REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA 1750-1815 Sources and Interpretation Cynthia A. Kierner University of North Carolina at Charlotte SUB GSttingen 7 215 861 40X 2003 A 5207 Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
CONTENTS PREFACE xi Chapter 1 The Bonds of Empire 1. 6. 7. "The Revolution Ode" (1760) Montesquieu, "Of the Constitution of England" (1748) Britain's Commercial Interest Explained and Improved (1757) Letter to the People of Pennsylvania (1760) Jonathan Mayhew, Observations on the Charter and Conduct of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (1763) John Adams on the British Constitution (1766) The Supremacy of Parliament (1766) 10 11 14 16 19 24 26 27 28
iv Contents Chapter 2 Languages of Liberty 29 1. Gilbert Tennent, The Dangers of an Unconverted Ministry (1740) 37 Elisha Williams, The Essential Rights and Liberties of Protestants (1744) 38 John Woolman, Some Considerations on Keeping Negroes (1762) 40 The Paxton Boys' Remonstrance (1764) 45 Richard Bland, The Colonel Dismounted... Containing A Dissertation upon the Constitution of the Colony (1764) 47 6. Stephen Hopkins, The Rights of the Colonies Examined (1765) 49 7. James Otis, A Vindication of the British Colonies (1765) 51 53 53 Chapter 3 Reform and Resistance 54 1. 6. 7. A French Traveler Visits Virginia s House of Burgesses (1765) Daniel Dulany, Considerations on the Propriety of Imposing Taxes in4he British Colonies (1765) Destruction of the Home of Thomas Hutchinson (1765) Proceedings of the Stamp Act Congress (1765) The New York Stamp Act Riot (1765) John Dickinson, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1767-68) "Address to the Ladies" (1767) 64 66 69 71 74 75 80
Contents v 8. The "Liberty Song" and the Parody (1768) 81 9. An Exemplary Funeral (1769) 83 84 84 Chapter 4 The Road to Rebellion 85 1. The Soldiers and the "Mob" (1770) 94 The Boston Massacre (1770) 96 Bostonians Oppose the Tea Act (1773) 100 A Gentleman Fears the Power of the People (1774) 101 The Continental Association (1774) 103 6. A Virginia County Committee Punishes an "Enemy to America" (1775) 106 7. "The Testimony of the People Called Quakers" (1775) 109 8. Janet Schaw on the Mistreatment of North Carolina Loyalists (1775) 110 223 123 Chapter 5 Asserting Independence 114 1. The Mecklenburg Resolves (1775) Proclamation of George III (1775) Lord Dunmore's Appeal to the Slaves of Virginia (1775) A White Virginian's Response to Dunmore's Proclamation (1775) A Call to Revolution: Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776) 222 ' 224 226 227 128
vi Contents 6. An Appeal to Caution: James Chalmers, Plain Truth (1776) 133 7. The Declaration of Independence (1776) 136 240 240 Chapter 6 Times That Tried Men's Souls ui 1. Thomas Paine, "The Crisis #1" (1776) 149 Anne Terrel Addresses the Wives of Continental Soldiers (1776) 152 Baroness Riedesel at Saratoga (1777) 154 The Burning offairfield, Connecticut (1779) 159 A Winter Encampment (1779-80) 162 6. The Murder of Hannah Caldwell (1780) 165 7. The Sentiments of an American Woman (1780) 166 168 169 Chapter 7 A World Turned Upside Down 170 1. The British Capture Savannah (1778) 178 Eliza Wilkinson's Wartime Experience (1779) 180 Partisan War in the Carolina Backcountry (1779-81) 183 Life and Death on the British Prison Ships (1780-81) 186 A Common Soldier's Account of the, Battle ofyorktown (1781) 188 6. Petition of the Whig Women of Wilmington, North Carolina (1782) 191 7. The British Evacuate Charleston (1782) 193
