckongahelas of the Delawares. The war party numbered
more than one thousand warriors, including a large number of
Potawatomis from eastern Michigan and the Saint Joseph. The
opposing force of about 1,000 Americans was led by General
Arthur St. Clair. The American Indian confederacy was
overwhelmingly victorious. In proportional terms of losses to
strength, it was the worst defeat that United States forces
have ever suffered in battle. In January 1792, St. Clair
arrived in Philadelphia, the nation's capital, to
report on his defeat and blamed the quartermaster as well as
the War Department. St. Clair requested a court-martial in
order to gain exoneration palling to resign his commission
after winning it. Washington, however, denied him the
court-martial and forced St. Clair's immediate resignation.
The House of Representatives, meanwhile, began its own
investigation into the disaster. This was the first
investigation that Congress had ever undertaken, as well as
the first investigation of the executive branch and as part
of the proceedings.
The final committee report sided largely with St. Clair,
finding that Knox, Quartermaster General Samuel Hodgdon and
other War Department officials had done a poor job of
raising, equipping and supplying St. Clair's expedition.
Congress voted against a motion to consider the Committee's
findings and consequently issued no final report officially
clearing General St. Clair. In
March 1792, Congress voted to raise additional Army regiments
to conquer the Northwest Territory. In May, it passed the
Militia Acts of 1792, which set national militia standards
and empowered the president to call up the militia. President
Washington utilized this authority in the 1794 to put
down the Whiskey Rebellion. Also in 1794, a new U.S. force,
the Legion of the United States under Major General "Mad
Anthony" Wayne, built Fort Recovery at the location of St.
Clair's Defeat and defended it from an attack. Following the
Legion's victory in the August 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers,
the 1795 Treaty of Greenville brought an end to the Northwest
Indian War allowing Governor St. Clair to focus on settlement
of the vast territory.
By 1801, St. Clair would be the last federalist to wield any
real power at the turn of the 19th Century.
In his arrogance, St. Clair would challenge Ohio Territorial
Republicans and the newly elected President, fellow Virginian
Thomas Jefferson on statehood. It was Delegate
Jefferson, whose committee in 1784 wrote the original
ordinance for the vast territory proposing a mechanism for
new States. President Jefferson would disregard
Governor St. Clair's protest letters and heartedly back
fellow Virginians Thomas Worthington, Edward Tiffin and
Charles Byrd who were political enemies of the Governor.
Dr. Kevin Patrick Kopper writes
in "Arthur St. Clair And
The Struggle For Power In The Old Northwest, 1763 -1803
:"
St. Clair addressed
the constitutional convention on November 3, 1802, with an
impassioned speech that assailed his enemies and the
Republican Party. He spoke as a concerned citizen, not in an
official capacity. Acting like a father betrayed by his son,
he used a paternalistic tone and discussed his contributions
to the territory, outlining what he had accomplished in
fourteen years with “parental affection.” He attacked the
rise of partisanship and the emergence of the Republican
Party: “That baneful spirit destroyed all the ancient
republics, and the United States seems to be running the same
career that ruined them.” Recognizing that he was isolated
politically and that he had no power to influence the
initiatives at the convention, the governor gave the
convention unsolicited advice.
He questioned the
authority of the United States Congress and the authenticity
of the Enabling Act, claiming that his administration was
responsible for the internal affairs of the territory and
accusing the nation’s legislature of overstepping his power.
St. Clair questioned the actions of the government and
compared the situation of the territory to statehood efforts
in Vermont and Tennessee: “It was, I think, eight years after
the people of Vermont had formed their government, and
exercised all the powers of an independent State, before it
was admitted to the Union.” Congress should be brought to
reason for usurping the power of the territorial government,
and the Enabling Act should be rejected, he argued. His
remarks bordered on treason and gave federal officials a
reason to remove him from his
post.
