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1553752American History Told by Contemporaries — Volume 2Albert Bushnell Hart


​

American History told by
Contemporaries



VOLUME II

BUILDING OF THE REPUBLIC

1689–1783


EDITED BY


ALBERT BUSHNELL HART

Professor of History in Harvard University
Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society
Author of "Formation of the Union," "epoch maps,"
"practical essays," etc.


NEW YORK

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.



​

Copyright, 1896,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.

Copyright, 1924,
By ALBERT BUSHNELL HART.

All rights reserved — no part of this book may be

reproduced in any form without permission in writing
from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes
to quote brief passages in connection with a review

written for inclusion in magazine or newspaper.


Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1898.

Sixth Printing, 1950



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA



​
Contents

PART I
PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION
FOR TEACHERS, PUPILS, STUDENTS, AND LIBRARIES

CHAPTER I — THE SOURCES AND HOW TO FIND THEM		 PAGE
1. What are Sources? 1
2. Educative Value of Sources 3
3. Classification of Sources on the Colonies and the Revolution 4
4. Libraries of Sources in American History 10
5. Reprints of Collected Sources on the Colonies and the Revolution 11
6. Select Library of Sources on Colonization 14

CHAPTER II — USE OF SOURCES
7. How to find Sources on the Colonies and the Revolution 22
8. Use of Sources by Teachers 24
9. Use of Sources by Pupils 25
10. Use of Sources by Students and Investigators 27
11. Use of Sources by Readers 28
12. Use of Sources by Libraries 29
13. Caution in using Sources 30
14. Use of Secondary Works 32
15. Select List of Secondary Works on the Eighteenth Century and the Revolution 32

PART II

THE SEPARATE COLONIES

CHAPTER III — NEW ENGLAND
16. Reverend Deodat Lawson:
Salem Witches, 1692		 35
17. Clerk Ezekiel Cheever:
Witches' Testimony, 1692		 40
18. Chief Justice Samuel Sewall:
Guilt Contracted by the Witch Judges, 1697		 48 ​
19. Governor Samuel Cranston:
An Explanation by Rhode Island, 1699		 49
20. Daniel Neal:
An Historical Sketch of New England, 1720		 52
21. Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth:
The Condition of New Hampshire, 1731		 55
22. Roger Wolcott:
Affairs in Connecticut, 1740-1758		 58
23. Captain Francis Goelet:
"Boston the Metropolis of North America,"1750		 61
24. John Adams:
"Overweening Prejudice in Favor of New England," 1775		 63

CHAPTER IV — MIDDLE COLONIES
25. Gabriel Thomas:
Pennsylvania, the Poor Man's Paradise, 1698		 65
26. Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations:
Proposal to Unite the two Jerseys, 1701		 68
27. Secretary James Logan:
The Separation of Delaware, 1703		 72
28. "Richard Castelman, Gent.":
Philadelphia, "a Noble, Large, and Populous City," 1710		 74
29. John Conrad Wyser and other Palatines:
The Settlement of the Palatine Germans in New York, 1709-1720		 77
30. His Majesty's Council in New Jersey:
"Concerning the Riot & Insurrections in New Jersey," 1744-1748		 80
31. Robert Proud:
Politics in Pennsylvania, 1740-1754		 85
32. Reverend Andrew Burnaby:
"New-York City," 1760		 87

CHAPTER V — SOUTHERN COLONIES
33. Robert Beverly:
Andros's and Nicholson's Administrations, 1690-1705		 90
34. Edward Randolph:
Report of an Investigating Agent in Carolina, 1699		 94
35. Eliza Lucas:
A South Carolina Settlement, 1742		 99
36. Governor Horatio Sharpe:
Routine in Maryland, 1754		 100
37. Reverend James Maury:
The Parson's Opinion of "the Parson's Cause," 1763		 103
38. Commissioners of Maryland and Pennsylvania:
The Running of Mason and Dixon's Line, 1763-1767		 107 ​

CHAPTER VI — GEORGIA
39. General James Edward Oglethorpe:
"Designs of the Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia," 1733		 110
40. Reverend Johann Martin Bolzius:
The Coming of the Salzburg Germans, 1734		 114
41. Reverend Samuel Quincy:
A New England Man in Georgia 1735		 116
42. Freeholders and the Georgia Trustees:
The Question of Slavery in Georgia, 1738-1739		 118
43. Secretary Colonel William Stephens:
Mr. Whitefield's Orphan-House, 1740		 122
44. Edmund Burke:
Need of Relieving Georgia, 1749		 124

