tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75657676675635785302024-02-06T23:40:31.247-05:00The American RevolutionThis is a blog on all things American Revolution. I will post information on people, places, battles and skirmishes.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-76986699272053805952015-02-13T20:56:00.000-05:002015-02-13T21:10:05.055-05:00Testing the Batteries: The British Sail Up the Hudson River<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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On 12 July 1776, two British ships, the 40-gun <i>Phoenix </i>and the 20-gun <i>Rose</i>, along with the schooner <i>Tryal </i>and two tenders, took advantage of the tide and the wind and sailed up the North (or Hudson) River about three in the afternoon. Besides testing the American batteries, it appears the British also wanted to block American supplies from crossing the river and boost the morale of the loyalists in the area. The British ships sailed past Red Hook, Governor’s Island and the southern tip of Manhattan, staying closer to the Jersey shore. American batteries for three miles upriver fired upon the ships, starting at Red Hook and Governor’s Island, then Paulus Hook and the Battery at the tip of Manhattan Island, and continuing once the ships reached the batteries at Forts Washington and Lee further up the river.<a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_edn1">[i]</a><br />
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The British did not return fire until they were abreast of Paulus Hook, facing fire from the American guns there. General Washington reported to John Hancock, “a heavy and incessant Cannonade was kept up from our several Batteries” while the British “returned and continued the fire as they run by.” A report was received that the British fire was effective.“Several shot went thro’ different houses in the town; two into the house of Mr. Verdine Elsworth, at Powlis Hook.”<a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_edn2">[ii]</a> <br />
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By half past four, the British ships had passed all of the lower batteries. One hundred and ninety-six shots were fired at the ships, twenty-seven from Paulus Hook. It appears the ships suffered little damage, besides to the sails and rigging. A deserter from the <i>Rose </i>reported that his ship received six 12-pound shot, “which took off the Thigh of one Man & Leg of two others,” though he was unsure of the damage done to the <i>Phoenix</i>. Henry Knox reported to his wife that he “was so unfortunate as to lose six men by accidents, and a number wounded.” The ships received another cannonade from the Americans when they sailed past Forts Washington and Lee about 12 miles further upriver, but they again suffered little damage. The British ships anchored at Tarrytown, New York, where they stayed until the 16th before proceeding further up the Hudson to Haverstraw, near Fort Montgomery.<a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_edn3">[iii]</a> <br />
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The <i>Phoenix</i> and <i>Rose </i>remained stationed near Fort Montgomery in New York until early August. Sailing back downriver, the two ships met at least six American galleys near Tarrytown, New York, about ten miles north of the New Jersey border, just after noon on 3 August.<a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_edn4">[iv]</a> A battle lasting about two hours ensued. At just before one in the afternoon the <i>Phoenix </i>opened the engagement with a shot that was returned by the <i>Lady Washington</i>, the latter which went through the <i>Phoenix</i>. The flagship, <i>Washington</i>, which was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Tupper, and the <i>Spitfire </i>immediately came up in line within grape-shot of the British, and were subject to their broadsides as the <i>Lady Washington</i> fell slightly back. A strong tide kept the <i>Whiting</i>, <i>Shark</i>, <i>Crane</i>, and some whaleboats from joining the action for some time. Following two hours of intense firing Tupper called for the American fleet to withdraw. They retreated south about four miles to Dobbs Ferry, New York, still within sight of the two British ships. <br />
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The captains of the <i>Phoenix </i>and the <i>Rose </i>both believed they had done much damage to the American vessels, while suffering little damage themselves. Parker claimed to have received only two shots in the hull of his ship. Along with several shots in the hull of the <i>Rose</i>, Wallace stated that the starboard quarter galley was shot away and some rigging was damaged. He also listed one killed and four wounded. <br />
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One of the American sailors aboard the <i>Washington </i>later claimed the ship “had as hot a fire as perhaps ever was known for an Hour and a Half.” That ship, he wrote, “had the Ledgings of her bow Guns knocked away, which prevented our working them, and was otherways considerably damaged, being thirteen Times hulled, had three Shot in her Waist, [and had] many of her Oars carried away” before the battle was broken off. He went on to say that the <i>Lady Washington</i> alone hulled the <i>Phoenix </i>six times, while suffering the loss of her only gun, a thirty-two-pounder, which split. The <i>Shark </i>was hulled four times, and the <i>Whiting</i> and <i>Crane </i>received little damage. The hardest hit galley was the <i>Spitfire</i>. Not immediately realizing that the ship was “Shot between Wind and Water,” the Americans were late to realize how much water she was taking on, though she was able to limp to safety. All of the American vessels received damage to their sails and rigging.<a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_edn5">[v]</a> <br />
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Two weeks later, the American navy made an attempt on the British ships in the Hudson River. The <i>Phoenix </i>and <i>Rose</i>, along with their tenders, sailed downriver once again. The Americans determined to use fireships in an attempt to destroy one of both of the British warships. On the night of the 16th, the warships were anchored about four miles north of Fort Washington, south of Yonkers, New York. That night, around eleven o’clock, someone aboard the <i>Phoenix </i>discovered a vessel close to the <i>Rose</i>’s tender ship, <i>Charlotta</i>. The vessel was hailed, but no answer was given. Before anything could be done, the tender was set aflame. A second American vessel was then set alight alongside the <i>Phoenix</i>. Though confusion set in among the British sailors, someone had enough sense to fire cannons into the flaming American vessel, and the <i>Phoenix </i>left its moorings, sinking the American vessel and sailing away before irreparable damage was done.<a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_edn6">[vi]</a><a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_edn6"></a><br />
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The <i>Charlotta </i>was not as lucky; she burned to the water’s edge. General William Heath reported Lieutenant Landon of Colonel Nichols Regiment with two other men towed the ship to shore while under fire from the cannons of the British ships. Landon, it was written, missed losing his head by only a few inches. The Americans retrieved four cannon – a six-pounder, two three-pounders, and one two-pounder – ten swivel guns, a caboose, two gun barrels, two cutlasses, one crow bar, four grappling hooks, and some chains from the wreck of the tender, as reported by Heath.<a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_edn7">[vii]</a> <br />
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It appears that no one was killed in the attack, although Washington reported “One of the Captains—Thomas—it is to be feared perished in the attempt, or in making his escape by swimming, as he has not been heard of,” and Heath gave account of one man, a Sergeant Smith of Connecticut, who had been aboard the fireboat and jumped overboard to one of the waiting American ships, but “in communicating fire to one of the vessels, got considerably burnt in the face, hands, &c.” and later died of his wounds. Though the <i>Phoenix </i>was only slightly damaged and the <i>Rose </i>was unscathed, Washington believed the Americans had alarmed the British. He was correct; the British ships made plans to sail down the Hudson and past the American batteries to rejoin the fleet, rather than risk further attacks where they had been anchored.<a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_edn8">[viii]</a> <br />
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On 18 August, at five o’clock in the morning, the <i>Phoenix </i>and <i>Rose</i>, with the schooner, the <i>Tryal</i>, and a tender, the <i>Shuldham</i>, made the journey back down the Hudson River. They would have to run the gauntlet of American batteries again. At twenty past five, American fire came from the east side of the river. The British ships returned fire, and as they sailed on and made their way around obstructions that the Americans sank in the river’s channel, they received fire from both shores. Wallace of the <i>Rose </i>and Parker of the <i>Phoenix </i>reported heavy fire from the batteries on the mountain. At 6:30, the British sailed past a number of American galleys on the Jersey shore, and fired at these with little effect. Fifteen minutes later, the ships approached the batteries surrounding New York City, where they faced a constant fire from the Americans. The British stayed closer to the Jersey shore to avoid the larger guns in New York.<br />
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Philip Vickers Fithian, an American chaplain, wrote to his wife, “The morning of our Lord’s Day was introduced with a dreadful Noise!” Fithian claimed the heaviest fire was during the time the ships passed between the America’s heaviest guns – “For about four Minutes the Fire was indeed tremendous!” – and a constant barrage continued past “The lower Batteries at New-York; the Powles Hook Batteries; the Gallies which lay between New-York & the Island; & all the Cannon on Governors Island; were every one, like incessant Thundred, rattling on them!” <br />
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The British ships returned fire during this time, but little damage was done. Captain Wallace recorded two men wounded on the <i>Rose</i>, while Captain Parker recorded a longboat sunk, and with her “the Stream Cable, a Hawser Oars, &ca &ca.” General Heath wrote to Washington, “the <i>Phoenix </i>was thrice Hull’d by our Shot from Mount Washington, & one of the Tenders once—The <i>Rose </i>was Hull’d once by a Shot from Burdit Ferry—They kept their men close, otherwise some of them wou’d have been pickd down by a Party of Rifle-men who were posted on the bank—They fired Grape Shot as they passed, but did no damage save to one Tent.”<a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_edn9">[ix]</a><br />
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In less than two weeks, the British would launch an invasion of Long Island, culminating in the British capture of New York and the American retreat across New Jersey.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /> <br /><br /><a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_ednref1">[i]</a> It was also reported, in the <i>New-York Gazette</i> of 15 July, that a number of shot also went into the house of Capt. Clarke, Daniel Phoenix and Christopher Smith of Greenwich (<i>Naval Documents of the American Revolution</i> Vol. 5. ed. William James Morgan. U.S. Navy Department, Washington, DC, 1970, 1089-90). <br /><br /><a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_ednref2">[ii]</a> B<i>attles and Skirmishes of the American Revolution in New Jersey</i>, by David C. Munn. Bureau of Geology and Topography, 1976, 30 and the <i>Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser</i>, 17 July 1776, qtd. in <i>Documents Relating to the Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey</i>. Vol. I. Extracts from American Newspapers. 1776-1777. ed. William S. Stryker. The John L. Murphy Publishing Co., Trenton, NJ, 1901, 145-6. <br /><br /><a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_ednref3">[iii]</a> <i>Archibald Robertson: His Diaries and Sketches in America, 1762-1780</i>. ed. Harry Miller Lydenberg. New York Public Library, New York Times and Arno Press, NY, 1971, 89; <i>Naval Documents of the American Revolution</i> Vol. 5. ed. William James Morgan. U.S. Navy Department, Washington, DC, 1970, 1040, 1042, 1245; <i>Life and Correspondence of Henry Knox, Major-General in the American Revolutionary Army</i>. By Francis S. Drake. Cambridge, John Wilson & Son, 1873, 28-9. Solomon Nash, in his journal, reported 3 wounded. <br /><br /><a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_ednref4">[iv]</a> After sailing past the American defenses in New York City and New Jersey on 10 July, the Phoenix and Rose anchored at Tarrytown, which is located on the east side of the river at the current Tappan Zee Bridge. There they stayed until the 16th, when they sailed north near to Fort Montgomery, another 20 miles or so upriver. <br /><br /><a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_ednref5">[v]</a> The accounts of this battle come from documents printed in <i>Naval Documents of the American Revolution</i> Vol. 6. ed. Vice Admiral Edwin B. Hooper. U.S. Navy Department, Washington, DC, 1972 – “Lt. Col. Benjamin Tupper to George Washington from Dobbs’s Ferry,” 3 August 1776, 38; “Journal of H.M.S. Phoenix, Capt. Hyde Parker, Jr., Sun., Aug. 3, 1776 from Tapan-Bay,” 38; “Journal of H.M.S. Rose, Capt. James Wallace, Sun., Aug. 3, 1776 in Hudsons River, NY,” 39; and “A Letter from a Gentleman, who was in the Engagement with the Ministerial Pirates off Tarry-Town, dated Sunday Morning, Aug. 4” (published in the <i>New-York Gazette</i>, Aug. 12, 1776), 49. See also <i>Journal of Solomon Nash, A Soldier of the Revolution</i>, from the original manuscript, ed. Charles I. Bushnell, New York, 1861, 27 and <i>Philip Vickers Fithian of Greenwich, New Jersey Chaplain in the Revolution 1776 Letters to his Wife Elizabeth Beatty Fithian With a Biographical Sketch</i>., by Frank D. Andrews. Vineland, NJ: Smith Printing House, 1932, 26. <br />The Americans had two men killed, one aboard the <i>Spitfire </i>and one on the <i>Whiting</i>. Among all of the American ships engaged there were between twelve and fourteen wounded. Captain Wallace listed Thomas Mayet as a Marine killed aboard the <i>Rose </i>during the action. <br /><br /><a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_ednref6">[vi]</a> Capt. Hyde Parker, Jr. of the <i>Phoenix </i>and General William Heath recorded the attack, the reports which can be found in <i>Naval Documents of the American Revolution</i> Vol. 6. ed. Vice Admiral Edwin B. Hooper. U.S. Navy Department, Washington, DC, 1972, on pages 206 and 208. <br />The captains of the two ships – the <i>Lady Washington</i> galley and <i>Independence </i>– were Captains Fosdyke and Thomas according to American Archives Series 5, Volume 1. “Intelligence from New-York,” 19 August 1776, 983. Fosdyke attempted the attack on the <i>Phoenix </i>and Thomas was lost during the attack on the tender. Local histories claim Ephraim Anderson, an adjutant in the Second New Jersey Battalion, conceived the idea of attacking the British ships using fire ships. (<i>Old Bergen History and Reminiscences</i>. By Daniel Van Winkle. Jersey City: John W. Harrison, 1902, 98). <br /><br /><a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_ednref7">[vii]</a> Heath’s account can be found in <i>Naval Documents of the American Revolution</i> Vol. 6 on pages 208 and 242. <br /><br /><a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_ednref8">[viii]</a> “From George Washington to Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., 18 August 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-06-02-0064 [last update: 2014-12-01]). Source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 6, 13 August 1776 – 20 October 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase and Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1994, pp. 70–71; and Naval Documents of the American Revolution Vol. 6, 208. <br /><br /><a href="file:///H:/Rev/blog/Testing%20the%20Batteries.docx#_ednref9">[ix]</a> Ambrose Serle, who was aboard the Eagle during the action, wrote that during the fighting “A young Man came off from the Shore in a Canoe, and got on board the Ships[….]A Captain Hornneck, an Engineer, who came off with him, was drowned by the Canoes striking against the Rose. They tried to save the poor Gentleman, but in vain, as they could not stay for him, being in the midst of the Rebel’s Fire.” <i>Naval Documents of the American Revolution</i> Vol. 6. ed. Vice Admiral Edwin B. Hooper. U.S. Navy Department, Washington, DC, 1972, 225-6, 228; <i>Philip Vickers Fithian of Greenwich, New Jersey Chaplain in the Revolution 1776 Letters to his Wife Elizabeth Beatty Fithian With a Biographical Sketch.</i>, by Frank D. Andrews. Vineland, NJ: Smith Printing House, 1932, 28-9; and “To George Washington from Major General William Heath, 18 August 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-06-02-0060 [last update: 2014-12-01]). Source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 6, 13 August 1776 – 20 October 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase and Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1994, pp. 63–65. </span></div>
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Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-25900160732477444552013-08-15T13:31:00.000-04:002013-08-15T13:31:10.191-04:00Stephen Kemble: A Jersey Boy in the British Army<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> Stephen
Kemble, the fifth child of </span>Peter Kemble and his first wife, Gertrude Bayard, was born in <span style="line-height: 115%;">New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1740. Related to influential and politically powerful families of New York, the </span></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">Kembles </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">remained loyal to the British during the Revolutionary period. Stephen attended c</span>ollege in Philadelphia<span style="line-height: 115%;"> and accepted an ensign commission in
the British Army, joining the 44</span><sup style="line-height: 115%;">th</sup><span style="line-height: 115%;"> Regiment of Foot in 1757.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">The following year his sister,
Margaret, married a British lieutenant on the rise – Thomas Gage – who had been
recruiting for the British Army in New Jersey.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> After fighting
with William Howe at Ticonderoga during the French and Indian War, Kemble was
promoted to captain of the First Battalion of the 60</span><sup style="line-height: 115%;">th</sup><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Regiment.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">In 1759, Thomas Gage, was promoted to
general, and after the surrender of the French, Gage was named military governor
of Montreal. </span></span><span style="line-height: 18px; text-indent: 48px;">In 1761, Gage was promoted to major general, and, after the Treaty of Paris ended the war, Gage was informed he would act as commander-in-chief of the British forces in America.</span><span style="line-height: 18px; text-indent: 48px;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Kemble would profit from the rise of his brother-in-law.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; line-height: 115%;"> In 1772, Kemble was
named Deputy Adjutant General of the Forces in North America. Now a major in
the British Army, Kemble was at the side of one of the most powerful men in
North America. Kemble traveled to England the following year, meeting with King
George. In 1774, Gage was named governor of Massachusetts, arriving in Boston
in May. Relatively well-received by the
people of Boston initially, Gage’s vigorous defense and enforcement of the
series of British laws passed to punish the people of Boston and Massachusetts
quickly made him an enemy of the people.
Kemble was with Gage in Massachusetts when the opening shots of the war
were fired in April 1775. Gage
was replaced by William Howe in the fall, and Kemble was demoted, though he remained loyal, due to his close relationship with Howe and his familial connections. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kemble continued to serve under Howe, and then General Henry Clinton, in New Jersey and Philadelphia, in 1776 and 1777. In June 1778, shortly before the British Army evacuated Philadelphia, Kemble was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Battalion of the 60th Foot. He resigned his position in October 1779, however, when Clinton refused to promote him. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Kemble was not out of service for long. He soon resumed his </span>position as Lieutenant Colonel of the First Battalion of the 60<sup>th</sup> Regiment, and fought in the Caribbean and Central American against the Spanish, where, at one point, he held a temporary command of brigadier general. After an attempt in Nicaragua ended in disaster, Kemble went to England, where he was promoted to Colonel in 1782 and sent to Grenada. In 1786, after being placed under the command of an officer of inferior grade at Quebec, Kemble retired from the British Army. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: 0px;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0px;">In 1788 he returned to New Brunswick, New Jersey, for a short time, but soon returned to England.</span><span style="text-indent: 0px;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0px;">In 1805 he sold his property in England and returned to live in his old home in New Brunswick, where he remained until his death in 1822.</span><span style="text-indent: 0px;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0px;">He is buried at Christ Episcopal Churchyard in New Brunswick.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-size: xx-small;">Source: <i>The Kemble Papers</i>, vol. I, 1773-1789. Collections of the New York Historical Society, 1883.</span><div style="text-align: left;">
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Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-15520018809520649532013-01-18T22:21:00.001-05:002013-01-19T22:17:46.503-05:00Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence representing New Jersey - Part 5<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
JOHN WITHERSPOON<br />
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<a href="http://www.leftjustified.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/john-witherspoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.leftjustified.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/john-witherspoon.jpg" width="267" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
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</v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas></v:stroke></v:shapetype></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">John
Witherspoon was born on 5 February 1723 in Gifford, Scotland to a family with
traditions in the ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Witherspoon
attended the University of Edinburgh, and after graduation was licensed to
preach, in 1743.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two years later, he was
ordained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On
17 January 1746, Witherspoon was among a number of witnesses of the Battle of
Falkirk, during the Jacobite Rebellion in Scotland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following the defeat of the royal troops of
George II, Witherspoon was captured by the rebels, and imprisoned in the castle
of Doune for a short time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About two
years after his release, Witherspoon married Elizabeth Montgomery, [1] with
whom he had 10 children. [2]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In
1766, Witherspoon was invited to be the President of the College of New Jersey
(Princeton University, today).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
declined, mainly because his wife did not want to leave her homeland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, upon the urging of Richard Stockton
(soon to be a fellow signer of the Declaration), who was visiting Scotland,
Witherspoon accepted. [3]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He arrived in
New Jersey during the summer of 1768, and was inaugurated President of the
College on 17 August.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The College began
to flourish under him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Witherspoon,
already with a poor view of English rule, spoke out against the English in
speeches and sermons as unrest grew in the colonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From 1774 to 1776, he served as a
representative in the New Jersey Provincial Assembly, and he sat in local
committees of correspondence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Witherspoon was involved in the arrest and removal of Governor William
Franklin from office in early 1776.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[4]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was then appointed as a delegate to the
Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, taking his seat on 29 June 1776.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On
2 July 1776, while debating the merits of Richard Henry Lee’s proposal for a
declaration of independence, Witherspoon stood and gave a speech in favor of
its passage, and shortly thereafter, affixed his name to the document.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sat in Congress until 1782, serving on
committees of military and foreign affairs. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">He also signed the Articles of Confederation,
which served as the first
constitution of the new United States. [5]</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Following
the war, Witherspoon worked to rebuild the College of New Jersey, which had
been used as a barracks by both the British and Americans during the war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also sat in the state legislature from
1783 to 1789, and attended the New Jersey Convention which ratified the U.S.
