CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Date Due Cornell University Library JK161.R4 B32 Rhode Island and the formation of the Un Clin 3 1924 030 454 395 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030454395 11 MODE ISLAND AND THE FORMATION OF THE UNION STUDIES IN HISTORY, ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC LAW EDITED BY THE FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Volume X] [Number 2 MODE ISLAND AND THE FORMATION OF THE UNION BY FRANK GREENE BATES, Ph.D. SOMETIME FELLOW IN AMEEICAN HISTORY ASSISTANT PEOFESSOE OF HISTOEY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE, ALFEED UNIVER81TT PUBLISHED FOB Columbia mniversits BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, KBW TOKK P. S. KING AND SON, LONDON 1898 ^^ A 'ii 7^^ PREFACE This dissertation embodies the results of investigations begun in the American History Seminary of Cornell Univer- sity, under the guidance of Professor Moses Coit Tyler, and completed in the School of Political Science of Columbia Uni- versity, under Professor Herbert L. Osgood. The work was undertaken in order tp ascertain the facts of Rhode Island's action from 1765 to 1790, and, it possible, to explain the fact that Rhode Island so long delayed her ratification of the Federal Constitution. The subject was suggested by read- ing an address by Mr. Justice Horatio Rogers of the Su- preme Bench of Rhode Island, on " Rhode Island and the Federal Constitution." The materials for such a study are in some directions scanty. The printed sources used were largely found in the libraries of Cornell and Columbia Universities. The manu- script sources were found in the archives of the State of Rhode Island, preserved in the State House at Providence, and in the collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society. Volumes of early laws were consulted at the Lenox Library, New York City. Newspaper files which were of constant as- sistance were found at the cabinet of the Rhode Island His- torical Society, and at the rooms of the American Antiqua- rian Society, Worcester, Mass. Citations have been made of all authorities employed. Those to manuscripts are fre- quently unsatisfactory, as many, especially in the state ar- chives, are imperfectly paged. Many thanks are due to Professor Moses Coit Tyler for 1 23 J V vi PREFACE I 124 the careful training in historical method to which is due any scientific worth which this study may possess, and to Pro- fessor Herbert L. Osgood for advice and suggestions, and ior assistance in reading manuscript and proof. Acknowledgment should be made to Mr. Wilberforce Eames, Librarian of Lenox Library, New York; the Hon, Amos Perry, Secretary of the Rhode Island Historical So- ciety; the Hon. Charles P. Bennett, Secretary of State o^ Rhode Island ; Mr. E. M. Barton, Secretary of the Amer- ican Antiquarian Society, and the officials of the libraries of Cornell and Columbia universities for their courtesy in giv- ing access to the collections in their charge ; also to Mr. Justice Horatio Rogers for suggestions given personally and jn his printed address. Frank Greene Bates. Summit, R. I., July 12, i8q8. CONTENTS CHAPTER I The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, ii Nature of the study — Causes, remote and immediate — Settlers of Rhode Island — Early Relations with Massachusetts — Orig- inal Towns — Patent of 1643 — Internal Strife — Charter of 1663 — Territorial Claims of Massachusetts — Samuel Gorton — Pequot Country — Claims to Narragansett — Eastern and Northern Boundaries — Religious Liberty Proclaimed — The same Maintained — Rise of Commerce — Rise of Manufac- tures — Paper Money — Disastrous Results- — Development of a Political Sense — Political Questions — Rivalry of Providence and Newport — Ward-Hopkins Controversy — Albany Con- vention. CHAPTER II A Period of Harmony .... . . 45 The Stamp Act — Action of Rhode Island — Revenue Act — Non- Importation — Committee of Correspondence — Gaspee Commission — Taxed Tea — Boston Port Bill — Response of Rhode Island — Continental Congress Suggested — Second Continental Congress — Articles of Association — Measures of Defense — Loyalists — Governor Wanton Deposed — Loyalists at Newport — Rhode Island for Independence — Allegiance Renounced — Independence Declared — Steps toward a Cen- tral Government — Articles of Confederation Framed — Articles in Rhode Island — Amendments Proposed — .'Articles adopted by Rhode Island — Public Domain — Attitude of the States — Maryland adopts the Articles of Confederation. 125] vii yiiJ CONTENTS CHAPTER III A Period of Discord 7^ Condition of Affairs, 1780 — Congress asks power to lay- Imposts — Responses by States — Rhode Island fails to respond — Controversy between Varnum and Howell — Rhode Island's Objections— Rhode Island refuses the Grant — Deputation to Rhode Island — Action on Howell's Publications — Howell's Conduct approved by the Assembly — Character of Howell — Motives of Rhode Island — Impost Proposition, 1 783 — Dele- gates oppose— Newspaper Comments— The Public Domain — Rhode Island rejects the Plan^Lays Duties — Grants re- quest of Congress — State of Commerce — Congress asks power to regulate Commerce — Conditions in Rhode Island — Power over Commerce Granted — Triumph of Commercial Party. CHAPTER IV The. Paper Money Era 107 British occupation of Rhode Island — Efforts of Congress to obtain Money — Continental Paper — Refugees from Rhode Island — Requisitions of Congress — Effect of Embargo — Forty- for-one Act — Finances under Morris — Conditions after British Evacuation— Disaffection in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire — Shays' Rebellion — Malcontents in Rhode Island — Demand for Paper — Party Revolution — Emission of Paper— Depreciation of Paper — Forcing Acts — Economic Effects — Special Courts — Trevett vs. Weeden — Trial of Judges — Test Oath — Repudiation — Decline of Paper Money Power — Acts for ReHef of Debtors — Repeal of Paper Money Laws. CHAPTER V Rhode Island and the Constitution . 149 Weakness of the Confederation — Political Parties in Rhode Island — Annapolis Convention — Preparations for Federal . CONTENTS ix Convention — Rhode Island refuses to appoint Delegates — Newspaper Comments^Rhode Island in Disgrace — Work of Convention reported to States — Eleven States Ratify — Con- - stitution referred to Freemen — Refusal to call a Convention ■ — Position of Parties — Anti-Federal Victory — Federalist Rejoicing — Independence Day at Providence — Failure to call Convention — Rhode Island alone — Tariff Debates affect Rhode Island — Rhode Island lays a Tariff — Congress de- bates Rhode Island Question — Anti-Federalists weaken — Revenue Laws Suspended — Lack of Federalist Leaders — North Carolina Ratifies — Situation grows Critical — Conven- tion called — Struggle in Towns — First Session of Convention — State election Anti-Federal — Hints of Coercion — Debates in Congress — New Issues in Congress — Non-Intercourse Threatened — Instructions of Towns — Second Session of Con- vention — Adoption — Bill of Rights, and Amendments Pro- posed — Rhode Island enters the Union. CHAPTER VI Conclusion 201 Bill of Rights Proposed — Amendments Proposed — Compar- ison of Amendments of Different States — Amendments Pro- posed by Virginia, North Carolina, and Rhode Island — Amendments Proposed by New York and Rhode Island — Amendments Proposed by Rhode Island Alone — Conclusions from Amendments — Review of Colony's Growth — Formation of Traits of Character — Colony's action in War — Causes of Defection in 1781 — Economic Conditions lead to Paper Money — Causes of Opposition to Constitution — Coercion Threatened — General Conclusions. Appendix 2\j, Bibliography .. ....217 CHAPTER I THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS The course pursued by the State of Rhode Island at the time of the formation of the Federal Union forms a distinct episode in the history of America. The fact that the people of a state should adhere tenaciously to their own opinions to the point of denying to themselves all participation in the framing of the constitution, and of refusing for a consider- able period of time to accept the work of their neighbors, indicates that behind it all must have been most powerful and far-reaching causes. An historic view of the circum- stances attending Rhode Island's adoption of the consti- tution, together with an examination of the causes of this event, is the purpose of this study. In a study of causes it is sometimes possible to distinguish between those immediate and those more remote. The line of demarka- tion, often difficult to determine, has been drawn in this in- stance at the point where Rhode Island first united with the other colonies in opposition to the British ministry. The immediate causes are found in the circumstances at- tending the Revolution, and in a train of events leading down to the Federal Convention. Among the remoter causes may be included a wide range of facts and tendencies which have gone to shape the political system, and the character of the people of Rhode Island. The settlers of the four towns afterwards united as the colony of Rhode Island were refugees. Like the settlers of 129] II 12 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [13O Massachusetts and Connecticut, they had left the mother country to seek a home where they might be free from the restraints of the Acts of Uniformity. But the settlements on the shore of Massachusetts Bay did not prove to be a sanct- uary for freedom of conscience, but rather a nursery for the particular form of belief held by the Puritan magistrates. The right of becoming a freeman was made dependent on membership in one of the churches. It was to this colony that Roger WiUiams came in February, 163 1. Soon after his arrival the elders and magistrates of Boston, seeking to dic- tate to the church at Salem over which Williams had been settled as assistant pastor, met with stout resistance. In the controversy that followed, Williams asserted the doctrine of liberty of conscience. The result was a decree of banish- ment, on the charge that he had " broached * * divers new and dangerous opinions against the authority of magistrates; as also writ letters of defamation both of the magistrates and churches here, and that before any conviction, and yet maintaineth the same without any retraction.'" After many weeks of wandering in the wilderness, and a brief stay at Seekonk, Williams with a few companions located at Mo- shassuck, which they named Providence. The two settlements made on the island of Aquidneck in like manner owed their origin to the religious purgings of Massachusetts. These settlers were among the minority in the Antinomian controversy which raged in 1636 and 1637 Ten of the nineteen settlers, among them their leader Cod- dington, suffered banishment for their opinions. Seeking a place to found a colony where they might worship as they pleased, they decided to settle within Narragansett Bay. The prestige of Anne Hutchinson, and the asylum afforded in the new settlement, drew together there many of hetero- dox opinions. ^Massachusetts Colonial Records, i, 160. 131] THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND 13 A third asylum was that founded at Shawomet by Samuel Gorton. The spirit that had thrust out Williams and Mrs. Hutchinson could not tolerate the mystical views of Gorton, a bold and impolitic asserter of his opinions. At Aquid- neck, where he stopped after his banishment from Plymouth, he found a home for but a brief season, but his restless soul could find no permanent abode there, and after a brief so- journ at Providence and at Pawtuxet, where his conduct pro- voked discord, he settled at Shawomet, afterwards called Warwick. The people of these settlements, exiled from their fellow- countrymen, naturally would cultivate relations with their persecutors only in the direst necessity. Had they made the attempt they would have met with no response. They stood for soul liberty. That fact alone was enough to sepa- rate them from their neighbors. An early proof of the com- pleteness of this separation is found in the instruction to the governor of Rhode Island to "treat with the governor of the Dutch to supply us with necessaries, and to take of our commodities at such rates as may be suitable." ' When rumors of Indian war led the people of Aquidneck to apply to Plymouth for a supply of powder, it was refused. This was deplored by Winthrop, for it would be, said he, "a great inconvenience to the English should they be forced to seek protection from the Dutch." ^ Danger from the Indians led to the contemplation of a union among the New England colonies. A petition from Plymouth, Connecticut, and the settlements on Narragansett Bay, to Massachusetts to unite in dealing with the Indians, while received favorably in regard to the two former, was spurned so far as the latter was concerned.' ^ Rhode Island Colonial Records, i, 126. ' Winthrop, Hist, of New England, ii, 211. ^Massachusetts Colonial Records, i, 305. 14 RHODE TSLAXD AND THE UNION [132 In 1643 a union of the four colonies, Massachusetts, Con- necticut, Plymouth, and New Haven, was formed with the express stipulation that no other colony should be admitted. Neither Providence nor Rhode Island was invited to enter the union, nor was a direct request from them destined to receive a favorable reply. On the eve of what might have proved a serious Indian war, the only concession to be gained was permission for Newport to buy one barrel of powder. Even this was denied to Providence. Indications that the United Colonies would soon substitute aggression for simple non-intercourse, was a potent factor in bringing about a union under a patent from the home government. The band of settlers at Moshassuck had no intention of founding a state. Their early organization was that of a town, composed of joint proprietors dwelling apart from any regularly constituted authority. Their government was a pure democracy. The householders met once a week to consult on the " common peace, watch and planting." "Mutual consent," says WilHams, "have finished all matters with speed and peace. "^ The first written compact entered into declared for government by the majority.' When a modification was found necessary, the sparing hand with which power was delegated is remarkable. Five "Dis- posers " were elected to have charge of the proprietary and governmental interests of the town. These officers were elected for the term of three months, at the end of which time they were to give an account of their doings to the town. Any one aggrieved by the action of the disposers might appeal to the town in town meeting. Private disputes were settled by arbitration." ^ Ads of the Commissioners of the United Colonies^ i, 3. ^ Nari-agansett Club Publications, vi, 4. "Rhode Island Colonial Records, i, 14. ' Ibid., i, 27. 133] THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND 15 The settlers of Aquidneck, while yet at Providence, af- fixed their signatures to an agreement whereby they united themselves into a body politic to be governed by the laws of Holy Writ.' A "Judge" was chosen to preside in town meeting, where all political affairs were settled. Soon three "Elders" were chosen to assist the judge in his judicial duties, in framing laws, and in transacting public business ; but all their acts were subject to revision by the quarterly meetings of the town. On the removal of the government to Newport, those who remained at Pocasset organized similar forms there.^ Be- coming accustomed to representative government, the settlers soon expressly declared that the term of office among them should be one year.^ In March, 1640, Newport and Ports- mouth, or Pocasset, were united under a governor, deputy governor and four assistants.* Their government was de- clared, in March, 1641, to be a "Democracie or popular government."" At Aquidneck, at Providence, and Pawtuxet, Samuel Gorton exhibited a contempt for the authority established there, prejudicial to good government and not to be toler- ated in any well ordered community. Consistent with his denial of any authority not recognized by the home govern- ment, no organization was effected at Shawomet until the arrival of the Patent of 1643. So loose was the political system of these settlements that dissensions were continually arising within them. It was feared that Massachusetts might at any moment begin an active policy of persecution on account of the degree of re- ligious liberty there. In any case the lack of any legal status whatever as a part of the realm of England could but be fatal in an extremity. To procure recogniton from the ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, i, 52. 'Ibid., i, 70. '^ Ibid., i, 70, 98. Ibid., i, 100. ^ Ibid., i, 112. 1 6 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [134 king, to secure stability at home, and to raise a bulwark against the encroachments of her neighbors, Williams was sent to England to secure a charter. In 1644, Williams re- turned with a patent, obtained from the revolutionary gov- ernment in England, for " The Incorporation of Providence Plantations in the Narragansett Bay in New England." This patent united the towns in an incorporation and gave them jurisdiction over the territory bounded on the south by the sea, on the west by the Pequod river and country, on the east by Plymouth, and on the north by Massachusetts. The strength of the spirit of local independence on these communi- ties, together with the fear of rousing Massachusetts to active opposition, delayed organization under the patent until 1647. The frame of government was constructed by the whole people in general assembly. Providence, on account of its re- moteness, chose ten delegates to act for her; but though represented by delegates, it is probable that a large number of her freemen attended. In consenting to unite her destiny with that of the other towns. Providence retained for herself full authority in town afifairs, to elect and to empower officers responsible to the town, to try all cases not reserved for a general court of trials, and to enforce all executions. Their desire was to avoid all mingling of general and town func- tions.' Neither at Portsmouth nor at Newport is there any evidence that delegates were chosen. By no patent in English colonial history were so few restrictions imposed upon the grantees as by this. Full gov- ernmental powers were granted, with the single restriction that the " laws, constitutions and punishments " must con- form to the laws of England, " so far as the nature and con- stitution of the place will admit." Under this carte blanche the assembly proceeded to institute a representative govern- ment consistent with the democratic precedents furnished ' Staples, Annals of Providence, 62. 135] "^^^ COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND 1 7 by the towns. The general officers, a president, four assistants, a general recorder, and a treasurer were to be chosen annually at a " General Court of Election." All freemen were made electors. Such as could not attend should send their votes sealed to the assembly. Each town should present two candidates for assistant, and the one from each town having the highest number of votes was to be declared elected. In the method prescribed for enacting laws both the popular initiative and the referendum were introduced. Any town might in town meeting propose a law, which must then be sent to the other towns for consideration. Next it was considered by a " General Court " of six members from each town. If a majority concurred, it was to stand until the next " General Assembly of all the People " for con- firmation. The general court might propose measures which must be confirmed by the towns and by the assembly. Judicial power was vested in a " General Court of Trials " to be held twice annually, by the president and assistants. Town affairs were to be administered by six men called the "Town Council." Seldom has there been seen a more per- fect embodiment of the principle which the founders had in mind when they declared their government to be " Demo- cratical." ' But as is usually true in states in which the idea of popu- lar government finds full development, internal dissensions were continually threatening the existence of the state itself. The submission of certain of the men of Pawtuxet to Massa- chusetts led to constant complications at Providence. At Rhode Island, Coddington and Nicholas Easton were at the head of two bitterly opposing parties. In September, 1648, Coddington presented to the United Colonies a request that the people of Rhode Island might be received into alliance, ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, i, 156. 1 8 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [136 offensive and defensive, with them.' This petition, which was presented without the knowledge of Providence, and against the wishes of a large party on Rhode Island, had it been successful, would have worked the destruction of the colony. Absorption would inevitably have followed alli- ance. Fortunately for the future of the Rhode Island colony, the petition was rejected by the commissioners.^ In August, 165 1, Coddington returned from a visit to England, bringing a commission creating him governor for life of Rhode Island and Conanicut.' The whole colony was thrown into consternation. Plymouth was advised to assert her claim to Providence and Warwick. These two towns, however, thanks to their self-governing instincts, held fast to the colonial organization, and together with the anti-Cod- dington faction in Rhode Island, sent Roger Williams and John Clarke to England to secure a revocation of Codding- ton's commission.* In October, 1652, the desired revoca- tion was issued from the office of the Secretary of State.^ Development in material prosperity and in population, as well as experience in the past, gave rise to thoughts of a more elaborate frame of government. The restoration of Charles II, moreover, made it necessary that the frame of government should have royal confirmation. The recep- tion, in 1663, of a royal charter, placed the colony on a more secure foundation. The new government was organ- ized on a plan only so much less democratic than before as the growth of the colony demanded. Power was given to 1 Hazard, Slate Papers, n,^^; Acts of the Commissioners of the United Colo- nies, i, 1 10. ^ Acts of the Commissioners of the United Colonies, i, 1 10. ^ Rhode Island Historical Society's Collections, iv, 99. * Narragansett Club Publications, vii, 212, 228; 1 Massachusetts Historical So- ciety's Collections, vii, 292; Hazard, State Papers, '-a, 198; 'Ba.ckxis, Hist, of tie Baptists, i, 269. 5 Narragansett Club Publications, vi, 236. 137] THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND i^ elect officials and to make laws, with the restriction that the laws "be not contrary and repugnant unto, but as near as may be, agreeable to the laws of this our realm of England, considering the nature and constitution of the place and people there." The " general officers," consisting of a gov- ernor, deputy-governor, and ten assistants, together with a secretary and treasurer, were to be chosen annually "by such greater part of the freemen as are there assembled." It was the duty of the governor to call general assemblies, fill vacancies and see that the laws were executed. All gen- eral officers were liable to impeachment. The legislative power was vested in a "General Assem- bly," to consist of the governor, deputy-governor, assistants, and deputies elected semi-annually by the towns. The assembly was empowered to fix the times and places of its meetings, admit persons as freemen of the colony, create offices and appoint officers of administration, make laws, establish courts, regulate the time and manner of holding elections, define the qualifications of electors, define the boundaries of towns, prescribe punishments, and grant pardons. By act of May, 1666, judicial powers were vested in a general court of trials, to consist of the governor, deputy- governor and assistants.' This court was to sit twice a year to hear and to determine all causes. At the reorganization of the courts in 1729, this " Superior Court of Judicature, Court of Assize, and General Gaol Delivery " was given appellate powers only.^ The most remarkable feature of this charter is the pre- ponderant influence given to the general assembly. It was the real source of all power. Not only did it exercise the usual legislative powers, but it assumed the functions of the executive in the appointment of all officers not directly ' Acis and Laws of Rhode Island, 1719, 15, * Ibid,, 1730, igo. 20 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [138 elected by the people, and held the sole pardoning power. The assembly was in turn kept strictly in subordination to the popular will by frequent elections. To the governor remained only a few ministerial powers. He was not a branch of the legislature, but simply a member. No veto was given him. When, in 1731, the question was raised in connection with paper money legislation, the crown officers decided that the charter conferred on the governor no power of veto.' It was quite in harmony with the ideas of the times that the supreme judiciary should consist of the chief executive officers. But in Rhode Island they were made so by the legislature, not by the charter. Both the manner of their appointment and the tenure of their office made them closely responsible to the representatives of the people. On the transfer of appellate jurisdiction to a chief judge and four associates, these officers were chosen annually by the legislature. From the close association of these depart- ihents was to evolve an assumption of authority by the assembly which was to endure longer than the charter itself. When Roger Williams attempted to settle at Seekonk he was informed by Plymouth that, though he was then tres- passing on the jurisdiction of that colony, if he would but remove across the river he would be upon free land. This .advice having been followed, he supposed that no one but the king claimed jurisdiction over his lands at Moshassuck. "Coddingon's company, learning that Sowams, where they (first proposed to settle, was in the domain of Plymouth, selected the island of Aquidneck, which was then acknowl- edged to be beyond the boundaries of that colony. Only seven years later, however, a magistrate was sent to Rhode ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, iv, 458-461. 139] THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND 2 1 Island to forbid the existing government to exercise author- ity there." The sojourns of Gorton at Providence and Pawtuxet were short and stormy. The conduct of this man, who was "be- witching and bemaddening poor Providence," ' led four of the inhabitants of Pawtuxet to place themselves under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, there to remain until 1658. This action was followed by a formal announcement by Massachusetts of her protectorate over the men of Pawtuxet, and a general denial by Gorton of that colony's assumption.' The protectorate of Massachusetts was based on a theory that, whenever any person submitted to her jurisdiction, her authority at once extended over the lands of that person, though they lay outside her chartered limits. Gorton soon removed to Shawomet, where his party purchased a tract from Miantinomi, chief sachem of the Narragansetts. The dissatisfaction of Pomham, a subordinate chieftain who held Shawomet and who denied the sale to Gorton, led to his submission of himself and his lands to Massachusetts. That colony at once took up the cause of Pomham against Gorton. A long controversy ensued. Shawomet was in- vaded and Gorton and his followers were taken as captives to Boston, where after imprisonment they were banished and forbidden to return on pain of death.* On his return to Shawomet, Gorton was chosen to carry to England the sub- mission of the Narragansetts to the king, and at the same time to prosecute the case against Massachusetts.