PART III

COLONIAL GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER VII — PRINCIPLES OF ENGLISH CONTROL

45. Parliament of England:
Extracts from a Navigation Act, 1696		 127
46. King William Third:
Creation of the Board of Trade, 1696		 129
47. John Wise:
Englishmen Hate an Arbitrary Power, 1710		 131
48. "Agent Jeremiah Dummer":
Defence of the New-England Charters, 1721		 133
49. Governor Sir William Keith:
A Short Discourse on the Present State of the Colonies, 1728		 138
50. Doctor William Douglass:
Various Kinds of Colonial Government, 1747		 141
51. Monsieur Charles de Secondat de Montesquieu:
A French Publicist's View of the British Constitution, 1748		 144
52. Edmund Burke:
"The Law in all our Provinces," 1757 		149
53. Late Governor Thomas Pownall:
The Effect of Royal Instructions, 1764		 150

CHAPTER VIII — THE COLONIAL GOVERNOR
54. Governor William Cosby:
A Governor's Plea for Patronage, 1732		 153
55. Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations:
The Commission and Instructions of a Governor, 1738		 154 ​
56. Secretary George Clarke, Jr.:
One Thousand Pounds for a Governorship, 1740		 161
57. Governor George Clinton:
A Governor's Perquisites, 1743-1746		 162
58. Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations:
Recommendation for the Removal of a Governor, 1762		 165
59. Late Governor Thomas Pownall:
The Governor of Dispute over Salaries 1764		 166
60. Secretary the Earl of Dartmouth:
A Reprimand to a Colonial Governor, 1772		 169

CHAPTER IX — COLONIAL ASSEMBLIES
61. Charles Pettit:
A Colonial Election, 1764		 171
62. General Assembly of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations:
Proceedings of a Colonial Legislature, 1723		 173
63. Governor Gabriel Johnston:
The Dissolution of an Assembly, 1737		 174
64. Secretary Charles Read:
Minutes of a Colonial Council, 1752		 175
65. Governor Lewis Morris:
A Determined Veto Message, 1742		 179
66. Late Governor Thomas Pownall:
How to Avoid a Governor's Veto, 1764		 182
67. Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations:
Disallowance of a Colonial Bill, 1770		 183
68. Agent Benjamin Franklin:
Disputes over the Agency, 1771 		184

CHAPTER X — COLONIAL COURTS
69. "A Swiss Gentleman":
How Juries were Summoned, 1710 		188
70. Lieutenant-Governor Robert Dinwiddie:
Charge to a Grand Jury, 1753		 189
71. Clerk of the Court of Perquimans:
Records of a Precinct Court, 1694		 191
72. John Peter Zenger:
A Prosecution for Criticising Government, 1734		 192
73. Edward Southwell:
An Appeal Case in the Privy Council, 1728		 200
74. Late Governor Thomas Pownall:
Defects of Colonial Judicature, 1764		 202 ​

CHAPTER XI — COLONIAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT
75. Clerk Ephraim Herman:
The Business of a County Court, 1681		 205
76. Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen, and Common Council of Albany:
Records of a City Government, 1700		 208
77. Vestry of St. Paul's Parish, Chowan Precinct:
Records of a Vestry Meeting, 1702		 212
78. Clerk Captain Richard Waterman:
Proceedings of a Town-Meeting, 1721		 214
79. John Adams:
The Dignity of a Selectman, 1763-1766 		220


PART IV

COLONIAL LIFE

CHAPTER XII — THE LIFE OF THE PEOPLE
80. Madam Sarah Kemble Knight:
A Lady's Travel in New England, 1704		 224
81. Benjamin Franklin
"A Man Diligent in his Calling,"		 229
82. Colonel William Byrd:
Society in Virginia, 1732		 235
83. Eliza Lucas:
A Modern Woman, 1741-1742		 238
84. Captain Francis Goelet:
Roisterers in Boston, 1750		 240

CHAPTER XIII — COMMERCE AND CURRENCY
85. Governor the Earl of Bellomont:
Official Protection of Pirates, 1698		 244
86. Anonymous:
A Plea for Protective Duties, 1704		 247
87. Collector Archibald Kennedy:
A Case of Smuggling, 1739		 249
88. Governor William Burnet:
A Defence of Paper Money, 1724		 251
89. Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations:
Paper Money Forbidden, 1740		 254 ​