Constitution in 1787.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Following
the death of Elizabeth, Witherspoon took a second wife in 1791.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ann Dill was 44 years his junior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With her, he had two daughters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon afterwards, Witherspoon went blind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite this handicap, he continued to serve
as President of the College of New Jersey, and as minister to his congregation,
until his death on 15 November 1794.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Witherspoon was buried in the Presidents’ Plot at Princeton Cemetery,
only yards away from a street that bears his name.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://image1.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2008/201/1156_121655814347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://image1.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2008/201/1156_121655814347.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]
Goodrich, Charles A.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Lives of the
Signers to the Declaration of Independence</i>. New York: William Reed &
Co., 1856.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[2]
Five of those children survived childhood; among them, James died at the Battle
of Germantown in Pennsylvania, on 4 October 1777; John became a physician;
David entered the practice of law; a daughter, Frances, married Dr. David
Ramsay, a Congressman who wrote one of the first major histories of the
Revolutionary War; a second daughter married Samuel Stanhope Smith, a minister
who followed Witherspoon as President of the College of New Jersey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[3]
Lossing, Benson J.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lives of the Signers
of the Declaration of Independence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New
York: Derby & Jackson, 1859.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[4]
National Park Service. “Signers of the Declaration of Independence - John
Witherspoon.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/declaration/bio54.htm">http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/declaration/bio54.htm</a>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>4 July 2004.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[5] The Articles were approved by the Congress in 1777, but not finally ratified by the states until 1781. The signatures </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">of
Witherspoon and Nathaniel Scudder, the two New Jersey representatives, are
dated 26 November 1778.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-34177015620368284352013-01-09T21:38:00.000-05:002013-01-11T21:03:36.595-05:00NJ Before the Revolution<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<em>This post in an adaptation of the rough draft of the introduction to my work on New Jersey in the Revolution.</em><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">European
exploration of New Jersey stretches back nearly five hundred years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The coast of New Jersey was surveyed in 1524
by the Italian explorer and mapmaker, Giovanni da <span style="color: black;">Verrazzano</span>,
sailing under the French flag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Eighty-five years later, Henry Hudson, exploring for the Dutch East
India Company, further investigated the coast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the years following, companies set up small trading posts in New
Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These temporary stations situated
in and around what is now New York City had their start as small Dutch trading
posts in the early part of the 1600s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Cornelius
Mey (or May), in 1623, attempted to bring settlers up the Delaware River.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mey and the settlers built Fort Nassau in
present-day Gloucester County, approximately five miles south of Camden, on a
creek which is presently called Big Timber Creek.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fort was quickly abandoned, however. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Soon
after, Swedish settlers moved into the area, establishing themselves first in
present-day Wilmington, Delaware, (1638) then branching out across the river
into New Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1643, they constructed
Fort Nya Elfsborg on the Delaware River between Salem and Alloway’s Creeks
(present-day Elsingboro Point, N.J.).<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 1655, the Dutch reclaimed control of the
area without a fight from the Swedes, who retained their autonomy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From this time until 1664 New Jersey was part
of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which included New York City, the entire
Hudson River Valley north to Albany, and large areas of land in New Jersey, as
well as the former Swedish settlements in Delaware. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This quickly changed when, on 29 August 1664,
a British fleet sailed into New York harbor and took possession of the Dutch
colony without much resistance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Following
the English triumph, the Duke of York was granted a Royal Colony, which included
part of present-day New Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
settle an unpaid debt, he gave some of his land to Sir George Carteret, who
named it New Jersey, in honor of Carteret’s defense of his homeland-isle in
1649 against the Parliamentarians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Duke of York then sold off adjoining land to Lord John Berkeley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carteret and Berkeley became the proprietors
of New Jersey. In 1665 they appointed Philip Carteret as the first governor of the
colony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He landed at a point which he
called Elizabethtown, in honor of the wife of George Carteret.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Dutch briefly regained control of New Jersey in August of 1673, but quickly
surrendered the colony back to the English the following year, signing a treaty
at Westminster, N.J. on 9 February.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Berkeley then sold his share of New Jersey (the western portion) to John
Fenwick and Edward Byllinge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Byllinge
promptly assigned </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">William
Penn, Gawen Laurie and Nicholas Lucas as trustees, and Fenwick’s small portion
was bought out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">New Jersey was formally split into
East Jersey, governed by Carteret, and West Jersey, governed by the Quakers
under Byllinge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The line separating the
two, known as the Provincial Line, ran from a point at Little Egg Harbor diagonally
northwestward, to a point south of the mouth of Dingman’s Creek on the Delaware
River, in Sussex County.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Between this
time and 1702, life in East and West Jersey remained largely uneventful, except
at the political level, where governorships and ownerships changed hands a
number of times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1702 New Jersey
became a Royal Colony under Queen Anne and was once again joined with the
colony of New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>East and West Jersey
ceased to exist as separate political locales (though the geographical monikers
were used throughout the eighteenth century).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The colony was governed by New York (though it retained its own
legislative assembly) until 1738, when Lewis Morris was named governor of New
Jersey.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.....................................</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In
1765, Parliament passed, in quick succession, the Stamp Act and the Quartering
Act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The former taxed “every skin or
piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper[…]every pack of
playing cards, and all dice[…]every paper called a <i>pamphlet</i>, and upon
every newspaper, containing public news or occurrences[…and] every <i>almanac,</i>
or calendar.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though the colonists were used to being
taxed, these new taxes were passed in order to raise money instead of regulate
colonial commerce as taxes had been used in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latter act was passed in order to provide
lodging to the 10,000 British soldiers sent to the colonies for their
protection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It called for the soldiers
to be billeted in barracks or public housing; should that be lacking, the
soldiers should be housed in private buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Furthermore, by the act, the colonies were required to pay to house and
feed the troops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New Jersey housed
soldiers in the barracks at New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, and Elizabeth Town
until 1770 when they were transferred to New York.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
combination of these two acts – the precedent of taxing to raise money and
maintaining a standing army, which was against the English Bill of Rights
(1689) – angered and troubled the American colonists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The colonists simmered with complaints until Virginia
passed Patrick Henry’s Stamp Act Resolves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These declared that according to British law only the Virginia Assembly
had the right to tax Virginians; Parliament, lacking a representative from
Virginia, did not have that right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Massachusetts Assembly also acted by sending a circular to the individual
colonial legislatures calling for a meeting to plan a united effort to resist
the new acts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The New Jersey Legislature,
at Burlington, took up this call on 20 June.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Speaker of the Assembly, Robert Ogden,<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></a>
was able to convince the New Jersey Assembly to refrain from sending
representatives at first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A short time
later, however, at the urging of Richard Stockton, Ogden was forced to call a
special meeting, to be held at Perth Amboy, to appoint delegates to the
requested meeting.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though not all of the members were present,
Ogden, Hendrick Fisher and Joseph Borden<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn5" name="_ednref5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[v]</span></span></span></span></a>
were appointed to represent New Jersey at the meeting of the colonies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Before
the meeting of colonial representatives, the people of New Jersey took some actions
of their own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In September the
distributor of stamps for New Jersey, William Coxe, resigned from his position
under pressure, including threats to body and property, from the Sons of
Liberty.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn6" name="_ednref6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vi]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lawyers from the colony met and agreed to
boycott the stamps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This, in effect,
stopped all legal action in the colony.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn7" name="_ednref7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, before the Congress began, the
graduating students at the College of New Jersey held a protest of their own
against the Stamp Act<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn8" name="_ednref8" style="mso-endnote-id: edn8;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[viii]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Stamp Act Congress, as it became known, convened in October in New York
City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thirty representatives from nine
colonies attended.<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn9" name="_ednref9" style="mso-endnote-id: edn9;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ix]</span></span></span></a></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They settled upon fourteen resolutions, which
they submitted to King George III. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
“Declaration of Rights and Grievances” was left unsigned by the speaker of the
Congress, Timothy Ruggles (of Massachusetts) and Robert Ogden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the Congress had voted to send the
resolutions directly to the king, Ruggles and Ogden believed they should first
be circulated among, and approved by, the individual colonial assemblies.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn10" name="_ednref10" style="mso-endnote-id: edn10;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[x]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For his efforts, Ogden was burned in effigy
by the people of New Jersey, and resigned his seat in the Assembly on 27
November.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn11" name="_ednref11" style="mso-endnote-id: edn11;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xi]</span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
people of New Jersey remained animated while the Stamp Act remained in
place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A report from a paper in New
York, dated 27 February 1766, read: “A large Gallows was erected in Elizabeth
Town, last Week, with a Rope ready fixed thereto, and the Inhabitants there vow
and declare that the first Person that either distributes or takes out a
Stamped Paper shall be hung thereon without Judge or Jury.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn12" name="_ednref12" style="mso-endnote-id: edn12;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
following month, King George approved Parliament’s repeal of the Stamp
Act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the Declaratory Act,
stating that the king and Parliament “had, hash, and of right ought to have,
full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and
validity to bind the colonies and people of <i>America</i>, subjects of the
crown of <i>Great Britain</i>, in all cases whatsoever,” was passed at the same
time.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn13" name="_ednref13" style="mso-endnote-id: edn13;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xiii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the following year, Parliament and the
colonies were relatively quiet.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn14" name="_ednref14" style="mso-endnote-id: edn14;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xiv]</span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.....................................</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">New
Jersey reacted to the Intolerable Acts by electing Committees of Safety and
Correspondence throughout the colony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
one of these meetings, by the freeholders and inhabitants of the Township of
Lower Freehold, it was resolved <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">that the cause in which
the inhabitants of the town of <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Boston</span>
are now suffering is the common cause of the whole Continent of <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">North America</span>; and that unless some
general spirited measures, for the public safety, be speedily entered into,
there is just reason to fear that every Province may in turn share the same
fate with them; and that, therefore, it is highly incumbent on them all to
unite in some effectual means to obtain a repeal of the <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Boston</span> Port Bill, and any other that may follow it, which shall
be deemed subversive of the rights and privileges of free-born <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Americans.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">They
decided to boycott all goods from Great Britain and the West Indies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants
of Essex County reached a similar conclusion, and called on the freeholders and
inhabitants of the other counties to come together to discuss what measures
could be taken.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A
meeting encouraging the creation of a General Congress for the colonies was
held at the courthouse in Newark on 11 June 1774.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a result of these meetings, delegates were
appointed to a convention which met in New Brunswick beginning on 21 July. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stephen Crane of Elizabethtown was chosen to
preside over the convention. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
convention, which ended on 23 July, consisted of seventy-two delegates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After declaring allegiance to King George
III, they recommended that the people of New Jersey send money to help the
citizens of Boston and also passed a resolution to boycott British goods.<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span></span></a></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The convention also chose five men as
delegates to a General Congress which would meet in Philadelphia on 5
September. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The men chosen were the
aforementioned Stephen Crane, William Livingston and John De Hart each from
Elizabethtown, and James Kinsey and Richard Smith, both from Burlington.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The First Continental Congress
debated reconciliation and independence, but by its close on 26 October, the
fifty-six delegates from twelve colonies (Georgia was not represented) settled
on boycotting British goods and establishing committees of observation and
correspondence in each colony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
determined to meet again on 10 May 1775.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the interim, colonists in New
Jersey held a tea party of their own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
early December the brig <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Greyhound</i>,
Captain J. Allen, sailed into the Cohansey River after being refused at the
port of Philadelphia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Greyhound </i>carried a shipment of
tea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tea was unloaded at Greenwich,
in secrecy, to be stored in the cellar of Dan Bowen’s house on Market
Square.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A number of the colonists in
Greenwich soon discovered the deception and a temporary committee was
established to take charge of the tea.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The committee was chosen on 22
December at Bridgeton to determine what should be done with the tea.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></a>
They could not reach a decision on how to proceed, for the reason that they had
no information on where the tea came from and to whom it belonged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They decided to meet the following morning at
ten o’clock so that information could be gathered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entire committee did not agree with the
decision, however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several committee members
and other men met at the house of Lewis and Richard Howell later that night.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn5" name="_ednref5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[v]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They dressed as Indians, broke into the
cellar where the tea was stored, removed the boxes of tea to a field, and
burned them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Reverend Philip Vickers
Fithian, who is said to have taken part in the affair, wrote in his diary the
next day: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Last night the tea was,
by a number of persons in disguise, taken out of the house and consumed with
fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Violent and different are the
words about this uncommon maneuver among the inhabitants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some rave, some curse and condemn, some try
to reason; many are glad the tea is destroyed, but almost all disapprove the
manner of the destruction.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn6" name="_ednref6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vi]</span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Despite
the attempts of remaining unidentified, lawsuits were filed against some of the
tea-burners for their actions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
defendants were either found not guilty, or the cases were dropped after New
Jersey severed ties with Britain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
tea party in Greenwich was closely followed by the closing of the ports of New
York and Philadelphia to British tea shipments.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn7" name="_ednref7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vii]</span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The year 1775 brought the reality of
war to the colonies, and New Jersey was not exempt from the action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conflicts between patriots and loyalists were
reported in the papers, though for the most part in the first year of the war,
New Jersey was limited to greeting delegates of the Second Continental Congress
on their way through the province and prosecuting a war off shore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before the end of the year, New Jersey would
lose its first soldier in military service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Willson, 222<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Lee, F.B., 93.</span></span><br />
<div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ibid</i>, 129, 133.</span></span></div>
</div>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Lillian Goldman Law Library –
Stamp Act.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Hatfield, 409.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amboy is located on the Raritan River and
Bay, across the Arthur Kill from Staten Island, New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first houses were built in Amboy in 1683.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following year, when the Earl of Perth,
one of the Jersey Proprietors, became Lord High Chancellor under King James II,
it was instructed that the town be called Perth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Residents soon took to calling it Perth Amboy
(though it was still sometimes referred to as Amboy during the Revolution).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A charter was received in 1718 and by 1762
construction began on the Proprietary House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Completed in 1764 by the Proprietors of East Jersey, the house was built
for the Royal Governor of the colony, and is the only colonial Governor’s
Mansion still standing today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1686,
the capital of East Jersey moved from Elizabethtown (where it had been since
1676) to Amboy, where it stayed until 1776, alternating with Burlington from
1702 onward (“The History of Perth Amboy,” The City of Perth Amboy. http://ci.perthamboy.nj.us/the-history-of-perth-amboy.html
Accessed 22 February 2012.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Robert Ogden was born in
Elizabethtown, NJ on 7 October 1716.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was the second child, first son, of Robert and Elizabeth (Crane) Ogden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He married Phebe Hatfield (1720 – 1796) when
he was about twenty years old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a
friend of Governor Belcher, and in 1753 was appointed a clerk of the Chancery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1761 he was commissioned a justice and
judge, and later that year a clerk on the Essex County Court (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Ogden Family in America</i>, 79).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn4" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref4" name="_edn4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Chroust, 286-7.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn5" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref5" name="_edn5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[v]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Hendrick Fisher (1697 – 1778)
was from Somerset County.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He represented
New Jersey at the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 and served on the Committee of
Correspondence and Committee of Safety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His homestead, built in 1688, still stands at<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span></span><span class="sitesaddresses1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9pt; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">1960 Easton Avenue in Franklin Township, Somerset County</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On 7 July 1776 Fisher read the Declaration of Independence aloud at the
Frelinghuysen Tavern in Bound Brook, Somerset County (a plaque marks the former
location of the tavern at 213 East Main Street).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His house was raided by the British in April
1777, but Fisher was not at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is
buried in the family burial ground near the property.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Joseph
Borden (1719 – 1791), of Burlington County, NJ, was the son of the founder of
Bordentown, NJ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a judge and a
colonel of the Burlington militia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
house was burned by the British during the war, but was rebuilt and still
stands at 32 Farnsworth Avenue in Bordentown.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn6" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref6" name="_edn6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vi]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Chroust, 287.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>William Coxe<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>was the son of Col. Daniel Coxe (d. 1739) and was most likely from
Burlington, NJ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He ran a successful
mercantile business in Philadelphia and was twice elected mayor of
Philadelphia, though he refused the appointment both times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He and his wife, Mary Francis, had thirteen
children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their third child, a son named
Tench (1755 – 1824), had a long political career in the new government after
the Revolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>William took a neutral
stance after his resignation, further angering Governor William Franklin (Coxe
Family Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania).</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn7" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref7" name="_edn7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Proceedings</i> NJHS; 2Series IV, 190.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn8" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref8" name="_edn8" style="mso-endnote-id: edn8;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[viii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Ryan, 12.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn9" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref9" name="_edn9" style="mso-endnote-id: edn9;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ix]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Georgia, New Hampshire, North
Carolina and Virginia did not send representatives.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn10" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref10" name="_edn10" style="mso-endnote-id: edn10;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[x]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Wheeler, 81.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn11" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref11" name="_edn11" style="mso-endnote-id: edn11;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xi]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> The misunderstanding may have
cost Ogden a chance to sign the Declaration of Independence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the war began he was a chairman of the
Elizabethtown Committee of Safety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His sons
and sons-in-law served the patriot cause during the war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He died 21 January 1787 and is buried in the
Sparta (NJ) Presbyterian Churchyard (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Ogden Family in America</i>, 83).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn12" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref12" name="_edn12" style="mso-endnote-id: edn12;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Qtd. in Hatfield, 408.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn13" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref13" name="_edn13" style="mso-endnote-id: edn13;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xiii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Lillian Goldman Law Library
– Declaratory Act.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn14" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref14" name="_edn14" style="mso-endnote-id: edn14;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[xiv]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Troubles
did not die down completely, however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the spring of 1766, Lemuel Blowers and two fellow justices of the peace “beat,
abused and wounded” a recruiting party led by Captain George Etherington in
Morris County.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The attack, in which four
of the soldiers were hospitalized, was launched in response to the questionable
enlistment practices of the British. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Problems
with the British soldiery continued into 1767.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The officers of the 28<sup>th</sup> Regiment, led by Colonel John St.