Contents vii 296 196 Chapter 8 Who Should Rule at Home 197 1. "A Dialogue between Orator Puff and Peter Easy (1776) Ethan Allen, A Vindication of the... Inhabitants of Vermont (1779) Petition of the Inhabitants of the Western Country (1785) Virginia Baptists Oppose Religious Privilege (1776) Philadelphia Jews Seek Civil Rights (1784) 6. The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1786) 7. "Remember the Ladies" (1776) 8. Judith Sargent Murray, "On the Equality of the Sexes" (1790) 9. Massachusetts Antislavery Petition (1777) 10. Virginia Proslavery Petition (1785) 205 207 209 211 212 216 218 219 221 222 225 226 Chapter 9 Confederation and Constitution 227 1. Phillis [Wheatley] Peters, Liberty and Peace: A Poem (1784) Alexander Hamilton, "The Continentalist, No. VI" (1782) William Livingston, "Primitive Whig, No. 11" (1786) Shays's Rebellion (1786) 235 236 238 240
viii Contents "Our Affairs Are Drawing Rapidly to a Crisis" (1786) 242 6. The Constitution of the United States (1787) 243 254 254 Chapter 10 Federalists and Antifederalists 255 1. Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, #2 (1787) 264 James Madison, The Federalist, #10 (1787) 267 James Madison, The Federalist, #51 (1787) 272 "Brutus," #3 (1787) 275 George Mason, "Objections to the Constitution of Government Formed by the Convention" (1787) 279 6. Patrick Henry's Speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788) 281 7. A Procession in Honor of the Constitution of the United States (1788) 283 285 285 Chapter 11 The Federalist Era 286 1. Alexander Hamilton, "First Report on the Public Credit" (1790) 295 "Public Opinion" (1791) 299 "The Union: Who are Its Real Friends?" (1792) 300 Washington's Indian Policy (1791) 302 Virginians Celebrate the French Republic (1794) 303
Contents ix 6. Hugh Henry Brackenridge, "Thoughts on the Excise Law (1792) 7. "Incendiaries of Public Peace" (1794) 8. The Sedition Act (1798) 305 307 308 311 311 Chapter 12 Forging a National Culture 312 I. 6. 7. 8. Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (1782) Benjamin Rush, Plan for the Establishment of Public Schools (1786) Benjamin Rush, Thoughts upon Female Education (1787) Preface to The Columbian Magazine, or Monthly Miscellany (1787) Noah Webster, The American Spelling Book (1789) "Essay on the City of Washington" (1795) Susanna Rowson, Charlotte; A Tale of Truth (1791) Mason Locke Weems, The Life of George Washington (1809) 321 323 326 329 331 333 336 341 344 -. 344 Chapter 13 Securing the Revolution 345 1. A Federalist Views the Election of 1800 (1801) 355 Jefferson's First Inaugural Address (1801) 357
x Contents "The Greatest Cheese in America for the Greatest Man in America" (1802) 361 Peopling the West (1803) 362 David Ramsay, Oration on the Cession of Louisiana to the United States (1804) 365 6. Madison's War Message (1812) 367 7. Margaret Bayard Smith's Account of the Burning of Washington (1814) 371 8. "Our Heroes Died Not in Vain." (1815) 373 374 375 Chapter 14 Remembering the Revolution 376 1. 6. 7. 8. 9. "Adams and Jefferson Are No More" (1826) "All Men and Women Are Created Equal" (1848) The Domestication of Deborah Sampson (1848) Crispus Attucks and the Quest for African-American Citizenship (1851) "What, to the American Slave, Is Your 4 th of July?"(1852) The Age of Romantic Nationalism (c.1860) The Fourth of July: A Confederate Holiday? (1861) George Fitzhugh, "The Revolutions of 1776 and 1861 Contrasted" (1863) Abraham Lincoln Interprets the Revolution (1863) 385 387 390 393 395 397 399 400 402 404 404