An observer commented,
“Poor old man he has ruined himself—He has found true what
you [Massie] properly observed at the convention—‘ Give
him rope and he will hang himself.” The governor’s detractors
hoped that he would behave in a fashion that supported their
argument to remove him, and he did. The legislators assembled
at the convention refused to respond to St. Clair’s
outrageous comments. Instead, members of the convention voted
to end the second grade of government in order to start
proceedings to bring about statehood. Further, members
passed a resolution that terminated the governorship. The
measure was the ultimate defeat of the governor. An observer
commented, “The poor old man has made his last speech.”
On December 8,
1802, St. Clair issued his last address to the people of the
Northwest Territory, thanking the citizens for their support
and formally announcing
that he would not seek the governorship of the new state of
Ohio. Reflecting on his many years in office, he wrote, “The
care of this colony of the United States was committed to me
from its first institution, and it was my ambition, and has
been my chief study, to render it flourishing, and to bring
it to the point when it might . . . cease to be a colony and
become an independent state.”
The governor had
accomplished that goal and was satisfied with the job that he
had performed. He reminded the residents that it was
entrusted to him to manage
the region from a state of infancy to a mature settlement and
it was necessary for him to be vested with considerable
power. Administration of the territory
fell on the shoulders of the “old tyrant” for nearly fifteen
years, and during this time, he neglected his personal
affairs. The Ligonier estate awaited the former governor, and
he looked forward to tending to these
matters.
Shortly after the
governor’s speech, word of his allegations against the
federal government reached Washington. The governor’s
comments were treasonous to many, and his actions at the
convention gave the federal officials ample reason to end his
tenure.
In a sad end to St. Clair’s service, President Thomas
Jefferson dismissed the Governor by a letter, dated November
22, 1802, written by Secretary of State, James
Madison:
The President observing, in an address lately delivered by you
to the convention held at Chillicothe, an intemperance and
indecorum of language toward the Legislature of the United
States, and a disorganizing spirit and tendency of very evil
example, and grossly violating the rules of conduct enjoined by
your public station, determine that your commission of Governor
of the Northwestern Territory shall cease on the receipt of
this notification.
[69]
Madison, adding insult to injury sent
the termination letter not
directly to the governor but to
Charles Byrd. It therefore was St. Clair’s
rival that handed him the termination notice, demonstrating a
lack of respect characteristic that President
Jefferson often exhibited against political
opponents no matter how noble their past services had been for
their country.
The father of Ohio's
first State Constitution, Judge Jacob Burnet, reflected on the
governor’s administration of the territory:
St. Clair was a man of superior talents—of extensive
information, and of great uprightness of purpose. The course
he pursued, though destructive of his own popularity, was the
result of an honest exercise of his judgment—he not only
believed, that the power he claimed, belonged legitimately to
the executive but was convinced, that the manner in which he
exercised it, was calculated to advance the best interest of
the territory.
On February 19, 1803, the Republican United States Congress
approved Ohio's constitution and admitted Ohio as the 17th
state. St. Clair's bitter opposition to the Republicans
culminated with Thomas Worthington being hailed as the hero
of the Ohio Constitutional Convention and usurped forever the
moniker: "The Father of Ohio's Statehood" from the
General. Arthur St. Clair returned to his farm in
Western Pennsylvania and resided there for 15 years with his
wife Phoebe as a private citizen.
St. Clair’s biographer wrote that in August, 1818:
… the venerable patriot, in his eighty- fourth year, undertook
to go to Youngstown, three miles distant, for flour and other
necessaries. He bade good-bye to his Louisa and started off
with his pony and wagon, in good spirits. The authorities had
changed the Stage road so that it passed along the Loyalhauna
Creek, several miles north of the St. Clair residence, and the
route to Youngstown was rough and dangerous. Pony and wagon
moved safely along until within a mile of the village, when a
wheel falling into a rut, the wagon was upset, and the aged
General thrown with great force upon the rocky road. In the
course of the day he was discovered lying where he had fallen,
insensible, and the pony standing quietly at a short distance,
awaiting the command of his old master — faithful to the last.
