The Revolution in America 1754–1788: Documents and Commentaries

629 Pages·1970·56.901 MB·English

by  J. R. Pole (eds.)

Collections of documents come in all the middle of the nineteenth century
shapes and sizes. Many attempt to or the concept of Das Volk in the
cover a very broad period; in German lands; or to a particular area
consequence they rely heavily on of experience, such as the Victorian
illustrative material which is thought underworld or Elizabethan Puritanism.
to be typical. In practice, this means
No artificial uniformity is imposed on
a patchwork of often isolated
the format of the volumes; each is
snippets, with material torn out of
shaped by the dictates of its subject.
context. Single documents or even
But there are certain basic elements
fragments of documents have to bear
common to all. The core of each book
the whole weight of a period, a
is a major collection of original
problem, a theme. Students derive
material, translated into English where
from such collections a mistaken
necessary, with editorial decisions
impression of the nature of history, of
on modernised punctuation and
the character of historical research,
spelling governed by the nature of the
and very often, a false impression of
subject. Each editor provides an
the subject of study.
introduction geared to the particular
HISTORY IN DEPTH is based on the demands of his volume; each volume
belief that historical perception ?arries a full working bibliography,
demands immediacy and depth. mterpretive notes and an index.
Working to the principle that true
breadth ~n _history can be achieved only Thi~ is a new ~pproach to the teaching
of history wh1ch has been evolved in
by exammmg a concrete problem in
response to a demand from
depth, each volume in the series is
practising teachers throughout the
devoted to either a particular event or
Commonwealth. The general editor
crisis of considerable significance,
has selected the subjects and the
such as the Peasants' Revolt of 1381
volume editors with care,so that
or the British General Strike of 1926 ·
each book stands in its own right, and
or to a trend or movement running '
has something of the qualitv of a
through a coherent period of time,
monograph. ·
such as West African Nationalism from
The Revolution in America
1754-1788
History in Depth
GENERAL EDITOR: G. A. Williams
HenryS. Wilson: Origins of West African Nationalism
R. B. Dobson: The Peasants' Revolt of 1381
]. R. Pole: The Revolution in America I754-1788
D. S. Chambers: Patrons and Artists in the Italian Renaissance
IN PREPARATION
R. Martin: The General Strike
R. C. Mettam: State and Society of Louis XIV
B. Harrison: Robert Lowery: Portraits of a Radical
Hans Koch: Das Volk
Raphael Samuel: The Victorian Underworld
H. C. Porter: Puritanism in Tudor England
Dorothy Thompson: The Early Chartists
Lionel Butler: The Fourth Crusade
W. H. Hargreaves-Mawdsley: Spain under the Bourbons J70o--1833
The Revolution
in America
1754-1788
Documents and
Comtnent aries
EDITED BY
J. R. POLE
Reader in American History and Government at the University
of Cambridge and Fellow of Churchill College
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
© Editorial matter and selection J. R. Pole 1970
First published 1970 by
MACMILLAN AND CO LTD
Little Essex Street London WC2
and also at Bombay Calcutta and Madras
Macmillan South Africa (Publishers) Pty Ltd Johannesburg
The Macmillan Company of Australia Pty Ltd Melbourne
The Macmillan Company of Canada Ltd Toronto
Gill and Macmillan Ltd Dublin
SBN (boards) 333 03488 0
(paper) 333 10283 5
ISBN 978-0-333-10283-1 ISBN 978-1-349-15378-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-15378-7
Contents
GENERAL EDITOR's PREFACE XVII
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS XX
INTRODUCTION xxi
PART r: The Problem of Continental Government
I
Towards Political Independence
r The Albany Plan of Union, July ro, 1754 5
Works of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Jared Sparks {1856) III 36
et seq.
2 Declarations of the Stamp Act Congress, October 7-24,
1765 8
Proceedings of the Congress at New York (Annapolis, 1766)
pp. 15-16 and 21-4
3 The debate on voting in the Continental Congress 14
September 5-6, 1774, Diary ofj ohn Adams, ed. L. M. Butter-
field {Cambridge, Mass., 1961) II 122-6
4 The Continental Congress: resolution on voting I 8
September 6, 1774, Journals of the Continental Congress,
1774-89, ed. W. C. Ford et al. (Washington, 1904) I 25
5 Resolutions of the Continental Congress on gnevances
against Britain 19
October 14, 1774, ibid. pp. 63-73
6 The Association 24
October 20, 1774, ibid. pp. 75-80