Clair, had secured private quarters in Elizabethtown due to lack of space in
the barracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon their departure, they
demanded reimbursement from the colony for monies spent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Governor Franklin declined to pay the
officers, claiming that such allowances had been discontinued after construction
of barracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the 27<sup>th</sup>, the
night before the regiment was to leave, some of the officers began a riot in
which most of the male inhabitants of the community participated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Windows were smashed, citizens were
confronted by British bayonets and at least one officer was shot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The clash only ended when the soldiers
retreated to transport ships anchored in Raritan Bay, off Amboy (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Jersey History</i>. v. 93, no. 1-2; 16, 20-21).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">American Archives</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Series 4, Volume 1, “<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Meeting of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Township of Lower Freehold, in the County of Monmouth, in New-Jersey,”</span>390</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Wall & Pickersgill, 86.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Andrews, 8.</span></span></div>
</div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref4" name="_edn4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">According to Dunlap’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pennsylvania Packet</i> (or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The General Advertiser</i>) of Monday, 9 January 1775, the following men were chosen for the committee:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>William Aul, Jonathan Ayers, David Bowen, Joshua Brick, Thomas Brown, John Buck, Thomas Daniel, Daniel Elmore, Joshua Ewing, Thomas Ewing, Joel Fithian, Ezekiel Foster, John Gibbon, Elijah Hand, Ephraim Harris, Gideon Heaton, Abijah Holmes, Michael Hoshell, Abraham Jones, John Laning, Samuel Leak, Jonathan Lore, Daniel Maskell, Thomas Maskell, Benjamin Mulford, Joseph Newcomb, Silas Newcomb, Isaac Preston, Mark Ryley, Joseph Sheppard, Jonathan Smith, John Terry, John Wheaton and Richard Wood.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref5" name="_edn5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[v]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A monument to the tea-burners stands in Greenwich, NJ today, near the site of the incident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A list of names on the monument includes the following: Ebenezer Elmer (1752 – 1843), Timothy Elmer (1748 – 1780), James Ewing (d. 1780), Thomas Ewing (1748 – 1782), Joel Fithian (1748 – 1821), Philip Vickers Fithian (1747 – 1776), Lewis Howell (d. 1778), Richard Howell (1754 –1802), James Booth Hunt (d. 1824), Andrew Hunter, Jr. (1752 – 1823), Joel Miller (d. 1827), Alexander Moore, Jr. (d. 1786), Ephraim Newcomb, Silas Newcomb (1723 – 1779), Clarence Parvin (1750 – 1788), David Pierson, Stephen Pierson, Henry Seeley, Josiah Seeley (d. 1832), Abraham Sheppard b. c.1755), Henry Stacks, and Silas Whittaker (Whiteker).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The monument also reads “</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 8pt;">AND OTHERS</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">;”Frank D. Andrews lists Enos Ewing and Isaac Preston as tea-burners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of these men served during the Revolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Richard Howell served in the army and was elected New Jersey’s third Governor, serving from 1793 – 1801; he was also the grandfather of Varina Howell Davis, wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ebenezer Elmer served in the army, represented New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1801 – 1807, and served in the War of 1812.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref6" name="_edn6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vi]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The Burning On Market Square Greenwich</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">, 2.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref7" name="_edn7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A poem, by an unknown poet, was published in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Greenwich on the Creek</i>by Grace Watson Ewing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It follows: “On the wharf I sit and dream / While the stars throw many a beam - / Make a soft and silver streak / On the stillness of the creek; / And a vessel, through the haze / Of the old colonial days, / Like a spectre seems to ride / On the inward flowing tide; / Like a phantom it appears / Faintly through the many years / That have vanished since it sails / Braved the fierce Atlantic gales / Are they risen from the graves? / Those dark figures, clad as braves, / Of the dusky tribal hosts / That of old possessed these coasts? / Swift they glide from‘neath the trees, / The ill-fated stores to seize. / Noiselessly, with whispered jests, / High they heap the fragrant chests, / ‘Round the gnarled trunk that still / Lifts its limbs on yonder hill; / And, at once a ruddy blaze / Skyward leaps and madly plays, / Snapping, crackling o’ver the pyre, / Till, with patriotic fire, / All that costly cargo doomed, / Unto ashes is consumed! / Back the ship drifts through the haze, / And the figures with the blaze / Fade and vanish from the sight.”</span></span></div>
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Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-56864229088467014372012-05-14T23:01:00.003-04:002012-05-14T23:01:36.945-04:00The French Contribution to American Independence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">General Charles O’Hara was a veteran soldier
by the time of the American Revolutionary War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He had fought in the Seven Years’ War in Europe and also saw service in
Africa before coming to the British colonies in North America in 1778.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As second in command to General Charles
Cornwallis, he led the counterattack at Guilford Courthouse in March 1781,
chasing General Nathanael Greene and his men from the field of battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later, with Cornwallis claiming illness,
O’Hara led the surrender of the British troops at Yorktown.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[i]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The day following this surrender O’Hara wrote
to the Duke of Grafton stating, “Our Ministers will I hope be now persuaded
that America is irretrievably lost….The French talk of attacking Charles
Town….America is theirs.”</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">This vignette is presented to demonstrate how
vital the Franco-American alliance was and how significant the victory at
Yorktown was to the final peace treaty with British acknowledgment of American
independence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only did a veteran
general in the British Army think that the colonies were lost after Yorktown,
but he believed the French, through their alliance with the Americans, would
ultimately control the former British colonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Still, few Americans, and few Frenchmen, believed that victory at
Yorktown meant victory in the overall war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The soldiers captured there (about 7,000 men) represented only about
one-fourth of the total British strength in North America.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Comparatively, over 6,000 had been captured at
Saratoga four years earlier, and the war continued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A simple shuffling of troops would have
replenished those men easily within months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So why, then, was the Franco-American coalition and the victory at
Yorktown the final blow cast for American independence?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">By the time the war had moved south, the British
and the Americans were far from giving up fighting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, with the French entrance into the
war, the British were on the ropes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
without full French assistance in the North American colonies, the alarm and
anxiety caused by now having to protect the West Indies, India, Gibraltar and
the other British possessions against the French caused a change in the British
manner of thinking about the North American war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The French declaration of war against the
British led to eventual American victory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The final two large battles before Yorktown,
at Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse, were fought between the Americans under
General Greene, and the British under Cornwallis, without French
assistance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Americans were
victorious at Cowpens in January, providing a morale boost, and they could at
least claim that even though they had lost the field at Guilford Courthouse,
they had added twenty-five percent of Cornwallis’s force to the casualty list.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though Cornwallis publicly claimed
victory, he privately noted that the British “had not a regiment or corps that
did not at some time give way.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also
reportedly said in private, “The Americans fought like demons.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the battle, Greene proclaimed that he
thought that is was “out of the enemies power to do us any great injury.”</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn5" name="_ednref5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[v]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the victories, without French
assistance, the Americans struggled to put the final nail in the coffin of the
British Army.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The war would continue.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The American and British back-and-forth that
began in the northern colonies in 1775, continued in the southern colonies in
1781, however, the French entrance now had the British on the ropes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though the French fleet bungled their way
around the American coastline, they made good on their attacks against the
British elsewhere, especially in the Caribbean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Still, General Washington wanted for French assistance and cooperation
with his army, or, at minimum, communication from the French fleet as to their
designs.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn6" name="_ednref6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[vi]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Cornwallis realized the predicament facing
him before leaving North Carolina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
knew that leaving Virginia unconquered would provide no security to him in the
Carolinas, but should he leave the Carolinas for Virginia, he had not enough
men to keep the restless populace subdued.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn7" name="_ednref7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[vii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, as had happened within the British
command throughout the war, communication was lacking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cornwallis moved toward Virginia to the
disappointment of Sir Henry Clinton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Clinton wrote that had Cornwallis informed him of that move, Clinton
most certainly who have “endeavored to have stopped” Cornwallis.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn8" name="_ednref8" style="mso-endnote-id: edn8;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[viii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Cornwallis was frustrated by the
hit-and-run guerrilla tactics of the Americans, and his inability to defeat the
Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He and his army chased the
Americans through the Carolinas and into Virginia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cornwallis’s lust for victory and glory
partially led to the final defeat of the British in the American colonies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Cornwallis chose Yorktown because of its
defensive nature and access to the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both of these features would assist in his downfall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With French assistance at sea, the Americans
could complete the blockade of the British army at Yorktown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this way, French support was completely
necessary for American victory at Yorktown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Without the French fleet off the Virginia coast, the British could have
resupplied Cornwallis and his men indefinitely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Clinton could also have decided to disembark Cornwallis’s troops,
bringing them back to New York, or some other location, or he could have reinforced
them with more men and ordered Cornwallis to break out and attack the
Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happily, for the Americans,
the French fleet was able to defeat the British fleet in the Chesapeake and
blockade the Cornwallis in Yorktown from the sea before assistance could
arrive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Washington, in shrewd and
cunning fashion, snuck off to Yorktown with a combined Franco-American
force.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The classic siege which followed
the Franco-American arrival outside of Yorktown, combined with the French naval
blockade finally forced Cornwallis into submission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">General O’Hara led the somber procession of
the British to surrender their arms at Yorktown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether to avoid or to insult Washington,
O’Hara attempted to surrender Cornwallis’s sword to Rochambeau, but the
Frenchman declined, directing O’Hara toward Washington.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Washington, as a sign of protocol, or maybe
as his own form of insult, passed O’Hara on to General Benjamin Lincoln, one
subordinate submitting to another.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn9" name="_ednref9" style="mso-endnote-id: edn9;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[ix]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the show of fealty by Rochambeau,
O’Hara believed the French were the true masters of the victory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Washington hoped to build on the allied
victory and free Charleston and Savannah from British control, but the French
Admiral de Grasse informed Washington that his orders were to proceed to the
West Indies immediately.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn10" name="_ednref10" style="mso-endnote-id: edn10;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[x]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without French help, Washington was not
confident that he could take those cities, or New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though those were the only British
strongholds remaining in the former colonies, the British had about 26,000 men
spread across those areas, as well as along the Great Lakes region and Canada.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn11" name="_ednref11" style="mso-endnote-id: edn11;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[xi]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the British Parliament realized that
the war was already too costly, and to continue to fight against the Americans,
French, and increasingly the Spanish as well, would “jeopardize the very
existence of the British Empire.”</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn12" name="_ednref12" style="mso-endnote-id: edn12;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[xii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The French, though not assisting Washington
and the Americans to their liking, nevertheless contributed elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The end of the war did not come swiftly – it was
still two years before the final peace treaty was signed – but there was not
another major battle fought between the British and the Americans after
Yorktown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The French handled the load.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 200%;"></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small;">Babits, Lawrence E. <i>A Devil of a Whipping: The
Battle of Cowpens.</i> Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small;">Buchanan, John. <i>The Road
to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas.</i> New York:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small;">Davis, Burke. <i>The
Cowpens-Guilford Courthouse Campaign.</i> Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co.,
1962.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small;">Greene, Jerome A. <i>The
Guns of Independence: The Siege of Yorktown, 1781.</i> New York: Savas Beatie,
2005.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small;">Ketchum, Richard. <i>Victory
at Yorktown: The Campaign that Won the Revolution.</i> New York: Henry Holt
& Co., 2004.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Savas, Theodore P. and J.
David Dameron. <i>A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution.</i> New
York: Savas Beatie LLC, 2006.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
</span><br />
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list; text-align: left;">
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[i]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">
Savas, 290, 336.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></div>
<div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">
Qtd. in Greene, xv.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></div>
<div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"> Ibid.,
xvi.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></div>
<div id="edn4" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref4" name="_edn4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">
Savas, 291. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></div>
<div id="edn5" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref5" name="_edn5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[v]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">
All qtd. in Buchanan, 382.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></div>
<div id="edn6" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref6" name="_edn6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[vi]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">
Ketchum, 29.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></div>
<div id="edn7" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref7" name="_edn7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[vii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">
Davis, 180.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></div>
<div id="edn8" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref8" name="_edn8" style="mso-endnote-id: edn8;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[viii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">
Ibid., 184.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></div>
<div id="edn9" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref9" name="_edn9" style="mso-endnote-id: edn9;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[ix]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">
Greene, 297.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></div>
<div id="edn10" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref10" name="_edn10" style="mso-endnote-id: edn10;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[x]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">
Ibid., 319.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></div>
<div id="edn11" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref11" name="_edn11" style="mso-endnote-id: edn11;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[xi]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">
Ibid., 323.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref12" name="_edn12" style="mso-endnote-id: edn12;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">[xii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">
Ibid., 324.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
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</div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-71202493249012287422012-05-13T23:51:00.001-04:002013-10-29T14:07:45.469-04:00Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence representing New Jersey - Part 4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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RICHARD STOCKTON</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA7lGKTZ4yDKF3QFpUkVtSPJX_ehp_kQ6U7vtc7z3Sa1F7P7rmt_JSgIjShkHzCU5rOQUP9VDVz2TeGjZ8E5TY5q9q_rANE9Cd-_CnPjdehEFopGI0-ccy_nvpI3GbUU7vQZ_Vty2_dtlt/s1600/stockton+(ole+Erekson,+LOC).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA7lGKTZ4yDKF3QFpUkVtSPJX_ehp_kQ6U7vtc7z3Sa1F7P7rmt_JSgIjShkHzCU5rOQUP9VDVz2TeGjZ8E5TY5q9q_rANE9Cd-_CnPjdehEFopGI0-ccy_nvpI3GbUU7vQZ_Vty2_dtlt/s320/stockton+(ole+Erekson,+LOC).jpg" width="241" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Engraved by Ole Erekson; Library of Congress photo</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Richard Stockton was born in Princeton, New Jersey on 1 October 1730. He was educated first at Nottingham Academy in Rising Sun, Maryland, and then at the College of New Jersey in Newark. He graduated from the latter in 1748 and was admitted to the bar in 1754. Stockton's rise was fairly quick from this time forward. In 1755 he married Annis Boudinot.
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> The couple had six children.</div>
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In 1756, the College of New Jersey was moved from Newark to Princeton, with much assistance from Stockton and his family. A fellow trustee at the college, the Reverend Doctor John Rodgers called Stockton a gentleman, scholar and the head of his profession in New Jersey.
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> In 1768 Stockton began a term on New Jersey's Provincial Council, a position that he held until June 1776. In 1773, he wrote to Lord Dartmouth <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> a piece called <em>An Expedient for the Settlement of the American Dispute</em>.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a> In 1774 Stockton was named an associate justice to the state Supreme Court, a position which he also held until June 1776.</div>
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In 1776, Stockton was sent to the General Congress in Philadelphia as a delegate from New Jersey. Though initially doubtful of an immediate declaration of independence, he quickly changed his mind and voted in favor of independence after considering the arguments of other Congressmen.
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a> Stockton was the first man to sign for the state of New Jersey when the time arrived to declare independence.</div>
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In September 1776, Stockton received an equal number of votes as William Livingston for governor of New Jersey, but after further discussion Livingston was awarded the position. Stockton was soon on the run, anyhow. When the British moved into Princeton in 1776, Stockton's home, Morven, was ransacked by the redcoats. His books and most of his furnishings were destroyed. Luckily, Stockton had removed his wife and children from the area earlier, fearing the worst. Though our signer initially escaped to the home of a friend, John Covenhoven, about thirty miles east of Princeton, the British caught up with him on 30 November 1776.
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a> He was imprisoned first in the common jail of Amboy by the British, but later moved to the more deplorable conditions at the old Provost prison in New York City. Stockton was abused by his captors, suffering from cold and starvation at the least.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Morven - the home of Richard Stockton in Princeton, NJ. Photo by the author</span></div>
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Once Stockton was exchanged, he came home a broken man. Ill in health (besides his ill treatment by the British, he probably had cancer) and poor in wealth, Stockton died at home on 28 February 1781. He was buried at the Stoney Brook Quaker Burial Ground in Princeton. He is also honored </div>
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with a statue in National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. - only one of six signers to be so honored. Stockton also had a college named in his honor; Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, located in Galloway Twp., was founded in 1969.</div>
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The Stockton's first born child, Julia, married Benjamin Rush, another signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a well-known physician of the time period, especially in Philadelphia. Two of Stockton's sons obtained political success. His son Richard was a U.S. Senator from New Jersey, while another son, Robert Field Stockton, served as a Commodore in the War of 1812, was the first military governor of California in 1846 and was also a New Jersey Senator.</div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"> Annis was the sister of Elias Boudinot. Elias served as commissary general of prisoners in the Revolutionary Army from 1776 until 1779. He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1778, and from 1781 until 1783. He served as President of that body from November 1782 to November 1783. After signing the Treaty of Paris with England, ending the war, he resumed his law practice, but in 1789 he was elected to the first U.S. Congress. He was twice reelected, serving until 1795, at which time he was named third Director of the U.S. Mint. He remained as Director until 1805, when he resigned. Elias Boudinot died in 1821.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Cunningham, John T. <i>Five Who Signed.</i> Trenton: NJ Historical Commission, 1975; 13.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1772 to 1775</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">The writing was a plan for self-government in the colonies; though they would be independent of Parliament, they would still remain loyal to the Crown.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Lossing, Benson J. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New York: Derby & Jackson, 1859; 79.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Ibid., 51.</span></div>
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Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-2263450462151775162012-03-03T14:39:00.005-05:002012-03-03T16:25:23.113-05:00Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence representing New Jersey - Part 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">FRANCIS HOPKINSON</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiARhrOWWOd4nnM3W453Ea43oIgW4at3cV7XZaCimcPGC8KvAPZnrXLf6RRG-cN8fWfnNyR6qn8h2VWGl0qiw0lqpmgDLFJjbs5WgEts0IXuUwsavmycLwq8GOB8xMmGSLv8xOJZLHPaHh/s1600/Francis+Hopkinson+by+Robert+Edge+Pine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiARhrOWWOd4nnM3W453Ea43oIgW4at3cV7XZaCimcPGC8KvAPZnrXLf6RRG-cN8fWfnNyR6qn8h2VWGl0qiw0lqpmgDLFJjbs5WgEts0IXuUwsavmycLwq8GOB8xMmGSLv8xOJZLHPaHh/s1600/Francis+Hopkinson+by+Robert+Edge+Pine.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Francis Hopkinson by Robert Edge Pine</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Francis Hopkinson may be the most accomplished of the signers of the Declaration of Independence from New Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 21, 1737,<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a> Hopkinson became an author and poet; a song-writer and musician; a lawyer and judge; an artist and Congressman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As an ardent Patriot, he played a role in the founding of the United States politically and culturally - he is credited with having a hand in the design of the first American flag and the designs of the seal of the State of New Jersey and the Great Seal of the United States.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Francis’ father, Thomas, was a merchant, lawyer and judge in Pennsylvania, as well as a friend of Benjamin Franklin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the latter capacity, Thomas also dabbled in electrical experiments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He founded the Academy of Philadelphia (which later became the College of Philadelphia, and later the University of Pennsylvania) as well as the Library Company, and he was the first President of the American Philosophical Society.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is no wonder then, that before his death in 1751, Thomas enrolled fourteen-year-old Francis in the College of Philadelphia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With his mother Mary’s blessing, Francis continued his education after his father’s death, earning his degree in 1757.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It appears that Hopkinson began composing music before his graduation from college - an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ode to Music</i> was composed in 1754.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After graduation, though, while still composing and writing, Hopkinson studied law under Benjamin Chew, the attorney general of Pennsylvania. During this time he wrote “My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free” (1759), thought to be the first secular music composition in America. In 1761 he joined the bar and in 1763 was appointed customs collector at Salem, New Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Between 1757 and 1763, Hopkinson was busy with his pen, contributing essays, poems and satirical writings to various periodicals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1766, Hopkinson traveled to England for a year-long stay in which he met a number of prominent individuals, including Benjamin Franklin, Lord North and the painter Benjamin West.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon his return to North America, Hopkinson married Ann Borden in 1768.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was the daughter of Colonel Joseph Borden, a leading merchant from Bordentown, New Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The couple would have five children.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn5" name="_ednref5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In 1772, Hopkinson was appointed customs collector at New Castle, Delaware, though he was settled and practicing law in Bordentown by 1774.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the same year, he was selected to be a member of the Provincial Council of New Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pamphlets that he wrote during this time were filled with attacks on the British and on loyalists in the colonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1776, Hopkinson was elected an associate justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, but he declined that office and instead accepted appointment to the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometime before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Hopkinson wrote “The Prophecy,” an essay predicting the formal break of the colonies from England.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn6" name="_ednref6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While serving in the Congress from 22 June to 30 November 1776, Hopkinson also served on the Navy Board.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>During the winter of 1777 - 1778, an inventor by the name of David Bushnell caused quite a stir on the Delaware River.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn7" name="_ednref7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bushnell filled barrels with gunpowder which were set to explode upon touching anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These he set afloat on the Delaware River north of Philadelphia, with the hope that as they fell downriver among the British ships, they would strike and damage or destroy the shipping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though some of the barrels did explode, the experiment did not have the desired effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The event did cause much excitement and anxiety among the British in Philadelphia, however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A satirical letter was published in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pennsylvania Ledger</i> on 11 February 1778, and is believed to be written by Hopkinson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The account is as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Both officers and men exhibited the most unparalleled skill and bravery on the occasion; whilst the citizens stood gazing as solemn witnesses of their prowess. From the <em>Roebuck</em> and other ships of war, whole broadsides were poured into the Delaware. In short, not a wandering chip, stick, or drift log, but felt the vigour of the British arms. The action began about sun-rise, and would have been compleated with great success by noon, had not an old market woman coming down the river with provisions, unfortunately let a small keg of butter fall over-board, which (as it was then ebb) floated down to the scene of the action. At the sight of this unexpected reinforcement of the enemy, the battle was renewed with fresh fury–the firing was incessant till the evening closed the affair. The kegs were either totally demolished or obliged to fly, as none of them have shewn their heads since. It is said his Excellency Lord Howe has dispatched a swift sailing packet with an account of this victory to the court of London. In a word, Monday, the 5th of January, 1778, must ever be distinguished in history, for the memorable BATTLE OF THE KEGS.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn8" name="_ednref8" style="mso-endnote-id: edn8;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvhjIAPceR881hkg8g_5iyYBX1xnlgncotUxK2iBRIVjq13neuiQ6KUFpRA5o6FVz1rSy9IzhHK02rVQEWJlq8SGOynjIGCnSVYmwgrL5S4MPG2mXh-B-UrvqUexEF93_sdsH5YAwZfK-w/s1600/from+collection+of+UPenn+archives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvhjIAPceR881hkg8g_5iyYBX1xnlgncotUxK2iBRIVjq13neuiQ6KUFpRA5o6FVz1rSy9IzhHK02rVQEWJlq8SGOynjIGCnSVYmwgrL5S4MPG2mXh-B-UrvqUexEF93_sdsH5YAwZfK-w/s320/from+collection+of+UPenn+archives.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>The Battle of the Kegs</em> from the UPenn archives</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At a later date, Hopkinson also wrote a <a href="http://dansamericanrevolutionblog.blogspot.com/p/battle-of-kegs.html" target="_blank">ballad of the event</a>, to be sung to the tune of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yankee Doodle</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCb6q2wIToSwqcvyY8pQ7t17tllfoFovc2Jr7O7nDHTdacU_1kxqXPuO9IcbnOFUy6QLJnMlPFnmujhQGVwGw01UY-ewvLA1OMoLe_vlPhO5bYyzeAnU8v1hd-I_tDx00oES7uM-qtz0S7/s1600/DSC_4790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCb6q2wIToSwqcvyY8pQ7t17tllfoFovc2Jr7O7nDHTdacU_1kxqXPuO9IcbnOFUy6QLJnMlPFnmujhQGVwGw01UY-ewvLA1OMoLe_vlPhO5bYyzeAnU8v1hd-I_tDx00oES7uM-qtz0S7/s320/DSC_4790.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Hopkinson House is currently a privately owned building </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">located at 101 Farnsworth Ave. in Bordentown, NJ.</span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In 1776 and 1777, the British stationed in Bordentown raided and plundered Hopkinson’s Bordentown home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopkinson was not to be found, however, and in 1778 he was again elected a member of the Congress and served as Treasurer of the Continental Loan Office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1779 and 1780, Hopkinson served as a judge on the Admiralty Court of Pennsylvania.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During this time, Hopkinson was also at work designing or assisting in the design of, among other things, the Board of Admiralty seal, the Treasury Board seal, the seal of the state of New Jersey, the Great Seal of the United States and the flag of the United States, though in the case of the latter two some speculation remains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopkinson’s design for the Great Seal was the second one submitted to Congress, which did not grant its approval.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A third committee, with the assistance of Congressional secretary Charles Thomson, created a third design, which was finally accepted and is still in use today.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn9" name="_ednref9" style="mso-endnote-id: edn9;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thomson’s design borrowed key elements from Hopkinson’s design, including the striped shield and the field of stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for the design of the flag of the United States, the only surviving record of any kind comes from a letter dated 25 May 1780, from Hopkinson to the Continental Board of Admiralty, where he mentioned “the Flag of the United States of America” among the many other patriotic designs he had completed over the course of the previous three years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no mention of the exact design, but neither is there any mention in the historical record of any other person coming forward to claim ownership of the creation.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn10" name="_ednref10" style="mso-endnote-id: edn10;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZuapqW9kLGoNfvf4Buqw-0CG2IxhJdjfgaQjPb3070QklR-Oc-f205D5H4H39c7N-kq7ttGm_NRXrsvXG9WFKcW2QORatj1CStDxqEOYKS4txnoolG831X2TjPyXI8IhHs1xcL3qdKxZd/s1600/seal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZuapqW9kLGoNfvf4Buqw-0CG2IxhJdjfgaQjPb3070QklR-Oc-f205D5H4H39c7N-kq7ttGm_NRXrsvXG9WFKcW2QORatj1CStDxqEOYKS4txnoolG831X2TjPyXI8IhHs1xcL3qdKxZd/s320/seal.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click on image to enlarge.</span></o:p></span></div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Following the end of the Revolutionary War, Hopkinson remained active in the politics of the new nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He continued to serve on the Admiralty Court until 1787, when he became a member of the Constitutional Convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1789, President Washington appointed Hopkinson as a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where he remained until his death on 9 May 1791.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Hopkinson, possibly the most artistic signer of the Declaration of Independence, </span>is buried in Christ Church Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS3oJCBM1D1Aj-TCr42iD0a198LMA64KSl5Q914kQISNilOyjW4LwAvspxZOAXk_POmH24LOIUq9yxunkf9XziqLsLNQP_f4-7iaFAv_t9Py5jtpU9T_-5lVSZEtfecK7GoA0gEZzPTJcq/s1600/Hopkinson,+Francis+for+New+Jersey+-+Christ+Church+Cemetery,+Philadelphia,+PA.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS3oJCBM1D1Aj-TCr42iD0a198LMA64KSl5Q914kQISNilOyjW4LwAvspxZOAXk_POmH24LOIUq9yxunkf9XziqLsLNQP_f4-7iaFAv_t9Py5jtpU9T_-5lVSZEtfecK7GoA0gEZzPTJcq/s320/Hopkinson,+Francis+for+New+Jersey+-+Christ+Church+Cemetery,+Philadelphia,+PA.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