CHAPTER XIV — INTELLECTUAL LIFE
90. Reverend President Thomas Clap:
"The History of Yale-College," 1698-1717		 255
91. Reverend Mather Byles:
"A poetical Lamentation, occasioned by the Death of His late Majesty' King George the First," 1727		 258
92. Reverend Cotton Mather:
"Some Account of the Earthquake that shook New-England," 1727		 261
93. Reverend Doctor Increase Mather:
A Protest against a Wicked Newspaper, 1722		 262
94. Benjamin Franklin:
The People's Favorite Literature, 1744		 263
95. Nathaniel Ames:
A Skit on College Examinations, 1784		 266
96. Francis Hopkinson:
A Skit on College Examinations, 1784		 272

CHAPTER XV — RELIGIOUS LIFE
97. Lewis Morris:
"The State of Religion in the Jerseys," 1700		 276
98. Thomas Story:
A Quaker's Arguments with Orthodox Ministers, 1704		 279
99. Reverend John Wesley:
An Evangelist in Georgia, 1736-1737		 283
100. Governor Jonathan Belcher:
A Good Man's Letter, 1752		 287
101. Archbishop Thomas Secker:
A Plan for American Bishops, 1758		 289

CHAPTER XVI — SLAVERY AND SERVITUDE
102. Monthly Meeting of the Germantown Quakers:
The First Vote against Slavery, 1688		 291
103. "Hon'ble Judge Sewall in New England":
The Selling of Joseph, 1700		 293
104. Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations:
A Slave Act Disallowed, 1709		 297
105. Owners and Masters:
All Sorts of Runaways, 1741-1750		 298
106. John Woolman:
Exercise of a Quaker Abolitionist's Mind, 1757		 302
107. William Eddis:
The Wretchedness of White Servants, 1770 		308
108. George Washington:
"Desire of Importing Palatines," 1774		 310 ​


PART V

INTERCOLONIAL, 1689-1764


CHAPTER XVII — THE FRENCH COLONIES
109. Bénard de la Harpe:
Foundation of Louisiana, 1700-1703		 312
110. Lieutenant-Governor Alexander Spotswood:
Danger from the French Mississippi Settlements, 1718		 316
111. Surveyor-General Cadwallader Colden:
The French and the Fur Trade, 1724		 320
112. Professor Peter Kalm:
The Government of Canada, 1749		 324

CHAPTER XVIII — THE INDIANS
113. James Adair:
The Life of an Indian Trader, 1735-1775		 327
114. Professor Peter Kalm:
Small Pox and Brandy among the Indians, 1749		 330
115. Sir William Johnson:
A Flowery Speech to the Six Nations, 1753		 331
116. Captain Jonathan Carver:
"A Concise Character of the Indians," 1767		 334

CHAPTER XIX — INTERCOLONIAL WARS
117. Comptroller-General de Monseignat:
The Taking of Schenectady, 1690		 337
118. Colonel Miles Brewton and others:
The Evil Deeds of the Spaniards, 1702-1740		 340
119. Anonymous:
A Ballad of Pigwacket		 344
120. Captain Samuel Curwen:
The Louisburg Expedition, 1745		 346
121. Newspaper:
A Spanish Privateer in the Delaware, 1748		 349

CHAPTER XX — THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
122. Professor Peter Kalm:
The Question of Colonial Independence, 1748		 352
123. Royal Ministerial Minutes:
The French Title to the Beautiful River, 1752		 354 ​
124. Secretary the Earl of Holdernesse:
Royal Orders to Resist the French, 1753		 356
125. Chief Justice Stephen Hopkins:
The Albany Plan of Union, 1754		 357
126. Colonel John Winslow:
Deportation of the Acadians, 1755		 360
127. Anonymous:
A French Account of Braddock's Defeat, 1755		 365
128. Secretary William Pitt:
"The Empire is no more," 1757		 367
129. Captain John Knox:
The Fall of Quebec, 1759		 369


PART VI

CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION


CHAPTER XXI — NEW CONDITIONS OF ENGLISH CONTROL
130. James Earl of Waldegrave:
The Character of George Third, 1758		 373
131. James Otis:
Arguments on Writs of Assistance, 1761		 374
132. John Wilkes:
Opposition to Arbitrary Power, 1763		 378
133. Commissioner Benjamin Franklin:
Grenville's Scheme of Taxation, 1763-1764		 381