7 Congress recommends the Colonies to form independent
State Governments, May ro-15, 1776 29
Ibid. IV 352 and 357
8 The Declaration oflndependence 30
(i) In draft form with crossings out and amendments
{ii) Final version
CarlL. Becker, The Declaration of Independence (New York,
1922) pp. 174-93
Vl THE REVOLUTION IN AMERICA
9 The Articles of Confederation, as drafted in 1776 40
Journals of the Continental Congress, v 674-90
II
Public Finance and the Continental Congress
I Congress resolves to issue its own money
June 22, 1775 and June 23, 1775, Journals of the Continental
Congress, II 103 and 105-6 59
2 Congress provides a scale for army pay; appoints treasurers;
and requires the colonies to raise taxes on a quota based on
population, to absorb continental currency 6o
July 29, 1775, ibid. pp. 220-3
3 Congress resolves to emit $3 million in bills of credit 63
November 29, 1775, ibid. III 390
4 Congress requires each colony to fmd ways to absorb its
proportion of the bills of credit 63
December 26, 1775, ibid. pp. 457-9
5 Congress decides to raise $5 million on loan 65
October 3, 1776, ibid. v 485
6 Congress recommends the States to take steps to supply the
Army 66
October 31, 1776, ibid. VI 914-16
7 Congress attempts to maintain value of its currency against
depreciation 66
January 14, 1777, ibid. VII 35-7
8 Congress fixes rate of interest on its loans 68
February 26, 1777, ibid. p. 158
9 Congress recommends States to raise $5 million by taxes
and lays down quotas 69
November 1777, ibid. IX 955-7
10 Congress resolves on army officers' pay 71
December I, 1779, ibid. xv 1335-7
II Congress requires States to support the Army 74
December 14, 1779, ibid. pp. 1376-7
12 Loan office accounts 75
April 18, 1781, ibid. XIX 402-5
13 Congress limits emissions of paper money 78
September 3, 1779, ibid. XV IOI9
CONTENTS vli
14 Treasury disbursements and allocations to the end of 1781
in old continental currency 79
E. James Ferguson, The Power of the Purse (Chapel Hill,
1961) pp. 28-9
I 5 Depreciation of old continental currency 79
Ibid. p. 32
I6 Receipts and expenditures, November I, 1784-9 79
Ibid. pp. 236-7
I7 Congress repudiates old currency and issues new 82
March IS, I780, Journals of the Continental Congress, XVI
26I-7
I8 Expressions of anxiety about speculation and depreciation
of the currency 86
James Madison to Joseph Jones, October 24, I780, Letters
of the Continental Congress, ed. E. C. Burnett (Washington
D.C., I93I) v 427-8
James Madison to Governor Thomas Jefferson of
Virginia, May 5, I78I, ibid. (I933) VI 79-80
Virginia delegates to Governor Thomas Jefferson, May 8,
I781, ibid. p. So
Daniel Carroll to the Governor of Maryland, May 8,
I78I, ibid. p. 8I
Samuel Johnston to James Iredell, May 8, I78I, ibid.
pp. 81-2
James Lovell to Samuel Holten, May 8, I78I, ibid. p. 83
Connecticut delegates to the Governor of Connecticut,
July I2, I781, ibid. p. 142
III
Economic Proposals and Policies Affecting the
Articles of Confederation
I Plans for a continental impost 93
November 8, 1780, Journals of the Continental Congress,
XVIII 1033-5. December 18, 1780, ibid. pp. 1157-65.
February 3, I781, ibid. XIX 112-13
Vlll THE REVOLUTION IN AMERICA
2 Robert Morris as Superintendent of Finance 103
Morris to President of Congress, May 17, 1781, Revolu
tionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, ed.
F. Wharton (Washington, 1889) IV 421
Morris to Governors of the States, July 25, 1781, ibid.
pp. 601-4
Duties of the Superintendent, September 7, 1781,
Journals oft he Continental Congress, XXI 943 and October 23,
1781, ibid. p. 1070
Morris to Governors of North Carolina, South Carolina
and Georgia, December 19, 1781, Revolutionary Diplomatic
Correspondence, ed. Wharton, v 56-9
Morris to Governors of States, January 3, 1782, ibid.
pp. 84-5
Morris on public credit, August 5, 1782, Journals of the
Continental Congress, XXII 429-47
3 The political implications of Robert Morris 132
Samuel Osgood to John Adams, December 7, 1783,
Letters of the Continental Congress, ed. Burnett, VII 378-81
Samuel Osgood to John Adams, December 14, 1783, ibid.
pp. 414-16
4 Settlement of army pay: officers after discharge to be
secured to federal interest as public creditors 139
March 22, 1783, Journals of the Continental Congress, XXIV
206-10
5 Financial exigencies of Congress 143
February 13, 1786, ibid. xxx 62-8. August 16, 1786, ibid.
XXXI 521-3
6 Congress proposes amendments to the Articles of Con-
federation, August 7, 1786, ibid. XXXI 494-8 151
Towards a New Constitution
1 Resolution of the General Assembly of Virginia, January
21, 1786 159
Documents nlustrative of the Formation of the Union (Waili
ington D.C., 1927) p. 38