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<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">United States Congress. <i>Hopkinson, Francis, (1737 - 1791).</i> n.d. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000783 (accessed March 3, 2012).</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">University of Pennsylvania University Archives and Records Center. <i>Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791).</i> 2012. http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1700s/hopkinson_thos.html (accessed March 3, 2012).</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">University of Pennsylvania University Archives and Records Center. <i>Thomas Hopkinson (1709-1751).</i> 2012. http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1700s/hopkinson_thos.html (accessed March 3, 2012).</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div id="edn4" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref4" name="_edn4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Library of Congress. <i>Francis Hopkinson, 1737-1791.</i> August 10, 2006. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200035713/default.html (accessed March 3, 2012).</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div id="edn5" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref5" name="_edn5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Cunningham, John T. <i>Five Who Signed.</i> Trenton: NJ Historical Commission, 1975; 20.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div id="edn6" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref6" name="_edn6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Ibid., 21.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div id="edn7" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref7" name="_edn7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> For more information on Bushnell and his inventions, see my post, “David Bushnell”: </span><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://dansamericanrevolutionblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/david-bushnell-is-credited-with.html">http://dansamericanrevolutionblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/david-bushnell-is-credited-with.html</a></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopkinson’s essay regarding this event can be found in the Bushnell article, but has also been reprinted here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div id="edn8" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref8" name="_edn8" style="mso-endnote-id: edn8;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <em>Naval Documents of the American Revolution</em> Vol. 11. ed. Michael J. Crawford. Department of the Navy, Washington, DC, 2005; 78.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div id="edn9" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref9" name="_edn9" style="mso-endnote-id: edn9;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"> The first design was submitted by a committee consisting of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, and was the work of a Swiss-born painter named Pierre Eugene du Simitiere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The committee working with Hopkinson was appointed on 25 March 1780 and was composed of James Lovell (from Massachusetts), John Moris Scott (New York) and William Churchill Houston (NJ).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The third committee consisted of Arthur Middleton (South Carolina), John Rutledge (South Carolina) and Elias Boudinot (New Jersey).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>William Barton, a Philadelphia lawyer and scholar, then edited Thomson’s design.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This committee’s design was accepted on 20 June 1781.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div id="edn10" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref10" name="_edn10" style="mso-endnote-id: edn10;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"> Leepson, Marc. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flag: An American Biography</i>, New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005; 30-31, 33.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-25962073104126980262012-02-22T22:40:00.000-05:002012-02-22T22:40:18.900-05:00The Capture of the "Blue Mountain Valley"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On 21 January 1776, the New York Committee of Safety learned of a British transport in distress off the coast of Sandy Hook, New Jersey.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Near five o’clock on the morning of the 22<sup>nd</sup>, William Alexander, Lord Stirling received word of the troubled ship through a letter from the Committee and immediately set off for Amboy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Described in the letter as “A galley-built ship” of between three and four hundred tons, it had “<span style="color: black;">yellow sides, blue quarter-boards, with the trophies of war painted on the quarter-boards” and “six three-pounders on the quarter deck” with about twenty men on board,<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a> capturing the ship would be a blow to the British and make for a rich prize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon receiving this news, Stirling immediately set out for Amboy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon arriving there, he seized a pilot boat, and by two o’clock in the morning on the 23<sup>rd</sup> he set off with about forty men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he pushed off, three other boats from Elizabethtown, with about 120 men under the command of Colonels Elias Dayton and Edward Thomas, joined him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The men set off for the British ship, which was about six leagues<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></a> from shore, southeast of Sandy Hook. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 10 o’clock in the morning the colonials had boarded the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blue Mountain Valley</i>, commanded by Captain James Hamilton Dempster, without opposition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stirling gave command of the ship to a Mister Rogers, a sea captain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to contrary winds, it took until the 26<sup>th</sup> for the ship to come in to shore.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn5" name="_ednref5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[v]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blue Mountain Valley</i> arrived at Elizabethtown Point where Lord Stirling and his troops placed it under guard until the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">New York Committee of Safety was able to take it under their care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The captain and crew - numbering at least sixteen men - were given parole in the town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ship, which had sailed from London on 13 October 1775, carried coal, porter, and various foodstuffs, and was destined for the British soldiers in Boston.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn6" name="_ednref6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vi]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of assisting the British, the ship and its cargo were sold at public auction by the Americans on 18 March 1776.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn7" name="_ednref7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div style="mso-element: endnote-list;"><br clear="all" /> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> A pilot had apparently captured a man from the transport and reported back information about the ship to the New York Committee of Safety (<i>American Archives</i> Series 4, Volume 4, “New York Committee of Safety to Lord Stirling,” 21 January 1776, 796).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Sandy Hook is a narrow strip of land that projects northward from the Jersey coast, towards New York City, covering the southern end of New York Bay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The main ship channel ran almost east to west, close to the northern end of the Hook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This land was the only solid ground approaching the Harbor where fortifications within cannon range could be established. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Whoever commanded Sandy Hook, therefore, commanded the entrance to New York Harbor.<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though it is probable that fortifications existed at Sandy Hook as early as 1680, it is certain that it was fortified by the British by the spring of 1776 (<i>The Major Operations of the Navies in the War of American Independence</i></span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alfred T. Mahan, D.C.L., LL.D., Captain, US Navy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1913, 65; and <i>Sandy Hook and the Land of the Navesink</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Samuel Stelle Smith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Monmouth Beach, NJ: Philip Freneau Press, 1963, 18).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div></div><div id="edn4" style="mso-element: endnote;"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref4" name="_edn4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> The actual distance of a league varied over time and location.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In English-speaking countries it is generally estimated to be about three miles.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="edn5" style="mso-element: endnote;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref5" name="_edn5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[v]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Naval Documents of the American Revolution</i> Volume 3, 1775-1776.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ed. William Bell Clark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1968, 959; and <i>History of Elizabeth, New Jersey, Including the Early History of Union County</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rev. Edwin F. Hatfield.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New York: Carlton & Lanahan, 1868, 422.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn6" style="mso-element: endnote;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref6" name="_edn6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vi]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> In the same letter as above, Ogden wrote that the Manifest, dated 30 September 1775, showed “107¼ chaldrons of coal, 30 bundles of hoops, 100 butts of porter, branded—‘Calvert,’ 225 bags of beans, 156 sacks of potatoes, 10 casks sour-krout, 80 live hogs, and 35 empty puncheons, for water,” shipped by Mure, Son, and Atkinson, of London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<i>History of Elizabeth, New Jersey, Including the Early History of Union County</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rev. Edwin F. Hatfield.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New York: Carlton & Lanahan, 1868, 423).<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn7" style="mso-element: endnote;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref7" name="_edn7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Documents Relating to the Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey.</i> Vol. I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Extracts from American Newspapers. 1776-1777.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ed. William S. Stryker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trenton: The John L. Murphy Publishing Co., 1901, 68.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-41871923581009582142012-02-18T22:09:00.002-05:002012-02-18T22:18:26.973-05:00Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence representing New Jersey - Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">JOHN HART</span></div><div align="center"></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Little is known about the early life of John Hart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the date of his birth is in question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The earliest claim is about 1707 while the latest appears to be 1714.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All sources agree that his birth was in the small coastal town of Stonington, Connecticut and that he moved with his parents at an early age to Hopewell Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Young John became a farmer and married Deborah Scudder in 1740.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The couple would have thirteen children - helpers on their 380 acre farm in Hopewell.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hart entered into politics in 1761, at which time he became a member of the Provincial Assembly of New Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He served in this capacity until 1771.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hart also served as a judge in the Hunterdon County Courts from 1768 until 1775, despite his lack of schooling in law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He opposed the policies of the royal government and attended the New Jersey Provincial Congress from 1774 to 1776, and was elected Vice President of that body on 16 June 1776.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During this time, Hart also served as a member of the Committee of Safety on two separate occasions.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About the time of his appointment to Vice President of the New Jersey Provincial Congress, Hart and four others were chosen to replace the New Jersey delegates at the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hart arrived in time to vote for independence, and signed the Declaration of Independence in August before returning to New Jersey.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn5" name="_ednref5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[v]</span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Upon his return to New Jersey, Hart was elected to the state’s first General Assembly under their new constitution, where he accepted the speakership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hart was forced to flee very soon thereafter, however, as the British marched across New Jersey, chasing General Washington’s army to the Delaware River.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The British captured Patriots and destroyed property along the way, and Hart did not escape their wrath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hart’s family escaped and he went into hiding in the hills surrounding his land until the Battles of Trenton and Princeton had been decided in favor of the Americans, and the British army was vanquished from that part of the state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Hart returned to his estate, he found his house standing, but much of his property was otherwise destroyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, Hart learned that his wife had taken ill in his absence and died.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn6" name="_ednref6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vi]</span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hart remained in the service of his country as speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly until 1778, while simultaneously serving on the New Jersey Council of Safety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He retired in ill health and died shortly thereafter, on 11 May 1779, at Hopewell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hart is buried at the Baptist Meeting House in Hopewell, New Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An obituary published in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Jersey Gazette</i> of 19 May 1779 noted that his death was “regretted and lamented” and that his character and contributions would “ensure lasting respect to his memory.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbUj77o2XZS68HBfCMroRS8_2VeqUlfPOVvpS97xx4am7hNTiQd-nSoPBXAlk_bYnHDdOS_EUYr_8DBgpEYA-sC_uVSOUAPyK5THP3k0Xq3KbrjllOyCXICSiEuMqhc0yKiBsykhB4uC-/s1600/Hart,+John+for+New+Jersey+-+Baptist+Meeting+House,+Hopewell,+NJ.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbUj77o2XZS68HBfCMroRS8_2VeqUlfPOVvpS97xx4am7hNTiQd-nSoPBXAlk_bYnHDdOS_EUYr_8DBgpEYA-sC_uVSOUAPyK5THP3k0Xq3KbrjllOyCXICSiEuMqhc0yKiBsykhB4uC-/s320/Hart,+John+for+New+Jersey+-+Baptist+Meeting+House,+Hopewell,+NJ.JPG" width="209" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilqvseWwIP6ws71R8YauRm700-T-esYy5GoiQmJzMFTtUj-jD0idbZee-aU_7tb5-faWUicCwkzOtoeTI1jGLLCWjUji8NSekYd3euvZ482OUC9iMsSkUsDRTH85sdeDWX5R9DabVMFPdK/s1600/Hart,+John+for+New+Jersey+-+Baptist+Meeting+House,+Hopewell,+NJ+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilqvseWwIP6ws71R8YauRm700-T-esYy5GoiQmJzMFTtUj-jD0idbZee-aU_7tb5-faWUicCwkzOtoeTI1jGLLCWjUji8NSekYd3euvZ482OUC9iMsSkUsDRTH85sdeDWX5R9DabVMFPdK/s320/Hart,+John+for+New+Jersey+-+Baptist+Meeting+House,+Hopewell,+NJ+2.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div><div style="mso-element: endnote-list;"><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The grave marker of John Hart in the Baptist Meeting House Cemetery in Hopewell, New Jersey.</span></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span> </div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photos by: Dan Silva</span></div></div><div style="mso-element: endnote-list;"></div><span style="font-size: small;"><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /></span><div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The earliest claim is found on the website Colonial Hall, on the page <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">John Hart</i> by John Vinci, http://colonialhall.com/hart/hart.php (accessed February 18, 2012) while the latest is found in Lossing, Benson J. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence</i>. New York: Derby & Jackson, 1859 on page 87.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> National Park Service. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence - John Hart</i>. July 4, 2004. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/declaration/bio17.htm <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(accessed February 18, 2012).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Cunningham, John T. Five Who Signed. Trenton: NJ Historical Commission, 1975; 17.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div id="edn4" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref4" name="_edn4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000288 (accessed February 18, 2012) and Cunningham, 17.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div id="edn5" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref5" name="_edn5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[v]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> National Park Service.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><div id="edn6" style="mso-element: endnote;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref6" name="_edn6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[vi]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Ibid.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-83898180158258787732012-02-13T22:59:00.000-05:002012-02-13T22:59:36.115-05:00Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence representing New Jersey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Of those 56, five represented the state of New Jersey. Those men - Abraham Clark, John Hart, Francis Hopkinson, Richard Stockton and John Witherspoon - did not live nearly long enough thereafter to witness the creation of the country which their declaration had made possible. The following sketches of their lives are meant to be brief; much of the information gathered for their presentation was found in sources which pre-date the Civil War (the more recent publications simply take from these eariler publications as well). The sketches are by no means comprehensive, but they are a composition of the information obtained from earlier sources and arranged together in a single location.<br />
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<div align="center"><span style="font-size: x-large;">ABRAHAM CLARK</span></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlnyX1fNcKcfRZA-iRyVOCIdeAA5Ddj_DgVD3H8r-JhQp7Eff5VBTcSSaLYnpF5pcXWZBvzChGtY-4mPSmTq6-xWdBSEdRGz-29CPxVvuhWGAGoRKCKSsBe04MP6N621Mb6xMH0UeIh1I/s1600/ac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlnyX1fNcKcfRZA-iRyVOCIdeAA5Ddj_DgVD3H8r-JhQp7Eff5VBTcSSaLYnpF5pcXWZBvzChGtY-4mPSmTq6-xWdBSEdRGz-29CPxVvuhWGAGoRKCKSsBe04MP6N621Mb6xMH0UeIh1I/s320/ac.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">from Cunningham's book</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Abraham Clark was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey (present-day Roselle) on 15 February 1726, the only child of Thomas Clark and Hannah Winans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He grew up on his father’s farm, becoming a surveyor and a lawyer (though he was never formally trained or accepted as the latter).<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clark married Sarah Hatfield (also spelled Hetfield) in 1748 and fathered ten children over the course of their marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two of Clark’s sons, Aaron (1750 - 1811) and Thomas (c. 1755 - 1789), served the Patriot cause during the war.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Clark held the office of sheriff of Essex County (among others) under the royal government, but around the year 1774 he became openly defiant against the British.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of his patriotic zeal, he was elected as a member of the First Provincial Congress of New Jersey in May 1775.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clark was also elected to serve New Jersey at the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After signing the Declaration of Independence while serving in the latter Congress, Clark wrote to his friend, Colonel Elias Dayton, “It is gone so far that we must now be a free independent State, or a Conquered Country.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Clark had no intentions to be conquered, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He served the Continental Congress until 1778, and returned from 1780 - 1783 and 1786 - 1788.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In between, he served in the New Jersey State Legislature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1786, before leaving the State Legislature, Clark, who was a slave-owner, sponsored a bill titled <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“An Act to prevent the Importation of Slaves . . . , and to authorize the Manumission of them under certain Restrictions and to prevent the Abuse of Slaves.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though the bill passed, Clark’s slaves were only freed upon his wife’s death in 1804.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Clark was one of only 12 men to attend the Annapolis Convention, where he again represented New Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the men only met from 11 - 14 September 1786, they called for all of the states to be represented in a meeting to be held in May in Philadelphia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This resulted in the Convention which drew up the U.S. Constitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clark was elected to the New Jersey Convention to the Constitution, but did not attend due to ill health.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_edn5" name="_ednref5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[v]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clark was opposed to the U.S. Constitution until a Bill of Rights was added.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was elected to the Second and Third Congresses, serving until his death (from sun stroke) on 15 September 1794.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His obituary, which appeared in the 17 September issue of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New-Jersey Journal</i> read, in part:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">On Monday last, very suddenly, the Hon. Abraham Clark, Esq. member from this State, to the Congress of the United States, in the 69th year of his age. In the death of Mr. Clark, his Family has sustained an irretrievable loss, and the state is deprived of a useful citizen, who, for forty years past, has been employed in the most honorable and confidential trusts, which he ever discharged with that disinterestedness, ability, and indefatigable industry, that redounded much to his popularity.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Clark was buried in Rahway Cemetery in Rahway, New Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His stone reads:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Firm and decided as a Patriot</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Zealous & faithful as a servant to the public</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>He loved his country & adhered to her cause</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>in the darkest hours of her struggles</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>against oppression<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div style="mso-element: endnote-list;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJBf1v95I0QMGMHvXsQszK6gnCcRO-jh1xk-BACv2XvnIdCXVqBso5T_SaJOLxiM3r7UV4fiHwezMC-dvvJoH5zJCRR1WV65IWFEYeNCZXSVrAHIMES9WjC8rC4-dcTDAp93cU1noxL3ru/s1600/Clark,+Abraham+for+New+Jersey+-+Rahway+Cemetery,+Rahway,+NJ.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJBf1v95I0QMGMHvXsQszK6gnCcRO-jh1xk-BACv2XvnIdCXVqBso5T_SaJOLxiM3r7UV4fiHwezMC-dvvJoH5zJCRR1WV65IWFEYeNCZXSVrAHIMES9WjC8rC4-dcTDAp93cU1noxL3ru/s400/Clark,+Abraham+for+New+Jersey+-+Rahway+Cemetery,+Rahway,+NJ.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The graves markers of Abraham Clark (r.) and his wife, Sarah (l.) in Rahway Cemetery in Rahway, New Jersey.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo by: Dan Silva</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="mso-element: endnote-list;"><br clear="all" /> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Cunningham, John T.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Five Who Signed</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trenton: NJ Historical Commission, 1975; 18.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Both sons served in General Henry Knox’s Artillery Regiment under Captain Daniel Neil’s Eastern Company, New Jersey Artillery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both men mostly likely served in the Battles of Trenton and Princeton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thomas spent time as a prisoner aboard the retched prison ship <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jersey</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (DSDI), “Abraham Clark.” <https: abraham%20clark.html="" dsdi1776.com="" signers="">, accessed 13 February 2012.<o:p></o:p></https:></span></span></div></div><div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="edn4" style="mso-element: endnote;"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref4" name="_edn4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Clark and his wife owned three slaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div id="edn5" style="mso-element: endnote;"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ednref5" name="_edn5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[v]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Lossing, Benson J. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New York: Derby & Jackson, 1859; 192.</span></span></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div align="center"></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-30253930373434648702011-08-28T21:57:00.001-04:002012-02-13T13:37:45.020-05:00For Love and Country: John and Abigail Adams and the United States of America, part 13<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1801 - 1826</b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span class="name"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The worthy President always appeared as the friend, who had lived himself into one with the wife of his bosom.”<o:p></o:p></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">--An obituary for John Adams </span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Following his defeat for the Presidency, John retired from politics to spend time with his family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He and Abigail stayed in their home, where they frequently hosted their family and friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They kept up with politics and current events, especially because their son, John Quincy, was a diplomat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John also picked up his pen and resumed his correspondence with Thomas Jefferson in 1812. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They wrote about their present lives and the past service they had both performed for their country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had not written to each other in nearly a decade, but with both men out of politics, the friendship resumed and continued to their deaths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">In October 1818, Abigail fell ill once more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John wrote to Jefferson, on October 20<sup>th</sup>, “The dear Partner of my Life for fifty Years as a Wife and for many Years more as a Lover, now lyes in extremis, forbidden to speak or be spoken to” (Cappon, II. 529).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On Monday, October 26, Abigail spoke for the first time in nearly a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She told John that if it was the will of Heaven she was ready to die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was only living for John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After John came down the stairs from the room where Abigail had died, he said, “I wish I could lie down beside her and die too” (qtd. in McCullough 623).<span style="color: red;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>After her death, John was truly heart-broken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In November he wrote to his son, John Quincy, “The separation cannot be so long as twenty separations heretofore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pangs and anguish have not been so great as when you and I embarked for <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region> in 1778” (qtd. in McCullough 624).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John never missed Abigail more than he did after her death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While she was alive, he always had the correspondence with her, even if he could not be with her, and he always could go back home to Abigail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John lost his closest companion and the person who supported him through everything.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">In another letter, this one to his granddaughter Caroline, John wrote, “She never by word or look discouraged me from running all hazards for the salvation of my country’s liberties; she was willing to share with me, and that her children should share with us both, in all the dangerous consequences we had to hazard” (qtd. in Gelles 172).