^ In the meantime the general court of that colony granted ten ^ Winthrop, Hist, of New England, ii, 270. ^ Narragansett Club Publications, vi, 141. ^ Force, Tracts, iv, 19. * Rhode Island Historical Society's Collections, ii, 255; Hazard, State Papers, ii, 10. ^ Rhode Island Colonial Records, i, 134. 22 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [140 thousand acres of the Shawomet lands to settlers, but the claims now put forth by Plymouth to the same territory prevented a settlement.' The result of Gorton's mission was an order from the Commissioners of Plantations restor- ing to the Shawomet settlers their lands, and forbidding Massachusetts to assume authority over them.^ Already Williams had returned with the patent of 1643, and the in- terests of all the towns were soon to be blended in a com- mon cause. On August twenty-seventh, Massachusetts announced that she had received a patent, under date of December tenth, 1643, granting to her all of Rhode Island west of Narragan- sett Bay, especially mentioning the Narragansett Country.' The origin of this document is obscure, and by the friends of Rhode Island has been declared to be a forgery. That Massachusetts was not certain of its legality is indicated by the fact that it was not produced until it appeared probable that the Rhode Island settlements were about to organize under their patent. Moreover, had the claim rested on a firm basis, a colony with the instincts of Massachusetts would have spared no effort to enforce it. Thus it appears that, before any authorized government was instituted in the colony, its whole territory had been cdaimed by one or both of its eastern neighbors. Against these claims the towns struggled singly until 1647. The claims of Connecticut and Massachusetts to the Pe- quod country were adjusted in 1658, by fixing the Mystic River as the boundary between the two colonies, completely ^Massachusetts Colonial Records, ii, 128; I Massachusetts Hist. Soc. Collec- tions, i, 276. ■'Rhode Island Colonial Records, i, 367; Rhode Island Hist. Soc. Collections, iv, 19s; Winthrop, Hist, of New England, ii, 282. ' Massachusetts Colonial Records, Ui, 49. 141 J THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND 23 ignoring Rhode Island.' In this tract, lands were granted to settlers as early as 1649. These were held by Rhode Island to be within her territory. In violation of Rhode Island law Humphrey Atherton and others, not citizens of the colony, bought large tracts at Quidnesett and Namcook in the Narragansett country.'^ This purchase, which depended for its validity on the Narragansett Patent, led to a remonstrance and preparations to contest the case before Parliament. On account of the injuries inflicted on the Mohegans, the United Colonies condemned the Narragansetts to pay a fine. Their lands were pledged as security for payment. This mortgage having been assumed by Atherton, the lands were forfeited to him in default of payment. The occupation of the same territory under the Pettiquamscut purchase by Rhode Island authority led to conflicts in that region. Certain persons from Newport about the same time began a settlement at Pawcatuck, and soon came in conflict with Massachusetts authority established there. The granting of the charters of Rhode Island and Con- necticut gave a new aspect to the whole question. Under the terms of their charter, which granted to them the terri- tory on the western side of Narragansett Bay, Connecticut assumed jurisdiction over the whole territory. The Rhode Island charter, granted soon after, fixed the western bound- ary at the Pawcatuck River, with the express provision that nothing in the Connecticut charter should be construed to conflict with this later one. The results of arbitration be- tween the colonial agents embodied in the Rhode Island charter were repudiated by Connecticut, paving the way to a boundary dispute of two centuries in length. Connecticut at once proceeded to extend her government over the Narragansett Country and was vigorously opposed 1 Acts of the Commissioners of the United Colonies, ii, 209. " 3 Mass. Hist. Soc. Collections, i, 213. 24 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [142 by Rhode Island. In March, 1665, the royal commission headed by Col. Richard Nicolls, appointed to subjugate the Dutch settlements, and to settle all questions of appeal, jur- isdiction, and boundary, after hearing the representations of the colonies interested, erected the Narragansett Country into a province called "King's Province," over which the governor and assistants of Rhode Island were made magis- trates. This gave that colony for the tinie being jurisdiction over the disputed territory.' In October, 1664,^ and again in 1670," conferences were held on the subject between rep- resentatives of the two colonies, but without result. In the meantime, there was a continual struggle by Rhode Island to maintain her authorit}^ against the incursions of Connecti- cut. Violence was repeatedly resorted to on both sides. Such was the condition of affairs until King Philip's War engaged the attention of both parties. At the close of the war the members of the Atherton Company who continued to incline to the side of Connecti- cut, opened the whole question again. A second royal com- mission, in its report of October, 1683, rejected the claim of Rhode Island, and recommended that the question be de- cided by the home government in favor of Connecticut.* Since the Privy Council took no action on the report, the work of the commission was of no effect. In 1699, at the command of Lord Bellomont, the dispute was submitted to the authorities in England, with recommendations from Bellomont highly adverse to Rhode Island. Nothing came of this attempt at settlement. During the whole period hostilities were carried on upon the disputed territory. Officers on both sides were arrested in the performance of their duties. Taxes laid by each side were resisted by the other. ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, ii, 93. ' Ibid., ii, 50. ' Ibid., ii, 306. ^Ibid., iii, 140. 143] THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND 35 Becoming fearful that the reference of the dispute to Eng- land might result in the loss of both charters, commissioners were appointed by both sides, in 1702, to settle the ques- tion.' Their conference resulted in the concession by Con- necticut of all that was claimed by Rhode Island, fixing the boundary substantially as later conferences have confirmed it.'' But though her commsssioners had reached an agree- ment, Connecticut delayed the execution of the agreement until a movement was made to lay it before the king. The case was laid before the Board of Trade in February, 1723, and in February, 1727, the final decree came from the king.' The eastern boundary, though never the subject of such fierce contention as that on the west, was destined to wait even longer for settlement. It has already been noted that Plymouth, which at first made no claim to the islands in Narragansett Bay, in 1644 laid claim to Aquidneck. In 1645 a magistrate of Plymouth laid claim to Shawomet. In May, 1659, the assembly appointed commissioners to de- termine the eastern boundary, but without result.* By the charter of 1663 the eastern limit of the colony was fixed at three miles east of Narragansett Bay. An attempt to fix this line failed owing to the refusal of Plymouth to participate. In spite of the charter, in 1682, Plymouth laid claim to Hog Island, and in 1684, extended the claim to the island of Aquidneck.* The royal commission of 1664 gave Plymouth jurisdiction to the bay, pending the decision of the king. By the Massachusetts charter of 1691, Plymouth was an- nexed to that colony, and the eastern boundary became the concern of Massachusetts. In 1734 Rhode Island in a peti- tion to the king asserted her right to the eastern shore of 1 Arnold, Hist, of Rhode Island, ii, 10. 'Rhode Island Colonial Records, iii, 474. ' Ibid., iv, 370. * Ibid., i, 409. ^Arnold, Hist, of Rhode Island, i, 477. 26 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [144 the bay. The case having gone through the regular process of investigation, an Order in Council in November, 1738, de- creed that the commissioners should determine the Hne. The commission sat on April 7, 1741/ and decided in favor of Rhode Island, giving to her five towns on the eastern border. On appeal from both parties, the decision was con- firmed by the king in council, in May, 1746.^ The same commission fixed the line on the north-east, which was more closely connected with the northern boun- dary question. This latter was opened by the town of Mendon when it was feared that under the original deed of Providence, Rhode Island might claim a part of that town. Ineffectual measures were taken to settle this question in 1705 and 1706.' About this time an armed force from Mendon entered Rhode Island and carried off several prison- ers to Boston. Such acts of violence led to further attempts at settlement, but it was not until 1746 that this was decided by an Order in Council.* These boundary disputes of Rhode Island, though seem- ingly petty and barren of interest, were a most potent factor in shaping the character of her people. Were each state called upon to indicate its particular con- tribution to the institutions of America, Rhode Island would point unhesitatingly to the principle of liberty of con- science. Though the honor of the first enunciation of this principle is disputed by Maryland, Rhode Island has suc- cessfully maintained her position. Roger Williams found that in Massachusetts religious liberty was no more a fact than it was in England. The first charge made against him before the general court was that he held the doctrine ^ Rhode Island Colonial Records, iv, 586-7. 'Arnold, Hist, of Rhode Island, ii, 134. ^ Rhode Island Colonial Records, iii, 528. 'Arnold, Hist, of Rhode Island, ii, 134. 145 j THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND 27 " that the magistrates ought not to punish the breach of the first table otherwise than in such cases as did disturb the civil peace." ' The settlement at Providence was an em- bodiment of Williams' idea. In the first written compact remaining, that signed by the second comers, the agreement was to be governed by the majority " only in civil things." ^ In the form of government which succeeded the more prim- itive original organization in 1640, it was resolved "as for- merly hath been the liberties of the town, so still to hold forth liberty of conscience." ^ At Rhode Island, the same " General Court of Election " which declared the govern- ment to be a democracy, also declared that " none be ac- counted a delinquent for doctrine : provided it be not directly repugnant to the government or laws established." * Under the patent of 1644, which was silent on the subject of religion, the declaration of religious liberty went hand in hand with that of political freedom.^ When in the absence ■of laws on the subject, complaints of Sabbath breaking were brought in, the assembly refused to make any law on the subject.* An opportunity for putting into practice the prin- ciples so persistently maintained was offered on the arrival in Rhode Island of certain Quakers, fleeing from persecution in Massachusetts. In reply to a letter from Massachusetts urging the banishment of the Quakers, Rhode Island said that no law existed in the colony under which persons could be molested in matters of religion. Though the extrava- gant acts of the Quakers were obnoxious to the people of the colony, yet they resolved to adhere to their fundamental principle, so long as it did not jeopardize civil order.' ' Winthrop, Hist, of New England, i, 193. '^ Rhode Island Colonial Records, i, 14. '^IHd,{,2&. ^Ibid.,\,ll-i. ''Ibid., i, 156. '^ Ibid., i, 279. ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, i, 376. 28 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [146 When, as on this occasion, the maintenance of soul liberty- seemed to threaten the structure of civil society, the colony had for its guidance that letter of Williams to the town of Providence in which the state is likened to a ship which puts to sea bearing men of different faiths. He declared that, while these men might not be compelled to attend the ship's prayers or be restrained from offering their own, yet the commander must have authority, not only over the direction of the voyage, but over peace and justice among those on board. In such a case it could not be maintained that there should be no commander because all were not of the same faith. ' With this principle well established, the agent at the royal court was able to procure in the patent of 1663 a provision, " that no person within the said colony, at any time here- after, shall be anywise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any difference in opinion in matters of religion, and do not actually disturb the civil peace of our said colony."^ The marked contrast between this provision and the rights not only of the other colonies, but of English- men at home, makes this grant a notable one in the history of English imperial government. The course of legislation during the first half of the eighteenth century indicates that the principle in question was held no less sacred in that day than it had been by the founders of the colony. Nothing was more in opposition to this idea than that any one sect should be favored above another. To guard against such a contingency, the assem- bly, in 1 716, in an "Act for Perpetuating the Liberty of Conscience " granted by the charter, and for preventing any church " from endeavoring for preeminence or superiority of one over the other, by making use of the civil power for the ^ Narragansett Club Publications, vi, 278. ^ Charter of Rhode Island. 1 47] THE COLONY Of RHODE ISLAND 29 enforcing of a maintenance for their respective ministers," passed an act providing that whatever salaries any congre- gation might see fit to provide for their ministers, should " be raised by a free contribution, and no other way.'" The continued presence of the Quakers had made itself felt at different times in the political as well as in the reli- gious life of the people, particularly at the time of King Philip's War. The militia laws consequent on the partici- pation by the colony in the wars against Spain and France, imposed upon the people of that persuasion duties incom- patible with their belief. To relieve them, an act was passed in June, 1730, "for the relief of tender consciences, and to prevent their being burdened with military duties."^ The preamble of the act relates that, by the operation of the existing militia laws, certain persons " have suffered great damages, and excessive charges have accrued to them by having their goods distrained and publicly sold, contrary to that freedom and liberty of conscience by the charter granted to all persons of a peaceable and quiet behavior." Hence it was therein enacted " that no constraint shall be laid upon the conscience of any person whatsoever, by force of any act or law for the keeping up or regulating the militia within this colony, nor shall any person be compelled to bear arms, or learn or exercise himself in the art of war, whose principles are, that the same is inconsistent with the doctrine of the gospel." Six years later this law was re- pealed.' Again, in an act " for more effectually putting the colony into a proper posture for defense," on the occasion of the outbreak of the war with Spain in 1740, it was provided that, ^ Rhode Island Colonial Records, iv, 206; Acts and Laws of Rhode Island, 1719, 80. ''■Acts and Laws of Rhode Island, Supplement to Digest of 1^30, pt. i, 217. •* Ibid., pt. ii, 277. JO RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [148 in case of an alarm, persons taking an oath that they could not conscientiously bear arms, might be excused. Such persons were, however, held liable to do service as aids, scouts and watches.' Again, in the year 1744, a law was passed for the relief of Quakers, similar in its provisions to that of 1730.' But while the colony was thus reiterating the principle of religious freedom, there appeared upon the statute books a law totally inconsistent with her professions. The digest of laws printed in 17 16 contains among those passed at the first session of the general assembly after the reception of the charter, an act that " all men professing Christianity, and of competent estates, and of civil conversation, who acknowl- edge and are obedient to the civil magistrates, though of different judgments in religious affairs, Roman Catholics only excepted, shall be admitted freemen, and shall have liberty to choose and be chosen officers in the colony, both military and civil."' Investigation has proven that the expressions " professing Christianity," and " Roman Catholics only excepted," do not appear in the original act of 1663—4, nor does it in the manuscript digest of 1705. From this and other evidence it appears that these provisions never received legislative sanction until they were unintentionally accepted by a gen- eral act confirming the digest of 1 730. Not a single instance appears of the provisions having been enforced. From this it must be concluded that, though on the statute book until 1783, in spirit this restriction never existed.* The colony's favorable situation for trade by sea was appreciated by the first settlers. Commercial relations were ''■Acts and Laws of Rhode Island, 1745, 234. '^Ibid., 293. *Ibid., 1719, 3. *'Acts and Laws of Rhode Island, 1719, Introduction, 14; Rhode Island His- torical Tracts, ser. 2, i. The act reappears in the digests of 1730 and 1767. 149] THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND 31 maintained during the seventeenth century, both with the Dutch and with some of the English colonies. Commerce did not rise to importance, however, until about the be- ginning of the next century, nor were vessels owned in the colony to any extent before that time. A report to the Board of Trade in 1680 shows that the entire shipping of the colony then consisted of a few sloops.' There were no mer- chants worthy of the name, and the small trade which ex- isted consisted of exports of horses and provisions. The awakening of the spirit of commerce throughout the British dominions became perceptible at the dawn of the eighteenth century. During the years preceding 1708, the shipping of the colony increased from four or five vessels to twenty- seven, most of which hailed from Newport.' This increase was ascribed both to the growing taste for the sea among young men, and to the superior speed of the Rhode Island vessels, which enabled them more easily to escape their enemies. Shipbuilding became an important industry after the revolution of 1688. Down to the year 1 708 eighty-four vessels were built in the colony. The English trade at that time consisted of imports to the value of ;£^2000 annually, through the port of Boston. Direct trade was carried on with the other colonies, the West Indies, Madeira, and Surinam. To the tropical countries were exported lumber and farm and dairy products, in return for sugar, molasses, and dyestuffs. English goods were frequently obtained through this channel. With specie, molasses, and sugar brought from the south, and with rum distilled in the colony, the Rhode Island trader carried on a thriving busi- ness with the other colonies, bringing back their products for exportation. By the year 1731 direct trade was estab- lished with England, Holland, and the Mediterranean.^ The ' Arnold, Hist, of Rhode Island, i, 448. ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, iv, 57. " Arnold, Hist, of Rhode Island, ii, 106. 22 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [150 profits of the carrying trade had by the year 1740 swelled the fleet trading to Europe, Africa, and the West Indies to one hundred and twenty sail.' Dye woods were now car- ried from the West Indies by the Rhode Island traders to England, where they were exchanged for English goods intended for colonial use. Some vessels had found a source of profit in the slave trade between Africa and the West Indies. As the years passed commerce grew apace. Dur- ing the year 1763, one hundred and eighty-two vessels cleared from Newport for foreign voyages, while three hun- dred and fifty-two sailed in the coastwise trade. These, together with the fisheries, gave employment to two thou- sand men. As the colony grew, Newport was no longer the sole seat of trade. From the year 1730 onward Providence claimed an increasing share of commerce. To such an extent did the shipping of that port increase, that between 1756 and 1764 the number of vessels belonging there which were lost, amounted to sixty-five. The town itself was building up. In 1 75 1, a cargo of lumber sent to London direct was ex- changed for dry goods which supplied three new stores in town. Intercourse with the country towns demanded better highways. Heretofore the post road from Pawtucket to Westerly was the only exception to the general neglect to which the highways were condemned. In 1734 a road to Plainfield was provided.'' The next year provision was made for bridges in Scituate.' From that time on, there frequently appear appropriations for highway purposes in various parts of the colony. It was near the close of the seventeenth century that the colonial manufactures became of sufficient importance to rouse the opposition of the manufacturers in the mother ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, v, 8. ' Ibid., iv, 492. • Ibid., iv, 5 1 2. Ijl] THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND 33 country. The laws of 1699, 1732, and 1750, in restraint of colonial manufactures, sought to crush the manufacture of woollens, hats and iron, as well as to place heavy restrictions on apprenticeship in those industries. In spite of oppres- sive legislation, various industries grew up in Rhode Island. Iron-works were established with marked success at Poto- womut. The fisheries and the foreign trade led to extensive manufactures at Newport. At one time there were no less than seventeen factories for the manufacture of sperm oil and candles. Five rope walks were in operation. Three sugar refineries handled the imports of that article from the West Indies, while twenty-two distilleries contributed rum to the return cargoes.' The part taken by the colonies in the wars between Eng- land and France between 1690 and 1763, imposed upon them a heavy debt. In their efforts to relieve themselves of this burden, recourse was had in many colonies to emissions of paper money. Massachusetts led the way in 1690, followed in 1709 by New York and New Jersey. Rhode Island fol- lowed in 1710, Pennsylvania in 1723, and Virginia in 1755. During the years 17 10 and 171 1, Rhode Island issued ;^I3300.^ This was followed in the year 1715 by the issue of a bank of ;^4000 in paper.'' The banks differed from the other issues of paper in that they were for larger amounts and were loaned to the people for a term of years on landed security. The ordinary issues were for small amounts and were issued to meet the immediate demands on the treasury. A second bank in 1721* was followed by a third in 1728.^ One emission created the demand for the next. Thinking ' Arnold, Hist, of Rhode Island, ii, 3 Dec. 9, 1774. '' Providence Gazette, Nov. 26, 1774. *■ Providence Town Meeting Records,^, 21. " Providence Gazette, Dec. 24, 1774. * American Archives, i, 1098. ''Providence Gazette, Mar. II and June 17, 1775; American Archives, iii, 661. eg RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [174 sion of the assembly was called to take measures of defense.' It was voted to raise a force of fifteen hundred men to re- main in the colony as an army of observation, to repel any insult or violence that might be offered to the inhabitants. If necessary for the protection of any other colony, it was to join and cooperate with the forces of the neighboring colo- nies. Military preparations had been making for months. The militia laws had been revised, military companies had been formed and supplies collected.'' A committee was to consult with the authorities of Connecticut on measures of defense for the New England colonies.' The speaker of the House of Representatives, in announcing the action of the assembly to Connecticut, remarked with evident satisfaction that " greater unanimity was scarce ever found than was manifested in the lower house on the great questions that came before them.'" But in spite of the unanimity in the House of Representa- tives, the measures of the patriots were by no means unop- posed by a portion of the citizens. The spirit of opposition made itself manifest in the upper house of the assembly in the form of a protest against the raising of an army of observation.* This protest, signed by Governor Joseph Wanton, Deputy Governor Darius Sessions, and two as- sistants, alleged as a motive the opinion that "such a meas- ure will be attended with the most fatal consequences to our charter privileges ; involve the colony in all the horrors of a ^ American Archives, ii, 362. ^The most important military measures may thus be stated chronologically: June, 1774, Light Infantry chartered; Oct., Newport, Providence, Pawtuxet, Gloucester, and Kentish companies chartered; Dec, Providence Train of Artillery, Fusileers, and North Providence Rangers chartered; committees appointed to re- vise the militia laws, and to procure arms and ammunition. '• Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), /77^-_5', Apr. 24, 1775. * American Archives, ii, 389. ^ Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly (MS.), ifj4-s,K^t. 25, 1775. 175] A PERIOD OF HARMONY 57 civil war, and, as we conceive, is an open violation of the oath of allegiance which we have severally taken, on our admission into the respective offices we now hold in the colony." ' In the flush of triumph at the outcome of the Revolution, and burning under the recollections of that stormy period, it has been the custom to belittle the character, number and importance of the loyal element of the American people in that great struggle. A century's tranquillizing influence should enable us to realize what the leaders of the patriots were forced to admit to their own generation : that probably one-third of the people of America were opposed to the Revolution.^ While these loyalists were from all ranks of society, it must be admitted that on an average the balance was in their favor as compared with their opponents, in respect to wealth, intelligence, and social position. In the opposition to the measures of the popular party in Rhode Island, two motives may be distinguished. There was a conservative spirit, ruling a class of men who, while they loved their country and stood firmly for its liberties during the intellectual period of the Revolution, shrank from armed opposition to constituted authority. Then there was a commercial spirit prevailing among a large class of influen- tial merchants whose wealth had been gained rnostly in trade. Though in the main patriotic, they were dominated by business instincts, and to them armed rebellion suggested all the horrors of civil war, the destruction of trade, and the sacrifice of accumulated wealth. These motives, mingled in every proportion, were to be found not only in Rhode Island, but with still other motives throughout all the colonies. Both the conservative and the commercial spirit were ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, vii, 311. '^ Works of John Adams, x, 63, 87, no. eg RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [176 well exemplified in Governor Wanton, who signed the pro- test against the raising of troops. Sprung from a family of colonial governors and bearing in his veins the best blood of New England, he was alive to the wrongs of his country, but he shrank from rebellion. He came into office just at the time of the firing of the revenue vessel. Liberty. In the correspondence which followed this act the governor strongly supported the action of the colonial court, while complaining loudly of the customs officers for abusing and misrepresenting the colony.' On being apprised of the depredations of the Gaspee in Narragansett Bay, Governor Wanton sent the high sheriff of Newport to demand of her commander his commission and the instructions bringing him into the colony.