CHAPTER XXII — THE WEST
134. John Filson:
"The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon," 1769-1775		 383
135. Governor the Earl of Dunmore:
Cold Water on an Ohio Colony, 1770		 386
136. Reverend Joseph Doddridge:
The Settlement of the Western Country, 1772-1774		 387
137. François Jean, Marquis de Chastellux:
How the Frontiers were Settled, 1780		 392

CHAPTER XXIII — THE STAMP ACT CONTROVERSY
138. Martin Howard:
A Colonist's Defence of Taxation, 1765		 394 ​
139. Josiah Quincy, Jr. :
The Hutchinson Riot, 1765		 397
140. Town-Meeting of Cambridge:
A Spirited Remonstrance, 1765		 401
141. Stamp Act Congress:
"Declarations of the Rights and Grievances of the Colonists," 1765		 402
142. William Pitt, Later Earl of Chatham:
An Englishman's Protest against Taxation, 1766		 404
143. Benjamin Franklin and a Committee of the House of Commons:
The State of the Colonies, 1766 		407
144. Secretary Henry Seymour Conway:
The Repeal of the Stamp Act, 1766		 411

CHAPTER XXIV — THE REVENUE CONTROVERSY
145. Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford:
Townshend's Revenue Scheme, 1767		 413
146. Agent Dennis de Berdt:
Complaint against the Acts of Trade, 1767		 415
147. Reverend Charles Chauncy:
Fears of Episcopacy, 1767		 418
148. Chief Justice Thomas Hutchinson:
Troops and Sons of Liberty in Boston, 1768		 420
149. John Dickson:
The Pennsylvania Farmer's Remedy, 1768		 423
150. Judge Richard Henderson:
Riot of the North Carolina Regulators, 1770		 426
151. John Tudor:
An Eye-Witness of the Boston Massacre, 1770		 429
152. John Andrews:
The Boston Tea-Party, 1773		 431

CHAPTER XXV — THE ISSUES OF COERCION
153. Delegate John Adams:
The First Continental Congress, 1774		 434
154. Governor the Earl of Dunmore:
Enforcement of the Association, 1774		 439
155. Second Continental Congress:
The Necessity of Self-Defence, 1775		 442
156. Doctor Samuel Johnson:
A Diatribe on the American Arguments, 1775		 445
157. Chief Justice William Henry Drayton:
The Tyranny of King George Third, 1776		 449
158. King George Third:
An Obstinate Guelph, 1777-1778		 451 ​


PART VII

CONDITIONS OF THE REVOLUTION


CHAPTER XXVI — THE PATRIOTS
159. Thomas Paine:
"Liberty Tree," 1775		 454
160. Reverend Stephen Williams:
A Troublous Year in a Country Village, 1776		 455
161. "Plain English":
Reign of King Mob, 1775		 458
162. Colonel Alexander Scammell:
A Soldier's Love-Letter, 1777		 461
163. Benjamin Huntington:
Regulation of Prices, 1777		 463
164. Reverend Timothy Dwight:
"Columbia, Columbia to Glory Arise," 1777		 465
165. Mrs. Esther Reed and General George Washington:
Woman's Work for the Soldiers, 1780		 467

CHAPTER XXVII — THE LOYALISTS
166. R.H. and a Committee of Correspondence:
A Tory's Recantation, 1775		 470
167. Reverend Jonathan Odell:
The Arrest of a Loyalist Parson, 1776		 472
168. "A Whig":
Vengeance on the Tories! 1779		 474
169. Judge Samuel Curwen:
The Lot of the Refugee, 1775-1779		 477

CHAPTER XXVIII — THE AMERICAN FORCES
170. Captain Alexander Graydon:
The Recruiting Service, 1776		 481
171. Anonymous:
A Brave Man's Death, 1776		 484
172. General Marie Paul Joseph, Marquis de Lafayette:
Arrival of a French Volunteer, 1777		 485
173. Colonel Alexander Hamilton:
"Battalions of Negroes," 1779		 488
174. General George Washington:
The Inconveniences of Militia, 1780		 490 ​
175. Surgeon James Thacher:
Military Punishments, 1780		 493
176. François Jean, Marquis de Chastellux:
At Washington's Headquarters, 1780		 495
177. Doctor Solomon Drowne:
Life on a Privateer, 1780		 497