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John knew that Abigail could have protested at any time about John being away, but she always accepted it, and shared with John in all of his failures and successes.<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After Abigail’s death, John continued to spend time with family and friends, and he continued to write to Thomas Jefferson, with <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place>’ letters outnumbering <st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place>’s about four to one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1825, John was able to congratulate his son John Quincy on his election as the sixth President of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On <st1:date day="4" month="7" w:st="on" year="1826">July 4, 1826</st1:date>, the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson lay in his bed at his home in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Monticello</st1:place></st1:state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He died around <st1:time hour="13" minute="0" w:st="on">one o’clock</st1:time> in the afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the same day, around <st1:time hour="18" minute="0" w:st="on">six o’clock</st1:time> in the afternoon, John Adams awakened from his sleep on his deathbed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Told that it was the Fourth of July, <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place> responded, “It is a great day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">good</i> day.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his final breath around six-twenty, <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place> spoke, unaware that his friend had died hours earlier: “Thomas Jefferson lives” (McCullough 647).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An obituary for the late second President read, “The worthy President always appeared as the friend, who had lived himself into one with the wife of his bosom” (Withey 315).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time of his death, people realized <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place>’ commitment to both his wife and his country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although recent biographies have reminded the current generations about <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place>’ service to his country, his love for his wife has often been overlooked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is important for people today to understand the complete portrait of this exceptional man.</div><br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div></div></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-79041425755810371592011-08-26T21:25:00.002-04:002012-02-13T13:41:02.677-05:00For Love and Country: John and Abigail Adams and the United States of America, part 12<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1797 - 1801</b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span class="name"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I think of you and dream of you and long to be with you. But I Suppose </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this must not be yet.”<o:p></o:p></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">--John Adams to Abigail Adams from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>, <st1:date day="11" month="1" w:st="on" year="1797">January 11, 1797</st1:date> (<st1:place w:st="on"><u>Adams</u></st1:place><u> Family Papers</u>,</span> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Correspondence</span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqKpazL-HpfKSr0YI_JLdcJzLcCXsfnIwBZV7qbPfY4fVBSNeOrbVFDzooMA_IgnsTgYfrPZy2td2uhDHUn_LJeXsFdAEoDo4rXkd86QVOQ9ahKL56zQoJ_d7d7NeHGGtdbgRPN9YddSJy/s1600/JohnAdams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqKpazL-HpfKSr0YI_JLdcJzLcCXsfnIwBZV7qbPfY4fVBSNeOrbVFDzooMA_IgnsTgYfrPZy2td2uhDHUn_LJeXsFdAEoDo4rXkd86QVOQ9ahKL56zQoJ_d7d7NeHGGtdbgRPN9YddSJy/s320/JohnAdams.jpg" width="274" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The country found out in December 1796 that John Adams had defeated Thomas Jefferson by a whisker for the office of President of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The highest office in the land now belonged to, arguably, the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>’ leading patriot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The duty he performed in the name of his country, the sacrifices he had made since the 1770s, the many travels, propelled John to the position he had been aiming for, despite his writings to the contrary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The victory for <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place> meant that he would have to spend time away from Abigail once more, but she did not mind. </div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">John was in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>, while Abigail remained in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Quincy</st1:place></st1:city> because she was in ill health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In early January, John wrote home, “I am, with anxious desires to see you, which I fear cannot be gratified before July.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail wrote almost at the same time, “The Cold has been more severe than I can ever before recollect. It has frozen the ink in my pen, and chilld the Blood in my veins, but not the Warmth of my affection for Him for whom my Heart Beats with unabated ardor through all the changes and visisitudes of Life” (<st1:place w:st="on"><u>Adams</u></st1:place><u> Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i> <st1:date day="14" month="1" w:st="on" year="1797">14 Jan 1797</st1:date>, <st1:date day="15" month="1" w:st="on" year="1797">15 Jan 1797</st1:date>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The time away from each other affected John and Abigail as much as it did when John was in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">On <st1:date day="4" month="3" w:st="on" year="1797">March 4, 1797</st1:date>, John Adams was inaugurated second President of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States of America</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail was not there, although she was no less proud of her husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Less than two weeks after the inauguration, John began writing to Abigail about how he missed her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, he wrote, “I can not live without you till October,” which was when Abigail was supposed to arrive in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Days later, he wrote, “I never wanted your Advice and assistance more in my Life.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the beginning of April he became more desperate in his pleas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I have written you before and have only time now to repeat that I pray you to come on,” he wrote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two days later he urged her, “I pray you to come on immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will not live in this State of <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Separation</st1:place></st1:state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave the Place[. . .]to any body or nobody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I care nothing about it – But you, I must and will have” (qtd. in Gelles 128). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He continued with this request every few days in letters to Abigail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">It would be late April before Abigail began her journey to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wrote to John from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Springfield</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:state></st1:place> as she was on her way, “I come to place my head upon your Bosom and to receive and give that consolation which sympathetick hearts alone know how to communicate.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John responded to her before she arrived, without concealing what lay ahead, “You and I are now entering on a new Scene, which will be the most difficult, and least agreable of any in our Lives. I hope the burthen will be lighter to both of Us, when We come together” (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i> <st1:date day="30" month="4" w:st="on" year="1797">30 Apr 1797</st1:date>, <st1:date day="4" month="5" w:st="on" year="1797">4 May 1797</st1:date>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John would face many struggles over the next few years, and Abigail would be there beside him through the grueling times, defending her husband along the way.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">In March 1798, John found out about the French attempts to bribe American diplomats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The events, which became known as the XYZ Affair (the French agents were initially known as X, Y and Z), led to a quasi-war with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In May, with fear of a general war breaking out, <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place> proposed the creation of a Department of the Navy to Congress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Congress approved the plan, and the Navy became one of John’s proudest achievements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Affair and <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place>’ response to it, however, created some animosity in the nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The press published scathing columns against <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This angered both Abigail and John, who felt John should be above such commentary because of his patriotic track record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place> charged that French agents in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> were behind such reports and that they were hoping to tear the new nation apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Abigail’s support, John signed the Alien and Sedition Acts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This decision was probably the worst made by <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place> in his political life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The acts, intended to prevent criticism of the government, were seen by many as unconstitutional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most likely, the Acts cost <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place> re-election to the Presidency in 1800.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite that, John and Abigail stood together behind the decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Abigail back in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Quincy</st1:place></st1:city> for the winter, they exchanged letters on politics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“With respect to what is past,” Abigail wrote at the end of the year, </div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">all was intended for the best, and you have the Satisfaction of knowing that you have faithfully served your generation, that you have done it at the expence of all private Considerations and you do not know whether you would have been a happier Man in private, than you have been in publick Life. The exigencies of the times were such as call'd you forth. You considerd yourself as performing your duty. With these considerations, I think you have not any cause for regret. (<st1:place w:st="on"><u>Adams</u></st1:place><u> Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i> <st1:date day="28" month="12" w:st="on" year="1798">28 Dec 1798</st1:date>)</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Abigail stood by John and his decisions until the end of his political career, which was fast approaching.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Most of the years 1799 and 1800, John and Abigail would spend together, attending to the business of the President and First Lady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On <st1:date day="1" month="11" w:st="on" year="1800">November 1, 1800</st1:date>, John Adams became the first President to live in the President’s House in the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">new city</st1:place></st1:city> of <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The word city is used lightly, as most of the federal buildings, including the President’s House were not yet completed, housing scarcely existed, and shacks housing workers were all over the city, including on the President’s front lawn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail joined John in the middle of November, but their time in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state> would be short-lived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">In December, John found out that he had been defeated for the Presidency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thomas Jefferson won the election and Aaron Burr finished second in the voting, making him Vice President.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a final controversial move, John appointed members of his party to judicial posts in January and February, before <st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place> came into office in March.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Four years later, <st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place> wrote Abigail that he considered those appointments “personally unkind.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail, as always, defended her husband by informing <st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place> that the appointments were perfectly legal and were “not intended to give any personal pain of offence” (Cappon, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 270, 271).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John left <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state> the night before <st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place>’s inauguration on <st1:date day="4" month="3" w:st="on" year="1801">March 4, 1801</st1:date>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He and Abigail would finally get to spend time together, with John out of politics and able to concentrate his time and energy on his family and farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John, in fact, had written to her in January, “I must be farmer John of Stoneyfield [his farm] and nothing more (I hope nothing less) for the rest of my life” (qtd. in McCullough 559). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite some difficult times, John Adams had served his country for over twenty-five years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-71447780982852724132011-08-24T20:54:00.000-04:002011-08-24T20:54:11.365-04:00For Love and Country: John and Abigail Adams and the United States of America, part 11<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1788 - 1796</b><o:p> </o:p></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span class="name"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I long to be at home, but I dare not ask leave to go. The Times are too critical for any Man to quit his Post without the most urgent necessity.”<o:p></o:p></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">--John Adams to Abigail Adams from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>, <st1:date day="1" month="4" w:st="on" year="1794">April 1, 1794</st1:date> (<st1:place w:st="on"><u>Adams</u></st1:place><u> Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The new government of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> was being established as John and Abigail were arriving back home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John served as the first Vice President of the new nation under George Washington.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The capital was first in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:city>, then in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">*</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail was with John for his first four years, setting up the houses and entertaining guests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John was dissatisfied with his position, but he served a second term after being elected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail remained in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:state> for the entire second term as Vice President to save money and to avoid endangering her often fragile health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Upon their arrival back in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:state>, John and Abigail moved into a new home in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Quincy</st1:place></st1:city> (which is now part of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Adams</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">National</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Historical</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Park</st1:placetype></st1:place>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their furniture arrived from <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>, but soon after it was unloaded from the ship and moved into the house, John was on his way to <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In March 1789, John Adams was elected to be the first Vice President of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States of America</st1:place></st1:country-region>, second only to George Washington, the great victorious general of the Revolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He took the oath of office on April 21 in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By May, he was writing to Abigail of the problems he was facing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I have as many difficulties here, as you can have; public and private, but my Life from my Cradle has been a series of difficulties and that series will continue to the Grave,” he wrote on May 14<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two weeks later, he complained that he must live “in a Style much below our Rank and station” because of the high costs in the city (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i> <st1:date day="14" month="5" w:st="on" year="1789">14 May 1789</st1:date>, <st1:date day="30" month="5" w:st="on" year="1789">30 May 1789</st1:date>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A week onwards from there, John wrote to Abigail again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I must now most Seriously request you to come on to me as soon as conveniently you can,” he told Abigail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Never did I want your assistance more than at present” (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence </i><st1:date day="6" month="6" w:st="on" year="1789">6 Jun 1789</st1:date>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only was John occupied setting up his house, entertaining guests and fulfilling the demands of his job, but he was also unwell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail did go to <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state>, and she followed to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> when the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> capital was moved to there in 1790 and would remain with John through most of his first term as Vice President.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">John was never happy with the position of Vice President.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He found it a superfluous position and he aimed for the Presidency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Four years more will be as long as I shall have a Taste for public Life or Journeys to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>,” he wrote to Abigail just before he was re-elected to the Vice Presidency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I am determined in the meantime to be no longer the Dupe, and run into Debt to Support a vain Post which has answered no other End than to make me unpopular” (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i> 28 Dec 1792).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After John’s re-election to the post, Abigail remained in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Quincy</st1:place></st1:city> (as <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Braintree</st1:place></st1:city> had been renamed) throughout the entire term.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John was able to be home half of the time, as Congress was only in session about six months of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The state of their health as well as the high cost of living in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> were both considerations for this choice (Withey 223, McCullough 440).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">During his second term, with Abigail away from him, the letter-writing between them picked up again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John wrote of how he wished to be home with Abigail, but he also wrote detailed directions regarding the running of the farm or other business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She, in turn, wrote of how she missed him and included her own detailed responses of information regarding the business at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Halfway through his second term, John wrote home, “My forces of Mind and Body are nearly spent. Few Years remain for me, if any. In public Life probably fewer still, If I could leave my Country in greater Security, I should retire with Pleasure.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another letter followed, with John wishing to leave, but excusing himself for staying, until at least the fourth of March lest “I shall be charged with deserting the President, forsaking the secretary of State, betraying my friend <span class="name"><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Jay</span></span>, abandoning my Post and sacrificing my Country to a weak Attachment to a Woman and a weaker fondness for my farm” (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i> 16 Jan 1795, 2 Feb 1795).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he had for the past twenty years, John was claiming he was almost done with the political life; he was ready to come home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet he maintained that he had to delay that wish in the name of serving his country that needed him.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The next year, when John found out that George Washington was most likely stepping down after his term was over, John wondered what his duty would demand of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It is no light thing to resolve upon Retirement,” he wrote to Abigail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He continued, “I love my Country too well to shrink from Danger in her service provided I have a reasonable prospect of being able to serve her to her honour and Advantage,” meaning that if he won the Presidency, he must take it, but if he won a lower position, especially the Vice Presidency again under someone he did not agree with, he should refuse in the interest of the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Probability is strong that I shall make a voluntary Retreat and spend the rest of my days in a very humble Style with you,” he wrote to Abigail. “Of one Thing I am very sure. It would be to me the happiest Portion of my whole Life” (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i> <st1:date day="7" month="1" w:st="on" year="1796">7 Jan 1796</st1:date>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was not to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John Adams would be called on to serve his country one last time. </div><br clear="all" /> <br />
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<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"> <div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*</span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> The federal capital was in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:city> from George Washington’s inauguration as President of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> on <st1:date day="4" month="3" w:st="on" year="1789">March 4, 1789</st1:date> until August 1790, when it moved to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The capital moved again in 1800, this time to the newly created city on the banks of the <st1:place w:st="on">Potomac River</st1:place>, which is present-day <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Washington</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">D.C.</st1:state></st1:place></span></div></div></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-50482302949104212762011-08-23T11:07:00.000-04:002011-08-23T11:07:03.199-04:00For Love and Country: John and Abigail Adams and the United States of America, part 10<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1784 - 1788<o:p></o:p></b></div><o:p> </o:p><br />
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span class="name"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Your Letter of the 23d. has made me the happiest Man upon Earth. I am twenty Years younger than I was Yesterday.”<o:p></o:p></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">--John Adams to Abigail Adams from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">The Hague</st1:place></st1:city>, <st1:date day="26" month="7" w:st="on" year="1784">July 26, 1784</st1:date> (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i>)</span> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">in response to Abigail’s letter informing him that she had arrived in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Abigail arrived in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city> on July 21<sup>st</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John Quincy met them on the 30<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John arrived a week later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John recorded the event in his diary briefly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entry for <st1:date day="4" month="8" w:st="on" year="1784">August 4, 1784</st1:date> reads: “Arrived at the Adelphi Buildings and met my Wife and Daughter after a seperation of four Years and a half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed after a Seperation of ten Years, excepting a few Visits” (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Diary</i>). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they last met it was during a period of war and uncertainty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now they were together again, husband and wife with their children, without the stress and politics of home. They were shy when they met again, but the meeting was filled with the emotions of ten years. Afterwards, Abigail wrote to her sister, Mary Cranch, of the moment she and John came together again, “You know, my dear sister, that poets and painters wisely draw a veil over those scenes which surpass the pen of the one and the pencil of the other” (qtd. in McCullough 311, Smith 602).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was all she could say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">In August, the <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place> family moved to <st1:place w:st="on">Auteuil</st1:place> near <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city> in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>, where they would remain until May of the following year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On <st1:date day="26" month="5" w:st="on" year="1785">May 26, 1785</st1:date>, John, Abigail and Abigail 2<sup>nd</sup> arrived in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Less than a week later, John was presented to King George III, a man who less than a decade earlier did not have John’s name on the list of those to be pardoned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they met, the king conveyed to John that he heard that John was not so attached to the manners of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John replied, “I must avow to your Majesty, I have no attachment but to my own country” (qtd. in McCullough 337).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was for thoughts such as those that King George III wanted John Adams hanged years earlier.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The next month saw a flurry of activity for John and Abigail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On June 23<sup>rd</sup>, both John and Abigail were presented to King George III and Queen Charlotte.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The event was long, as the king and queen walked around the room greeting each guest individually, and Abigail was nervous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The on the second of July, John, Abigail and Abigail 2<sup>nd</sup> moved into a house on <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Grosvenor Square</st1:address></st1:street>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the first American legation in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a big step for the <st1:place w:st="on">Adamses</st1:place> and their country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Abigail would be busy with visitors for the remainder of her time in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city> while John would be busy signing treaties with other nations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a foreign ambassador questioned John regarding if he was of English extraction, John replied, “I have not one drop of Blood in my Veins, but what is American.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ambassador responded, “Ay We have seen[. . .]proofs enough of that.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John recorded in his diary that he was flattered and “vain enough to be pleased” with the observation of the foreign ambassador (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Diary</i> 43).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His love and dedication to his country were never in question, even to foreign ministers.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">In August, he signed a treaty of amity and commerce with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Prussia</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In January 1786, he signed a treaty of peace and friendship with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Morocco</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In August, John had to travel to the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Netherlands</st1:place></st1:country-region> to ratify the treaty with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Prussia</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not wanting to be away from John, Abigail went with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon their return, they would remain in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> until May 1787, when John left Abigail to obtain yet another loan from the Dutch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was to return to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city> in June, where he would spend the next two months with Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, Mary and her attendant, Sally Hemmings, who were on their way to meet <st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place> in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city>, as he was the foreign minister there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">As the new year dawned, the <st1:place w:st="on">Adamses</st1:place> were at the end of their time in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On <st1:date day="20" month="2" w:st="on" year="1788">February 20, 1788</st1:date>, John had a farewell audience with King George III.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterwards, he visited <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Holland</st1:place></st1:city> one last time for another loan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In April, John and Abigail were on their way back to <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the time John spent in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>, he traveled over 29,000 miles by land and sea in the name of his country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was more than any leading American of his time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He never once refused a journey, regardless of difficulties or preferences (McCullough 384).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After spending four years with John, Abigail began to appreciate his career and her involvement in it once again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the next few years, as John would continue to be active in politics in the new nation, Abigail would still dislike the traveling and time apart, but she enjoyed the time spent with John and being involved in his career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would have many more years to enjoy. </div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-65810503045903591172011-08-21T22:25:00.000-04:002011-08-21T22:25:33.132-04:00For Love and Country: John and Abigail Adams and the United States of America, part 9<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1782 - 1784</b><o:p> </o:p></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span class="name"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oh When shall I see my dearest Friend.–All in good Time. My dear blue </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hills, ye are the most sublime object in my Imagination. At your reverend Foot,</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>will I spend my old Age, if any, in a calm philosophical Retrospect upon the</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>turbulent scænes of Politicks and War.”<o:p></o:p></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">--John Adams to Abigail Adams from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Amsterdam</st1:place></st1:city>, <st1:date day="22" month="3" w:st="on" year="1782">Mar 22, 1782</st1:date> (Butterfield, IV. 301)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">A month before John would take up residence in the first American legation in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> in the Hôtel des Etats-Unis at <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">the Hague</st1:place></st1:city>, Abigail wrote him a lengthy letter. “Eight years have already past, since you could call yourself an Inhabitant of this State,” she remarked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I shall assume the Signature of Penelope, for my dear Ulysses has already been a wanderer from me near half the term of years that, that Hero was encountering Neptune, Calipso, the Circes and Syrens.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She closed the letter letting him know how she wished to be there to “partake of your Labours and cares, sooth you to rest, and alleviate your anxieties” (Butterfield, IV. 306, 308).