^ In reply to a letter from Admiral Montague in which that officer censured the colony severely, Governor Wanton returned an answer worthy of the man and of the times. Concerning his duty as governor he said : " Please to be in- formed that I do not receive instructions for the administra- tration of the government, from the king's admiral stationed in America." " While expressing a willingness to aid the officers of the crown in the execution of their duty, he con- tinues : " Please to know that I will send the sheriff of this colony at any time, and to any place within the body of it, as I shall think fit." ' It was after such exhibitions of patriotism that he entered his protest against the raising of the army. When the time arrived for the annual inaugura tion of the government, Governor Wanton transmitted to the assembly a request to be excused from attendance at the session on account of illness.' At the same time he recom- mended to their careful consideration the conciliatory letter ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, vii, 4 2. •^ Ibid., vii, 62. ^ Ibid., vii, 64. * Ibid., vii, 64. ' Ibid., vii, 332. 177] ^ PERIOD OF HARMONY 59 from the Earl of Dartmouth, under date of March third, 1775, asking that it be treated " with that tender calmness and deliberation " which the importance of it demanded.' " The prosperity and happiness of this colony," continued he, " is founded in its connection with Great Britain — torn from the body to which we are united by our religion, liberty, laws, and commerce, we must bleed at every vein. Your charter privileges are of too much importance to be forfeited." After recommending the avoidance not only of every ap- pearance of anger, but a respectful demeanor toward the king and parliament, he concluded : " I shall always be ready to join with you in every measure which will secure the full possession of our invaluable charter privileges to the latest posterity, and prevent the good people from that ruin and destruction which in my opinion some of the orders of the late Assembly must inevitably involve them in, if they are not speedily repealed."^ A curt query whether he in- tended to accept his election, and if so would he give his attendance in the assembly, caused him to repeat his plea of illness." The attitude of the governor was by no means acceptable to the assembly. A resolution was passed in that body forbidding the deputy governor or the assistants, in direct contravention of the terms of the charter, to administer the oath of office to him except in open assembly, and, further, that until such oath was administered he should be suspended from his office.* The charges enumerated against him were, besides, that he had entered a protest reflecting on the assembly, and failed to qualify as governor; that he had refused to sign the commissions of the newly created officers of the army, and had neglected to proclaim a fast day decreed by the assembly. These resolutions brought out the state- ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, vii, 322. ^ Ibid., vii, 322. ^ Ibid., vii, 334. ■* Ibid., vii, 325. 60 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [178 ment that, had he not been suspended, the fast would have been proclaimed in ample time. The commissions he could not consistently sign after entering the protest.' The ex- planation being unsatisfactory to the assembly, at the October session, the office of governor was declared vacant.'' Though not removing from the colony like so many of his party, his political sun had set, and the remainder of his life was passed in quiet retirement. In other quarters the commercial motive was making itself felt in a way scarcely appealing to the finer sympathies. The love of gain had already brought some of the trading class into collision with the patriots for violations of the non- intercourse agreements. Some of the people of Newport persisted in gratifying at the same time their loyalty and their greed by supplying sheep, butter, eggs, and other pro- visions to the British army at Boston.'' Writing to General Greene, Governor Cooke comments upon these acts thus: " I am sorry I have so much reason to tell you that there is such a strong party at Newport that countenances and joins with them, and gives them all the intelligence and supplies in their power. In short, I think there is great reason to fear they will soon be the strongest party in that town, if some method is not taken to prevent it." ' To prevent such a result was the object of stringent laws passed by the assembly. It was enacted that any person acting as pilot on any armed vessel going in or out of the waters of Rhode Island, not in the service of one of the colonies, should be fined not to exceed ;£'5oo, or imprisoned not to exceed twelve months.' The loyalists were, however, not to be deterred, and so at its next session the assembly declared ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, vii, 336. ^ Ibid., viii, 392. s Providence Gazette, June 3, 1775. '•Rhode Island Hist. Soc. Collections, vi, 114. ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, vii, 364. 179] A PERIOD OF HARMONY 6 1 it traitorous correspondence, punishable with death and con- fiscation, to supply the British with provisions or pilot their vessels.' The pitiable condition to which the people of New- port were reduced led to a provision in the act whereby they were allowed to supply the British with provisions in return for immunity from plunder granted to their boats. To make more rigorous the lot of the detested Tories, measures were instituted to confiscate their property. At the October session, 1775, no less than fourteen acts of con- fiscation were passed.'' It is of interest to note that the greater part of the forfeited estates were those owned by wealthy citizens of Boston, holding property in the Narra- gansett Country. Confiscation of property and the trans- portation of suspected persons to the interior towns were re- sorted to constantly during the early years of the war. The attitude of the colony toward the loyalists, as well as the steps taken to assert their rights as Englishmen, indicates the position of Rhode Island at the outbreak of hostilities. To attempt to fix the first suggestion, by an individual, of independence, would but prove vain. Imperceptibly it was approaching. A few bold spirits like Hopkins and Samuel Adams had long watched its progress with approving eyes, but the popular mind was not, during the year 1775, pre- pared for such a measure. Even Congress repeatedly dis- avowed any intention of separation. As early as June 9, 1775, that body advised Massachusetts to elect representa- tives to conduct the government until a governor of his majesty's choosing should consent to govern according to the terms of the charter." Advice of a similar nature was given to New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Virginia. The growing sentiment of independence seized the masses, powerfully moved by the forcible, plain English of Paine' s ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, vii, 389. ' Ibid., vii, 376-86. ' Journals of Congress, i, 80. 62 RHODE ISLAND AKD THE UNION [ 1 8o " Common Sense," which appeared in January, 1776. As early as November 27, 1775, a Rhode Island man wrote: "The die is cast. The union of the two colonies with Britain is at an end. It is as easy to bring two poles to- gether as to bring about an accommodation. The great question between America and Great Britain is now reduced to a point; we must be independent or slaves. We must declare ourselves free. A federal, not an incorporating, union must be completed as soon as possible." ' General Greene, who had repeatedly counseled united action, now boldly recommended independence.^ To the delegates in Congress Rhode Island recommended that all measures of partial and colonial defense give way to the united exertion of all under a supreme, superintending power." Through the columns of the colonial press may be traced a steady advance of opinion leading to an official utterance on May /i^, 1776. As North Carolina was the first colony to declare independence, so was Rhode Island the first to renounce her allegiance to Great Britain. This step was taken May 4, 1776. It had been voted by the lower house of the assembly to call upon the towns at the spring election to vote on independence. But as there were several towns which it was feared would reject the proposition, the plan was not carried out, lest a divided vote might weaken the cause in Rhode Island.' On the inauguration of the gov- ernment, no time was lost in approaching the cause which was uppermost in the minds of all. Under the title of " An Act Repealing an Act entitled An Act for the more effectually securing to His Majesty the allegiance of his sub- jects in the colony and dominion of Rhode Island and Provi- dence Plantations, and altering the forms of all commissions, ' Amer. Archives, iii, 1686. ' IHd., iv, 5 7 1 . » Rhode Island Colonial Records, vii, 45 1 . • Staples, Rhode Island in the Continental Congress, 68. l8l] ^ PERIOD OF HARMONY 63 of all writs and processes in the courts, and of the oaths pre- scribed by law," the assembly, with but six dissenting votes, passed an act which placed the colony a step in advance of her sister colonies.' Regarding governn:)ent as a contract, the preamble to this act relates that protection and allegiance are reciprocal. The king in violation of the compact had introduced fleets and armies into the colony to force upon the people a de- testable tyranny. As under such circumstances it becomes the right and duty of a people to make use of the means at hand for their preservation, therefore the act of allegiance was repealed. It was further enacted that in all commis- sions, writs, and processes at law, wherever the name and authority of the king had been employed, should be substi- tuted " The Governor and Company of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." The courts were no longer to be the king's courts, nor were written instruments of any kind to bear the year of the king's reign. Having thus practically cut the bond which held them to the old country, it was appropriate that the next proceeding should be directed toward closer union with the other colonies. This idea was embodied in a letter of instructions forwarded to the delegates in Congress. They were em- powered to join in consulting and advising, " upon the most proper measures for promoting and confirming the strictest union and confederation between the said United Colonies, for exerting their whole strength and force to annoy the common enemy, and to secure to the said colonies their rights and liberties, both civil and religious;" and further they were empowered, in conjunction with the delegates of the other colonies, " to enter into and adopt all such meas- ures; taking the greatest care to secure to this colony, in the strongest and most perfect manner, its present estab- • Ads and Resolves of the General Assembly (^MS.), 1776, Ft. I, May 4, 1776. 64 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [182 lished form, and all the powers of government, so far as relate to its internal police and conduct of our own affairs, civil and religious." ' Though the instructions avoided, on account of a lack of perfect unanimity among the towns, any direct charge on the subject of independence, it was in- tended that the prevailing sentiment of the people should not be mistaken.^ In regard to union there was no dissent, and to that topic the instructions were confined. But not more emphatic were the instructions on the side of union than in preserving the peculiar liberties of the colony. The simple direction to " secure to the said colonies their rights and liberties, civil and religious," and to take care " to secure to this colony in the strongest and most perfect man- ner, its present established form, and all the powers of gov- ernment, so far as relates to its internal police and conduct of our own afifairs, civil and religious," bring vividly to mind all those circumstances in her history which had blended to form the character of the colony. The banishment from Massachusetts; the struggling settlements dedicated to soul liberty; the unequalled privileges of the charter, and the century of conflict waged over every foot of the narrow territory granted by that instrument, all these were present before the colony when it prepared to step forth from the tutelage of England, and join its fate with that of its sister colonies. In these lines were summed up the history of the past and the hopes for the future. Sustained by such expressions of encouragment. Congress proceeded on its way to a formal declaration of independ- ence. On the receipt of the news of the declaration, the assembly approved the action and did " most solemnly en- gage, that we will support the said General Congress, with our ^ Rhode Island Colonial Records, vii, 526. " /*«V., vii, 527; Staples, Rhode Island in the Continental Confess, 68. 183] A PERIOD OF HARMONY 65 lives and fortunes." ' Already, at the June session, it had been enacted that all persons suspected of unfriendliness to the United Colonies should take a test oath declaring their belief in the justice and necessity of the resistance to Great Britain ; that they would in no way furnish aid or comfort to the enemy, and that they would assist in the defense of the United Colonies.'' Now on the receipt of the declaration, it was added that no male under twenty-one years of age should make appeal to the assembly, commence an action in court, or have the right to vote or hold office until he had subscribed to the test oath." The invocation " God save the King," which had long closed the records of the sessions of the assembly, in June, 1776, became "God save the United Colonies," and at the July session, " God save the United States." After independence the next step was to formulate a sys- tem of government. Under gradually broadening instruc- tions the Continental Congress advanced beyond the exer- cise of simply recommendatory functions, to those of a truly national character. The instructions to the delegates to the second Congress, particularly at its second session, show a marked advance in the national spirit. Massachusetts gave her delegates authority to " direct and order." * South Carohna's delegates were to " concert, agree to, and ef- fectually prosecute measures to secure a redress of griev- ances," ^ while Maryland bound her citizens " to execute, to the utmost of their powers, all resolutions, that the said Con- gress may adopt."^ North Carolina delegated such power as would make their acts "obligatory, in honor, upon every inhabitant thereof." ' Rhode Island's delegates were ^Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly (MS.), 1776, Ft. II, July 19, 1776. ^Acis and Resolves of the General Assembly (MS.) , 1776, Ft. I, June 1 6, 1 776. ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, vii, 588. * Journals of Congress, i, 5 1 . 5 /« Rhode Island Colonial Records, m\, 151. * Schedules of the General Assembly, Sept. Session, 1777, 5. 1 10 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION I 228 August' and December,' bringing the taxes of the year up to ninety-six thousand pounds. It must be borne in mind, however, that at this time, as in following years, taxes laid and taxes collected were very different things. The devices of Congress for obtaining money through loan offices and lotteries having been unproductive, and the depreciation of bills of credit having become alarming, re- course was had, on November twenty-second, 1777, to requi- sitions on the states for specific sums.' The first three requisitions were made in paper and were as follows : Date. Paper Value. Specie Value. 1 777, Nov. 22 $100,000 $36,363.64* 1779, Jan. 2-5 300,000 37,688.44* 1 779, May 21 750,000 64,878.45* ^1,150,000 8138,930.53 On October ninth, 1779, Congress made a requisition for $15,000,000 per month, to be paid in paper,' to begin Feb- ruary first, 1780, and to be continued until October first of the same year. This was later extended to April first, 1 78 1.' The quota of Rhode Island for each month was $200,000. A requisition for $6,000,000 per year, for eigh- teen years, seems never to have received attention from any- one after its passage, and is therefore excluded.' To meet these requisitions, the reports to Congress show that Rhode Island actually paid in paper as follows:'" 1 Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly (^MS.), 7777, Rt. ii, Aug. 23. ' /^2«'-, Dec. 6. 3 journals of Congress, ii, 345. * Ibid., ii, 345. = /^ja'., iii, 1 76. " ^*^'^-. i". 284. r Ibid., iii, 373, 376. « Ibid., iii, 442. » Ibid., iii, 1 74. '^"American State Papers, Finance, i, 60. 229] '^^^ PAPER MONE Y ERA j j | Date of Warrant or Receipt. Paper Value. Specie Value. I778,June26 $50,000 $11,763.29 '779. July 23 195.018 12,599-35 " Nov. 12 300,000 12,330.45 " Dec. 14 100,000 3,658.98 1 780, Jan. 1 75,000 2,407.70 " Jan. 20 i7S.°oo 5.6i7-97 " Feb. 28 80,000 2,000,00 " April II 204,000 5,100.00 " April 14 100,000 2,500.00 " June 9 H4.732 2,868.30 1782, Feb. 23 8,238 205.95 $1,402,788 $61,051.99 In 1787, when the paper was practically of no value, Rhode Island turned in $2,593,353.30 on the requisition of March 18, 1780.' The embargo which had been laid at the suggestion of Congress on the export of all provisions from the states, was inflicting great hardship on the people of Rhode Island.^ So heavily did the Connecticut embargo rest on the people that a request was sent to the governor of that state, asking that it be suspended in favor of Rhode Island.^ The scarcity of provisions, he explained, was due to the expedition to Rhode Island, which had prevented the people from sowing grain, as well as to the drought of the summer and the absence of the men at harvest time. One-fourth of the land suited to agriculture was either occupied or controlled by the enemy, from whom the inhabitants were refugees without the means of livelihood. Receiving no response, the destitute situation '^American State Papers, Finance, i, 58; Specie values determined from tables of depreciation in American State Papers, Finance, v, 722 et seq. ''■ Journals of Congress, ii, 581 ; Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly (MS.), 177S, June 30. ' Rhode Island Colonial Records,-nn, 499. 112 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [230 of the state led again in January, 1779, to an appeal for aid.' The delegates in Congress were instructed to obtain a sus- pension of the embargo in New York and Connecticut, in favor of Rhode Island. Governor Greene, in his letter, said that the number of refugees was constantly increasing; that the state had never been able to produce grain sufficient for her own use, and that now the state was deprived of all imports except small amounts obtained from Massachusetts. " If some relief is not speedily granted," said he, " many of the poorer sort of inhabitants, especially those that have come ofif from Rhode Island, must inevitably perish of want." ^ To Governor Clinton, on the same day, he wrote : " There are several thousand of the inhabitants of Rhode Island come ofif, that must be supported among us. Your excellency will be able to judge, from what your own inhabitants suffer, how hard the lot of these poor people must be, when I in- form you that corn nor flour cannot be purchased for money at any price whatever." ^ To the assembly of Connecticut he writes that storms and force of military duty had ruined the crops of the last sum- mer so that the product was even less than usual. " The most obdurate heart would relent to see old age and child- hood, from comfortable circumstances, reduced to the neces- sity of begging for a morsel of bread."* A committee was appointed to wait on the Connecticut assembly to impress the necessity of the case. Nor were these efforts unsuccessful. The assembly of Connecticut allowed seven thousand bushels of grain to be exported to Rhode Island, and in compliance with a recom- mendation of that body, contributions were taken up to the ^ Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), iffg, Jan. 3; Rhode Island Archives {MS.), Letters, 7779, Jan. ?• ^ Staples, Rhode Island in the Continental Congress, 209. ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, viii, 499. * Ibid., viii, 500. 231] THE PAPER MONE Y ERA I j 3 amount of five hundred bushels of grain and four thousand three hundred pounds in money. Moreover Congress, on the second of March, relieved the state of fifty thousand dol- lars of her quota, that sum being generously assumed by South Carolina.' In New York the embargo was in like manner suspended. The issue of state paper having been abandoned, and taxes not yielding the necessary funds, recourse was had to borrowing on treasury notes bearing interest. The interest on these of the face value of one hundred and sixty thousand pounds was added to the burden of the state. Every other means was taken by Congress to avoid a further emission of paper. A loan of $20,000,000 through the loan offices was authorized.^ The loans came in so slowly that the assembly recommended that subscription lists be opened in every town.^ As in the other colonies at the opening of hostilities, the Tories had sought refuge with the British. Their estates, which had been taken possession of by the state, were, by act of the assembly, confiscated to the public use.* During the year 1780, the "Forty for One Act" practi- cally repudiated thirty-nine fortieths of the bills of credit.* They were then made receivable only for a special tax laid for the purpose of calling in the notes. From that date the requisitions of Congress were made in specie. Many of the states took measures to relieve the soldiers who had received paper in payment for service, and who were placed in an especially unfortunate position by the act. In Rhode Island a tax of sixteen thousand pounds was laid, of which six thousand pounds was devoted to the payment of one-fourth ' Journals of Congress, iii, 216. ■ Ibid., iii, 306, 316. ' Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), J^yg, Aug. 21. * Rhode Island Colonial Records, viii, 609. ' Journals of Congress, iii, 442. 1 14 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [232 of the depreciation of the pay of the Rhode Island soldiers." The remaining three-fourths was to be paid out of the pro- ceeds of the confiscated estates of the loyalists. With the appointment of Morris as Superintendent of Finance something like order was brought into the adminis- tration of the treasury. Specie requisitions were made by Congress, but the waning influence of that body is evident in the laxity of the states in complying with its demands. A treasury statement shows that of the requisitions made from October 31, 1781, to August 20, 1788, against $5,900,349.20 paid by all the states, there remained unpaid $9,463,660.70. Of these sums Rhode Island had paid $87,- 950.83, against $268,088.14 yet unpaid.'^ Upon the call of October 3, 1781,' for $216,684 from Rhode Island, the delegates were instructed to obtain relief for the state.* Accordingly, following the request of the delegates, Morris wrote that a commissioner would be ap- pointed to direct the expenditure of Rhode Island's contri- bution within the state, so that so much specie might not be drawn out of her boundaries.* By these means the state was enabled to meet her obligations in such a way that Morris, in a letter to Edmund Randolph, in June, 1782, said that New Jersey and Rhode Island were the only states which had made payments on the requisitions due that spring.* To show the relative contributions of the States from 1781 to August, 1783, in proportion to assessments, Morris trans- mitted to the president of Congress the following statement:' ' Schedules of the General Assembly, Nov. Session, 1780, 30. * American State Papers, Finance, i, 56-7. '^Journals of Congress, iii, 683. * Rhode Island Colonial Records, ix, 502. ' Staples, Rhode Island in the Continental Congress, 364. ' Gilpin, Madison Papers, i, 142. ' Sparks, Diplomatic Correspondence, xii, 395. 2331 ^^^ PAPER MONEY ERA j i 5 South Carolina All. Rhode Island Nearly \. Pennsylvania Above \. Connecticut J. New Jersey ^. Massachusetts ^, Virginia 1, New York 1 . Maryland ^^, New Hampshire ^^j. North Carolina Nothing. Delaware Nothing. Georgia Nothing. The British evacuated Newport on tlie twenty-fifth of Octo- ber, 1779, leaving the town prostrate. A report to the legis- lature, in June, 1782, estimated the damage done by the British at nearly twenty-five thousand pounds. The same report states that five hundred houses had been destroyed,' the forests which had abounded on the island cut down, and farms and fields of the state's most prosperous region laid waste. Probably no less than two thousand persons fled from their homes on the shores of Narragansett Bay. But among the losses to the state, none could compare' in after effects with the loss of Newport's Hebrew population. The enterprise which had made that town the commercial metropolis of the north was due chiefly to the Jews. Twenty square-rigged vessels, besides many smaller ones, were kept in commission by one house. Of this wealthy class few re- turned at the close of the war. Their name was only to be preserved by tradition and by the monuments of their bene- volence in the town, from whose docks trade had forever de- parted." Allusion has already been made to the new race of mer- chants, the foundation of whose prosperity was laid during ' Arnold, Hist, of Rhode Island, ii, 447. "^Providence GazeUe,%e.-^'i.(i, 1782. , iQ RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [234 the war, and who were now rising to wealth at the expense of the producing class. In the agricultural districts great ■distress prevailed. For several years taxes had been heavy. Cheap foreign goods were tempting the purses of the com- imon people. Debts increased on all sides and lawyers throve. Paper money had not only depreciated in the hands of the people, but, in October, 1781, was declared no longer legal tender in payments of debts to the state, or of taxes.' At the opening of the war the statute of limitations had been suspended," but on the return of peace, creditors began to make new and strenuous demands. At the May session, 1784, the statute was reenacted, bringing hardship to the debtor class.' Under the existing law, should the town treas- urer fail to pay the town's quota of taxes to the state, he was liable to imprisonment. He must look for relief to the col- lector of taxes. The imprisonment of the treasurer of South Kingstown, and the subsequent levy by the collector on the stock owned in the town, led to a petition from the people declaring that " one universal scene of distress is spread throughout the said town." * From Scituate came another petition to the same effect. The treasurers of other towns met with the same fate, until a general act of the assembly gave relief for a time while renewed efforts were making.'^ In southern Massachusetts there was formed, in the winter of 1882-3, a combination to resist the collection of taxes. At Killingly, just across the Connecticut line, a meeting was held to extend the movement to that state. The disaffection was spreading into Rhode Island, but by the prompt action of Deputy Governor Bowen, seconded by the 1 Schedules of the General Assembly, October Session, 1781, 20. * Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly (,/l-lS.), 777^-5, Nov. 6, 1775. 'Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), lySs, Way 2. * Rhode Island Colonial Records, ix, 513. 5 Schedules of the General Assembly, Oct. Session, 1782, 14. 