He was carried tenderly back to the house, but neither medical
skill nor the tender care of loved ones could restore him, and,
on the thirty-first, Death came with his blessed message of
peace forevermore.
On a neat sand-stone monument, erected by the Masonic Society,
in the cemetery of Greensburg, is this inscription: The Earthly
Remains Of Major-General Arthur St. Clair Are Deposited Beneath
This Humble Monument, Which Is Erected To Supply The Place Of A
Nobler One Due From His Country.[70]
No President or United States legislator before or since
Arthur St. Clair has ever presided over more important
acts than the combination of "An Ordinance for the
government of the Territory of the United States northwest of
the River Ohio" and the 1787 Constitution of the
United States of America. He is buried in the
Old St. Clair Cemetery in Greensburg, Pennsylvania with a 1913
monument stating:
The earthly remains of Arthur St. Clair are deposited beneath
this humble monument which is erected to supply the place of a
nobler one due from his country.”
Arthur St. Clair, Autograph Letter Signed dated March
4th, 1813 two sided thanking several women for
sending him money in his poverty while reminding his
benefactors that he "... made the
people happy and laid a foundation for the continuance of
the happinefs to millions yet unknown..." In part he
states:
"... My Heart Is not yet so cold as to be insensible to
female Praife (Praise) --- it conveyed a Balm to my wounded
spirit. Wounded not by the loss of fortune and the need of
pecuniary aid, but by confine obloquy and contumely whom I
thought (and now since I have their approbation I say it
boldly), I thought that I had least merited thanks, for to
say nothing of my military services which they have so
kindly eulogized. I had, in a great meafsive (massive)
therefore at my own expense, raised up for the United
States in fifteen years a colony from thirty men to upwards
of sixty thousand -- amalgamation the most heterogeneous
mafs -- Mafs of population --- carried Laws, Religion,
Mounts and Manner to the extreme limits of New Territory
--- made the people happy and laid a foundation for the
continuance of the happinefs to millions yet unknown and in
which every faculty of mind and Body has been
overwhelmingly employed. ... "
Several months later the legislature of Pennsylvania finally granted St.
Clair an annuity of $8400, and shortly before his death he
received from congress $2,000 in discharge of his claims, and
a pension of $60 a month.
|
“The Hermitage”, Arthur St. Clair’s Ligonier Valley
estate. The property was situated about two miles
north of Ligonier Borough and was described on the
1798 Direct Tax List as “1 story dwelling house 90′
by 18, wood, 14 windows, 16′ square kitchen, 1
shingled roof barn, 1 grist mill with 2 pair
stones, 1 saw mill”. An iron furnace was added in
the early 1800’s. The parlor is of log
construction; the logs were apparently always
covered by siding. Today,
the parlor is the only room remaining from the
Hermitage.
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Articles of Confederation
Congress
United States in Congress Assembled
(USCA) Sessions
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11-05-1780 to 11-04-1781*
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11-03-1788 to 03-03-1789**
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* The
Articles of
Confederation was ratified by the
mandated 13th State on February 2, 1781,
and the dated adopted by the Continental
Congress to commence the new United
States in Congress Assembled government was
March 1, 1781. The USCA convened
under the
Articles of
Confederation Constitution on
March 2, 1781.
** On September 14, 1788, the Eighth United
States in Congress Assembled resolved that
March 4th, 1789, would be commencement date
of the
Constitution of
1787's federal government
thus dissolving the USCA on March 3rd,
1789.
[1]
St. Clair Arthur and Smith Henry, The St. Clair Papers:
The Life and Public Services of Arthur St. Clair,
Robert Clark and Company 1881, Page 4
[2]
Peter Force, American Archives Series 4, Volume 1, Page
0255, Answer of Governor Penn, to the Earl of Dunmore.
Review of the respective claims of Pennsylvania and
Virginia, in regard to the disputed Boundary. Claims
Pittsburgh to be within the Charter limits of Pennsylvania
-- justifies the conduct of Mr. St. Clair, in imprisoning
Connolly. [1774-03-31] Pennsylvania Council.