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two days after John moved into the Hôtel des Etats-Unis, on <st1:date day="14" month="5" w:st="on" year="1782">May 14, 1782</st1:date>, he wrote Abigail, “I must go to you or you must come to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot live, in this horrid Solitude, which it is to me, amidst Courts, Camps and Crowds” (Butterfield, IV. 323).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This letter would be the first of many calls by John over the next couple of years for Abigail to make the voyage to join him in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">In August, with an American victory seemingly more clear, Abigail wrote to John, “But will you can you think of remaining abroad? Should a peace take place I could not forgive you half a years longer absence… I begin to think there is a moral evil in this Seperation, for when we pledged ourselves to each other did not the holy ceremony close with, ‘What God has joined Let no Man put assunder’” (Butterfield, IV. 358).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In September, she wrote that she had started to feel even more pained at the separation day after day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She let John know, “To say I am happy here, I cannot, but it is not an idle curiosity that make me wish to hazard the Watery Element. I much more sincerely wish your return. Could I hope for that during an other year I would endeavour to wait patiently the Event” (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i> <st1:date day="5" month="9" w:st="on" year="1782">5 Sep 1782</st1:date>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In October, Abigail shifted her request.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I resolve with myself, to do as you wish,” she wrote. </div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">If I can add to your Happiness, is it not my duty? If I can soften your Cares, is it not my duty? If I can by a tender attention and assiduity prolong your most valuable Life, is it not my duty?[. . . ]Yet if you do not consent so much is my Heart intent upon it, that your refusal must be couched in very soft terms, and must pledge yourself to return speedily to me[. . . .]I feel loth you should quit your station untill an Honorable peace is Established, and you have added that to your other Labours. Tis no small satisfaction to me that my country is like to profit so largely by my sacrifices. (<st1:place w:st="on"><u>Adams</u></st1:place><u> Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i> <st1:date day="8" month="10" w:st="on" year="1782">8 Oct 1782</st1:date>)</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Again, Abigail is willing to do whatever John wishes; she will love him no less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She will be satisfied if he returns to her and she will be satisfied if he continues to serve his country well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">On October 25<sup>th</sup>, John and Abigail’s wedding anniversary, Abigail wrote to John that eighteen years have passed yet their fire still “Burns with unabating fervour, old ocean has not Quenched it, nor old Time smootherd it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She missed John dearly, but she also supported his position and where it took him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“How dearly have I paid for a titled Husband,” she wrote in the same letter. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Should I wish you less wise, that I might enjoy more happiness? I cannot find that in my Heart” (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John wrote only once to her in November and twice in December.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sentiments were few, but in his diary on November 13 he marked an anniversary: “This is the Anniversary of my quitting home. Three Years are compleated. Oh when shall I return?” (<st1:place w:st="on"><u>Adams</u></st1:place><u> Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Diary</i>).</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">On December 23<sup>rd</sup>, Abigail wrote a touching letter to John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I look back to the early days of our acquaintance; and Friendship, as to the days of Love and Innocence; and with an undiscribable pleasure I have seen near a score of years roll over our Heads, with an affection heightned and improved by time,” she wrote, letting him know that her love was as strong as ever for John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ending the letter, Abigail recalled a conversation she had a few days prior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The person asked Abigail if she would have consented to John’s appointment if she knew he would be gone so long. “If I had known Sir that <span class="name"><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Mr. A.</span></span> could have affected what he has done,” she wrote, “I would not only have submitted to the absence I have endured; painfull as it has been; but I would not have opposed it” (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, the intense love shared by Abigail and John was entangled with the love of their country, and there was no giving up one for the other in their minds.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The new year would send John off to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">The Hague</st1:place></st1:city> once again, after he spent the end of 1782 signing the preliminary peace treaty with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Great Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In August, John and John Quincy went back to Paris and on September 3, 1783, the final peace treaty between the new United States and Great Britain, the Treaty of Paris, was signed by David Hartley representing the King of England and Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams representing the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">With the treaty signed, John and John Quincy traveled to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> to visit <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city>, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oxford</st1:place></st1:city>, and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bath</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city>, John wrote to Abigail, “I cannot be happy, nor tolerable without you” (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i> <st1:date day="8" month="11" w:st="on" year="1783">8 Nov 1783</st1:date>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the letters John had sent to Abigail during the year, he had requested her to come to <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> to be with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her responses, Abigail attempted to persuade John to come home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she realized that was not likely to happen, Abigail tried to excuse herself by claiming she did not think she could make the voyage or that she was not fit for the courts of <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In December, Abigail made one last effort to bring John home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If you felt yourself under obligations during the dangers and perilous of war,” she wrote him on the thirteenth, “to sacrifice, your Health your ease and safety, to the independance and freedom of your Country, those obligations cannot now be equally binding” (<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i> 7 Dec 1783).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">She knew there was no convincing him though, and in February she wrote again to John, this time of her apprehensions about leaving her Country, her family and her friends to make a long, dangerous and harsh journey across the <st1:place w:st="on">Atlantic</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“But on the other hand,” she wrote, “I console myself with the Idea of being joyfully and tenderly received by the best of Husbands and Friends, and of meeting a dear and long absent <span class="name"><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Son” </span></span>(<u>Adams Family Papers</u>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Correspondence</i> 11 Feb 1784).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was with this consolation that Abigail would set sail from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city> with her daughter Abigail 2<sup>nd</sup> to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> on <st1:date day="20" month="6" w:st="on" year="1784">June 20, 1784</st1:date>. </div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-61970316957137417312011-08-20T19:34:00.000-04:002011-08-20T19:34:13.894-04:00For Love and Country: John and Abigail Adams and the United States of America, part 8<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1779 - 1781<o:p></o:p></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I hope this will be the last Seperation, We shall suffer from each other, </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for any Length of Time.”<o:p></o:p></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">--John Adams to Abigail Adams off <st1:place w:st="on">Cape Ann</st1:place>, November 1779 (Butterfield, III. 235)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On <st1:date day="27" month="9" w:st="on" year="1779">September 27, 1779</st1:date>, Congress appointed John Adams to negotiate treaties of peace and commerce with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Great Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did not, of course, turn down the appointment, and Abigail did not ask him to stay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The country needed him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John’s second trip to <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> was far more successful than his first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John spent his time negotiating treaties of commerce, friendship and peace with European nations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail worried, as usual, about John’s health and safety, and she missed him, but she was happy as she could be without him as he was successful in the name of the country. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John was successful in negotiating treaties of commerce with some European nations, as well as obtaining loans for the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>. </div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span>On <st1:date day="15" month="11" w:st="on" year="1779">November 15, 1779</st1:date>, John boarded <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Sensible</i> again, this time with John Quincy and Charles, and headed across the <st1:place w:st="on">Atlantic Ocean</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again Abigail stayed in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:state> as the couple felt it was too expensive and dangerous for her to go along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A leak in the ship forced <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Sensible</i> to stop at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">El Ferrol</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Spain</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of spending his time doing nothing while waiting for the ship to be repaired, John set off for <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region> overland across northern <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Spain</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trip was long and arduous, over many mountain ranges including the Cantabrians, the Basque and the <st1:place w:st="on">Pyrenees</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <st1:place w:st="on">Adamses</st1:place> would not arrive in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city> until <st1:date day="9" month="2" w:st="on" year="1780">February 9, 1780</st1:date>, about two months after they left <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">El Ferrol</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John took time out to write to Abigail, “After this wandering Way of Life is passed I hope to return, to my best friend and pass the Remainder of our Days in Quiet” (Butterfield, III. 252).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>While John was in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>, Abigail would write to him concerning the war in the Colonies, the health of family, gossip about friends and officials, weather, and business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail also wrote to him requesting goods, usually when John was in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After John would ship items such as pins and clothing items to Abigail, she would sell them for extra money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were, of course, also filled with loving sentiments and wishes to be together again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“May Heaven permit you and me to enjoy the cool Evening of Life, in Tranquility, undisturbed by the Cares of Politicks or War,” John wrote in June 1780, just as the Congress in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> was commissioning him to raise a loan in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Netherlands</st1:place></st1:country-region>. “And above all,” he continued, </div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">with the sweetest of all Reflections, that neither Ambition, nor Vanity, nor Avarice, nor Malice, nor Envy, nor Revenge, <span class="add"><span style="color: #666666;">nor Fear</span></span> nor any base Motive, or sordid Passion through the whole Course of this mighty Revolution, and the rapid impetuous Course of great and terrible Events that have attended it, have drawn Us aside from the Line of our Duty and the Dictates of our Consciences!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Butterfield, III. 367)</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">A month later, John would take his two sons from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city> to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Amsterdam</st1:place></st1:city> to raise a loan for the American cause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail wrote to John, exclaiming how happy she was that such an important charge was given to John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It would not become me to write the full flow of my Heart upon this occasion,” she wrote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the last six years, John and Abigail had seen each other for about nine months in all, yet they still both had an intense love for each other, and both were delighted in John’s position and accomplishments for the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While still in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city> at a dinner John had a conversation with Marie Grand, the wife of Ferdinand Grand, who was the French banker for American funds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John remarked that sometimes it was a citizen’s duty to sacrifice his everything for the good of the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marie Grand commended the sentiment, but found it hard to believe as true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She remarked to John that loving one’s wife and children was a natural feeling that would “operate more powerfully” than the love one had for his country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John responded to Marie Grand that not only were his feelings truthful, but his wife felt the same way as he did (McCullough 206).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although many people may not have understood the feelings that John and Abigail had for each other and for their country, they understood each other perfectly.<span style="color: red;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The time apart, however, resulted in loneliness and heartache.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My Dearest Friend,” Abigail began a letter at the end of December 1780 as they began almost every letter that they wrote to each other, </div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">How much is comprised in that short sentance? How fondly can I call you mine, bound by every tie, which consecrates the most inviolable Friend-ship, yet seperated by a cruel destiny, I feel the pangs of absence some-times too sensibly for my own repose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are times when the heart is peculiarly awake to tender impressions…It is then that I feel myself alone in the wide world, without any one to tenderly care for me, or lend me an assisting hand through the difficulties that surround me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Butterfield, IV. 50)</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>John would spend most of the year 1781 in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Netherlands</st1:place></st1:country-region>, traveling only briefly to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city> in July.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail worried about his health in the damp climate of the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John, for his part, told Abigail he wished for nothing more than to be home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In May he wrote, “If I could get back again I would never more leave the Country, let who would beg, scold, or threaten.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John would not be in his country again for seven years, but once he got back, he would never leave it again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In July, John wrote Abigail again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time, he wished for wings so “that I might fly and bury all my Cares at the Foot of Pens Hill” where the <st1:place w:st="on">Adamses</st1:place> home was (Butterfield, IV. 122, 170).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail, who had not received a letter from John in some time, wrote in August, “I turn to the loved pages of former days and read them with delight. They are all my comfort, all my consolation in the long long interval of time that I have not received a line” (Butterfield, IV. 191).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John and Abigail loved each other through their letters for those seven years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They shared views on politics, their fears, their ideas and their hopes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They depended on each other for comfort and love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their letters to each other were everything (Withey 58).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would take three more years of loving through letters before they were able to see each other again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In ten years, save for the nine months John was in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:state> in 1779, John and Abigail only knew each other through their letters.<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">In October 1781, the Americans and French would strike a huge victory at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Yorktown</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">Virginia</st1:state></st1:place> when the British forces commanded by Lord Cornwallis surrendered after a siege of almost three weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the surrender of about 7,500 soldiers, approximately three-quarters of the British forces remained available on the continent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The British still maintained a large force in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state> and smaller forces throughout the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was not clear to either side that the end of the war was near.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state> believed it would continue on for at least another year, if not longer.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>John was to be a key player in the signing of the peace treaty between <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Great Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region> and the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-73759951427154053002011-08-09T21:45:00.000-04:002011-08-09T21:45:03.168-04:00For Love and Country: John and Abigail Adams and the United States of America, part 7<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1777 - 1779</b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“You wish you had ventured with me–I wish you was here–no I don’t, </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I wish I was there.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: right;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">--John Adams to Abigail Adams from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Passy</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">France</st1:country-region></st1:place>, <st1:date day="10" month="12" w:st="on" year="1778">Dec 10, 1778</st1:date> (Butterfield, III. 134)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></i>John was in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> from 1778 to 1788, except for a brief three-month return to <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:state> in 1779 (as well as three more months for travel time).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail did not arrive in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> until July 1784.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The six years of almost total absence strained the marriage briefly, especially during the first year and a half before John came back to <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year and a half was particularly difficult for Abigail because she was not receiving correspondence from John on a regular basis the way she had when he was in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also more treacherous to travel over the ocean, particularly during war time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interception and loss of letters was far more common at sea than on<span style="color: red;"> </span>land during this period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gaps in communication led Abigail to gloominess and complaints.<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">On <st1:date day="27" month="11" w:st="on" year="1777">November 27, 1777</st1:date>, John Adams was elected by Congress to be a commissioner to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>, along with Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John spent the remainder of his time before his voyage with Abigail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On <st1:date day="14" month="2" w:st="on" year="1778">February 14, 1778</st1:date>, John boarded the frigate <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Boston</i></st1:place></st1:city> with his son, John Quincy, to sail for <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail was aware that his position was an important one both for the country and for John’s career. The next day she wrote to John Thaxter, a former law clerk of John’s and a tutor to the <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place>’ children, “Your Friend might be more extensively usefull to his Country in this Department at this perticuliar time, than in any other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I resign my own personal felicity and look for my satisfaction in the Consciousness of having discharged my duty to the publick” (Butterfield, II. 390).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John and Abigail were willing to suffer some personal unhappiness for the sake of John’s political career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their love was strong enough to endure the separations, and their belief in the revolution and their formidable sense of public duty allowed their marriage and their country to survive (Withey 75).</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Other Congressmen declined to stay longer than one or two terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other men representing the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> overseas cared little for their families, or simply did not have a family (Benjamin Franklin is a good example of the former, Thomas Jefferson of the latter after the passing of his wife).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John, however, accepted every appointment, near and far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail never attempted to convince him to decline any public position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The couple was committed to the country and its cause and John was tied to its failure or success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should the revolution fail, John would be sought by the British and tried for treason, the penalty being death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But should the revolution succeed, John would be a<span style="color: red;"> </span>hero for his service, exalted and rewarded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, John could have declined appointments and remained in service to his country in some other way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John, however, felt that if his country asked him to serve in a particular capacity, he must do his best in that role, and Abigail agreed wholeheartedly.<span style="color: red;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">As John was leaving for France, the couple could not foresee that they would spend most of the next ten years apart from each other, suffering private wants for the sake of the public good (Withey 115).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While Abigail was cheerless at John’s absence, she took pleasure in knowing that she was John’s best friend and confidant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail kept abreast of events by writing correspondence to many people, including members of Congress, her good friend Mercy Otis Warren, and political figures. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They would keep her informed of the events in the States, in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> and with John, especially when his communication was wanting, which would become often (Gelles 26).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Correspondence that John and Abigail sent to each other while John was in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> faced the dangers of interception or loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also took time for letters to reach their destination, as they could only travel as fast as the rider carrying them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The time and the dangers were nothing compared to what the couple would face after John boarded the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Boston</i></st1:place></st1:city> to sail for <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Delays were the norm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Storms kept ships in port; if an enemy ship came in for an attack, the letter-carrying ship usually threw all letters overboard to avoid the interception of sensitive material and letters were simply lost. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, even in peacetime, it took a letter months to cross the <st1:place w:st="on">Atlantic</st1:place> instead of the days it took to go from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John, being “so sensible of the Difficulty of conveying Letters safe,” was afraid to write anything more to Abigail then to tell her that “after all the Fatigues and Dangers of my Voyage, and Journey, I am here in Health” (Butterfield, III. xxviii, 9).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of the letters John had written to Abigail while at sea were most likely lost for Abigail heard nothing of John for over two months.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">As September rolled around, Abigail had scarcely heard from John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The little she knew about him was what she heard through friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wrote to John Thaxter in the beginning of September that she had only heard from her husband twice, and both of those letters came in April.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the end of that month, Abigail wrote again to John; she acknowledged that four vessels bound from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region> to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city> had been captured, supposing that some letters from John had been lost in the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If I had realized before you left me that the intercourse between us would have been so hazardous,” Abigail wrote to John on the twenty-ninth of September, “I fear my magninimnity would have faill’d me”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Butterfield, III. 94-95).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail was impatient and nervous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was also upset that John had gone, or that she had not gone with him and let him know this in the letters she wrote to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By November, Abigail would receive three letters from John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I cannot discribe the Effect they had upon me,” she wrote of his letters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Cheerfullness and tranquility took place of grief and anxiety” (Butterfield, III. 109).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">John was to receive the letters of complaint from Abigail the following month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In what would be the only time in any of the letters that either John or Abigail showed any anger towards the other, John would send Abigail two separate letters chiding her for her complaints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“For Heavens Sake, my dear dont indulge a Thought that it is possible for me to neglect, or forget all that is dear to me in this World,” John wrote on December 2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It is impossible for me to write as I did in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What should I write?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not safe to write any Thing.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John wrote to her again on December 18<sup>th</sup> after receiving another letter from Abigail complaining that John had not been writing enough, or with enough feeling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time, he responded more heatedly,</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">This is the third Letter I have recd. in this complaining style. the former two I have not answer'd.–I had Endeavour'd to answer them.–I have wrote several answers, but upon a review, they appear'd to be such I could not send. One was angry, another was full of Greif, and the third with Melancholy, so that I burnt them all….Am I not wretched Enough, in this Banishment, without this….I beg you would never more write to me in such a strain for it really makes me unhappy.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">He closed his letter, however, on a more loving note.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Be assured that no time nor place, can change my heart…& that I write to you so often as my Duty will permit” (Butterfield, III. 124, 138).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The time it took for letters to travel allowed for some of Abigail’s complaints to come through after John had sent his two letters in December.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In February 1779, the final angry letter between the two would be sent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“For Gods sake,” John wrote, “never reproach me again with not writing or with Writing Scrips [scraps].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your Wounds are too deep” (Butterfield, III. 174).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail and John never mentioned the incident again, nor did the letter-writing relationship come close to breaking down ever again.</div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In February, John learned that Benjamin Franklin had been appointed minister to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>, </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">superceding the joint commission that <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place> was serving on.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">*</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With no further instructions sent to </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">him, John wrote home to tell Abigail joyously that he would soon be making his way back to her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Abigail responded days before John was to board the French frigate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Sensible</i> back to Boston, that </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">the ship<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“may bring me comfortable tidings from my dear dear Friend whose welfare is so essential to</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> my happiness that it is entwined round my Heart, and cannot be impared or seperated from it without</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> rendering it assunder” (Butterfield, III. 200).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She knew, however, that John would not remain at </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">home for long if his country needed him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John arrived back in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city> on <st1:date day="3" month="8" w:st="on" year="1779">August 3, 1779</st1:date>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A difficult </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">time, both for the <st1:place w:st="on">Adamses</st1:place>’ marriage and for the nation, had passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The separation, however, would </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">continue for a few more years as John would only be at home with his dear friend for a couple of </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">months before his country required his services again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span> <br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><br clear="all" /> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*</span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> John Adams was appointed to replace Silas Deane to be a joint commissioner of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region> with Benjamin Franklin to work at attaining an alliance with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place> arrived, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Franklin</st1:place></st1:city> had already obtained the alliance with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place>’ commission was dissolved and no further instructions were sent to him.</span></div></div></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-73190186150277559982011-08-07T20:05:00.000-04:002011-08-07T20:05:52.190-04:00For Love and Country: John and Abigail Adams and the United States of America, part 6<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1776 - 1777<o:p></o:p></b> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“O the fatal Ideas which are connected with the sound [of cannon]. </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How many of our dear country men must fall?”