235] ^^-^ PAPER MONEY ERA j jy assembly, the offenders were brought to justice.' About the same time, certain inhabitants of the border towns of Massa- chusetts came across into Rhode Island and rescued prison- ers who were on trial for attempting to seize cattle held for taxes. The wave of open resistance was first seen in Mas- sachusetts in 1784, when the towns of Med way and Wren- tham issued a call for a convention to secure redress for the commutation of officers' half-pay, and the tariff. A conven- tion at Hartford condemned the senate and courts, and denounced Continental taxes. In the county of Hampshire, a mob seized the court house, preventing the sitting of the courts.^ In May, 1783, a mob prevented the sitting of the courts at Springfield. Conventions followed in quick suc- cession. Attempts to alleviate the distress by passing tender laws, whereby debtors might pay their debts in cattle and produce, only postponed the difficulty. In this condition of growing discontent and confusion the state continued until Shay's Rebellion broke out in August, 1786. A convention which met at Leicester, composed of delegates from thirty-seven towns, formulated a statement of the causes of the present troubles, alleging them to be : the want of a circulating medium ; abuse in the practice of law, and the exorbitance of legal fees ; the existence of the Court of Common Pleas in its present form ; the appropri- ation of the revenue arising from import duties to the pay- ment of interest on the state debt; the number of high salaries paid in the state ; and the payment of money to Congress while the public accounts remained unsettled. To promote these sentiments, disturbances took place in the western and southern counties of Massachusetts, culminating in the organization of Shay's force. The vigorous action of ' Schedules of the General Assembly, Feb. Session, 1783, 5,. '' Bradfurd, Hist, of Massachusetts, ii, 211, 260. Ilg RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [236 the authorities effectually discouraged any further resort to arms. In New Hampshire the popular malady took the form of a demand for paper money, and a petition to that effect was presented to the legislature. Measures taken by the state to relieve those who were her own creditors did not satisfy the demands. Demagogues incited the people to assert their rights. Following these demands, the legislature made a tender of real or personal property an exemption from im- prisonment for debt. Following the example of Massachu- setts, the legislature at last passed a tender law. A plan for an emission of paper, when submitted to the people, was rejected, and the commotion subsided after a mob had been dispersed from the neighborhood of the legislature at Exeter. The general discontent and anarchic tendencies, so power- ful in other parts of New England, were reinforced in Rhode Island by local conditions. Her state rights advocates, the country party, hampered by debts, watched with envy the rise of a prosperous commercial class, the very cause of whose prosperity seemed the cause of their own misery. They saw this power wax in strength in the assembly, grant- ing in spite of opposition the requests of Congress. Im- pelled by their mistaken notions of self-interest, they at length rose against their opponents and inaugurated an era as disgraceful as it was dishonest. Beginning in meetings in the towns and in instructions , and petitions, the movement gained such power as to /! make it possible to seize the government by constitutional I means, whereas in Massachusetts the lack of a majority on f the part of the opposition drove them to arms. The colonial days had witnessed many issues of paper in Rhode Island. The excessive issues of Continental money, and the consequent depreciation, led a convention assembled at 237] "^^^ PAPER MONEY ERA I ig Providence to recommend that the states issue no more paper.' Accordingly the issues ceased and recourse was had to borrowing on treasury notes. On these notes $94,- 500 was borrowed prior to 1780, when the issue of paper was resumed. The sentiments of the better class in the state prevented further issues until 1786. Their views were expressed by Governor Cooke in a letter to the delegates in Congress on June twenty-second, 1777. He confessed that the support of the state soldiers had already so exhausted the treasury that, unless relief was granted by Congress, the state must again resort to paper. " You are fully sensible," said he, " of the almost irreparable mischiefs that have been already occasioned by such large emissions of bills, and of the fatal consequences that will attend further emissions." ' William EUery wrote, in May, 1779, in explanation of the large requisitions made by Congress : " The more that is collected by taxation, the less it will be necessary to loan in order to put a stop to further emissions, which is the wish of all. A stoppage of the press once effected, our liberties are effected, and an end is put to the war. Our enemy's whole dependence now rests upon our being crushed with whole reams of depreciated paper money." To base the credit of the government on a more substantial foundation, the dele- gates were instructed, in October, 1782, "to press the re- demption of the outstanding Continental bills of credit." t The rejection of a petition to the assembly, signed by many citizens of the state, for an emission of paper, was the sign for opening a campaign against the party in power.' The deputies chosen to the assembly in October, 1785, ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, viii, 75-7. Mrfj and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), 177J, Pt. it, June 22. ' Staples, Rhode Island in the Continental Congress, 235. * Rhode Island Colonial Records, ix, 612. 'Arnold, Hist, of Rhode Island, ii, 511. I20 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [238 though largely in sympathy with the commercial policy, numbered in their ranks several of the radical party. To the February session came several bearing instructions on the subject of the popular discontent. Foster, Gloucester, Smith- field, Coventry, Middletown, and Tiverton favored an emis- sion of paper.' Gloucester suggested, as a plan for the more easy payment of debts, that there should be a light tax to pay a part of the foreign debt annually ; there should be a duty laid by the states to pay interest on loans ; the vacant lands should be sold to pay the national debt, reserving grants for soldiers ; and an excise similar to that in force in Massachusetts should be laid.'' The Smithfield instructions enumerated the grievances of the people at length. They were alleged to be : that the payment of interest on loan office certificates made the rate of interest too high ; the outstanding treasury notes yielded too much revenue to the holders ; on account of the scarcity of money, all public securities yielded too much ; the scar- city of money made it impossible to pay taxes ; the impost and excise, as the easiest way of raising a tax, should be increased, and that real and personal property should be made a tender in payment of debts." Richmond and Charleston voted against paper, the latter by a vote of thirty-nine to seven.* Cumberland complained that from the scarcity of money, many debts had been contracted, and at the same time the ability to pay had been lessened. Suits at law were increasing, debtors were thrown into prison and their goods sold. Though many objections were evident, yet the freemen considered that an issue of paper was necessary.' These expressions roused the fears of the people of both ' Papers relating to the Adoption of the Constitution, 59, 47, 50, 63, 60, 58. 'Il>id.,^-j. '• Ibid., cfi. * md., 53, 59- ' Ibid., 42. 239] THE PAPER MONEY ERA 12 i Providence and Newport, to the point of remonstrance. The debt of the United States to the state, urged the Providence remonstrants, would reUeve Rhode Island of all except the regular governmental expenses. These could be met by taxation. Should an emission take place, the result would be to drain away gold and silver, and divert trade to other channels.' In the memorial from Newport, one hundred and fifty signers declare that there is no scarcity of mone}^ If any need to mortgage their farms, it can be done with an issue of paper. The depreciation which would surely follow an issue would destroy trade and credit.'^ The more thought- ful everywhere saw plainly the ruin that would ensue to those commercial towns whose supplies and goods for ex- port were drawn from the neighboring states. In the midst of these demands for paper all eyes were fixed on the assembly, as it came together at its March session.. When a vote was reached on a motion to issue, it was de- feated by a vote of forty-three to eighteen. It is an inter- esting coincidence that the number voting for paper on this occasion was the same as that of the opponents to the im- post which was passed at the same session.^ In accordance with the suggestion of Providence, an act was passed making real, and certain articles of personal property, at an appraised value, a tender for debt on execu- tion. This act, the preamble recites, was passed because of the scarcity of a circulating medium, and the frequency of forced sales at a serious loss. The act provides not only for a tender of property, but that, should a creditor refuse the tender, upon the payment of all interest on the judgment to date, the debt would be discharged and the judgment remain simply a debt on interest. In case a debtor possessing real '^Providence Gazelle, Mar. 4, 1786. '^ Rhode Island Jlislorical Society's MSS., iii, no. ■' I6id., iii, 1 10; United Slates Chronicle, Mar. 2, 9, 1786. 122 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [240 estate refuse, after three months, to give satisfaction, the cred- itor might, on application to the court, have satisfaction out of the estate.' This did not produce the desired result. The clamors grew. The instructions given by Smithfield to her deputies on April nineteenth, exhibit the prejudices of the country- districts against the creditor class." They complain of many and unjust taxes laid, especially to pay interest on loan office certificates, which had become so depreciated that often the interest in silver was of greater value than the face of the bill. Moreover the assembly had granted the five per cent, impost. If the assembly wanted an impost they should have insisted on having it collected by state officers, and paid into the state treasury. For these reasons the town directed its deputies to strive: (i.) To stop the payment of interest or principal of the loan office certificates until their just value should be determined ; (2.) To secure a repeal of the grant to Congress of power to lay an import duty, and to give the assembly control over revenue officers; (3.) To see that the accounts of the state with the United States be ascertained, and that in the meantime no money be paid to Congress ; (4.) To move for a more equitable representation in the as- sembly. The first charge originated from the most apparent of the evils arising out of the financial system of the war. The third,^ likewise, had its origin in the financial chaos of the Revolu- tion, coupled with the feeling that Rhode Island was a cred- itor state. The second point in the instructions was the final protest of the minority who had so long prevented the grant- ing of the impost. The apportionment of members of the as- sembly as provided in the charter had never been changed. Newport had six. Providence, Portsmouth, and Warwick four ^ Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly, {MS.), JjSb-y, Mar. 16, 1786. '^Papers relating to the Adoption of the Constitution, 54. 241 ] THE PAPER MONEY ERA 1 23 each, and all other towns two each. It had long been felt that this was unjust, and movements had been set on foot for a reform, but to no purpose. The feeling still existed as an undercurrent helping to swell the tide of discontent.' The third Wednesday in April saw the opposition in full force at the polls. The result was a complete overthrow of the party in power. The new assembly which came together at the general election in May contained seventy members, of whose names forty-five do not appear on the roll of the March session. Of the assistants, five of the ten were new. Neither the governor nor the deputy governor were re-elected. The towns which returned substantially the same deputies as to the previous assembly were Newport, Providence, Bristol, Westerly, Warren, Hopkinton, North Providence, Cumber- land, Richmond, Foster, Gloucester, and New Shoreham. These towns, it is probable, were of two classes, those which retained their old deputies of the commercial party, and those other towns which had at the former election chosen representatives of the opposition. The remaining towns may fairly be taken to represent the extent of the change in opin- ion during the winter of 1786. The assembly at once entered on the work for which it had been chosen. On Friday, the fifth of May, a deputy from Warwick moved that an issue of paper be authorized, basing his motion on the facts, that there was little money in the country ; that the lands and stock of the farmers was being seized and sold at forced sale at a great loss ; that silver could not be hired on the best security, and that distress was everywhere.'^ The result of the motion was an act for emit- ting one hundred thousand pounds in paper. The act re- lates that, " Whereas, From a variety of causes, political and mercantile, the currency of this state, now in circulation has ' Foster Papers {MS.), ii, 11. '' United States Chronicle, May 11, 1786. 124 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [242 become altogether insufficient in point of quantity, for the purposes of trade and commerce, and for paying the just debts of the inhabitants thereof, to establish a circulating medium, upon the firmest and most equitable principles that may be, and for facilitating that change of property so essen- tial to a commercial state, and a people circumstanced as are the inhabitants of this state, Be it enacted," etc. Then fol- lows the act emitting the paper, based on the security of clear landed property of twice the value of the emission. Each freeholder was to receive an equal share of the paper, which was to be repaid into the treasury in seven equal annual pay- ments, the first to be made at the end of seven years. Dur- ing the first seven years the holder was to pay interest at the rate of four per cent.' This act created, in short, a loan of one hundred thousand pounds to the people, in paper at four per cent, for which the state took as security mortgages on lands. The fearful consequences which might follow the passage of such an act, which in the confident language of its authors, would " have the greatest tendency of anything within the wisdom of this legislature to quiet the minds and alleviate the distressed situation and circumstances of the good people of this state," '^ were set forth in a protest against it from the deputies of Providence.' In view of the proposed issue of one hundred and sixty thousand pounds, they objected to the excessive amount, declaring that to make it a legal tender in satisfaction of past contracts would be an injustice, and a violation of the rights of mankind, and that it would not only not be received by the United States in payment of taxes, but work to defraud creditors outside the state, where the paper would be worthless. Industry, commerce, and public credit would be destroyed, and the state would be unable to pay for those necessaries of life ^ Acls and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), lySb-y, May 3, 1786. ' Ibid., May 3, 1786. 3 /^/^^ j^^e 26, 1786. 243] THE PAPER MONEY ERA 135 which she must purchase outside her boundaries. Instead of being intended to relieve distress, they boldly declared it to be " calculated only to accommodate certain persons who, being deeply in debt for real estates and other property purchased under contracts to be paid for in solid coin, and who now have promoted this measure to serve their own private purpose, and although we are willing to unite in every reasonable act to relieve the distress, yet we are fully convinced that passing this bill is a measure that will not have that tendency." The propriety of these apprehensions was proven by the fearful experience of the following months. That the measure was supported by a large mass of the freemen who sincerely believed that in paper was a relief from the intolerable burdens of poverty and taxation, is as certain as the fact that among its supporters were many who supported it as a means of extricating themselves from debt. The clause in the act which struck dismay to the hearts of creditors was that providing that, should any creditor refuse to receive the paper, the debtor might discharge the debt by depositing the same with one of the judges of the court in the county. That official was then to give public notice through the newspapers and by a personal notice to the creditor to appear and receive the paper. Should the creditor fail to appear, the debt was declared cancelled. Those who prophesied depreciation had not long to wait to see their prophecy fulfilled. Within two months after issue the bills had so depreciated that a forcing act was deemed necessary by its supporters. Under a pretense of great respect for law, was perpetrated one of the greatest acts of injustice in the history of paper money. It was insisted that the laws must be kept in high esteem and veneration, and the paper as good as gold. Again a deputy from Warwick, on the' plea that "various attempts have been made by a certain 126 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [244 class of men, who for mistaken principles, suppose the said currency to be injurious to their interests, and from an incli- nation to render invalid such laws and regulations of this assembly as may not quadrate with their interest, judgment and opinion of things," ' introduced a bill providing that nny person who should thereafter refuse to take the paper in ex- change for any article for sale at face value, or should make any difference between paper and coin, or tend to depreciate or discourage the paper money, should be fined one hun- dred pounds for the first offense, and for the second be fined the same amount and be rendered incapable of voting or holding office in the state. The minority, led by Providence, Newport, and Bristol, sought to avert serious consequences by a compromise. They asked to that end, that a conference be arranged to discuss the embodiment in the act of a provision that, forty thousand pounds having been issued, the emission should cease ; that the clause making paper a tender in payment of past contracts be omitted ; that the necessaries of life be permitted to be bought for silver and gold, and that the citi- zens of other states be relieved from the penalties imposed by the act. But the attempt was in vain, and the bill passed by a majority of six.' John Brown, a prominent citizen of Providence, and a member of the assembly, characterizing this as a country measure, says ; " I have ever wished to reconcile the landed and mercantile interests throughout the state from the be- ginning, and having real estate in twelve different towns, was in hopes of bringing about some conciliatory measure."' But conciliatory proposals were lost on a majority deter- ^ Acti and Resolves of the General Assembly (MS.), ijSt-'j, 32, June 30; United States Chronicle, ]u\y 6, 1786. ''United States Chronicle, July 6, 13, 1786. ^Providence Gazette, July 8, 1786. 245] "^^^ PAPER MONEY ERA 127 mined to carry its point at any cost. A period of absolute stagnation in business began. Rather than sell their goods and receive in return paper bills, merchants closed their stores. It was only with the greatest difficulty that provis- ions could be obtained. Many people removed to the neighboring states. The farmers who had mortgaged their farms to secure paper, being unable to purchase goods with- out it, sought to compel the townspeople to accept it by withholding produce from the market. Few farmers from the neighboring states could be induced to bring their pro- duce into Rhode Island, where they might be obliged to accept worthless paper for it. It was said that a boy bring- ing in a load of potatoes, was compelled to sell his load against his will and accept paper in payment.' To devise some means of providing the people with the necessaries of life, a town meeting was held in Providence on the twenty- fourth of July. The penal law was denounced. Producers were besought to bring corn and meat to market, and should any one be fined for refusing to receive paper, the town would pay the fine. A subscription was opened to raise five hundred dollars with which to purchase corn for those in immediate want. Resolutions were also adopted recom- mending that no one be molested for bringing goods to market, nor for selling them for any price, or in any manner.'' These measures of the townspeople roused the wrath of the country party. South Kingstown, in town meeting, recommended that as some of the merchants had refused to sell goods for paper, every one ought to refuse to sell them cheese, flaxseed, barley, oats, horses, or lumber.^ The farm- ers of Providence county, in convention at Scituate, on the tenth of August, sought to concert measures for promoting '^Providence Gazette, July 8, 22, 1786. ' Providence Town Meeting Records {MS.') vii, 69. * Providence Gazette, Aug. 5, 1786. 128 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [246 the paper circulation.' Providence sent a committee to make overtures to this body for restoring confidence and harmony between city and country. The convention ad- journed without taking action, to meet with a state conven- tion to be held on the twenty-fourth of August at East Greenwich, " to consider the propriety of making some alteration in the principles of, and laws relating to, the late bank of paper money." ^ The action of this convention shows that the changes contemplated were not of the nature of relaxations in severity. The delegates from sixteen towns who gathered there recommended to the deputies in the assembly that they use their utmost endeavors to sup- port the acts of the assembly on paper money ; to take into consideration the public securities, and liquidate them at a stipulated value, and to withhold the staple farm products from those who violated the paper money acts.^ The assur- ance that in case the penal laws were repealed, and the use of paper restricted to the satisfaction of judgments, the prin- cipal merchants would aid in giving circulation to the paper, had no effect to alter their recommendation.* The assembly was convened in special session to devise further means of enforcing the circulation of paper. The amendment now made to the law recited that, whereas " the usual and stated methods and times of holding courts within this state is impracticable, inexpedient and inapplicable to the true intent and meaning of the said act, and altogether insufficient to carry into effect the good purposes of this leg- islature touching the same," it was enacted that any com- plainant might lodge his complaint with a judge of any court in any county. It should be the duty of this judge to sum- mon the offender to appear within three days for trial, with- 1 Providence Town Meeting Records {MS.), vii, 71-2. 2 Providence Gazelle, Aug. 19, 17S6. ' IHd., Aug. 26, 1786. • Uniled States Chronicle, Aug. 26, 1786. 247] THE PAPER MONEY ERA 1 29 out jury, before a court of three judges. The decision of a majority of the court should prevail. This judgment was to be final and without appeal. No delay, protection, privi- lege or injunction should be asked or granted. The penalty for the first offense was fixed at not less than six nor more than thirty pounds, and for the second offense not less than ten nor more than fifty pounds.' At the same time the paper was made a tender in payment of continental taxes.^ It seems as if the advocates of paper had reached the end of their course. They had made the paper money law retroactive by making it a tender in contracts made before May, 1786; they had deprived the citizens not only of trade, but of the necessities of life ; they now violated the very principles of Magna Carta by suppressing trial by jury. Their relations with the Confederation, they now disgraced by proposing to pay their quota of taxes in depreciated paper. Thirteen members of the assembly, representing the towns of Providence, Newport, Bristol, Warren, and New Shoreham, entered a protest against this latest legislation. In their opinion, this was a violation of the natural and con- stitutional rights of the people, a violation of the Articles of Confederation, and an evasion of the obligation toward the national government. It was a violation of existing treaties .with foreign statgs, was destructive of trade credit, and was a denial of the right of trial by jury.^ To restore credit and harmony, they proposed that both the tender and penal clauses be repealed ; that when tender of paper was made and refused, it should be sufficient war- rant for returning a writ as unsatisfied, and that those who had mortgaged their lands to receive paper might take up the mortgages at once upon paying back the paper. An increase in taxes was at the same time suggested." The 1 Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.) , 17S6-7, 59, Aug. 25, 1 786. ^/iid., 55, Aug. 25, 1786. ^Providence Gazette, Sept. 2, 1786. ^ Ibid. 130 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [248 propositions of the protestants were of course indignantly- rejected. On the other hand, the assembly lent a more willing ear to addresses comporting with their own desires. The addresses of Governor Collins to the legislature, assign- ing as the cause of the special session of the assembly, the demands of many citizens on account of the unsettled state of the currency arising from a combination of influential men against the laws of the state, is a fair example of the arguments which sustained and incited the majority. Said he, " if there is no check to the present combination against the laws, your lives are unsafe, and your liberties are at a fatal, a final and a melancholy end." ' To complete the work of this extraordinary session, a select committee reported a bill to repeal the statute of limi- tations then in force, as inconsistent with the laws of the state, inexpedient and altogether impracticable. Promis- sory notes were henceforth not to be negotiable, and the time for bringing action upon them was limited to six months. There were enacted in almost every town in the state, after these laws were passed, scenes which, had not their consequences been so serious, would have been most amus- ing. Debtors were everywhere eager to pay their debts. Creditors scarce dared show themselves on the street for fear of meeting a debtor with the paper money in his hand, but the care of the legislator had left no mode of escape for the creditor. Early in the summer debtors began to deposit paper with the courts. Notices began to appear in the newspapers summoning creditors to appear and receive the same. These notices, with their bold headline " Know Ye," of which no less than twenty-six appeared in one issue of the Gazette, became notorious throughout the state. " Know ' United States Chrenicle, Sept. 7, 1786. 249] THE PAPER MONEY ERA 131 Ye Men " and " Know Ye Measures," were synonymous with rascality and dishonesty.' A convention, held at Smithfield on the thirteenth of Sep- tember, devised a scheme by which it was hoped to extricate the state from its present predicament. This was to b^e accomplished by the establishment of a " State Trade," a sort of socialistic scheme, to be conducted by a committee of the assembly, by which produce and lumber received in payment of taxes was to be exported. The specie so gained was to be devoted to paying the foreign debt. To consider this plan a special session of the assembly was asked for, but no response was made to the suggestion and the matter was dropped. The paper money power had now reached its height. The exertions of its advocates had forced upon the state a policy repeatedly proven to be disastrous. It was left to the judi- cial power to inflict upon the system the blow which should break the hold of paper. This was brought about through the case of Trevett vs. Weeden, brought by John Trevett against John Weeden, of Newport, butcher, for refusing to receive paper money at par with specie. The excitement created in the state by this case was only equalled by the importance of the principles involved. Its importance arises from its connection with both the paper money legislation and the question of the independence of the judiciary. Each faction in the state felt that on the result of this trial de- pended the fate of its cause. The information was exhibited before Paul Mumford, chief justice, but as the superior court was then sitting, the case was heard before the full bench, on the twenty-fifth of September.'' '^Providence Gazette, Aug. 12, et seq. ^ The detaUs of this case are taken from a pamphlet report by Gen. J. M, Varnum, printed soon after in the Providence Gazette of Sept. 30 and Oct. 7, and the American Museum, v, 36. 