CHAPTER XXIX — THE BRITISH FORCES
178. Honoré Gabriel Riquetti, Count de Mirabeau:
"Appeal to the Hessians sold by their Princes," 1776		 500
179. Captain Georg Pausch:
Army Life, 1776-1777		 504
180. Commissary-General Elias Boudinot:
An Investigation of British Military Prisons, 1778		 508
181. Lieutenant-Colonel John Graves Simcoe:
A Loyalist Corps, 1777		 511
182. Joseph Stansbury:
"The Lords of Main," 1780		 514
183. Major John André:
The Experiences of a British Spy, 1780		 515


PART VIII

PROGRESS OF THE REVOLUTION


CHAPTER XXX — UNION AND INDEPENDENCE
184. Clerk Gabriel Du Vall:
Proceedings of a Revolutionary Convention, 1775		 519
185. Delegate Richard Smith:
The Activities of the Continental Congress, 1775		 525
186. Thomas Paine:
A Call for Independence, 1776		 530
187. Chairman Meshech Weare, Secretary E. Thompson, and others:
Difficulties in Framing a State Constitution, 1776		 534
188. Delegate Thomas Paine:
Drafting of the Declaration of Independence, 1776		 537
189. Delegate John Adams:
Difficulties in Framing Articles of Confederation, 1776		 539
190. Colonel Alexander Hamilton:
Falling-off of the Character of Congress, 1778		 543 ​

CHAPTER XXXI — FIRST STAGE OF THE WAR, 1775-1778
191. Salem Gazette and London Gazette:
Conflicting Accounts of Lexington and Concord, 1775		 546
192. Mrs. Abigail Adams:
A Woman at the Front, 1175-1776		 550
193. General George Clinton:
Abandonment of New York, 1776		 554
194. Robert Morris:
The Foundation of the Navy, 1776		 556
195. General George Washington:
"The Game is pretty near up," 1776		 559
196. Francis Hopkinson:
"The Battle of the Kegs," 1777		 562
197. Frederika Charlotte Louise, Baroness von Riedesel:
The Surrender of Burgoyne, 1777		 565
198. Doctor Albigence Waldo:
Life at Valley Forge, 1777-1778		 568

CHAPTER XXXII — FRENCH ALLIANCE, 1778-1779
199. Commissioner Benjamin Franklin:
A Treaty with France, 1778		 574
200. Colonel John Trumbull:
A Dashing Young Officer in the Field, 1778		 575
201. Colonel George Rogers Clark:
The Conquest of the Illinois Country, 1779		 579
202. General Frederick Williams, Baron von Steuben:
A Foreign Officer well Received, 1778-1779		 582
203. Governor Patrick Henry :
A Warning against Conciliation, 1778		 586
204. Captain John Paul Jones:
A Desperate Sea-Flight, 1779		 587

CHAPTER XXXIII — CRISIS IN DOMESTIC AFFAIRS, 1779-1782
205. Assembly of Maryland:
The Confederation Incomplete, 1779		 591
206. General George Washington:
Revolutionary Finance, 1781		 594
207. Duane, Sharpe, and Wolcott:
The State of the National Debt, 1781		 598
208. William Pynchon:
Not worth a Continental, 1781		 601 ​
209. Pennsylvania Packet:
The Federal Arch Completed, 1781		 604
210. Superintendent Robert Morris:
The Bank of North America, 1782		 605

CHAPTER XXXIV — THE END OF THE WAR, 1780-1781
211. James Madison:
A Review of the War, 1780-1781		 606
212. General Nathanael Greene:
Affairs in the South, 1780-1781		 609
213. Anonymous:
Exploits of De Grasse in the West Indies, 1781		 612
214. Lieutenant-General Charles, Marquis Cornwallis:
The Capitulation of Yorktown, 1781		 615

CHAPTER XXXV — PEACE
215. King George Third:
"The Sudden Change of Sentiments," 1781-1782		 619
216. Charles Gravier, Count de Vergennes:
A Protest against the Breach of the Instructions of Congress, 1782		 621
217. Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Laurens:
Explanation of the Peace of 1782, 1782		 623
218. General William Heath:
Foundation of the Society of the Cincinnati, 1783		 626
219. Doctor William Gordon:
The Closing Scene, 1783		 627
220. Doctor David Ramsay:
"The Advantage and Disadvantage of the Revolution," 1783		 629
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