History of the state of rhode island

2010·33.7 MB·English

by  Arnold, Samuel Greene

APPI.KWOOD'S
HISTORIOGRAPHY
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History of the State
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of Rhode Island
AndProvidencePlantations
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Samuel Greene Arnold
APPLEWOOD'S
HISTORIOGRAPHY
>r»~sSERIES
History of the State of
Rhode Island
And
Providence Plantations
Samuel GreeneArnold
APPLEWOOD BOOKS
Carlisle, Massachusetts
HistoryoftheStateofRhodeIsland
was originallypublished in
1859
ISBN:978-1-4290-2276-7
APPLEWOOD'SHISTORIOGRAPHYSERIES
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:
HISTORY
OF THE
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
AND
PKOVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
FROM THE SETTLTEHMEENFTEDOEFRATLHECOSNTSATTIET,UT16I3O6,N,TO179T0.HE ADOPTION OF
BY
SAMUEL GREENE AENOLD.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
1701—1 790.
FOURTH EDITION,
PROVIDENCE, R.I.
PRESTON & ROUNDS.
1894.
Entered,accordingtoActofCongress,intheyear1860,
BySAMUELGREENEARNOLD,
IntheClerk'sOfficeoftheDistrictCourtoftheUnitedStatesforRhodeIsland.
,
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XTTT. 1701—1713.
Page
FromthedeathofLordBelleinont,March,1701,tothecloseofQueen
Anne'sw—ar,April,1713, . . . . 1
AppendixH. AdmiraltyActofRhodeIslandpassedJanuary1694-5, 48
CHAPTER XIV. 1713—1727.
FromthePeaceofUtrecht,April,1713,totheDeathofGovernorSam-
uelCran—ston,April,1727, . . . . 50
AppendixI. ThePalatineLight, . . a_ 88
CHAPTER XV. 1727—1739.
Fromthe Accession ofGeorgeII.,1727,to the close ofthepeaceful
periodin1739, . . . . . . 92
CHAPTER XVI. 1739—1746.
FromthecommencementofthesecondSpanish"War,October,1739,to
thefinaladjustmentoftheEasternBoundary,February01747 122
CHAPTER XVII. 1747—1762.
FromtheannexationoftheEasternTowns,February,1747,totheclose
ofthe"oldFrench,"orFourthIntercolonialwar,February,1763, 168
CHAPTER XVTTT. 1763—1768.
FromthePeace ofParis,February10,1763,to the close oftheWard
and HopkinsControversy,April,1768, . • . 243
IV CONTENTS.
— Page
AppendixJ. InstructionstotheCommissionersofKhodeIslandinthe
Congress—of1765,heldatNewYork, . . . .284
AppendixK. ResolutionsofRightsandPrivileges,September,1765, 286
CHAPTER XIX. 17R8-1772.
Fromthe Union ofParties for Resistance to England,April,1768,to
AppetnhdeixDeLs.t—rucCotli.onBoowfeHni'ssMAacjcesotuyn'tsoSfchtohoenGearsGpaesepeafef,airJ,une10,1772,. 231887
CHAPTER XX. 1772—1776
.
FromtheCaptureoftheGaspee,June,1772,totheClose oftheColo-
nialPeriod,May4,1776, . . . . . .321
CHAPTER XXT. 1776—1778.
FromtheActofIndependence,May4,1776,to the Battle on Rhode-
island,August29,1778, . . . . . .377
CHAPTER XXII. 1778—1781.
From the Retreat from Rhode-islandbyGeneralSullivan,August30,
1778,to the Surrender ofLordCornwallis atYorktown,October
19,1781, 430
CHAPTER XXTTT. 1781—1786.
FromtheSurrenderofCornwallis,October19,1781,totheRiseofthe
PaperMoneyPartyinRhodeIsland,May,1786, . . 478
CHAPTER XXTV. 1786—1790.
From the Accession ofthe Paper Money Party, May 3,1786,to the
AdoptionoftheConstitution ofthe United States,May29,1790, 520
AppendixM--AListoftheChiefMagistratesofRhodeIsland, 564
AppendixIT.--AListof theDeputy-GovernorsofRhodeIsland, . 566
Appendix0.--WilliamBlackstone, . 568
AppendixP.—-Battleof RhodeIsland, • • c • 571
THE
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAPTER
XIII.
1Y01—1713.
FROM THiiJ DEATH OF LORD BELLEMONT, MARCH 1701, TOTHE
CLOSE OF QUEENANNE'SWAR, APRIL 1713.
AlthoughthedeathoftheEarlofBellemontoccurred CxHAmP,
atafortunate-momentforRhodeIsland,weshallsoonsee -
thatitdidnotrestorepeacetothecolony. Hissuccessor 1701.
pursuedthesamelineofpolicywithevengreaterpertina- Marcl1
citybutwithlessability,andmetwithadefeat themore
humiliating as his measures were more personal and
direct. A special session of the GeneralAssemblywas 2g
heldshortlyafterthisevent, to layataxoffourhundred
poundsforthe public service. The apportionment indi-