132 KHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [250 Despite the fact that Weeden was in the deepest poverty, the best legal talent in the state was at his service. His counsel were Gen. James M. Varnum, of East Greenwich, and Henry Marchant, of Newport. The plaintiff's case rested on proof of the violation of the statute. The defend- ant's plea covered three points, in these words : " It appears by the act of the general assembly whereon said information is founded, that the said act hath expired, and hath no force ; also, for that by the said act the matters of complaint are made triable before special courts, incontrolable by the su- preme judiciary court of the state ; and also for that the court is not, by said act, authorized and empowered to em- pannel a jury to try the facts tried in the information ; and so the same is unconstitutional and void : all which the said Weeden is ready to verify. Where he prays judgment of the court here, that they will not take further cognizance of the said information." ' When General Varnum arose to defend his client, it was not so much, as he said, " in the line of my profession, as in the character of the citizen deeply interested in the constitu- tional laws of a free, independent and sovereign state." '' The parties to this action, said he, " are of no further consequence than as the one represents the almost forlorn hope of a dis- appointed circle ; the other as a victim, the first destined to the fury of their intemperate zeal and political phrenzy."^ The obscure phraseology of the act, which left it open to the construction that the penalties and forms prescribed were to be valid for only ten days, was the first point of at- tack. It was argued that the case at bar, being outside the limit set in the act, would not be cognizable under it. Upon the plea that the trial was to be before a special court, without appeal, it was argued that the constitution ' Varnum, Trevett vs. Weeden, 2. ''IHd.,-^. ^Ibid.,']. 251] THE PAPER MONE Y ERA 1 3 3 was subverted. The efficacy of the judiciary, as Varnum pointed out, depends on uniformity of decision, which can exist only in the presence of a single supreme court of ap- peals. This would be impossible in the presence of the court provided for in the act. The act of 1729 had estab- lished one " Supreme Court of Judicature, Court of Assize and General Gaol Delivery, over the whole colony, for the regular hearing and trying of all pleas, real, personal and mixed, and all pleas of the crown." ' This court must be supreme, and any special court over which this court had no jurisdiction must be unconstitutional. The last plea involving the right of trial by jury, was de- fended in a speech, the like of which had not been heard be- fore at the Rhode Island bar. The development of the right, its assertion in Magna Carta, its reiterations down to the granting of the charter of 1663, and even to the present, were arrayed as proof of its existence as a right of the people. This right could be alienated only by a change in the con- stitution. The legislature possessed no such power except by the express consent of the people. This they had never given. The advocate then entered on a fervid plea for the inde- pendence of the judiciary. He said : " The legislative have the uncontrollable power of making laws not repugnant to the constitution. The judiciary have the sole power of judging those laws, and are bound to execute them, but can- not admit any act of the legislature as law which is against the constitution.'" A double tie binds the legislature to observe the constitution, " but if the general assembly attempt to make laws contrary hereunto, the court cannot receive them." ' In developing this idea, Varnum applies the quotation from Bacon's Abridgment, that "if a stat- ' Laws of Rhode Island, 1 730. 2 Varnum, Trevett vs. Weeden, 27. ' Ibid., 28. 134 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [252 ute ... be repugnant, or impossible to be performed, the common law shall control it and judge it to be void." ' " This act is repugnant when it authorizes the judges to pro- ceed without a jury, according to the law of the land." The jury being the judges as to fact, and the court as to law, it would be impossible for judges to try a man without a jury and yet according to the law of the land. " This act there- fore is impossible to be executed." ^ By this argument this case is directly linked with the " Case of the Convent Seals, and the Statute of Carlisle," the first case in which a common law court said that an unrepealed statute was void for cause judicially ascertained.^ The whole argument closed with an appeal once more for an independent judiciary, for de- pendence of that department is the high road to tyranny. The decision of the court was " that the information was not cognizable before them." * The decision was hailed with joy in Providence and New- port. Business at once awoke, and for a short time paper circulated freely, since it was known that it could be accepted or refused at will. From the point of view of the hard money people, the chief trouble was past. The paper could no longer be forced on an unwilling people. But on the part of the defeated party, momentary dismay was turned to wrath against the superior court. The assembly, the willing instrument of the paper money policy, was now called into service. The assembly, at its October session, peremptorily called the judges of the superior court before them in the following words : " Whereas it appears that the honorable, the justices of the Superior Court of Judicature, ' Bacon's Abridgment, iv, 635 ; Varnum, Trevett vs. Weeden, 30. '^ Varnum, Trevett vs. Weeden, 30. See discussion in Brinton Coxe's Judicial Power and Unconstitutional Legislation, 234-48. ' Statutes of the Realm, i, ijo. * Varnum, Trevett vs. Weeden, i. 253] ^^^ PAPER MONE Y ERA j ^ c Court of Assize, etc., at the last September term of the said court declared and adjudged an act of the supreme legisla- ture of this state to be unconstitutional, and so absolutely void ; and whereas it is suggested that the aforesaid judg- ment is unprecedented in this state and may tend directly to abolish the legislative authority thereof ; it is therefore voted and resolved that all the justices of the said court be forth- with cited by the sheriffs of the respective counties in which they live or may be found to give their immediate attendance on the assembly to assign the reasons and grounds of the aforesaid judgment ; and that the clerk of the said court be directed to attend this assembly at the same time, with the records of the said court which relate to the said judgment.'" The original summons, as it passed the lower house, con- tained also these words, which were stricken out by senate amendment: "In order that this assembly on proper infor- mation may adopt such measures as may establish the supremacy of the legislative authority."^ Two judges being detained at home by illness, the hearing was adjourned until the last Monday in the month, when all the judges appeared before the assembly. This summons was but the logical result of the position always assumed by the legislature of the colony. It had always maintained that it was the source of all power as the representative of the popular will. It has already been noticed how, under the provision of the charter of 1663, em- powering the general assembly "to appoint, order and direct, erect and settle, such places and courts of jurisdiction for the hearing and determining of all actions, cases, matters and things, happening within the said colony and plantation," a "General Court of Trials" had been created, composed of ^Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly (_MS.), 1786-7, 61. ■'Ibid., 61. 136 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [254 the governor or deputy governor and at least six assistants.' In 1678, the general assembly refused in terms " to judge or reverse any sentence or judgement passed by the general court of trials, according to law, except capital or criminal cases, or mulcts or fines."' In May, 1781, it was voted that, " if either plaintiff or defendant be aggrieved, after judg- ment entered in court, they may have liberty to make their appeal to the next general assembly for relief." " In a letter to the Lords of Trade and Plantations, from the Earl of Bellomont, under date of November twenty-seventh, 1699, that official reports that the assembly of Rhode Island has judicial power of hearing and determining causes, of tak- ing them out of the courts of law, and reversing judgments without regard for the rules of the common law.* In consequence of a decision of the Privy Council, on an appeal from a judgment of the assembly, the latter body re- pealed the act, assuming for itself chancery powers, and provided that a court of chancery should be established.' At the same time, petition was to lie to the assembly and the petitioner was to have reHef " in any matter or thing that may be cognizable before them, or that may at any time hereafter, when a proper court of chancery be stated, have their appeals continued for relief, if they shall think fit to prosecute the same."' Appeals thus continued to come before the assembly, and no court of equity was established until 1 741.' Then it was done because attention to such cases impeded the pubHc business. The court of equity was soon abolished and a writ of review substituted, whereby in certain cases a new trial might be secured.* It is certain ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, ii, 26. ^ Ibid., iii, 19. '^ Acts and Laws, 174J, ig. * Rhode Island Colonial Records, iii, 386. ^Ibid., iii, 550. ^Ibid., iv, 136. ' Acts and Laws, 174s, 239. « Ibid., 282. 25 5 j THE PAPER MONEY ERA 137 from the records that from this time onward, as long as the state continued under the charter, judicial power was exer- cised by the general assembly. It was not until the year 1856, that this power was finally taken from it.' When on the thirtieth of October, 1786, the judges ap- peared before the legislature, each party was nerved for a bitter fight. David Howell, the youngest judge on the bench, whose reputation as a legislator had been won in Congress, first addressed the assembly.^ The order on which the judges were then before the assembly, said he, might be considered either as calling on them to assist in legislation, or to give the reasons for their decision, as if accountable for it to the legislature. Upon the first supposition, the court was ever ready to give its counsel to the assembly on points of law ; but for decisions rendered in cases heard before them, they were accountable only to God and their own consciences. After a resume of the arguments which proved that the act "was unconstitutional, had not the force of law, and could not be executed," ' he observed that in the summons they had been alleged to declare the act unconstitutional and so void, whereas this was simply found in the plea, while the judgment was " that the information is not cognizable before them." Whatever the private opinion of the judges might be, they could be held only by their record. This, however, he denied the right of the legislature to question. Judge TiUinghast expressed his feeling of independence in his sphere of duty, for, said he, " melancholy indeed would be the condition of the citizens, if the supreme judiciary of the state was liable to reprehension, whenever the caprice or ^ Rhode Island Reports, iv, 324. "The sources of information on the trial of the judges are: Acts and Resoives of the General Assembly {MS.}, 1786-7; Providence Gazette, Nov. 11, 1786, and Varnum, Trevett vs. Weeden. ' Varnum, Trevett vs. Weeden, 38. 138 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [256 resentment of a few leading men should direct a public in- quiry.'" The words of Judge Hazard are of peculiar interest as com- ing from a friend of paper money. " It is well known," said he, "that my sentiments have fully accorded with the gen- eral system of the legislature in emitting the paper currency; but 1 never did, I never will, depart from the character of an honest man, to support any measures, however agreeable in themselves. . . . The opinion I gave upon the trial was dic- tated by the energy of truth ; I thought it right — I still think so." •' After long discussion the question was put " whether the assembly was satisfied with the reasons given by the judges in support of their judgment?" It was decided in the nega- tive. A motion to dismiss the judges from office evoked a protest, signed by Judges Hazard, Tillinghast, and Howell, wherein they insisted on their full power in construing the laws of the state as a court of last resort. As no charge had been brought against them in their true judicial capacity, if such was to be brought they demanded trial before some legal tribunal. Without such trial and conviction, they de- nied the right of the legislature to convict them.' Upon the request of the assembly for counsel from the three lawyers sitting in that body, it was given as their opinion that with- out impeachment or other regular process of law, the judges could not be removed from office. Thereupon it was voted by a large majority, " that as the judges are not charged with any criminality in rendering the judgment upon the in- formation Trevett vs. Weeden, they are therefore discharged from any further attendance upon this assembly, on that account." * ' Varnum, Trevett vs. Weeden, 43. '^Ihid. ' Ibid., 45. ^Ads and Resolves of the General Assembly (MS.), 1786-7, Nov. 3, 1786; Providence Gazette, Nov. 11, 1786; United States Chronicle, Nov. 9, 1786. 257] ^^^ PAPER MONE V EPA I 30 Though baffled in this direction, the legislature had re- maining a weapon to be wielded by their- constituencies in the form of the ballot at the annual election. But though the assembly, for three score and ten years, continued to re- view the work of the courts, yet never again did they pre- sume to hold a court answerable for its decisions. The dominant party, chagrined at the failure of its en- deavors to coerce the courts, as well as at the demonstrations following the decision in Trevett vs. Weeden, now chose an- other line of aggression. The assembly that issued the sum- mons to the judges, resolved that the text of an act entitled *' An act to stimulate and give efficacy to the paper bills emitted by this state in May last," be forwarded to the sev- eral towns to be submitted to the freemen in town meeting, and an opinion returned to the assembly at its next session in the form of instructions to the deputies.' The proposed act declared in its preamble, that whereas certain persons had accumulated great wealth by depreciating securities and buying them at a reduced price, and were now attempting to depreciate the paper, therefore it was proposed to require every citizen to take a test oath to make every endeavor that paper money should have an equal value with specie, and to sell or expose for sale no article for which he would not take in payment either paper or gold at fhe same rate. Every person taking the oath was to be enrolled at the town clerk's office, and to receive a certificate of having complied with the law. All incumbents in office as well as all ne\yly elected officers, together with practicing lawyers and all persons en- tering or clearing vessels at any port were to be obliged to subscribe. No person was to be eligible to office until the oath had been taken. Violations of the law were to be ac- tionable as perjury.'' ' United states Chronicle, Oct. 17, 1786; Providence Gazette, Oct. 14, 1786. ^Ibid. 140 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [258. Alarmed at the prospect, the leaders of the opposition, together with the more moderate of the party in the ascend- ancy, again attempted to effect a compromise whereby the penal laws might be repealed. Further, they proposed that a tender of paper be not made to work a discharge of the debt, but simply to stop the accumulation of interest ; that the excise be revived and made payable in paper ; that the state tax be made higher and paid more punctually, and that the principal and interest of the state debt be paid in paper.' By making paper acceptable in payment of certain taxes, and leaving it at the option of creditors to accept or reject this medium, it was hoped that a certain currency might be given it. But with the trial of the judges still pending, and the test act before the people, and a chance of its ratification,, the country party were encouraged flatly to refuse a con- ference. Though its devotees in the assembly were still confident,, public opinion on the forcing acts was undergoing a change. The distresses of the past summer, the decision in Trevetf vs. Weeden, and, above all, that inherent sense of justice which, though dulled for a time, is sure at length to assert itself in the public mind, had prepared the people to receive with detestation the proposition to carry forward the system. Replies in the form of instructions began to appear at an early date. Providence, at a town meeting on October seventeenth, judging the act to be " unconstitutional, unjust, impolitic, tending to drive people into parties violently op- posed to each other," ' and declaring that when a man loses the right to buy and to sell, he becomes a slave, directed its deputies to oppose this almost proscriptive act. In the sis- ter capital, it was thought that this test might lead to others, ' United States Chronicle, Oct. 12, 1786; Providence Gazette, Oct. 14, 1786. ^ Providence Town Meeting Records, vii, 73-4. 259] THE PAPER MONEY ERA j^j religious or political, or would at least tend to subvert the liberties of the people and lead to an aristocracy.' East Greenwich, adopting a similar course, directed her deputies to work for a settlement of the difficulties concern- ing the paper money, a renewal of the excise and high taxes, and the preservation of the right of trial by jury.' Cum- berland, which eight months before had been vociferous for paper money, decided that the passage of a test act would appreciate the paper in the hands of the present holders, multiply oaths, make the people familiar with ex- cessive punishments, embarrass commerce by excluding imports, and raise the price of necessities." Even Glouces- ter, the stronghold of the country party, realizing that <;ommerce had been destroyed, voted that they wished the bill " to be forever rejected." * Only three towns in the state placed themselves on record as favoring the act. These were Scituate, Foster and North Kingstown. The act so universally censured was quickly disposed of by the assembly at its meeting on November second. ^ The acquittal of the judges, supported by the sentiment displayed on the proposed test act, made the whole series of force acts practically inoperative. Though still upon the statute books, friend and foe alike knew that they would never again become operative. In the December session the assembly attempted to deal with the changed condition of affairs. The force act of June, which made it a crime to refuse paper on a par with specie, together with all subsequent addi- ' Papers Relating to the Adoption of the Constitution {MS.) , 40. •"Ibid.,/^. 'Ibid.,^z- 'Warwick, Bristol, North Providence, Tiverton, Cranston, Exeter, Hopkinton, and Portsmouth. Ibid., 41. ''Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), 1786-7, 70; United States Chronicle, Nov. 2, 1786. 142 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [260 tions and amendments, was repealed.' Paper was still, by the act of May, a legal tender, and deposits with the courts still operated to discharge the debt. As some of the judges now began to receive such deposits, and to give notice of their in- tention to do so, it was enacted that a debtor might make his deposit with any judge.^ In their attempts to relieve the con- dition of debtors, two suggestions of the Smithiield convention of September thirteenth were acted upon by the assembly. The English statute limiting the time of bringing personal actions, which had been repealed during the war, but re- enacted in 1785, was now amended so that all actions on promissory notes and book accounts must be brought within two years.^ The negotiability of promissory notes was de- stroyed by making it necessary that action upon them be brought in the name of the original promisee.* The friends of sound money began to look forward to the April election as the next occasion on which an attack could be made upon the party in power. In the meantime, paper was to reign in the session of the assembly which met on March twelfth, and to reflect both the narrowness and the meanness of the cause which it upheld. Several acts, among which were the removal of the postmaster at Newport for an alleged insult to the governor in detaining letters addressed to him until postage was paid, and the withdrawing of the charter of the city of Newport on a petition representing one-seventeenth of the taxable property, stand as evidences of their capacity in other directions.^ That its members were in sympathy with the riotous conduct of the masses in the neighboring states was made evident by their refusing to deliver up to the Massachusetts authorities some of the offenders in Shays' rebellion. ^ Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly (MS.), j'j86-'j, 92, Jan. 6, 1787. '/^jo!:, 80, Dec. 29-30, 1786. '/iiV., 82, Jan. 6, 1787. ^Ibid.,%2. ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, x, 233. 2 6 1 J THE PA PER MONE Y ERA 1 43 In pursuance of a line of policy adopted in October of the previous year, and followed out in the late session, the ob- ject of which was to ascertain the public debt with a view to extinguishing it, the assembly had at the last session made provision for paying one-fourth part of such debt in the money received as state taxes, that is, in paper.' Now the act was extended to cover all forms of securities held against the state. Creditors were notified to present their securities and to receive one-fourth payment on them or to forfeit all claim to such part thereafter. Here was a simple proposition whereby one-fourth of the state debt was to be repudiated ; for to make payments in the paper was repudiation and nothing less. Thus closed the last session of the year 1786-7. No more disastrous year is recorded in the annals of Rhode Island. Her reputation in the community of states was gone. To a nation prejudiced by the state's opposition to the salutary measures of Congress, her name became a synonym of all that was disreputable and dishonest. Allu- sions of this nature are to be found in almost every publica- tion of the day. The Connecticut Magazine added to these a poetical effusion : " Hail, realm of rogues, renowned for fraud and guile. All hail, ye knaveries of yon little isle. ****** Look through the state, the unhallowed ground appears A nest of dragons and a cave for bears; A nest of vipers mixed with adders foul. ****** The wiser race, the snares of law to shun. Like Lot from Sodom, from Rhode Island run." ' The existence of the tender law made the administration '^Schedules of the General Assembly, October (2d) Session, 1786, 86; Ibid., De- cember Session, 1786, 2i. '^ Providence Gazette, Apr. 14, 1787. 144 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [262 of justice almost farcial. The superior court which, since its encounter with the assembly, had not sat with a full bench, was adjourned at its March term for three weeks because the depreciation of paper made the administration of justice im- possible. At this adjourned session all cases involving large amounts were put over until a future term, probably in the hope that a change in affairs might be brought about in the meantime. At the April term in Washington county more than twenty bills in equity were heard for the redemption of mortgaged estates. The paper for redeeming these estates was brought into court by the sackfull. Determined not to make a farce of justice, the judges refused to record these tenders, and put over all such cases until the next term. They hoped that at the coming election an assembly would be elected which would sweep away the paper money laws. If this was not accomplished the court knew very well that their removal would be sure, and the responsibility of the whole matter would be cast on other shoulders. The general election had for some weeks been the center of expectant interest. Two tickets or "Proxes" were in the field. That of the party in power bore the legend " Liberty and Property secured by Perseverance." The name of John Collins headed the ticket, supported by that of Daniel Owen, for deputy governor.' The opposition ticket bore the names of William Bradford and John Malbone.' Collins and Owen had proved to be a strong combination in the year that was closing. The former, a man of moderate views, was calcu- lated to hold the wavering spirits ; the latter was the acknowledged leader of the paper money party in its strong- hold, Gloucester. In William Bradford the sound money party put forward a man who had been identified with every step in the Revolution. He was a member of the committee '^ Rhode Island Historical Society's Collections {MS.), vii, 31. ' Ibid., 32. 263 J THE PAPER MONEY ERA 145 of correspondence appointed in 1773, of the committee of safety in 1775, and of the Hartford Convention of 1780, of which latter body he was president. He was chosen a member of the Continental Congress as the successor of Stephen Hopkins, and served as deputy governor from 1775 to 1778. John Malbone, a representative of one of New- port's oldest mercantile houses, stood for the commercial interests of the colony.' The opposition sought to rally supporters to their standard through the press. An address issued to the free electors averred that the character of the state was already so debased that to be an inhabitant of Rhode Island was synonymous with being a villain. The continuation of the tender laws in the face of depreciation was cited as proof of the dishonest motives of the party in power. It was charged that a law to prevent bribery and corruption passed by the last assembly had been put forward with the hope of preventing the Quakers from voting.'' " A Farmer" confessed that in 1786 he had voted for paper, partly because he considered the old administration opposed to the interests of the people at large. The people had wanted a legal tender paper founded on landed security and redeemable, but the emission had been too large. The penal acts, the test oath bill, the act annulling the indorsement of notes, and the change in the statute of limitations, had overdone the matter. They had all been fabricated with the sole purpose of making a tender 'The remainder of the paper money ticket was: For Assistants, Joseph Staunton, John Williams, Sylvester Sayles, James Arnold, Caleb Gardner, John Cook, William Congdon, Joseph Tweedy, Thomas Coggeshall and Thomas Hazard; for Secretary, Henry Ward; for Attorney-General, Henry Goodwin; for Treasurer, Joseph Qarke. Opposed to them were, for Assistants, John Jenks, Simeon Perry, John Smith, Richard Searle, Thomas Rice, William Hammond, GiJeon Clarke, Henry Bliss, Joseph Baker, and Peleg Arnold; for Attorney-Gen- real, William Channing. Henry Ward and Joseph Clarke had no opposition. ' Providence Gazette, Apr. 7, 1 787. 