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A History of the United States. Charles Kendall Adams
Читать онлайн.Название A History of the United States
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isbn 4064066200824
Автор произведения Charles Kendall Adams
Жанр Документальная литература
Издательство Bookwire
162. Expedition of Sir Henry Clinton.—In the South the enemy fared no better. Sir Henry Clinton, with about two thousand men, had been sent from Boston, while the siege was going on, to take possession of North Carolina; but the sturdy Scotchmen of that state, who were generally Tories, were defeated by the patriots, who immediately organized so powerful a resistance that Clinton did not attempt even to land. Reënforced a little later by a British fleet of ten ships under Sir Peter Parker, he advanced upon Charleston in South Carolina. Vigorous preparations for resistance had already been made, under the direction of General Lee. General William Moultrie[75] constructed a low fort in Charleston Harbor, chiefly of palmetto logs and sand, which proved an effectual barrier to the British advance. The shots from the fleet sank into the spongy logs without doing much damage, while the shots from the fort were so effective as to disable nine of the ten ships (June 28). The gallantry of this defense has caused the fort ever since to be known as Fort Moultrie, although events of the War between the States have caused the neighboring Fort Sumter to become more famous. Clinton’s land force being held back for lack of suitable boats, the expedition proved a complete failure, and the British with their disabled ships returned to the North.
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
Richard Henry Lee.
163. Growing Spirit of Independence.—Of much greater importance than the events in the field were the events in Congress. At the beginning of the contest public opinion in America very generally attributed the course of Great Britain to bad leaders in Parliament rather than to the king. At first there was a strong feeling of loyalty and even affection toward George III., which would have made it easy for him to heal all differences. One effort after another had been made to induce the king to consider the petitions and remonstrances sent him, but these efforts had all failed. Even as late as the beginning of the war there was very little general thought of independence. But at the end of May, soon after the news of the first conflict at Lexington and Concord reached North Carolina, the people of Mecklenburg County assembled and passed a series of resolutions, declaring that as the mother country had pronounced the Americans rebels, the colonists were absolved from all further allegiance. This declaration seems to have attracted very little attention at the time; but as events progressed, public opinion drifted so rapidly in this direction, that early in the summer of 1776 the leading minds came one after another to the conclusion that independence was inevitable. Final action was not the result of any sudden impulse, but of most careful consideration.
Thomas Jefferson.
House in which Jefferson wrote the
Declaration of Independence, corner of
Market and Seventh Streets, Philadelphia.
164. Signing of the Declaration.—After much private discussion had revealed the opinions of the members of Congress, Richard Henry Lee,[76] on the 7th of June, offered a resolution that “these united colonies are and ought to be independent states, and they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown.” The resolution was vigorously opposed by Dickinson of Pennsylvania and Livingston of New York, partly on the ground that a sufficient time had not yet elapsed for an answer from the king, and partly because the individual colonies had not yet authorized such action. But the colonies did not long hesitate. Most of them had already erected independent governments of their own. As early as July, 1775, Massachusetts had formed a government in which the king’s authority was practically set aside, and James Bowdoin was made chief executive officer and John Adams chief justice. Before July, 1776, all the other provinces, with the exception of New York, had taken similar measures, and more than two-thirds of them had voted for independence and had instructed their delegates to vote for Lee’s resolution. This resolution was accordingly adopted by Congress on the 2d of July. A committee, with Thomas Jefferson[77] as chairman, had been appointed in June to draw up a formal declaration in case independence should be agreed upon. Jefferson, then only thirty-three years of age, wrote the paper which, after slight modifications by Franklin and Adams, was adopted as the Declaration of Independence, on the 4th of July, 1776. This immortal document was thus put forth as an expression of the deliberate and firm conviction of the American people that the priceless treasure of human liberty could be preserved in no other manner. As the members one after another, with a solemn sense of the danger of this momentous act, signed the memorable document, Franklin[78] threw a gleam of sunshine upon the occasion by remarking that they must now all hang together, or they would hang separately.
Old Statehouse in Philadelphia, now
known as Independence Hall.
165. Purport and Effect of the Declaration.—The Declaration of Independence was aimed directly at the Crown. It charged the king with “repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States.” This general indictment was sustained, with some exaggerations but with essential truthfulness, by no less than eighteen accusations, or separate counts, aimed at the king, and the king alone. So far as the purpose of the colonies was defined by the Declaration, it was not a contest against the parliamentary government of Great Britain, but a contest against those unconstitutional usurpations of the Crown to which the colonies would not submit. From this point of view many modern criticisms of the document are seen to be hypercritical. However much the signers may have exaggerated specific charges, they did not exaggerate the general danger to be apprehended from the king’s self-willed conduct.
Benjamin Franklin.
Portion of the Declaration of Independence.
THE WAR IN NEW JERSEY.
166. Washington’s First Campaign in New Jersey.—After the fall of Fort Washington and the withdrawal from Fort Lee, Washington planned to concentrate the main portion of his army in New Jersey, to prevent the enemy from advancing upon Philadelphia. In crossing to New Jersey he had left General Charles Lee, with seven thousand men, at Northcastle on the east side of the Hudson. Washington now directed General Heath to fortify the Highlands about Peekskill and West Point in the strongest manner possible, and ordered General Lee to join the main army in New Jersey.
167. Disobedience and Capture of Lee.—For reasons which were long unexplained, Lee disobeyed the order of Washington, and chose to remain where he was. Repeated orders were disobeyed, but finally Lee made a show of obedience. He reached Morristown, however, with only three thousand of his seven thousand troops. Scarcely had he posted this fragment of his army on the Morristown Heights when, leaving the immediate command to Sullivan, he took quarters in a small public house some miles away. A Tory, learning of this fact, galloped eighteen miles with the news to the British, and the consequence was that Lee, in dressing gown and slippers, was taken prisoner by a troop of British dragoons. From Lee’s subsequent career (§§ 183,