catesthatProvidencehadrecovereditsrelativeprosperity,
lost during Philip's war. The dutieswhich inourday
areperformedbytheStateAuditor,wereformerlyassign-
edtocommittees,the membersof which wereusuallyse-
lected, one from each town, by the Assembly. This
"generalaudit,—"asitwastermed, wasappointedasoften
vol. 11. 37.
2 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, astheaccountsof the colonyrequired examination,or a
XIIL newtaxwastobelaid.
170i The rightof the Assemblytoexpel anyofits mem-
bers,was never exercised except in extreme cases. At
thissession,anassistantwhohadillegallyunitedacouple
inmarriage,throughmisapprehensionofhispowertoper-
formthat ceremony,refusingtoadmit hiserror,.wassus-
pendedfromofficeuntilthenextelection.
April Soon after the Assembly rose, Gov. Cranstonwrote
18- t) the Board of Trade, and, bytheir order,sent a full
statement of the modes of proceeding in the various
CourtsofRhodeIsland. This paper gives a clearview
ofthestructureof the Courts, andof the legal forms in
useatthatdayinthecolony.1
Anactwhichwouldhaveprovedfatal totheliberties
ofRhodeIslandandConnecticut,had itpassed,wasnow
preparedin parliament bythe enemies of these charter
Governments, chief of whom was Col. Joseph Dudley,
GovernorofMassachusetts. Thisman hadbeenGovern-
orofMassachusetts priortotheaccessionof SirEdmund
Andros, by whom he was made Chief Justice of New
England. After the fall of Andros,heattempted tore-
gain his former positionwith the intentionofincluding
allNewEngland,butwasforestalledbyBellemont. Hie
newactproposedadirectreuniontothecrownof all the
American Governments, whether chartered,proprietary,
orprovincial,includingthe BahamaIslands. Itsintend-
ed effectwas to erect a great vice-royalty in America,
morecomprehensivethan thegovernmentofAndroshad
been,whilethelocalaffairsof each Governmentwere to
be administered by its own Colonial Assembly. Hie
irregularitiesinrespecttotradeandpiracy,withthecon-
sequentinjuryto the revenue ofthe kingdom,were the
reasonsassignedforthemovement. Thebillwasprepar-
ed near the close of the reign of"WilliamIII. Itwas
1 OriginalinBr.S.P.0.Proprieties,vol.6.
MARRIAGE AND NAVIGATION LAWS. 3
stoutlyopposed by"Sir HenryAshurst, agentof Connec- chap.
ticut,whoobtainedahearingatthe barofthe Houseof XIIL
Commonsagainstit. So cogentwere the arguments of 1701.
itsopponents, and so successful theeffortsof thefriends Ma^
ofthecolonists, thatwhenthebillwasafterwardbrought
upearlyinthereignofQueenAnne,itwasdefeated, and
thisscheme,begottenbytheabilityofBellemontandthe
ambitionofDudley,felltotheground.1
At the general election, Governor Cranston, and 7.
Deputy-Governor Clarke,were re-elected. Thirteen jus-
ticesofthepeacewerechosen. Thisisthefirsttimethat
thenamesoftheseofficersarereportedinconnectionwith
theothergeneralofficersofthecolony. Thesalaryofthe
Governor was raised to forty pounds a year, besides
which, almosteveryyear considerable additional gratui-
tieswerevotedfor his benefit. Measuresweretakenfor
a thorough reorganization of the militia. The law of
marriagewasrevised. Noticeof theintentionwasto be
setupinsomepublic placeforfourteendays,byconsent
ofamagistrate. Personscomingfromothercolonieswere
requiredtoproduceacertificatethat theyhad therecon-
formedtothepublicationlaws. Fineandsuspensionfrom
officewere the penaltiesfor anyviolationofthis lawby
a magistrate, and fine,imprisonment, or whipping were
thepunishmentsfor the principalswhoshould disregard
it. Abilltosustainthegovernor in enforcingthe navi-
gation act was passed. It required all ship-masters to
enteratthecollector'sofficebefore breakingbulk; tore-
porttheirpassengers, andto obtain permitsforshipping
seamenbelongingtothecolony that nonebuttheregu-
;
larboardingofficers should approach anyvessel off the
portwithoutleavefrom the governor, or two assistants
;
thatthegovernorshould establishanaval office,thefees
ofwhichwere tobe stated bythe general council; that
—
1TheactisfoundinAntiquities ofConnt., pp.299 304; see Trum-
bull'sHist.ch.xvii.