[S4-V1-p0255]
[3]
John Frost, Pictorial history of America from the earliest
times to the close, J.B. Smith, 1853, page 45
[4]
David Ramsay, The History of the American Revolution -
Volume 1, James J. Wilson, Trenton, N.J., 1811,
Page 398
[5]
Ibid, Volume II, page 137.
[7]
Americana, American historical magazine, Volume 12,
National American Society, New York, 1918, page
349
[8]
William Henry Smith, The St. Clair papers: the life and
public services of Arthur St. Clair 1882, Page
457
[9]
Americana, American historical magazine, Volume 12,
National American Society, New York, 1918,
page
[10]
Journals of the Continental Congress, September 19,
1781
[11]
William Henry Smith, The St. Clair papers: the life and
public services of Arthur St. Clair 1882, Page
112
[14]
Journals of the United States in Congress Assembled
Saturday, June 21, 1783
[15]
Smith, Paul H., et al., eds. Letters of Delegates to
Congress, 1774-1789. Elias Boudinot to Elisha
Boudinot June 23, 1783, 25 volumes, Washington, D.C.:
Library of Congress, 1976-2000)
[16]
Journals of USCA, July 1, 1783
[17]
Letters of the Delegates, Boudinot to Washington July
3, 1783
[18]
Letters of Washington, General Orders, July 7, 1783
[19]
Boudinot, Elias, Original Manuscript, Klos Western
Collection, July 9, 1783
[20]
The St. Clair papers, Volume I, page 115
[21]
William Shepard to Henry Knox, Autograph Letter Signed,
January 12, 1787, Historic Deerfield Library, Deerfield,
MA
[22]
Groundhog Day is celebrated on February 2 and according to
folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its
burrow then spring will come early. If it is sunny, the
groundhog will see its shadow and retreat back into its
burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more
weeks.
[23]
Journals of the USCA, February 14, 1787
[24]
Letters of the Delegates, James Madison's Notes of Debates,
February 21, 1787.
[25]
Ibid, February 21, 1787
[26]
Letters of Delegates to Congress, President Arthur St.
Clair’s Speech on the floor of the USCA, March 13,
1787.
[27]
Journals of the USCA, March 19, 1787.
[28]
Letters of Delegates to Congress, Arthur St Clair to John
Nicholson, March 19, 1787
[29]
St. Clair, Arthur, The New Annual Register or General
Repository of History Politics and Literature for the Year
1787, G.G.J. & J. Robinson, London, 1788
April 13th, 1787, Circular Letter to the 13 States.
[30]
Journals of the USCA, April 21, 1787.
[31]
Journals of the USCA, April 21, 1787
[32]
Acting under the authority of the French colony of
Louisiana, François-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes
constructed a fort to secure the lower Wabash Valley
for France in 1732.
[33]
Journals of the USCA, April 24, 1787
[34]
Letters of Delegates to Congress, Arthur St Clair to
Charles Thomson, May 18, 1787.
[35]
William Grayson (1740 – March 12, 1790) was a soldier,
lawyer, and statesman from Virginia. He was a member of the
USCA 1785-1786. He was delegate to the Virginia
Convention for the adoption of the second US Constitution,
which he opposed. He was one of the first two U.S.
Senators from Virginia, and belonged to the Anti-Federalist
faction.
[36]
Ibid, March 28, 1787
[37]
William Duer (March 18, 1743– May 7, 1799) was a
British-born lawyer, developer, Continental Congress
Delegate 1777 - 1778, signer of the Articles of
Confederation and NYC land speculator. He wrote in support
of ratifying the second United States Constitution as
"Philo-Publius."
[38]
Nathan Dane (December 29, 1752 – February 15, 1835) was an
American lawyer & Massachusetts USCA Delegate from 1785
through 1788. He played a major role in formulating the
Northwest Ordinance and introduced its amendment to
prohibit slavery.