<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">--Abigail Adams to John Adams, <st1:date day="4" month="3" w:st="on" year="1776">March 4, 1776</st1:date> (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 353)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The new year would be a significant year for the American Colonies and John was a big part of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In July, the Colonies declared themselves independent from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Great Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region> in a document that John assisted in drafting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was directly involved in the creation of the country which he loved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The highs of the first part of 1776 - the evacuation of the British from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city> and the signing of the Declaration of Independence among them - were dampened by military defeats in the field in the second half of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Military victories by the Americans in the last week of 1776 and early 1777 raised the spirits of the country again, but the ups and downs would continue for both the country and John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In July 1777, Abigail gave birth to a stillborn child and in September John and the rest of the Congress had to evacuate <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> with the British on their heels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Americans had another substantial military victory in October, but the British still occupied the capital of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through all of the events, John remained in the service of his country and in communication with his wife.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>John left <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Braintree</st1:place></st1:city> on <st1:date day="21" month="1" w:st="on" year="1776">January 21, 1776</st1:date> and arrived in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> on February 8<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail’s letters to him, as usual, would be filled with details of family and friends, small amounts of intelligence and accounts of events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From March 2<sup>nd</sup> through the 4<sup>th</sup>, there was much action surrounding <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Dorchester</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Heights</st1:placetype></st1:place>, just outside of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail again went up to Penn’s Hill to “hear the amazing roar of cannon” and “see every shell which was thrown” (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 353).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The British would leave <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Boston</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Harbor</st1:placetype></st1:place> shortly thereafter.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The victory confirmed to John that he was doing the right thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My own [interests] have never been considered by me, in Competition with theirs [his fellow Citizens],” he wrote to Abigail after <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Dorchester</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Heights</st1:placetype></st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My Ease, my domestic Happiness, my rural Pleasures, my Little Property, my personal Liberty, my Reputation, my Life, have little Weight and ever had, in my own Estimation, in Comparison of the great Object of my Country” (Butterfield, I. 363).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John was never in doubt that he was making the right choice in serving his country, and the victory reaffirmed that sacrifices were required in order to secure the freedom of the country, however long it might take.<span style="color: red;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Abigail was having a hard time, however, without John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She missed him and did not think she was competent enough to handle all of the chores related to the farm, land, and household and whatever items of John’s that needed to be cared for (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 375).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail, however, never asked John to quit his public life and return to his private.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her letters, she now signed herself “Portia” after the long-suffering wife of Brutus, the ancient Roman statesman (McCullough 26), implying<span style="color: red;"> </span>that just as Portia bore all of Brutus’ fortunes, good and bad, Abigail would likewise do with John. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>John was appointed to a committee that would draft a “declaration of independency.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the many hours John spent in Congress, he thought often about Abigail, sometimes writing while working.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Is there no Way for two friendly Souls, to converse together, altho the Bodies are 400 Miles off?–Yes by Letter–But I want a better Communication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to hear you think, or to see your Thoughts,” he wrote to her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Instead of domestic Felicity, I am destined to public Contentions.” (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 400, 399).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail, never at a loss for words, replied, “All domestick pleasures and injoyments are absorbed in the great and important duty you owe your Country.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And never forgetting to let John know how much she missed him, she added, “Thus do I supress every wish, and silence every Murmer, acquiesceing in a painfull Seperation from the companion of my youth, and the Friend of my Heart” (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 402).</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Although Abigail was usually more sentimental and showed her love for John in words more often than he did, he was not short on his expressions of love for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Among all the Disappointments, and Perplexities, which have fallen to my share in Life, nothing has contributed so much to support my Mind, as the choice Blessing of a Wife,” he wrote to her at the end of May. “This has been the cheering Consolation of my Heart, in my most solitary, gloomy and disconsolate Hours.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John let her know how often he thought of her and how he wanted to be with her and the children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I want to take a Walk with you in the Garden–to go over to the Common–the Plain–the Meadow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to take Charles in one Hand and John upon my left, to view the Corn Fields, the orchards, &c.” (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 412, 413).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such emotion shown by John in his letters delighted Abigail.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The letters meant so much to each of them, and with events changing rapidly around them, John purchased a blank folio book at the store of William Trickett, a stationer on Front Street in Philadelphia, and began to make copies of all of his letters (Butterfield, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Book</i> 135).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail had already been saving all of John’s letters, and John had been saving all of Abigail’s, but with the outbreak of war, the post would not be as reliable, and John did not want to lose a single letter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The letters had intense sentimental value, but John and Abigail may have also sensed that they were in the process of watching and making history.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After the Declaration of Independence was signed in July 1776, John wrote a letter home to Abigail letting her know the good news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail wrote back, “Tho your Letters never fail to give me pleasure, be the subject what it will, yet it was greatly heightened by the prospect of the future happiness and glory of our Country.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also informed him that she and the children were sick from the smallpox inoculation they had received (Butterfield, II. 46).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John was upset at the news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did not like that Abigail did not inform him of the family receiving the dangerous inoculation and he was not happy that he was not there with his family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He could not leave, though, and he let her know that now, more than ever, he was needed in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> for the good of the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail would understand and would explain that was why she did not tell him sooner (Butterfield, II. 50).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, John and Abigail both sacrificed for their country, but their commitment to each other remained as strong as ever.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The time away wore on each of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail spent stormy days reading old letters John had sent her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She spent her nights before falling asleep thinking about John and when they could be together again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John, for his part, also reflected on time he spent with Abigail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Month after month he would write of the sadness he had of being away from her, especially leaving her in January, knowing she was pregnant again (John). “When I reflect upon the Prospect before me of so long an Absence from all that I hold dear in this World[. . .]it makes me melancholy,” John wrote in February.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And his feelings continued into March; “I want to wander, in my Meadows, to ramble over my Mountains, and to sit in Solitude, or with her who has all my Heart, by the side of the Brooks” (Butterfield, II. 153, 176).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By summer, John was at a loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He missed home and he felt as if he was accomplishing nothing in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>. “Next Month completes Three Years, that I have been devoted to the Servitude of Liberty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A slavery it has been to me, whatever the World may think of it,” John wrote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“To a Man, whose Attachments to his Family, are as strong as mine, Absence alone from such a Wife and such Children, would be a great sacrifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in addition to this Seperation, what have I not done?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What have I not suffered?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What have I not hazarded?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Butterfield, II. 153, 276-277).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, he was to find out that Abigail was sick again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John wrote her again, expressing his concern and wishing he could be near her, even if he could only say a few kind words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wished that he could relieve her of all her pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wanted to be at her side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bad news would follow again, less than a week later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On <st1:date day="16" month="7" w:st="on" year="1777">July 16, 1777</st1:date>, John received a letter from Abigail explaining that she was okay, but the child had been stillborn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John was grateful that Abigail had made it through, but was devastated at the loss of their child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, John did not leave <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> and his country, and Abigail did not ask him to do any such thing.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As sorrow struck their lives and things were becoming more intense in the Colonies, John wrote to Abigail as much as to future readers. “Posterity!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will never know, how much it cost the present Generation, to preserve your Freedom!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope you will make a good Use of it” (Butterfield, II. 153, 224).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He kept Abigail informed on the events surrounding him, and she did the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Letters between the two included their usual expressions of love for each other, but also contained military maneuvers, politics, and news about friends, family and other important people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their relationship and their country were woven into their letters.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In September, the Congress was forced to evacuate <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">York</st1:place></st1:city>, as the British moved in and occupied the Colonial capital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John, in his letters, as he had always done, reported to Abigail the layout of towns he passed through and the people that inhabited them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>October marked thirteen years of marriage for John and Abigail, three of which they spent apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reflecting on this, Abigail wrote to John that she has only endured the separation because she believed John was doing the right thing in serving his country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She hoped the present generation would see his sacrifices and that future generations would understand what he was doing and why he was doing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was why she was willing to give him up for so long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither was aware that soon he would be much further away for a much longer time.</div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-1313202110809905742011-08-01T22:56:00.000-04:002011-08-01T22:56:30.118-04:00For Love and Country: John and Abigail Adams and the United States of America, part 5<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1775 - 1776<o:p></o:p></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Oh that I was a soldier!–I will be.–I am reading military Books.–Every Body </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">must and will, and shall be a soldier.”<o:p></o:p></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">--John Adams to Abigail Adams, <st1:date day="26" month="5" w:st="on" year="1775">May 26, 1775</st1:date> (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 207)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From May 1775 to October 1776, John was home for a total of about two months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He spent the rest of his time at the Continental Congress in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> where he was among the few men who were trying to decide the future of the American Colonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail served her country these years as well, mostly assisting soldiers in the area.<span style="color: red;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>In a letter that John wrote to Abigail he noted that his health, as well as her health, should be hazarded for the cause of the country (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 213).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail did not disagree. They both knew that either one of them, or both, at any moment, might face the prospect of death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the same time, they must do what was their duty to their Country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">On <st1:date day="19" month="4" w:st="on" year="1775">April 19, 1775</st1:date>, British soldiers and Colonial militiamen exchanged shots on <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lexington</st1:place></st1:city> green, about thirty miles to the north of the <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place> home in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Braintree</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later in the day, the militiamen chased the British from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Concord</st1:place></st1:city>, two miles further up the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Congress was to meet in May.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I wish you was nearer to us,” Abigail wrote despairingly on the 24<sup>th</sup> of May.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We know not what a day will bring forth, nor what distress one hour may throw us into” (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 206).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In June, while John was proposing that George Washington be chosen as Commander of the Continental forces, Abigail wrote him requesting that he be as careful as he possibly could while doing the duty that he owed to his country, “That consideration alone prevailed with me to consent to your departure, in a time so perilous and so hazardous to your family” (Butterfield, I. 217).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On June 17<sup>th</sup>, Abigail could hear a battle in the distance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She and her son, John Quincy, went to the top of nearby Penn’s Hill where, at about twelve miles distant, they could clearly see the smoke of war and men rowing in the harbor between <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Charlestown</st1:place></st1:city> and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were watching the Battle of Bunker Hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She could not see the many casualties, but when the reports came in, she reported them in a letter to John, who, in turn, informed the Congress, using the report to argue that it was now time for the Colonies to break from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region> (Coit 3).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail would continue to update John about events, always assuming that he would have better and more up-to-date information from other sources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Your Description of the Distresses of the worthy Inhabitants of Boston, and the other Sea Port Towns, is enough to melt an Heart of stone,” John would reply back in the beginning of July.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To which he added,</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">Our Consolation must be this, my dear, that Cities may be rebuilt, and a People reduced to Poverty, may acquire fresh Property: But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Liberty</st1:place></st1:city> once lost is lost forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the people once surrender their share in Legislature, and their Right of defending the Limitations upon the Government, and of resisting every Encroachment upon them, they can never regain it. (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 241)</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">John was willing to lose everything - his possessions, property, even entire cities and towns in his beloved country - in order to maintain liberty and freedom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He feared if the Colonists lost even a small part of their rights they would never get them back. </div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This, of course, was no consolation for Abigail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I have not ventured to inquire one word of you about your return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not know whether I ought to wish for it,” she wrote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was always hoping for his return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I wish I could come and see you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never suffer myself to think you are about returning soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can it, will it bee?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May I ask?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May I wish for it?” (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 232, 240).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would be her recurring thought any time John was away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She knew he had to go and never tried to hold him back, but once John was gone, Abigail always wanted him back immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It hurt her even further when John wrote infrequently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail sent him letters sometimes complaining of the short and unsentimental letters she had received from John, although she knew he was busy.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>John would return shortly in August (for about two weeks), after a three-month absence, but it would be for only a short time, as Congress was to meet again in September.<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the time John was away, Abigail allowed the local militia to practice movements in her yard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She provided food and drink, and even melted down her pewter utensils to form into musket balls (<u>John</u>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail sacrificed her personal possessions and her time to do what she thought was her duty to her country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When John was preparing to leave for Phialdelphia at the end of August, Abigail wrote to Mercy Otis Warren, “I find I am obliged to summons all my patriotism to feel willing to part with him again” (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 276).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She loved John so much that she did not want him to leave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had to remind herself that although John would be absent from her at home, he would be doing his duty by serving his country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place>’ biographer, David McCullough, wrote that being apart under these circumstances was the paradox of their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though they would never become comfortable being apart from each other, neither would have it any other way; they each knew John must do whatever he could for their country (144).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John was truly torn between the two throughout his life, however, because Abigail never once asked John to choose between her and the country, his conflicting emotions were somewhat eased.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As the second Continental Congress was winding down in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>, John wrote to Abigail that he would never leave her to go to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> again, but would go if she came with him. This, they probably both understood, was a lie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John wrote to her, “Whom God has joined together ought not to be put asunder so long with their own Consent” (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 332).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, he was being somewhat dramatic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At any time he could have turned down his election to Congress and stayed with his wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That would not be fulfilling his duty however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail understood, writing to John, “I hope the publick will reap what I sacrifice,” about three weeks before he was to arrive back in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Braintree</st1:place></st1:city>, where he would stay for a month. (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 329).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These early years that John and Abigail spent apart found both of them wanting each other’s company, but also wanting to serve their country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was during this time that they received a window into what they would face over the next decade.</div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-84441697066813621042011-07-29T00:10:00.000-04:002011-07-29T00:10:42.669-04:00For Love and Country: John and Abigail Adams and the United States of America, part 4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1764 - 1774<o:p></o:p></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“We live my dear Soul, in an Age or Tryal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What will be the Consequence I know not.”<o:p></o:p></i></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">--John Adams to Abigail Adams, <st1:date day="12" month="5" w:st="on" year="1774">May 12, 1774</st1:date> (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 107)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From the middle of the 1760s, John and Abigail, as well as many others in the American Colonies, grew conscious of the problems that might occur with the actions of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Great Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What the <st1:place w:st="on">Adamses</st1:place> were not aware of was that the crisis would take John from his family and put his life at risk.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The British passed the Stamp Act in 1765, creating a stir in the Colonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was repealed only months after its passage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the interim, John was directly affected, as all of his law documents were subject to the tax.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Business in the courts slowed to a trickle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John joined an organization at this time that would later call themselves the Sons of Liberty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At meetings politics were discussed, and John would inform Abigail of the sentiments of the men in the meetings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both John and Abigail started to become aware that the Colonies and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region> were heading towards an impasse (Coit 3).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following year, 1767, the Townshend Acts were passed in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The acts taxed items such as <span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">lead, paper, paint, glass, and tea, but unlike the Stamp Act, only imported items were taxed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Sons of Liberty, led by Samuel Adams, called for a boycott on these items from Britain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Townshend Acts were repealled in 1770, except for the tax on tea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Throughout this period, John Adams was involved with the Sons of Liberty and his opinions were shaped by those of the other members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail was influenced by John when he brought those opinions home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a letter written on December 5, 1773 to her good friend Mercy Otis Warren, Abigail clearly shows that, if not of her own mind and opinion, she was surely influenced in her opinion (as well as highly informed) of current events by her husband and their close friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wrote,<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">The Tea that bainfull weed is arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great and I hope Effectual opposition has been made to the landing of it[. . . .]The flame is kindled and like Lightning it catches from Soul to Soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great will be the devastation if not timely quenched or allayed by some more Lenient Measures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Altho the mind is shocked at the Thought of sheding Humane Blood, more Especially the Blood of our Countrymen, and a civil War is of all Wars, the most dreadfull Such is the present Spirit that prevails, that if once they are made desperate Many, very Many of our Heroes will spend their lives in the cause, With the Speech of Cato in their Mouths, ‘What a pitty it is, that we can dye but once to save our Country.’<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span>(Butterfield, I. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>88)<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The next day, angry residents of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city>, organized by Sam Adams and the Sons of Liberty, boarded the British tea ships that were in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Boston</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Harbor</st1:placetype></st1:place> and dumped the tea overboard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John predicted the dire repercussions of the actions for the colonists shortly before the British acted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Town of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city>, for ought I can see, must suffer Martyrdom: It must expire: And our principal Consolation is that it dies in a noble Cause,” John wrote just before some of the acts took effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He continued, “The Cause of Truth, of Virtue, of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Liberty</st1:place></st1:city> and of Humanity: and that it will probably have a glorious Reformation, to greater Wealth, Splendor and Power than ever” (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 107).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In essence, John was writing that <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city> would be the starting place of the war for independence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">By the end of March, the British closed the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Port</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Boston</st1:placename></st1:place> until the damaged tea was paid in full.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The closing of the port was part of British acts which would be called the Intolerable Acts by the Colonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elective government in the Colony was banned and any judge could decide to move a trial to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region> if he pleased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The acts were aimed at <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:state>, but were meant as a warning to the other Colonies as well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The first Continental Congress, which was to decide how the Colonies would proceed in their relations with their mother country, met in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> in September 1774.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first extended period of time John was away from Abigail. Abigail was aware of the role her husband would have to play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Your task is difficult and important,” she wrote days after he left her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail was already concerned about the worsening relations between <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region> and the Colonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John’s safety was added to her worries about the family. “The great distance between us, makes the time appear very long to me,” she wrote to John less than a week later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It seems already a month since you left me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The great anxiety I feel for my Country, for you and for our family renders the day tedious, and the night unpleasant” (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 140, 142). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the first time in their marriage that John would be so far away from Abigail for such an extended period of time.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">John, for his part, longed to be home, but he knew he would stay in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> as long as he needed to be there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Sitting down to write you, is a Scene almost too tender for my State of <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nerves</st1:place></st1:state>,” John wrote from “Phyladelphia” on September 29<sup>th</sup>, seven weeks after he left <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Braintree</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He continued,</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">It calls up to my View the anxious, distress’d State you must be in, amidst the Confusions and Dangers, which surround you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I long to return, and administer all the Consolation in my Power, but when I shall have accomplished all the Business I have to do here, I know not, and if it should be necessary to stay here till Christmas, or longer, in order to effect our Purposes, I am determined patiently to wait. (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 163)</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">John would return before Christmas that year, but he would be on his horse to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> again shortly, to attend the second Continental Congress, this time leaving Abigail behind at a time when the war came very close to home.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As tensions increased, John continued to spend more time away from Abigail and his family in order to contribute to the revolutionary cause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 1760s and early 1770s were only a preview of the conflict that was coming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After 1774, John would spend less time at home and more time in the service of his country.</div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-19924018145870992052011-07-24T19:47:00.000-04:002011-07-24T19:47:11.146-04:00For Love and Country: John and Abigail Adams and the United States of America, part 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Acquaintance and Courtship<o:p></o:p></b></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I begin to find that an increasing Affection for a certain Lady, (you know who </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my Dear) quickens my Affections for every Body Else, that does not deserve </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my Hatred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Wonder if the Fires of Patriotism, do not soon begin to burn!”