14.6 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [264 and refusal an extinguishment of a debt. He suggested that the compromise proposed in the previous June might still solve the difficulty.' The April election came and went, and left the paper money party still in power. Of the eighty assistants and deputies who assembled at the May session of the legis- lature, only twenty-four were new comers. From James- town, Cumberland, Cranston, Barrington, and Warren new delegations appeared. How much of this change was due to a change in public sentiment on paper money is unknown. The strength of the majority in the north, west, and south re- mained unbroken. The judges of the superior court were made to pa)' the penalty of their insubordination. Chief Justice Mumford alone was re-elected. Encouraged by this victory, the party in power felt pre- pared to hold out not only against their own fellow-citizens, but against public sentiment in the other states. But though possessing a majority in the assembly, they attempted no new measures for promoting the paper money, but confined themselves to carrying out the work of repudiation already begun. The paper money movement from this time is the record of a gradual recession from a policy which was soon to be gradually abandoned. The payment of the state debt in paper, which had been begun in March, was continued at the June session, 1787, when a second quarter of all securities held against the state, excepting certain four per cent, notes, to be ordered paid.' In November of the same year, a third quarter was dis- charged," and on May tenth, 1788, the last quarter was or- dered to be paid.* To complete the work of repudiation, in ' Providence Gazette, Apr. 14, 1 787. '^ Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.'), 1786-7, June 16, 1787. 'Ibid., Nov. 3, 1787. *Ibid., 1788-90; May 10, 17S8. 265] ^^^ PAPER MONEY ERA 147 March of the following year, those notes which had been heretofore excepted were called in.' On the approach of the April election, the position of the towns was in several cases set forth in instructions to their deputies. Providence declared that the tender laws, and the present statute of limitations, ought to be repealed.^ On the very same day, South Kingstown instructed her delegates to oppose the repeal of any of the acts of issue.' Midway be- tween these stood Westerly, when she demanded a contin- uance of the tender laws but a repeal of the statute of limi- tations.* A call for the repeal of one or both of these laws was re-echoed from Jamestown, Middletown, Bristol, Little Compton, and Hopkinton.^ South Kingstown found as a supporter of her position West Greenwich.* The larger share of the country towns seem to have trusted to the well known sentiments of their deputies. At the session which preceded the election, the opposition only succeeded in securing the extension of the time for bringing personal ac- tions from two years to four.' A motion to repeal the tender law was defeated by a large majority.' As the third year of the sway of paper money drew to its close the dominant party weakened perceptibly. In March, 1789, a motion to repeal the tender law was lost by a vote of nineteen to thirty-seven." In June of the same year the vote on a similar motion stood twenty to thirty." The assembly in September, confessing that as the bills of credit had depreciated, great injustice would result unless some- ^ Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), 1786-7, Mar. 14, 1789. ''Providence Town Meeting Records, vii, 118. ^Papers Relating to the Adoption of the Constitution {MS.), 63. * IHd., 60. * /Hd., 49, 62-4. » IHd., 65. ''Schedules of the General Asiembly, March Session, 1788, H. ' United States Chronicle, Apr. 10, 1788. ^Ibid., May 19, 1789. ^^ Ibid., June 18, 1789. J .g RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [266 thing was done, suspended the act making a tender and lodgement of the paper a discharge of the debt, until the rising of the next session.' At the next session, as was anticipated, the assembly proceeded to do that long de- ferred act of justice, and repealed the act of May, 1786, which made paper a legal tender at par with coin.' The scarcity of specie and the accumulation of debts having made it im- possible for debtors to meet their obligations in hard money, it was enacted that real estate and certain articles of personal property might be tendered in payment of debts. The rate of acceptance of paper was fixed at fifteen of paper for one of silver. But for all contracts made since November, 1786, unless specified to be in gold or silver, paper was to be taken at par.' So closed the drama of paper money in Rhode Island. Conceived in ignorance, and supported by folly and dishon- esty, it had brought discord, repudiation and misery. It disappeared, leaving a disorganized finance and a majority in power inflamed by passion, whose persistence in opposi- tion to salutary national measures was bringing Rhode Island to the verge of war with her sister states. However just her motives, however steadfast her hold on principle, still the work of the year 1786 so lowered her in the eyes of her neighbors that only bad and perverse motive could be seen in her acts respecting the federal constitution. It is owing to prejudice and distrust it aroused against the state and to its influence in preparing the way for strife over the consti- tution, that this episode has its vital connection with the relations of Rhode Island to the union. ^ Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), iyS8-go, 117. ■" Ibid., 12%. 'Ibid., 128. CHAPTER V RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION The Confederation had, in the first five years of its exist- ence, proved its inadequacy. Even before it went into effect, the far-reaching political sense of Hamilton saw its weakness, and suggested a remedy.' Half a decade and a succession of fortuitous events were necessary to bring public opinion to the point of action. The remoter cause of the convention of 1787 was the fact and growing conviction of the ineffi- ciency of the Articles of Confederation. The immediate antecedents were the Alexandria and Annapolis conventions. The development of the remoter cause was, in each state, the resultant of the forces of local politics working therein. In Rhode Island those forces received their impetus far back before the Revolution, when the rivalry of Providence and Newport had created two parties. Newport, the historic, commercial, and social metropolis of the colony, watched the rise of Providence with a jealous eye. The natural conse- quence of growth was a demand on the part of Providence, for recognition in politics. Consideration she won for her- self when, in 1755, Stephen Hopkins was elected governor over a candidate put forward by Newport. This was the sig- nal for the opening of hostilities between the two towns under the leadership of Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Ward. These northern and southern parties, the one dominant in Providence county and the adjoining towns in Kent and Bristol, the other strong in Newport and Kings counties, ' Letter to Duane, Sept. 30, 1780. Lodge, Woria of Hamilton, i, 203. 267J 149 I 50 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [268 struggled with varying success until 1768, when impelled by a common sentiment against ministerial oppression, a com- promise was effected. The progress and outcome of this struggle has been traced in an earlier chapter. At the close of the war, old party divisions reappeared, but dividing lines were drawn differently from those of former days. Newport had lost her prestige. Her commerce was ruined and her most influential citizens gone. Providence, which had grown in importance, became the center of the descendants of the old Ward party. The old Hopkins party, deprived of the support of its chief town, welcomed to its fold Kings, now Washington county, from which the Ward influence had de- parted. The seaport or town party soon saw that their com- mercial prosperity depended on the stability and credit which could only be gained through a strong central govern- ment. The quiet advances of this really numerical minority are marked by grants to Congress bit by bit of the powers desired by that body. The economic and industrial conditions which resulted in social convulsions in all the northern states in 1786-7, mani- fested themselves in Rhode Island in the overthrow of the town party and the accession of the country party to power, with its accompaniment of paper money, repudiation and distress. As no unjust and unnatural system is destined to long life, the fall of paper money was swift and complete. But the party which instituted the policy, plunged into deeper misery by its course, met all measures tending to- ward a stronger government with bitter hostility. The rem- nant of the paper money party formed a nucleus about which all opponents of a closer union grouped themselves. It was the Annapolis convention that directly led to the Federal convention. As a prelude to this, there was held at Mount Vernon, in March, 1785, a meeting of commissioners from the states of Maryland and Virginia, which drew up an 269] RHODE ISL^IND AND THE CONSTITUTION i 5 j agreement concerning the navigation of the Potomac and the opening of a road to the Ohio. Further than this, they recommended that the states arrange similar duties, a uni- form system of dockage, a uniform currency and an annual meeting of commissioners to discuss the commercial policy of the two states.' Both states having ratified the work of the commissioners, Virginia, on January twenty-sixth, 1786, elected eight delegates to meet the delegates of the other states " to take into consideration the trade of the United States; to examine the relative situation and trade of the said states; to consider how far a uniform system in their commercial regulations may be necessary to their common interest and their permanent harmony, and to report to the several states such an act relative to this great object as, when unanimously ratified by them, will enable the United States in Congress assembled effectually to pro- vide for the same." ' A circular letter was sent by the commissioners to the other states, asking that delegates be appointed, naming the first Monday in September, 1 786, as the day, and Annapolis as the place of meeting. On the eleventh of September, delegates from five states met for organization. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia were repre- sented ; Connecticut, Maryland, South Carolina and Georgia appointed no delegates ; Massachusetts elected delegates, but at so late a day that they did not arrive until the con- vention had adjourned." In Rhode Island no movement was made to elect delegates until June, when Jabez Bowen and Samuel Ward were appointed to attend, with instructions similar to those given to the Virginia delegates.* But, like ' Virginia State Papers, iv, 80; Pennsylvania Archives, x, 511 ; Henning, Statutes at Large, xii, 50. 'Elliot's Debates, i, H2-116. ^ Ibid., 115. ^Schedules of the General Assembly, June Session, 1786, 5. 152 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [270 Massachusetts, they were met on the way by the news that the convention had adjourned. The avowed objects of this convention contained nothing which could rouse the oppo- sition even of Rhode Island. Moreover, whatever might be suggested would have effect only after ratification by all the states. The tardiness of both Massachusetts and Rhode Island can probably be explained by the dilatory manner in which representative bodies of that day usually met. They thought that the convention would likewise be late in organ- izing.' The work of this body, so important as a step to- ward the convention to follow, was embodied in a report addressed to the states represented. This report, reviewing the defects of the confederation, recommended that all the states choose delegates to a convention to meet at Philadel- phia on the second Monday in May, 1787, " to take into con- sideration the situation of the United States, to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the constitution of the federal government adequate to the exigencies of the Union." ^ The results of this meet- ing were to be reported to Congress, and after its ratification by that body and by the states, was to become effective." On February twenty-first. Congress resolved that a convention of delegates should be held on the second Monday in May at Philadelphia, " for the sole and express purpose of review- ing 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." * The states led by New Jersey, on November twenty-third, 'Gilpin, Madison Papers, ii, 700; Providence Gazette, July 8, 1786. 'Original copy sent to Rhode Island is in Rhode Island Archives, Letters, 1785-8, 56. » Elliot's Debates, i, 1 16. •* Ibid., i, 119. 271] RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION 153 had begun to appoint delegates even before the passage of the resolution by Congress. By the day set for the conven- tion, nine states had chosen representatives. Connecticut, Maryland, and New Hampshire made their appointments be- fore the end of June. Rhode Island alone was unrepresented. Emphasizing the necessity of a convention, her delegates wrote of Ihe government : "We think it our duty to inform the state that it is totally inefficient for the purposes of the union, and that Congress without being invested with exten- sive powers must prove totally nugatory." ' They declared their willingness to retire to private life if only they could " see such a degree of energy infused into the Federal gov- ernment as may render it adequate to the great ends of its original institution." ^ These were the sentiments of a man of culture, uttered by James Manning, president of Brown University, who looked with disfavor upon the popular movement in Rhode Island. The question of appointing delegates to the Philadelphia convention first came before the general assembly at that March session of 1787 which was infamous for repudiation, and was rejected by a majority of twenty-three.' This action, though not unanticipated, caused Rhode Island to become a pariah among the states. Madison said : " Rhode Island alone refuses her concurrence. A majority of more than twenty in the legislature of that state has refused to follow the general example. Being conscious of the wickedness of the measures they are pursuing, they are afraid of everything that may become a control on them." ' Again he wrote : " Nothing can exceed the wickedness and folly which con- tinue to reign there. All sense of character, as well as of ' Staples, Rhode Island in the Continental Congress, 566. ^IHd. ^ Ibid., s^2. •Letter to Col. J. Madison, Apr. i, 1787. Gilpin, Writings of Madison, i, 286. 154 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [272 right, is obliterated. Paper money is still their idol, though it is debased to eight for one." ' To her immediate neighbors, Rhode Island appeared responsible for the evils of the present and of the past. A writer from Salem, Massachusetts, realizing that perhaps the political existence of the union depended on the results of the convention, said: " Rhode Island has refused to cooper- ate in this business. From her anti-federal disposition nothing better could have been expected. To that state it is owing that the Continental impost has not taken place. To her may be charged the poverty of the soldiers of the late army, the heavy taxes of our citizens and the embar- rassed state of the public finances. It is however hoped and wished that her dissent will never more be permitted to defeat any federal measure. Rather let her be dropped out of the Union, or appropriated to the different states that surround her." ' The feelings of the minority, who in shame and impotent wrath saw the finger of scorn pointing from all sides, can hardly be described. "A Freeman," reviewing the relation of the state to the union, and giving voice to the sentiments of his party, cited the act to pay the state's quota of federal interest in paper, and the refusal to join in the Federal Con- vention, as presenting " a prospect too serious not to excite our attention." ^ " Can any palliation or excuse," said he, " be offered by a line of policy so inconsistent with our true interest, and that respect we owe to Congress and our sister states? . , . Does it not argue great obstinacy as well as ignorance of the true interest of the state to refuse to join in a convention recommended by Congress and approved by all the other states? It must be confessed that these meas- ' Letter to Edmund Randolph, Apr. 2, 1787. Gilpin, Madison Papers, ii, 629. ^ American Museum, \, 2.()a. ^Providence Gazette, Apr. 14, 1787. 273] RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION 155 ures have a direct tendency to dissolve that bond of union by which we confederated with our sister states, and to in- duce them to consider us as having derelicted the confede- racy, and not entitled to its assistance or protection ; or rather, will they not divide our territory and subject it to the jurisdiction of the neighboring states ? " ' The letters of the delegates in Congress breathed a pure spirit of Federalism from the first. To Governor Collins they did not hesitate to say : " This period forms a most ser- ious crisis in our political existence. The avowed objects of this new assembly, sanctioned by general opinion and point- ing to the great interests of the whole Union, are too momen- tous not to claim the attention of the state of Rhode Island."' The Anti-Federalists were loud in their protestations of adherence to the Articles of Confederation, from whose weak- ness they saw power accrue to the separate states. The reply of the Federalists was : " How far an entire adherence to the Articles of Confederation may justify the policy of any one or two states in remaining indififerent spectators, to the probable events of these arrangements, we shall not presume to decide; but common safety, and the relation the part bears to the whole, should have their due influence upon this occasion.'"' Imbued with these sentiments, members of Congress from Rhode Island most seriously recommended the appointment of delegates to the convention. The Federalists, both within and without the state, were agreed that morally at least, Rhode Island was bound to join in any measure for establishing the union more firmly. The Anti-Federalists, wasting few woids, relied on their professed consideration for the Articles of Confederation, to conceal any unworthy motives and justify their course. Oblivious of criticism and supported by the popular vote, the assembly ^Providence Gazette, Apr. 14, 1787. ' Rhode Island Archives (^MS.), Letters, 1785-8, 68. » Ibid. 156 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION ^274 continued to " trample most sacred obligations, and defy the United States to arms." ' The proposition made at the May session to appoint dele- gates, was lost in the upper house by a majority of tw^o, after it had passed the lower house by the same majority.' The question, revived again in the upper house at the June ses- sion, passed by a majority of five, but because of factional struggles was defeated in the lower by a majority of seven.' The natural effect of such continued obstinacy was to raise a wave of hostile comment. Washington observed with pain that the state persisted in that "impolitic, unjust, and one might add without much impropriety, scandalous conduct which seems to have marked all her public councils of late."* The Newport Herald, a journal recently established in sup- port of Federal principles, declared the object of this admin- istration to be the freeing the people from debt. Though an object commendable in itself, the continuance of the tender laws showed that they would not scruple as to the means em- ployed. There were, it was asserted, Tories still in the state who were only too glad to aid the Anti-Federal movement to serve their own ends.^ At a celebration of Independence day in a certain New Jersey town twelve guns had been fired and twelve toasts drunk, totally ignoring the existence of the despised state of Rhode Island." Indeed, public opinion ran so high that Lord Temple was led to write to Lord Caernar- von : " It is already seriously talked of, the annihilation of Rhode Island as a state, and to divide that territory (I mean the government of it) between Massachusetts and Connec- ticut."' ^ " A Friend to this State," in American Museum, iv, 320. ' United States Chronicle, Aug. 2, 1 787. ' Ibid. * Letter to David Stuart, July i, 1787. Ford, Writings of Washington, xi, 159. ^Providence Gazette, June 30, 1787. ^ Ibid., Aug. 4, 1787. ' Bancroft, Hist, of the Constitution, ii, 425. 275] RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION 157 Madison, who was watching the progress of events, after- wards wrote : " Rhode Island was the only exception to a compliance with the recommendation from Annapolis, well known to have been swayed by an obdurate adherence to an advantage which her position gave her, of taxing her neigh- bors through their consumption of imported supplies, an advantage it was foreseen would be taken from her by a re- vision of the Articles of Confederation." ' By this statement the writer reveals his lack of information on the subject in question. From the acknowledged fact that in 1781 and 1783 the merchants of Rhode Island had hoped by retain- ing the power of laying duties, to reap a benefit as the port of entry for the surrounding states, he concludes that now the opposition is from the same quarter. It is evident that he is not aware that the commercial leaders who were most powerful in the opposition to the impost were now the strongest advocates of union. He overlooked the fact that a letter from Providence had been read in the convention, on May twenty-eighth, from " the merchants, tradesmen, and others of this place deeply affected with the evils of the pres- ent unhappy times," "^ giving it as the general opinion in Prov- idence, and of the well informed throughout the state, that the full power over commerce, domestic and foreign, should be given to the general government, and that the powers of Congress in the matter of requisitions should be made effect- ual. The purpose of the communication was to prevent any unfavorable opinion in the other states which might be pre- judicial to the commercial interests of Providence. The in- fluence and exertions of the memorialists were pledged to work for the adoption of the results of the convention, which should tend to strengthen the union, promote the commerce, ' Gilpin, Madison Papers, ii, 709. "Elliot's Debates, v, 578; Gilpin, Madison Papers, iii, Ap. i. J -3 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [276 increase the power and establish the credit of the United States." ' Accompanying that from Providence was a letter from General Varnum, who had just returned from Congress. He had found that the measures of the legislature did not rep- resent the real character of the state. " They are equally reprobated and abhorred," said he, " by gentlemen of the learned professions, by the whole mercantile body, and by most of the respectable farmers and mechanics. The majo- rity of the administration is composed of a Ucentious number of men, destitute of education, and many of them void of principle. From anarchy and confusion they derive their temporary consequence ; and this they endeavor to prolong by debauching the minds of the common people, whose attention is wholly directed to the abolition of debts, public and private. With these are associated the disaffected of every description, particularly those who were unfriendly during the war. Their paper money system, founded in oppression and fraud, they are determined to support at every hazard; and rather than relinquish their favorite pur- suit, they trample on the most sacred obligations. ... It is fortunate, however, that the wealth and resources of this state are chiefly in the possesston of the well-affected, and they are entirely devoted to the public good."'' During all this storm of hostile criticism no ofiScial defence or explanation was offered until at last, in September, a letter was dispatched to the president of Congress in expla- nation of the position of the assembly. Therein it was asserted that they have been actuated by " that great prin- ' Ibid. The signers of this letter were John Brown, Joseph Nightingale, Levi Hall, Philip Allen, Paul Allen, Jabez Bowen, Nicholas Brown, John Jencks, Wel- come Arnold, William Russell, Jeremiah Olney, William Barton, and Thomas L. Halsey. 'Gilpin, Madison Papers, iii, Ap. I; Updike, Rhode Island Bar, 300. 277] KHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION ign ciple which hath ever been the characteristic of this state, the love of true constitutional liberty, and the fear we have of making innovations on the rights and liberties of the citi- zens at large.'" While Rhode Island granted the power over import duties and the regulation of trade, the recom- mendation to appoint delegates to the convention had not been complied with because the legislature did not conceive it in their power to do so. By law, the delegates in Con- gress were chosen by the freemen, and for the assembly to appoint delegates to the convention when they could not appoint delegates in Congress was held to be inconsistent. It would, moreover, be improper to appoint delegates to a convention that might result in the dissolution of Congress, and the existence of a confederation without that body. "You will impute it, sir," the letter concludes, "to our being diffident of power, and an apprehension of dissolving a com- pact which was framed by the wisdom of men who gloried in being instrumental in preserving the religious and civil rights of a multitude of people, and an almost unbounded territory, that said requisition hath not been complied with ; and fearing that when the compact should once be broken, we must all be lost in a common ruin. We shall ever esteem it a pleasure to join with our sister states in being instru- mental in whatever may be advantageous to the Union, and add strength and permanence thereto, upon constitution- principles." ^ This letter, in so far as it spoke of fear of invading liberty or abridging the civil or religious rights of individuals, strikes an old key-note. The rights, civil and religious, for which the fathers had struggled, and of the existence of which they were justly proud, seemed amply secured in the Articles of Confederation. The deliberate discarding of such ^Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly (^MS.), 1786-1, July 15, 1787. ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, x, 258. r6o RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [278 a constitution to make way for another whose terms were as yet unstated, appeared most dangerous to a large class. These individuals hesitated to resign rights which, if once released, the state's tiny influence might not again succeed in regaining. It would have strengthened the position of the assembly had the remainder of its argument been based on equally valid grounds. The inconsistencies of this line of reasoning were brought out in a protest entered by the depu- ties from Providence and Newport against this letter.' The appointment of delegates to attend conventions of the states had never before been held an assumption of power, even when they were given authority to declare independence, or form Articles of Confederation. The acts granting control of imports and of commerce proved the power of the as- sembly to amend the constitution without resort to popular vote. The Articles of Confederation themselves provided for amendment by the legislature. But in any case it ap- peared to the protestants that it would do much more honor to the state to join heartily with the other states in promot- ing this reform. In fact it was apparent to the minority that this argument was put forward to take the place of a better one, which they had not. The Federal Convention finished its task on the seven- teenth of September, 1787, and transmitted the results of its deliberations to Congress, recommending that it should afterward be submitted to a convention of delegates in each state, chosen by the people thereof, under recommendation of the legislature. Each state, having ratified, was to inform Congress that that body might take steps for putting the same in operation.' The constitution, with the accompany- ing letter, was received in Congress on September twenty- eighth. Thereupon it was at once resolved to transmit all ' Rhode Island Colonial Records, x, 259. "Elliot's Debates, \, 317. 279] RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUrWN jgi the papers thereon to the state legislatures, which were in turn to submit them to conventions in each state. The time of action on the constitution was influenced by several causes : the date when the state received the official notice ; the time when the legislature would be again in ses- sion ; the date set for the convention ; and the time consumed in the convention. All these opportunities for delay did in fact have much influence on the time of adoption. Dela- ware and Pennsylvania led the way early in December, fol- lowed by the unanimous vote of New Jersey soon after. Georgia did likewise on the second day of the new year. Connecticut, the fifth state, ratified by a vote of one hundred and twenty- eight to forty. In none of these states, except Pennsylvania, had the opposition been formidable. There, by the force of leaders like Wilson and McKean, the oppo- sition was overcome. The next state to consider the ques- tion was Massachusetts, whose convention met on January ninth, 1788, and continued in session until it ratified the constitution, on February sixth, by a vote of one hundred and eighty-seven to one hundred and sixty-eight. But with her ratification Massachusetts brought forward certain amend- ments which were recommended to Congress for adoption. Maryland, on April twenty-sixth, ratified without proposing amendments, by sixty-three to eleven. Three steps in the process of ratification by a state may be distinguished : first, action in the legislature on the question of calling a convention ; second, in the choice of members to attend the convention ; and third, in the convention on the question of ratification. In South Carolina an attack was made at each stage. Again the value of competent leaders was shown, and under the guidance of the Pinckneys and Rutledges ratification was secured by a vote of one hundred and forty- nine to seventy-three, on May twenty-third. New Hamp- shire, as the ninth state, ratified on the twenty-first of June. l62 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [280 Four states yet remained to be heard from. Virginia and New York were already considering the great measure in convention when that of New Hampshire closed its labors. In Virginia were enacted the most dramatic scenes of the whole series of conventions. On each side were men famous in the nation's history. After a session of twenty-three days a majority of ten was given for ratification. The last state to ratify before the inauguration of the new government was New York. Her convention assembled on June seventeenth and saw both Virginia and New Hampshire ratify before her. After a protracted struggle that state ratified on July twenty sixth. North Carolina came into the union on November twenty-first, leaving Rhode Island alone outside the fold. The new constitution, which was sent out on September twenty-eighth, was not long waiting attention from Rhode Island. No sooner had the assembly at its October session taken the matter into consideration than all parties knew that a long battle was begun. Even before the assembly met, Madison, reviewing the probable attitude of the states, said, " Rhode Island is divided ; the majority being violently against it. The temper of this state cannot yet be fully dis- cerned. A strong party is in favor of it. But they will prob- ably be outnumbered, if those whose numbers are not yet known should take the opposite side." ' The first action of the majority revealed two facts : that, though in a majority, they did not feel strong enough summarily to reject the constitu- tion ; and that they proposed to enter upon a long course of filibustering. Instead of an act calling a convention, it was voted that about a thousand copies of the new constitution should be struck ofT and distributed, " that the freemen may have an opportunity of forming their sentiments of the pro- ' Letter to Edmund Randolph, Oct. 21, 1787, Gilpin, Madison Papers, ii, 649. 28 1 ] RHODE ISLAND AND TITE CONSTITUTION 163 posed constitution."' The "sentiments" so formed were to be communicated in instructions to their deputies before the February session. The friends of the constitution, chafing at the delay, found vent for their feelings in numerous appeals to the people through the columns of the newspapers. The letters of " Cincinnatus," then appearing in the New York Journal, furnished them with texts and an abundance of quotations. The majority, neither at this time nor at any other period during the struggle, seemed inclined to carry on a journal- istic war. Instead of following any line suggested by the few in- structions given to the deputies, the assembly resolved that, as they could not make an innovation on the constitution without the consent of the freemen, the proposed constitu- tion must be submitted to them directly in town meetings. This resolution passed by a vote of forty three to fifteen. An amendment making the vote upon the question of calling a convention was lost by a majority almost as great.^ In these debates Bradford of Bristol, Marchant and Champlin of Ncvvport, and Arnold and Bowen of Providence, were the champions of the constitution. The opposition was led by Hazard of Charlestown, Joslin of West Greenwich, and Com- stock of East Greenwich. The conscience of the assembly had grown tender since the occasions only a year before, when they had felt no hesitation in depriving the citizen of some of his most valuable rights. In view of these events, their present con- sideration for personal rights is almost ludicrous. With a governor at heart favorable to the constitution, and an upper house divided, there was a much greater chance of the con- 1 Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), J786-7, 150. ' United Stales Chronicle, Mar. 6, 1788. i(J4 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [282 stitution being rejected by a popular vote than by the assembly. Of this fact the opposition were well aware. During the month that intervened before the town meet- ings, it was decided by the minority to show their disap- proval of this unusual proceeding by staying away from the polls. On March twenty-fourth, the day appointed for the town meetings, in Bristol, Little Compton, Tiverton, and Hopkinton alone was there any contest. In the two former towns the federal party were in a slight majority. Provi- dence held closely to the agreement. Not a single vote was cast in its favor, and there was but one against it. Newport cast but one vote for the constitution. The total vote was two hundred and thirty-seven for, and two thousand seven hundred and eight against.' This result among a population of over six thousand freemen could scarcely be taken as displaying the true sentiment of the community. Instead of votes, the towns of Providence and Newport gave instructions in favor of calling a convention.' Fifty of the freemen of Bristol petitioned the assembly for the same end.' At an adjourned meeting on March twenty-sixth, the town of Providence adopted a petition to the assembly, in which five of her most prominent citizens presented the arguments in favor of a convention.* In view of the fact that an assembly of the whole people was impracticable, they deemed that the representative principle was sufficiently well established to warrant its use at this time. For many reasons the means taken by the assembly for taking the sense of the people was inadequate. The commercial and country towns ''^ Papers Relating to the Adoption of the Constitution (MS.), 16-37. "^Providence Town Meeting Records {MS.), vii, 118. 'Papers Relating to the Adoption of the Constitution (MS.), 109. * Providence Town Meeting Records (MS.), vii, 120. This committee was composed of David Howell, John I. Clark, Thomas Arnold, Theodore Foster, and Benjamin Bourne. 283] RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION jge had had no opportunity to discuss the question together, and become informed of the needs of the various sections of the state, as they might in a convention. Likewise conditions in the other states must be taken into account to determine how far it was advisable to sacrifice state interest to the common welfare. Though state rights must be preserved, other fac- tors must be taken into consideration. There were, more- over, many documents which would throw light on the situ- ation which, though impossible to present to the freemen, would influence the action of a convention. The very fact that Congress had recommended and the other states had taken affirmative action made it the more fitting that Rhode Island should acquiesce. The possibility of following the example of Massachusetts and Virginia in proposing amend- ments was suggested for her. Now that the state had had voice in framing the constitution, it seemed a double hard- ship for the freemen to deny them the privilege of proposing amendments to the constitution to which she must finally accede. Said the petitioners, " Have not the freemen of our sister states a right to claim this service at our hands, and have not the freemen of this state a right to demand it? This state, however sovereign and independent, cannot exist without a connection with her sister states." ' A memorandum containing eleven amendments which was brought to light after the town meeting in Providence, prob- ably expressed the ideas of those who spoke of the desir- ability of amendments. These propositions in connection with subsequent events are of interest. They were, that lib- erty of the press and of conscience should be secured ; that no standing army should be kept in time of peace ; that the militia should not be called to serve outside the state except in an emergency; that appropriations should be for one year ^Providence Town Meeting Records {3fS.), vii, 120; United States Chronicle, Apr. 10, 1788; Providence Gazette, Apr. 12, 1788. 1 66 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [284 only; that the terms of senators should not be more than two years, and no direct tax should be levied except after a requisition had been made on the states. The federal judic- iary should have no jurisdiction in minor cases between citi- zens of different states, nor should any one be tried for an infamous crime except on a presentment of a grand jury, and all questions of fact should be decided by a jury. Fin- ally, all powers not expressly delegated should be withheld from the general government.' The position of the Federal party may, from their instruc- tions and public writings, be comprehended with tolerable accuracy. The opposition was kept busy in counteracting the moral force exerted by the ratifications of the other states. Every argument was employed in their cause. One of the few put in print appeared in the Gazette of March fifteenth, characterizing the new constitution as a scheme to lord it over the common people. A convention should be avoided, because artful men, lawyers and ministers, might win over the most steadfast opponents.' The motion was again re- newed for a convention, on the last day of March, but was defeated by a majority of twenty-seven.^ The result of the popular vote having proved as anticipated, it was reported to Congress under date of April fifth.* The fact that the manner of consideration had been peculiar, it was hoped would not give offense, for it was based on the truly demo- cratic principle that all government emanates from the will of the whole people. Granting the present form of govern- ment to be inadequate, they declared the state willing to acquiesce in any amendments "which would tend to regulate commerce, and impose duties and excise, whereby congress might establish funds for discharging the public debt." '" So ^Providence Gazette, Mar. 29, 1788. '^ Ibid., Mar. 15, 1788. " Vnited States Chronicle, Apr. 10, 1788. '■Ibid. ''Ibid. 285] RHODE ISLAND AiVD THE CONSriTUTWN 167 much, which had long since been pronounced insufficient, Rhode Island would grant, but nothing more. To all intents and purposes this was a flat refusal. The approach of the annual election saw a hot canvass of the state by both sides. A division on local issues in the Federal party gave the election, by a large majority, to the Anti-Federalists. Early in the summer came the news that New Hampshire had ratified the constitution. The Federalists were both delighted and encouraged. Bells rang, cannon were fired, the schools were given a holiday, and the students of Brown University marched in procession about the college. The town of Providence showed itself truly Federal. Nowhere in the whole country was more enthusiasm displayed than in that community in preparing to celebrate the event. It was decided to hold the celebration in connection with that of Independence Day.' The interest in this event arises no more from its expression of federal sentiments, than from being the only occasion of the resort to armed violence by the opponents of the constitution in Rhode Island. Extensive preparations were made for orations, a parade, and an ox-roast, to which the state officers and the people generally'were invited. On the festal morning, whose pass- ing hours were marked by discharges of artillery, an oration was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock in the First Baptist church. A procession then marched to Federal Hill, where an ox had been roasted whole, and a table spread a thousand feet in length. The festivities were, however, destined to"* receive a check from an unexpected quarter. Toward the evening of the previous day an assemblage of men from the country towns, particularly of Providence county, had gath- ered on the outskirts of the town with the avowed purpose of preventing the celebration, which they insisted was an in- ' Uniied States Chronicle, June 20, 1788. 1 68 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [286 suit to the majority of the people and to the legislature. Two companies were called out to protect the place. At the request of a committee of the town, a conference was held on the morning of the fourth, at which the townsmen, after a vigorous protest, agreed that the festivities should not be held in honor of the ratification of the constitution, but in commemoration of Independence Day. Thirteen cannon were to be fired and thirteen toasts drunk. A toast to " Nine States," was changed to "The Day." With these changes the invaders allowed the celebration to proceed.' The original purpose of the mob appears to have been to seize the feast, as the countrymen were advised not to bring rations with them. Some expected that the governor or deputy- governor would take command on their arrival. Many of those who, stirred by the representations of dema- gogues, were induced to join a movement led by judges and legislators, returned in disgust to their homes, while others made the best of the situation and joined in the fes- tivities. The actual resort to violence was thus averted by compromise, never again to be threatened by the Anti- Federalists during the struggle. Rejoicings were not confined to the chief towns, but cele- brations, including orations and feasting, were held elsewhere, notably in East Greenwich and Wickford. At the former place, among the sentiments toasted at the banquet were " Independence," " Federalism," " The Federal Pillars," " The Supreme Judiciary," and " The Newport Herald" At Wick- '^ Providence Gazette, July 5 and 12, 1788; United Slates Chronicle, July 3 and 10, 1788. The town's committee was composed of Jabez Bowen, John I. Clark, Wel- come Arnold, David Howell, Benjamin Bourne, Zeijhariah Andrews, and John Mason. That representing the country consisted of William West, a Judge of the Superior Court, Capt. Andrew Waterman and John Sayles, Assemblymen from Smithfield, Abraham Matthewson, a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, John Wtstcott, deputy from Foster, and Peleg Fiske and James Aldrich, deputies from Scituate. 28;] PHODE ISLAXD AND THE CONSTITUTION jgo ford tributes were paid to "The Ten States," "The Three We Hope Will Join," "All Promoters of Union," and "Har- mony between City and Country." Within the month, the news that New York had ratified set the bells ringing again. The fondness for symbolic representation found expression in Providence in the display of eleven flags flying from Wey- bosset bridge, representing the states which had ratified. A flag upon a staff inclined thirty degrees, with the accom- panying motto, " It will rise," represented North Carolina, while a bare pole inclined forty-five degrees bore the legend, "Rhode Island in Hopes."' The new constitution was now assured of a trial, but Rhode Island promised to be absent from that trial. To a large number the gravity of the situation was apparent. The day when Rhode Island had been invited to join in revising the constitution was past, and she was left to take it as she found it, or not at all. But should she not accept the con- stitution at all, her position without the prospect of a foreign alliance, in her disorganized financial condition, was one to inspire alarm in the minds of thinking men.^ It was plainly pointed out that the aid from England, on which some relied, would only be lent with a view to the destruction of the state and the ruin of the American commonwealths.' The October session of the legislature witnessed a third fruitless effort to call a convention.* The ratification of New York had only been secured by a compromise which pro- vided that a circular letter be sent to the states calling for a convention to consider the amendments offered by the states. Such a proposal might be expected to receive the hearty support of Anti-Federalists everywhere. In submitting the ^Providence Gazette, Aug. 2, 1788; United States Chronicle, July 31, 1788. ' Providence Gazette, Aug. 2, 1 788. 'Hid., Oct. 18, 1788. •Staples, PAode Island in the Continental Congress, 618. 170 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [288 New York letter to the towns for consideration, the same assembly that had refused to call a convention admitted that " the citizens of Rhode Island conceive it to be absolutely necessary to be connected with the other states, if it can be done on the principles of good government."' At their meeting in December the assembly found that but eight towns favored the New York proposition for a con- vention, and others declined to do aught but adhere strictly to the Articles of Confederation.' Providence remained firm in her demand for a convention,-' but was doomed to see the measure defeated for a fourth time.* The fifth defeat was in **' March, on the eve of the inauguration of the new federal government, by a vote of thirty-seven to nineteen.' : ' K new phase of the Rhode Island question now appeared. That state, in spite of all unpleasant relations, had hitherto been united to the other states by the bonds of the Confeder- ation, a phantoni to which Rhode Island clung even until the election of delegates to Congress after the new government had been inaugurated. Now the federal government was in operation, and Rhode Island stood "perfectly alone, uncon- nected with any state or sovereignty on earth."" The mer- cantile and other classes whose mode of life brought them in contact with people of other states, were not slow to realize the importance of the change. They saw their commerce deprived of the protection of the United States, and shorn of the benefits of her commercial treaties, languishing under the heavy duties laid on it ahke by the United States and Europe. The busy ports which had lately been crowded ^Acls and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.'), jfSS-g, 57. ' United States Chronicle, Dec. 8, 1 788. ^Providence Town A/eeting Records, vii,l39. 'Staples, Rhode Island in the Continental Congress, 618. ' United States Chronicle, Mar. 19, 17S9. 'Providence Town Meeting Records iMS.), vii, 141. 289] RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION 171 with shipping, would henceforth give shelter to only a few fishermen. Should the legislature persist in its course, the freemen declared themselves fully persuaded that some of their number would apply to Congress that its protection be extended to their trade and navigation under such discrimi- nations as it might impose.' With credit between man and man destroyed, and the most solemn obligations openly vio- lated, nothing was to be anticipated but retaliatory legisla- tion, which would cut off Rhode Island's commerce by land and sea." The masses of the people, particularly in the agricultural communities, were naturally slow in grasping the full signi- ficance of the events taking place at the seat of the federal government. The result of the annual election gave little indication of a change of views. No sooner had the national House of Representatives organized than the apprehensions of Rhode Island were realized by the introduction of a i motion leading to the formulation of a revenue system.' The debate was long, as the importance of the subject demanded. In view of this measure Providence, besides in- structing her own deputies, presented to the legislature a petition signed by fully five hundred citizens, portraying the evils from which they were suffering, and those which were anticipated.* The only response was a sixth defeat of the^ proposition for a convention, but by a somewhat smaller majority.' The fears of the assembly were, however, sufficiently aroused to lead them to cast an anchor to windward in the form of an embargo upon the exportation of grain, flour and ^Providence Town Meeting Records (JUS.), vii, 140- 1. ' Ibid., vii, 146. • Annals of Congress, i, 106. • United States Chronicle, June 25, 1789. •Vi»V., June 18, 1789. 172 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [290 meal for a limited time, until the result of the deliberations of Congress should become known/ Such fears were not assuaged by the pens of those who, like a correspondent of the Providence Gazette, declared that Rhode Island would "remain to the other states and to the world at large, a spectacle of reproach and derision.'"' Said that writer: "In . the ports of the Union we shall be considered as foreigners, and our commerce subjected to like duties with them."^ The passage of an impost law and the perfection of a system of revenue collection brought with it a visible weak- ening of the majority in Rhode Island. Hoping to avert discriminating legislation, the assembly had, at its May session, passed an impost law imposing on goods imported into the state the same duties that Congress might there- after lay upon imports into the Union. The act was to take effect at the same time as that passed by Congress, and was in general to be the exact counterpart of that act.* This was followed in September by a re-enactment of the revenue law lately passed by Congress.* The debate in Congress which resulted in the revenue act of July fourth, and the act for the collection of the same of July thirty-first, continued, from the eighth of April, seven weeks. The position of North Carolina and Rhode Island in relation to a duty on foreign importations was a disputed question. To obviate further difficulties, Benson of New York, on June fifth, presented a resolution that Congress "declare it to be their most earnest desire" that Rhode Island call a convention." On the advisability of this step ^ Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {AIS.), 1788-g, 98. ^Providence Gazette, Aug. i, 1789. ^ Ibid. * Rhode Island Colonial Records, x, 331. ''Annals of Confess, ii, 2183; Rfiode Island Colonial Records, x, 340; United Slates Chronicle, Sept. 24, 1789. * Annals of Congress, i, 437. 291 j RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION 173 opinion differed. All were agreed that Rhode Island ought to call a convention, but the propriety of the request was questioned. The debate was earnest on both sides. It was argued that from Rhode Island's absence from the federal convention, she stood in a different position from North Carolina. The revenue act as passed by Congress revealed a confidence that both states would soon be within the Union, and placed both alike in a sort of intermediate posi- tion. As Congress' had no authority to lay duties at the ports of those states, it was enacted that all goods imported thence, not the product thereof, should be subjected to the same conditions as if imported from other foreign ports. But by the silence of the act in respect to domestic pro- ducts, they were admitted free.' Sensible of the fearful disadvantage at which they were placed, and perceiving in the result of the election of depu- ties to the October session of the assembly signs of a coming change, the town of Providence memorialized Congress on their condition. Their perception of the necessity of union with the other states led them to ask that they and the other seaport towns might not be made to suffer for conduct for which they were not responsible.' The assembly, too, reading the signs of the times, sent its first flag of truce as a step toward a commercial union. The hope was expressed that, though Rhode Island had not seen her way clear consistently with her principles to unite with the other states, their common sufferings in the past would always form a bond of union between them and the other states. Though the new government might avoid present difificulties, it might lead to future mischiefs. The people of Rhode Island were attached to democratic government, but in this new constitution there was perceived an approach ^Annals of Congress, ii, 2213. '^Providence Town Meeting Records {MS.), vii, 156. 174 RHODE ISLAND AKD THE UNION [292 toward the evils from which they had lately been freed. Further, they said, "We are sensible of the extremes to which democratical government is sometimes liable, some- thing of which we have lately experienced, but we esteem them temporary and partial evils, compared with the loss of liberty and the rights of a free people." " The assembly asserted that they were awaiting the day when they might again be united with the other states under a constitution which might not be liable to alteration by nine of the thirteen states. It was hoped that in the meantime they would not be treated as foreigners, but that trade might be kept free and open between them.^ This letter betrays a change of attitude tending towards conciliation. No longer is a continued separation spoken of as desirable. Their argument is now based on the one strong ground of fear of the subversion of the liberties of so small a state. Congress, only too glad to observe signs of a change which might extricate them from an awkward posi- tion, viewed the communication with favor. Before the letter from the assembly reached New York an act was passed suspending the impost law in favor of Rhode Island. By this law all privileges and advantages enjoyed by ships of the United States were extended to those of Rhode Island and North Carolina, until the fifteenth of January, 1790. Exception was made in the case of rum, loaf sugar, and chocolate made in those states.' At the same time the •assembly continued to assert that it was vested by the free- men with power simply to administer the existing constitu- tion, while the power to change the frame of government rested in the freemen alone. Owing to "grievous com- plaints" that the constitution had not been adopted, the freemen were called upon to instruct their deputies, who " United States Chronicle, Oct. i, 1789; Rhode Island Colonial Records, x, 356. ^ Ibid. ' Annals of Congress, ii, 2235. 293] RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION 175 were to meet at the session on the last Monday in October.' According to the call, town meetings were held on the nine- teenth of that month. The town of Providence, disgusted at the farcial proceedings of the assembly, left its delegates free to act as they saw fit.' Whatever instructions were given by the other towns were of no efifect, and a seventh attempt to call a convention failed like its predecessors.* Just here, as at so many points in the struggle, it was the lack of competent leaders among the Federalists which left Rhode Island outside the pale within which the efforts of most skillful leaders had barely succeeded in bringing some of the other states. Several worthy and prominent men among the Federalists were powers in their own towns, but not one of them was able to extend his influence further. General Varnum, the one man in whom were contained the elements of a leader, had been called to hold a post under the Union in the Northwest Territory, and was no longer available. Before the eleventh of January, to which the assembly stood adjourned, the situation had materially changed. North Carolina ratified the constitution on the twenty-first of November, leaving Rhode Island alone outside the Union.' Congress had been busy preparing the amendments to the constitution, so generally demanded by the states. The re- sults of their deliberations, and the resolutions of Congress thereon, were transmitted, on October second, to the gov- ernors of the various states for ratification.* Copies of these amendments were submitted to the freemen in town meet- '' Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), /788-g, 108. ' Prot'idence Town Meeting Records {MS.), vii, 160. "Providence Gazette, Oct. 31, 1789; United States Chronicle, Nov. 5, 1789. *Imws of North Carolina, i, 605. > Rhode Island Archives {MS.), Letters, 1788-1800, l^. 176 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [294 ings, on the third Monday in October." The necessary time had now elapsed for them to become thoroughly understood. Of the amendments proposed, that securing freedom from an established church, and freedom of worship, as well as of speech and of the press, especially commended itself to the people of Rhode Island. Though not often finding expres- sion during this period, there was a fear that through south- ern influence Episcopacy might be forced upon the Union. The confirmation of the right of a judicial trial in the state, by a jury of the vicinage, likewise removed a fancied danger. The provision for the reservation to the states and to the people of all powers not expressly delegated to the United States could not but gratify the advocates of state rights. ■- A knowledge that the suspension of the revenue laws of the United States in favor of Rhode Island was about to ex- pire, leaving her on the footing of a foreign state, tended to stimulate the understanding of the people. Should the as- sembly still refuse a convention, small favor could be ex- pected from Congress. The assembly convened as appointed, and after four days spent in transacting routine business, the house took up a motion made by Benjamin Bourne of Providence, for calling a convention. This was debated until late in the day, when it was carried by a vote of thirty-four to twenty-nine.'' On the transmission of the bill to the senate, it was laid on the table until the next (Saturday) morning. In the meantime the senate had passed a bill placing the question of calling a convention before the freemen.^ This was defeated by a majority of fourteen in the house. The senate, after con- sidering all day the house bill, reached a vote of non- ^ Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), 1788-go, 121. ' United States Chronicle, Jan. 21, 1790. ''Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), iy88-go, 150; United States Chronicle, Jan. 21, 1790. 295] RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION 177 concurrence late on Saturday evening. Four senators voted to concur, while the same number with the deputy- governor were in opposition. The excitement was intense. Unwilling to wait until Monday, the assembly adjourned to meet on Sunday morning. Early in the day Marchant, of Newport, introduced in the house a bill similar to that intro- duced in the house by Bourne, and secured for his measure a majority of twenty-one. The morning's deliberations in the senate had been upon a bill introduced by Deputy- Governor Owen, in substance like the one already passed by that body, with the addition of a preamble. No better ex- pression is to be found of the arguments of those zealous opponents of the constitution who were now forced to a convention, provided it be demanded by the freemen. They acknowledged that, as the constitution was already in opera- tion in twelve states, the citizens of Rhode Island, being treated as foreigners, would " suffer great and manifold in- conveniences and discouragement in their trade and com- merce, and otherwise." ' Hence it became the interest and duty of that state " to take the most prudent measures for acceding to the union of the said twelve states." '■' Feeling that to their constituencies some explanation of their change of attitude was necessary, the preamble concludes : " Thi^" general assembly are sensible that the accession of the state of North Carolina to the said union, and the grievous opera- tion of the federal government on the interest of many citi- zens of this state since the last measure taken by this general assembly on the subject, have presented the same to our view and consideration in a very different attitude from that in which it then appeared." ' Thus did they at- tempt to harmonize theory with present conditions. The ^Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly (^MS.), 1788-90, 151. ^liid. '^Ibid. 178 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [296 measure was doomed to a fate in the house similar to that of its predecessor. The Marchant bill, coming to the senate, found the per- sonnel of that body somewhat changed. One of the sena- tors who had voted in the negative on the Bourne bill, so runs the story, was a preacher and, objecting to the Sunday session, withdrew to minister to his congregation. When it came to a vote, four senators voted in the affirmative, while three senators and the deputy-governor voted against it. It now devolved upon the governor to give the casting vote. Though ekcted and re-elected by the anti- federal party. Governor Collns had been a conservative in the party, and had more than once betrayed federalistic sympathies. Now, realizing the gravity of the situation, he cast his vote in the affirmative, and the first campaign was won. The freemen were summoned to meet in their town meetings on the ninth of February to elect delegates to a state convention to be held on the first day of March, at South Kingstown.' During the debate on Sunday the churches had been almost deserted by the people, who hovered about the state house. When the vote was an- nounced a shout of joy arose, and that Sunday became one of general rejoicing. The people felt that the dawn of happier times was at hand.' No time was lost by the assembly in announcing their action to the president, with a request for a further suspen- sion of the revenue laws, as there was reason to hope that the constitution would soon be ratified.' By act of February ''Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), ij88-go, 157; Providence Gazette, Jan. 23, 1 790. ''Providence Gazette, Jan. 23, 1790. * Acts and Resolves of the General Assembly {MS.), 1788-go, 159; United States Chronicle, Jan. 21, 1790. 297] RHODE ISLAND AI^D THE CONSTITUTION 175 eighth, the act suspending the revenue law was revived, to remain in force until the first of the following April.' In the process of adopting the constitution by the dififerent states, three stages have been noted. In no other state had the struggle assumed alarming proportions in the first stage. Even in Virginia, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and New York, where some opposition was encountered at this stage, the struggle was soon past. The smallest of the ihirteen had, however, for more than two years refused to call a convention. No sooner was the call issued than the combatants pre- pared for the second contest. This was limited by the action of the assembly to twenty-two days. The Federalists again made use of their favorite means of creating a sentiment in their favor. In the public press they portrayed the effects of a rejection of the constitution. As a result of the total estrangement of the .state from the Union, which must follow rejection, the Gazette pictured Narragansett Bay for- saken by traders, the wharves and warehouses silent and deserted, and the people suffering for the lack of those necessities which could only be obtained through free trade with the United States. The possibility of coercion even was hinted at.' In the first stage of the struggle the opposition had relied but little upon the press, trusting rather to personal work or to conventions. Accordingly a spirited agitation in the bar- rooms of country taverns was supplemented by a convention of freemen of Providence, Kent, and Washington counties, held at East Greenwich, on February second. The discus- sion of plans for concerted action resulted in an address to the freemen of the state. They were recommended to choose such delegates to the convention " as from a known and tried firmness, and integrity and attachment to the liberty and ' Annals of Congress, ii, 2259. ^I'roviderue Gazette, Feb. 27, 1790. l80 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [298 indefeasible rights of this people . . . will be cautious and careful of bartering them to the politics of any people or nation on earth." ' The language of this address has been taken as corrobor- ating the charge that the vote of the assembly was secured by corruption. It has been believed, though there seems to be no evidence to prove the charge, that the Federalists, becoming alarmed at the prospect before them, saw a profit- able investment in the purchase of votes for a convention. An explanation equally probable, and one more creditable to the parties involved, is furnished by one of those whose opinions had undergone a change. Though the causes that had heretofore warranted rejection were still powerful, yet that the state should exist alone was impossible. In this dilemma the citizens were admonished to choose delegates to the convention who would propose amendments to the constitution.'^ Without the state no strong assurance was felt that Rhode Island would ratify at once, though friends of the Union were rejoiced that one step had been taken.' The result of the election of delegates was a strong majority against ratifica- tion. Richmond and Portsmouth alone deemed it necessary to instruct their delegates. The former, an inland town, little affected by commercial depression, directed that the consti- tution be not adopted, but that it be considered, amendments proposed, and an adjournment taken until a future day, that there might be time to observe the workings of the new government." Portsmouth, more susceptible to commercial disorders, whose symptoms were a languishing trade and ' Papers Relating to the Adoption of the Constitution {MS.), 97. ' United Stales Chronicle, Feb. 4, 1790. 'Letter, Caleb Strong to Theodore Foster, Feb. 28, 1790. Foster Correspond- tnce {MS.). * Papers Relating to the Adoption of the Constitution, 99. 299] RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION jgi laid-up vessels, demanded adoption at the earliest possible moment. Should adjournment be proposed, no date later than April first should be considered.' The convention met on the first day of March, 1790, in the old state house in South Kingstown. Of the seventy delegates there assembled, forty-two were members of the assembly ; four had held the office of deptuy-governor, and five had been elected to the Continental Congress. Jabez Bowen of Providence, and Henry Marchant of Newport, led the Federalists. As leader of the opposing party, His Honor, the deputy-governor, was ably assisted by Jonathan J. Hazard, of South Kingstown, whose change of attitude on the final vote was to sound his political knell. There were also present William Bradford of Bristol, speaker of the House of Deputies, and a member of the Hartford Conven- tion of 1780; Col. William Barton, the captor of General Prescott; Joseph Staunton, one of Rhode Island's first senators in Congress, and Benjamin Bourne, the state's first representative in Congress. As chairman, the convention chose Deputy-Governor Owen. Daniel Updike was made secretary.* After two days occupied with preliminaries and general discussions, the opposition entered on a policy of procrasti- nation. Col. Sayles, of Smithfield, moved that a committee be appointed to draft a bill of rights and amendments, and that the convention adjourn to a future day.' Ihis motion was tabled, and a general discussion of the constitution, section by section, followed. The manner of raising direct ' Papers Relating to the Adoption of the Constitution, 95. ''Minutes of the Convention. The minutes of the Convention were for many years lost, but were found among the effects of Daniel Updike and deposited in the state archives. The minute book is in a volume lettered "Papers Relating to the Adoption of the Constitution of the United i^tales." The book is unpaged. ''Minutes of the Convention; Providence Gazette, Mar. 6, 1790. 1 82 RHODE ISLAXD AND THE UNION [30O taxes first met with objection as bearing unequally on the towns. The Anti-Federalists, when they demurred at the part taken by the executive in legislation, were shown the precedent afforded by Massachusetts. This was effective, and no further question was raised until the ninth section of the first article was reached. Here the clause relating to the importation of slaves stirred the anti-slavery sentiment of a party led by Bradford of Bristol, and Comstock of East Greenwich. In favor of the section as it stood were Bourne, Hazard, and Champlin, who supported it as the best compro- mise to be obtained. Hazard disliked to antagonize the southern states, for said he : " We shall have need of assist- ance, to have our amendments acceded to.'" Prolonged discussion led to the reference of the question to a com- mittee. No serious objection was again encountered until the fifth article was reached. The assurance herein contained of the continuance of equal representation in the senate was hailed with joy. Whatever else she had been, Rhode Island had been a steadfast advocate of state rights. Those holding the balance of power had consented to a convention only at the prospect of proposing amendments. But, by the pro- visions of the constitution, three-fourths of the states might impose upon the remainder any amendment they wished. The only reply of the Federalists was that in amendment Rhode Island would have an equal voice with the other states. The views of the convention having been brought out by general discussion, a committee of two from each county was appointed to draft amendments." On Friday, March fifth, the committee reported a bill of rights containing eighteen sections, and with it an equal number of amendments. After debate, two of the latter ' Minutes of the Convention. '^ Ibid.; Providence Gazette, Mai. 6, 1790. jOl] RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION 183 were rejected.' The first provided that Congress should not have power to appoint su'-h officers as had been heretofore appointed by the state. The second, a proposition to ap- portion direct taxes according to vaUiation, was declared as unsatisfactory as the existing arrangement. The debate continued until the afternoon of the next day, when Mar- chant moved that the constitution be adopted, and that the bill of rights and amendments be transmitted to Congress with the recommendation that they be adopted. The Anti- Federalists foresaw that, should this be carried, their amend- ments would be tabled indefinitely. To defeat the motion it was moved to adjourn, and carried by a majority of thirteen. The Federalists made an effort to limit the time of adjournment to the last Monday in March, but were over- ruled by a majority who selected Ma; twenty-fourth as the day and Newport as the place of meeting.' Before adjourn- ment it was voted to submit the bill of rights and the amendments to the freemen at the election on April twenty- first. The adjournment was the work of the Anti Federal party. Though possessing a majority against adoption without amendments, they dared not risk a trial of strength when some might rely on future amendments. The date fixed upon for the adjourned session not only put off the evil day of ratification, but made possible a surer victory for the ene- mies of the constitution, after the victory which they hoped to gain at the annual election. No sooner had the delegates returned to their homes than the excitement of an election waxed strong. At a meeting of the Federahsts at Providence, a committee was appointed to unite with friends in Newport to secure a coalition in each ^Providence Gazette, Mar. 13, 1790. ^Minutes of the Convention; Providence Gazette, Mar. 13, 1790. 1 84 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [302 town.' A letter was sent to Arthur Fenner, a leader of the opposite party, but who was thought to be less influenced by partisan prejudice than many of his party, asking him to accept the nomination for governor on a coalition ticket' The Federalists proposed to nominate the deputy-governor from their own party, while the assistants were to be divided between the two parties/ Fenner in reply hesitated to com- mit himself, and questioned the propriety of consulting him in the matter before the freemen of the state had signified a desire in the matter.* The conventions of both parties met on the same day, the sixth of April. The majority or Anti-Federal convention, dominated by deputy-governor Owen, which met at South Kingstown, nominated a "straight" ticket. Arthur Fenner was the candidate for governor, Samuel J. Potter for deputy- governor, and six of the present assistants were candidates for re-election.* Daniel Owen was the first choice as candi- date for governor, and it was only after his refusal of the nomination that Fenner was selected. The Federalists, in their convention at East Greenwich, to which all friends of coalition were invited, called down on their heads the invec- tives of their opponents by nominating a "mixed" ticket, under the caption, " Coalition or Federal Prox." At the head of the ticket appeared the names of Fenner and Potter. Four of the candidates of the Anti-Federalists found a place on this ticket. The promoters of this coalition, like every body of citizens who attempt to break down party lines in ^Providence Gazette, Apr. 3, 1790; United States Chronicle, Apr. 1, 1790. '■Providence Gazette, Mar. 27, 1790. The committee consisted of Geo. Champ- lin, Henry Marchant, Geo. Gibbs, James Robinson, Isaac Senter, John Brown, Welcome Arnold, David Howell, Zephaniah Andrews, and Jabez Bowen. ^Ibid. ^Jbid. ^Providence Gazette, Apr. 10, 1790; United States Chronicle, Apr. 8, 1790. ^Providence Gazette, Apr. 10, 1790. 303] RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION j3c the interests of good government, were doomed to call forth anathemas from those bound by the shackles of party. The leaders were accused of attempting by a trick to gain control of the state in the interests of the mercantile party.' The Federalists maintained that though the country was in the majority, yet the welfare of that portion of the community was so dependent on the prosperity of the towns that their true interests could not be antagonistic' Party lines were sharply drawn, and rumors of corruption on either side were afloat. With the twenty-first of April came the election and a complete victory for the Anti-Federalists. Jubilation lighted the country, but the towns were dark in mourning. Though this election did not alter the composition of the convention, it showed all too plainly the temper of the masses. Though separated from her sisters, Rhode Island could not be totally oblivious of what was passing within the Union. However right the majority in that state might have been in their position, it was more than could be expected of human nature that the Union should not enter a vigorous protest against separation. The faint mutterings of the ap- proaching storm had long been audible to the attentive ear. Owing to her attitude toward the imposts of 1781 and 1783, as well as by her paper money policy, the other states were disin- clined to await with patience Rhode Island's accession to the Union. Coercion was early hinted at from various quarters. Against the paper money legislation Connecticut had retali- ated by excluding citizens of Rhode Island from her courts.' In the midst of the paper money disorders, coercion and political annihilation were suggested. "A Landholder," in the Chronicle, said : " The singular system of policy adopted ' United States Chronicle, Apr. 15, 1790. ^Providence Gazette, Apr. 17, 1790. •/*«V., Feb. 28, 1789. 1 86 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [304 by your state no longer excites either the surprise or indig- nation of mankind. There are certain extremes of iniquity which are beheld with patience from a fixed conviction that the transgressor is inveterate. ... If you will not hear your own groans, nor feel the pangs of your own torture, it must continue until removed by a political annihilation."' When, in the debate on the bill for the collection of the revenue, Benson of New York moved to go into the com- mittee of the whole to consider a resolution declaring the wish of Congress that Rhode Island ratify the constitution, the whole question of the relation of that state to the Union was opened.'^ The opposition to the resolution was led by Page of Virginia, who took the ground that in no way could the worth of the constitution be shown more effectively than by leaving Rhode Island to act freely. Were he a Rhode Island man, he would watch with a jealous eye the action of Con- gress, and apprehend undue influence, were the weight of that body thrown in the scale. " Are gentlemen afraid," said he, "to leave them to their own unbiased judgment? For my part, I am not." ' Madison, realizing the delicacy of the situation, said, " It would be improper in this body to ex- pose themselves to have such a proposition rejected by the legislature of the state of Rhode Island. It would likewise be improper to express a desire on an occasion where a free agency ought to be employed, which would carry with it the force of a command." * The nearer neighbors of Rhode Island were not disposed to such delicacy of treatment. Sherman of Connecticut saw no impropriety in asking for ratification. To the ob- jection that such a request might bear the semblance of a command, he replied, " If a wish of Congress can bring 1 United States Chronicle, Mar. 27, 1788, '* Annals of Congress, i, 437. '/Wi/., 438. * Ibid.,\, \y). 30s] RHODE ISLAND AND THE cossmurroy 187 them into the Union, why should we decline to express such a wish ? " ' The idea of coercion had at this time gained little head- way in Congress. When Page asked, " Suppose they de- cline doing what you require, what is next to be done?"' the strongest response was from Fisher Ames, when he said, " 1 should be glad to know if any gentleman contemplates the state of Rhode Island dissevered from the Union, a mari- time state, situated in the most convenient manner for smuggling and defrauding our revenue. Surely a moment's reflection will induce the house to take measures to secure this object." " Even this language contemplated nothing more than a request which might operate as a demand. But it revealed the fact that a large party at the north, which was prepared to demand ratification, needed but a grain of self-interest involved to lead them to coercive measures. Benson's resolution failed of passage, and the matter was dropped. The whole Union watched anxiously the course of Rhode Island as she again and again refused to call a convention. As the weeks slipped by, a feeling that coercion might yet be the only alternative, was growing. A member of Con- gress, writing to a citizen of Rhode Island on the fifteenth of September, expressed the hope of soon welcoming in Congress a delegation from that state. Should they not appear, extreme measures must follow. " Enemies they must be, or fellow-citizens, and that in a very short time." ' Caleb Strong remarked to Theodore Foster, after the call for the convention had issued, that though there was but small hope of ratification, yet it was a relief that the conven- tion was called. His conviction was that should ratification fail, Congress would be justified in proceeding to extreme > Annals of Consress, i, 440. ' /Hd., i, 438, « IHd., i, 440. * Vnitad States Chronicle, Oct. i, 1789. 1 88 RHODE ISLAND AND THE UNION [306 measures.' In afifirming the right of Congress to call on Rhode Island for her share of the revolutionary debt, the Gazette asks, "Will Congress sufifer a single refractory state to embarrass its great necessary national measures?'" During the last weeks of the first session of the first Con- gress and the early part of the second session, a new impulse was given to the Rhode Island question in that body by the introduction of two measures on which the country was sharply divided. These were the question as to the perma^ nent residence of Congress, and that portion of Hamilton's proposed funding system which provided for the assumption of state debts by the general government. It is scarcely possible to conceive the importance ascribed at that time to the location of the national capital. The middle states were each straining every nerve to secure that location within their own boundaries. From New Jersey,'' Vir- ginia,^ Maryland," Pennsylvania,' and Delaware ' came over- tures to Congress looking to the location of the national legislature within their limits. Pennsylvania opened the subject by moving that the seat of government be fixed at some convenient place, as near the center of wealth, popula- tion, and territory as was consistent with access by water from the ocean and easy communication with the western terri- tory.* The northern states promptly followed with a reso- lution to place the national capital on the east bank of the Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania, and until such place should be in readiness Congress should remain in New York. This was a part of the agreement under which Pennsylvania had joined the north in laying protective duties. She was to have the support of that section for her attempt to secure ' Foster Correspondence, i, 23. ' Frovidence Gazette, Feb. 27, 1 790. ' Annals of Congress, i, 67. • Ibid., i, 358. 'i Ibid., \, 371. " Ibid., i, 802. ' Ibid., i, 915. » Ibid., i, 816. 307] RHODE ISLAND AND THE CONSTITUTION 189 the capital. Repeated attempts by the south, in the House, iailed to shake the combination of Pennsylvania and the north.' The motion, fixing upon the Susquehanna and New York as the permanent and temporary seats, having pre- vailed, a bill was introduced to that end," and passed, after a vigorous debate, by a vote of thirty-one to seventeen.' The Senate at once took up the bill, and, after a vain at- tempt to substitute the Potomac for the Susquehanna, passed the measure with an amendment setting aside a district ten miles square, on the Delaware.' By an amendment in the House the bill was postponed until the next session.* During the following months the location of the seat of government was a living issue, though it was not a subject of debate for some time. Pennsylvania was the keystone cov- eted for completing two political arches. On her both par- ties staked their hopes. 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