[39]
Manasseh Cutler (May 13, 1742 – July 28, 1823) was an
American clergyman, a member of the Ohio Company, member of
the United States House of Representatives and a founder of
Ohio University. Cutler took a leading part in drafting the
Ordinance of 1787 for the government of the Northwest
Territory, which was finally presented to the USCA by
Massachusetts delegate Nathan Dane.
[40]
Edward Carrington (February 11, 1748 – October 28, 1810)
was a Revolutionary War Lieutenant Colonel, Nathanael
Greene’s Southern campaign Quartermaster, artillery
commander at the Battle of Hobkirk's Hill and the siege of
Yorktown. He was also a USCA Virginia Delegate 1786
to 1788, first U.S. Marshal for Virginia, mayor of
Richmond, and Aaron Burr treason trial jury
foreman.
[41]
John Kean (1756 – May 4, 1795) was an American merchant and
a USCA South Carolina delegate 1785 - 1787.
[42]
Melancton Smith (May 7, 1744 – July 29, 1798) was a
Merchant, Revolutionary War major in a NY militia, Founder
of the New York Manumission Society, and USCA New York
Delegate 1775-1787. He was the most important
Anti-federalist member of the State ratification convention
at Poughkeepsie in 1788 because he broke ranks against
Governor Clinton forces resulting the NY's
ratification.
[43]
Bancroft, George, History of the United States of America:
from the discovery of the Continent to 1789, Volume 6
Appleton, 1896, page 287-289
[45]
St. Clair Arthur and Smith Henry, The St. Clair Papers:
The Life and Public Services of Arthur St. Clair,
Robert Clark and Company 1881, page 128
[46]
Letters of Delegates to Congress, Nathan Dane to Rufus
King, July 13, 1787.
[47]
Neu, Irene D., Background of the Ohio Company of
Associates, Manuscripts and Documents of the Ohio
Company of Associates, Special Collection, Marietta College
Library.
[48]
Librarian of Congress, The Works of Charles Sumner, Lee and
Shepard: 1877 Entered according to Act of Congress, In the
year 1877, page 416
[49]
Journals of the United States in Congress Assembled, July
13, 1787,An Ordinance for the government of the
Territory of the United States northwest of the River
Ohio
[52]
Jefferson, Thomas (1802-01-01). "Jefferson's Letter to
the Danbury Baptists". U.S. Library of Congress.
[53]
Journals of the United States in Congress Assembled, July –
August 1787.
[54]
The New Jersey
Plan
was the developed by the small States and named after N.J.
Delegate William Paterson who presented it on the
convention floor.
[55]
Farrand, Max, The records of the Federal convention of
1787, Volume 1 By United States. Constitutional
Convention,
Yale University Press, 1911 page 444
[56]
Washington, George, Plan of the New Federal
Government, Printed by Robert Smith,
Philadelphia:
1787, Original Document, Stan Klos Collection.
[57]
JCC, 1774-1789, ed. Worthington C. Ford et
al ,
November 15, 1777
,
the Articles of Confederation
[58]
Smith, Paul H., et al., eds. Letters of Delegates to
Congress, 1774-1789. 25 volumes, Washington, D.C.:
Library of Congress, 1976-2000). Melancton Smith's Notes of
Debates
[63]
Journals of the USCA, September 28, 1787
[64]
Ibid, James Madison to George Washington, September 30,
1787.
[65]
Letters of Delegates, Richard Henry Lee to George Mason,
October 1, 1787
[66]
Letters of Delegates, Richard Henry Lee to Samuel Adams,
October 5, 1787
[67]
Journals of the USCA, October 5, 1787
[68]
Letters of Delegates, Richard Henry Lee to George
Washington, October 11, 1787
[69]
St. Clair Arthur and Smith Henry, The St. Clair Papers:
The Life and Public Services of Arthur St. Clair,
Robert Clark and Company 1881, page 244-247.
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