<o:p></o:p></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt;">--John Adams to Abigail Adams,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:date day="20" month="4" w:st="on" year="1763">April 20, 1763</st1:date> (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 5)<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">John and Abigail had a strong emotional and intellectual attachment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, when they first met in 1759, John was not impressed (Withey 13).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John was a twenty-three year old graduate of Harvard studying law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail was fifteen years old, and seemed always to be sick (McCullough 54).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was the son of a farmer and she was a well-read daughter of a well-off parson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When John’s friend, Richard Cranch, began courting Abigail’s sister Mary, John spent more time at the Smiths’ house and spent more time with Abigail, and the two got to know each other better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An intellectual affinity was part of the attraction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edith Gelles, another of Abigail’s biographers, states that in addition it was “chemical, it was physical, it was humor, it was the fact they enjoyed being in one another’s company” (<u>John</u>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These early meetings laid the groundwork for a lifetime of love and friendship.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">In 1762, John and Abigail would exchange their first letter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The letter, written by John and dated October 4, 1762, was flirtatious and playful and is the first of what would become about 1,180 known letters exchanged between the two lovers (Sikes).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Miss Adorable” it began, </div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">By the same Token that the Bearer hereof <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">satt up</i> with you last night I hereby order you to give him, as many Kisses, and as many Hours of your Company after 9 O’Clock as he shall please to Demand and charge them to my Account: This Order, or Requisition call it which you will is in Consideration of a similar order Upon Aurelia [Mary Smith, Abigail’s sister] for the like favour, and I presume I have good Right to draw upon you for the Kisses as I have given two or three Millions at least, when one has been received, and of Consequence the Account between us is immensely in favour of yours, John Adams. (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 2)</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The courtship continued until 1764.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In between, letters flowed from one to the other proclaiming love, affection, and a yearning to be together. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sometimes words were not enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John ended his letter to Abigail on <st1:date day="14" month="2" w:st="on" year="1763">February 14, 1763</st1:date>, “Your–(all the rest is inexpressible) John Adams” (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 3).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That same year, Abigail began to sign her letters “Diana” after the Roman goddess of the moon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To her, John became Lysander, the Spartan hero (McCullough 55).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their letters typically began with “My Dearest Friend,” and each of them meant it when they wrote those words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before they were married, John wrote to Abigail, describing her as “The dear Partner of all my Joys and sorrows, in whose Affections, and Friendship I glory, more than in all other Emoluments under Heaven, comes into my Mind very often and makes me sigh” (Butterfield, I. 17). </div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Over the course of their courtship of nearly five years, John and Abigail came to know each other intimately, both emotionally and intellectually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the beginning, politics and humor along with their proclamations of love filled their letters to each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They became spouses and lovers, best friends and intellectual partners (Wood 38).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were married on <st1:date day="25" month="10" w:st="on" year="1764">October 25, 1764</st1:date> by Abigail’s father at the parsonage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterwards, they moved into the house directly across from John’s mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He set up his law office in the front room of the house and was able to find time to spend with Abigail (Withey 25).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John went away every so often, appearing in courts across <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:state> (which, at the time, included present day <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Maine</st1:place></st1:state>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was never away long, but approaching events would soon change their happy home.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">John and Abigail’s relationship was not love at first sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They grew to love each other over the first few years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They went from having short meetings to longer ones, and when they could not physically be together, they wrote letters to each other to feel closer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The time was nearing when the letters would be as close as they could get to each other.</div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-54437453462723103302011-07-20T21:17:00.000-04:002011-07-20T21:17:10.944-04:00For Love and Country: John and Abigail Adams and the United States of America, part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Contemporaries<o:p></o:p></b></div><br />
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Your Country is not yet, quite Secure enough, to excuse your Retreat</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to the Delights of domestic Life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, for the Soul of me, when I attend </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to my own Feelings, I cannot blame you.” <o:p></o:p></i></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">--John Adams to Thomas Jefferson,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:date day="26" month="5" w:st="on" year="1777">May 26, 1777</st1:date> (Cappon, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 6) <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">To better understand the <st1:place w:st="on">Adamses</st1:place> and their deep commitment to each other and their country, a contrast can be drawn between them and their contemporaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Men such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, served their country in a political sense during and immediately following the Revolutionary War.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title="">*</a></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though they<span style="color: red;"> </span>shared a sense of patriotism equal to John and Abigail Adams, it is impossible to find the same patriotic commitment that the <st1:place w:st="on">Adamses</st1:place> shared among their contemporaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of their contemporaries married to consolidate their positions in society, to acquire property or to advance themselves socially (Wood 28).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John and Abigail married out of the love and respect they had for each other.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">If any Revolutionary War era couple comes close to John and Abigail Adams, it is the <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washingtons</st1:place></st1:state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>George Washington married Martha Custis, who was a rich widow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Martha Washington often followed George Washington during the Revolutionary War, putting herself in danger while doing what she could to help the soldiers (Smith, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Presidents</i> 10). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She, however, did not have to spend years at a time away from George as Abigail did from John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another difference is that John Adams saw his wife as an equal (as much as a woman could be a man’s equal in that time), speaking and writing to her about politics and other intellectual ideas, among other items.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Martha, on the other hand, did not participate in political or intellectual conversations with George Washington (Smith, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Presidents</i> 10).</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-n7XmjL0fnrOiLwkOzuHkFiBTvQW9E7-lQvlqn0KHe0DGyoJro57tTXb32w5l8ZJK_PhkgaXkuX2ppLrhMab2zBcjvNQ2FUPLBTppYafoTybscfdQAsuilJlSgisoXpYaJci_jz6iqKn/s1600/DSC07474.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-n7XmjL0fnrOiLwkOzuHkFiBTvQW9E7-lQvlqn0KHe0DGyoJro57tTXb32w5l8ZJK_PhkgaXkuX2ppLrhMab2zBcjvNQ2FUPLBTppYafoTybscfdQAsuilJlSgisoXpYaJci_jz6iqKn/s320/DSC07474.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Another contemporary, Thomas Jefferson, was married to Martha Wayles Skelton, a rich widow in 1772.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Martha was weak (especially after child birth), <st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place> would leave or decline political duties assigned to him in order to be with his wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John Adams never left his posts, even when Abigail or another family member was sick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John wrote, in 1775, “If I should hear more disagreable Advices from you I shall certainly come home, for I cannot leave you, in such Affliction[. . .]unless there was an absolute Necessity of my staying here, to do a Duty to the Public” (Butterfield, I. 291).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail, their children and Abigail’s mother were all sick, as were many others in town around her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail’s mother would die; still John would not come home, despite what he wrote. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place> was extremely distraught at his wife’s passing in 1782.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He spent her final months at her bedside, and after she died he spent three weeks in his room and five months further without communicating with anyone (Padover 111).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He, unlike <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place>, was willing to forgo public duty for private matters.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Benjamin Franklin married Deborah Read, but it was more of a pragmatic arrangement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, historian Gordon Wood suggests that the real reason Franklin married Deborah may have been because <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Franklin</st1:place></st1:city> had a son from another woman and Deborah would raise him (40).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Franklin</st1:place></st1:city> spent much of his marriage (fifteen of the last seventeen years) in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> and was especially fond of the women of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city>, and they of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Franklin’s friend in England, William Strahan, even wrote to Deborah to try to persuade her to join Ben in Europe, even going so far as to allude to him possibly being unfaithful (Isaacson 178-179).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deborah still would not leave <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Franklin</st1:place></st1:city>’s letters to Deborah have little intellectual or emotional content, being mostly concerned with business matters at home, while his letters to women friends show much more playfulness, emotion and intellect (Isaacson 180).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The other leading couples of the time may have been patriotic and committed to each other, but no couple of the time displayed the level of commitment to both family and country as did the <st1:place w:st="on">Adamses</st1:place>.</div><br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><br clear="all" /> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*</span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Other leading couples of the period, such as James and Dolley Madison and James and Elizabeth Monroe, took part in Revolutionary events, but were not married until after the Revolution had ended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the Revolutionary War, James Madison served in the legislature of the state of <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Virginia</st1:place></st1:state> (1776-1779).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1780 to 1783, as the war was coming to a close.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Madison</st1:place></st1:city> drafted the basis of what was to become the Constitution that the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> has today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was not until 1794 that he married Dolley Payne Todd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>James Monroe joined the military as a sixteen year old and saw action as a soldier during the Revolutionary War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He fought in numerous battles and was seriously wounded at the Battle of Trenton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1780, he studied law under Thomas Jefferson, and from 1782 onward, he served in government positions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1786, three years after the Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the Revolution, he married Elizabeth Kortright.<span style="color: red;"> </span></span></div></div></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-62488223233539998022011-07-20T21:06:00.001-04:002011-07-20T21:30:24.256-04:00For Love and Country: John and Abigail Adams and the United States of America, part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The following posts are taken from research done for my graduate thesis in 2007. In this thirteen-part series I used primarily the letters written between John and Abigail to demonstrate how the Adamses reconciled their intense love for each other with the love they had for their country.<br />
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Letter-Writing is, to me, the most agreable Amusement I can find: and Writing </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to you the most entertaining and Agreable of all Letter-Writing.” <o:p></o:p></i></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">--John Adams to Abigail Adams,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:date day="12" month="4" w:st="on" year="1764">April 12, 1764</st1:date> (Butterfield, <st1:place w:st="on">I.</st1:place> 24) <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The love that John and Abigail Adams shared was boundless and has since become celebrated, but that love for each other was intricately woven with the love each spouse had for his or her country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The letters they exchanged with each other in the time that John was away, riding the court circuit in New England, attending meetings of Congress in Philadelphia, on diplomatic missions in Europe, and while he was Vice President and President, provide an insight into the two intense loves that they both maintained throughout their lives. It was never thought that John was abandoning his marriage or family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather, his time away in the service of his country was viewed as a sacrifice that the family had to make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their letters reveal the deep and passionate love between John and Abigail as well as the love they had for their country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Many writers have depicted John as a man searching for fame and power, but there is more to him than that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is John Adams on the surface and in his public life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beneath this, however, is someone entirely different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a caring man who deeply loved his wife, his family and his country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his day, John was recognized for the love he shared with his wife as well as his love for his country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recent scholarship, however, has emphasized only one aspect of John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This representation does a disservice to John Adams, as the entire individual is not revealed.<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Although love is a difficult thing to define, most people know love when they see it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In reading the letters that John and Abigail wrote to each other as well as ones they wrote to their friends and contemporaries, the intense love they had for each other and for the country come out in unmistakable fashion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since love is difficult to measure, a better word to use may be commitment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this text, the words will be used interchangeably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love does not need to be quantified though in order to see that these two different loves are of equal importance to both John and Abigail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their letters bear this out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">A comparison with some of their contemporaries will help to better understand the unique love shared between John and Abigail <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> the commitment they had to their country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No other leading couple of the Revolutionary period carries such a claim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <st1:place w:st="on">Adamses</st1:place> had an acquaintance and courtship of five years before marrying, but the following year the America Colonies would begin their break from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Great Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>, and John would be a major player in the action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the next ten years, John would take an ever-growing role in Colonial attempts to reconcile with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Great Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His role would take him ever further from his home and from Abigail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The war began while John was in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city> to debate actions the Colonies could take.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon, John was helping to draft a document that would declare the Colonies free of British rule.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The new freedom would take John even further from home than before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before 1777, the farthest John had been from his home in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:state> was <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>, a few days coach ride from home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1777, John made a voyage to <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> to serve his country there as a representative of the government, and was to see home only once in the next 10 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He and Abigail would see each other for only about three months over the seven years between 1777 and 1784, before Abigail would spend four years with John in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They arrived home in 1788, but less than a year later, John was elected the first Vice President of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> under the newly approved Constitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After serving eight years in that capacity, John was elected second President of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Abigail spent some of those years traveling with John, but other years she would simply stay home to conserve money or because she was ill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1801, John found out he had been defeated by his old friend Thomas Jefferson<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">*</span></a> for the Presidency of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He traveled home to Abigail, where they enjoyed the next 17 years together and with family until Abigail’s death in 1818.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John lived until 1826, never forgetting the one he loved or all he had done for his country.</div><br />
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<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;"><div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7565767667563578530#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*</span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> John Adams and Thomas Jefferson met at the Continental Congress and were good friends through the war, with the <st1:place w:st="on">Adamses</st1:place> even watching <st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place>’s daughter for some time in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When John became Vice President, his view of the Constitution was different <st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place>’s view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is from this time that the Adams-Jefferson rivalry begins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It continued as <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place> defeated <st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place> by a margin of three electoral votes to become the second President of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Four years later, <st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place> defeated <st1:place w:st="on">Adams</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place> was upset at some last minute judiciary appointments that John Adams (legally) made before leaving office, further fanning the flames.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John left the city of Washington in the early morning hours on Jefferson’s inauguration day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After <st1:place w:st="on">Jefferson</st1:place> served two terms as President, he retired to <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Monticello</st1:place></st1:state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A mutual friend, Dr. Benjamin Rush of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>, attempted to mend the friendship sometime around 1809.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With both men out of public life, their correspondence renewed and their friendship grew again.</span></div></div></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-40637335882393776282011-06-21T20:40:00.000-04:002011-06-21T20:40:28.552-04:00The Campaign of 1779-1780<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As the French mobilized to move against the British, the face of the war changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only did the British have to worry about fighting in North America, but now they would also have to be prepared to fight the French, Spanish and Dutch in Europe, the Caribbean and elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Although the Americans attacked Nassau in the Bahamas in 1776 and again in 1778, they were too weak to capture and hold the town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The American navy was also too weak to be a real threat to the British (Savas, 166).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To the British, these attacks were minor annoyances. Now that the British were fighting a world war, they had to focus more men and supplies elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This did not stop the campaign which had begun in the southern colonies from progressing however.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The British took Savannah, Georgia from the Americans in December 1778.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As 1779 dawned, Clinton, believing the people of the south to be indifferent, decided to make an attempt to subdue Georgia and move north into South Carolina (Mackesy, 338).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Small engagements were fought in Georgia in February and March before the Americans retreated from the state (Savas, 208).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In April 1780, the British moved to take Charleston, South Carolina, a major port city garrisoned by about 7,000 Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Clinton was successful in taking the city, he would have a beachhead established for pacifying the remainder of the Carolinas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Victorious at Charleston, the British gained the port city and about 7,000 prisoners, plus materials, etc. (Mackesy, 341).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Established in the Carolinas, Clinton’s forces began fanning out across the state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Smaller battles were waged over the following months, until the armies met in mid-August at Camden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The American defeat here effectively placed South Carolina and Georgia firmly under the control of the British.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The control, however, would be short-lived.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A large part of the British force in the south, now under Cornwallis (Clinton went back to New York), was composed of Loyalists, who gave the campaign “the murderous character of a civil war” (Mackesy, 344).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cornwallis wished to move north into North Carolina, assuming that his Tory militia could maintain control in South Carolina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately for Cornwallis, a force of about 1,000 men was defeated by an American force made up mostly of frontier men at Kings Mountain in South Carolina in October.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With this American force now threatening his rear, and the people of North Carolina less than enthusiastic at his presence, Cornwallis ended his North Carolina offensive and proceeded back to South Carolina.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Despite the entrance into the war of the French and Spanish the British looked to be in control of the war in North America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The American army was on the run, and the French seemed too inept to threaten the British on the American coast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A most fortunate victory by a band of frontiersmen at Kings Mountain turned the tide of the war in the Americans favor, and demoralized the British army, closing 1780 in much the same way 1776 and 1777 were closed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">BIBLIOGRAPHY<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
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<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mackesy, Piers. <i>The War for America 1775-1783.</i> Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1964.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Savas, Theodore P. and J. David Dameron. <i>A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution.</i> New York: Savas Beatie, 2006.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wood, W.J. <i>Battles of the Revolutionary War, 1775-1781.</i> Chapel Hill: Da Capo Press, 2003.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div>Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844722149540179768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565767667563578530.post-32548284148818948832011-05-11T20:52:00.000-04:002011-05-13T16:44:21.043-04:00The Campaign of 1778-1779<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The winter of 1778 was experienced at opposite ends of the spectrum for the American and British armies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the British rested comfortably in Philadelphia, the Americans spent much of the winter at Valley Forge suffering through the cold in huts without proper supplies or sufficient amounts of food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Americans again benefited from lack of action on the part of Howe and the British.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Convinced that the Americans were strong enough to repel a British attack, or at least cause many casualties, Howe decided not to act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the meantime, Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, a former Prussian military officer, arrived at Valley Forge on 23 February 1778<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> (NPS, 2010).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Steuben spent the following months training the American army in skills and discipline. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"> Howe still had not moved from Philadelphia in April, and on 8 May, Sir Henry Clinton arrived in the city from New York (Mackesy, 213).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the French now joining the war, Clinton had to evacuate Philadelphia, or risk being </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">trapped in Philadelphia if the French blockaded the mouth of the Delaware.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not able to embark the entire army, the horses, supplies and loyalists who wishes to evacuate the city with the British, Clinton decided to march most of his army across New Jersey to New York City.</span></div> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The British completed the evacuation of Philadelphia on 18 June 1778.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even before Washington was informed, the Americans were harassing the British columns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Washington sent his army out of Valley Forge in pursuit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Washington had men all over the field, none under a singular commander.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>General Charles Lee, after refusing command, decided he did want command (which was given to Lafayette).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Washington ordered Lee to attack the exposed British flanks at first chance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lee was extremely cautious, and he orders were conflicting, if he issued orders at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Colonel John Laurens, present at the battle, wrote that the Americans “had advanced in a plain open c</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ountry towards the enemy’s left flank” but “were ordered by Genl<sup> </sup>Lee to retire and occupy the village of Monmouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>They were no sooner formed there, than they were ordered to quit that post and gain the woods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One order succeeded another with rapidity and indecision calculated to ruin us.” (Laurens, 195).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only when an exasperated Washington rode forward did the Americans rally to take the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The British took a page from Washington’s playbook and retreated in the night, eventually arriving at Sandy Hook and departing to New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lee’s actions at the Battle of Monmouth, and his subsequent letter writing to Washington, led to a court martial, which led to the end of his military career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Following the evacuation of Philadelphia and the Battle of Monmouth, Clinton feared the French fleet would support the Americans in Rhode Island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clinton sent Admiral Howe with his fleet, but a storm damaged the ships of both navies and battle was completely avoided when the British failed to cut off Sullivan’s land retreat in Rhode Island (Mackesy, 219), and thus ended the season’s campaign in the north.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> The British turned their sights south, hoping to capitalize on loyalists and the lack of the same rebel resistance which existed in the north.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In December 1778, the British forced the Americans to retreat from Savannah, Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a huge loss for the Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only did the Americans have about 600 casualties, they also lost 48 cannons, 23 mortars, 94 barrels of powder, large amounts of other supplies and one of the most prominent ports in the south (Savas, 193).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The British, after gaining this foothold, were able to fan out across the south from Savannah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the spring of 1779, the British had Georgia mostly back under Royal control and were marching on South Carolina to begin the 1779-80 campaign.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">WORKS CITED</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Laurens, John. <i>The Army Correspondence of Colonel John Laurens in the Years 1777-8. .</i> New York: The New York Times & Arno Press, 1969.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mackesy, Piers. <i>The War for America 1775-1783.</i> Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1964.</span></span></div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">National Park Service (NPS). <i>Valley Forge National Histoical Park.</i> December 21, 2010. http://www.nps.gov/vafo/historyculture/people.htm (accessed February 6, 2011).</span></span></div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Savas, Theodore P. and J. David Dameron. <i>A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution.</i> New York: Savas Beatie, 2006.</span></span></div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Scheer, George F. and Hugh F. Rankin. <i>Rebels and Redcoats.</i> New York: World Publishing Co., 1957.</span></span></div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wood, W.J. <i>Battles of the Revolutionary War, 1775-1781.</i> Chapel Hill: Da Capo Press, 2003.</span></span></div><br />
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