Chapter 5: The American Revolution | America: A Narrative History, Brief 9e: W. W. Norton StudySpace

America: A Narrative History, Brief 9e

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From Empire to Independence - Document Overview

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"Tis time to part." Thomas Paine declaimed this as a matter of common sense in January 1776. But was it? How and why did so many colonists arrive at this decision? Just a dozen years earlier they had been celebrating their good fortune in belonging to the British empire. Even James Otis, who was labeled an incendiary by Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson in 1766, was still praising the British government in 1764. He wrote, "I believe there is not one man in an hundred (except in Canada) who does not think himself under the best national civil constitution in the world. . . . Their affection and reverence for their mother country is unquestionable. They yield the most chearful and ready obedience to her laws, particularly to the power of that august body the parliament of Great-Britain, the supreme legislative of the kingdom and in dominions." The events of 1765 changed his mind, as they did the sentiments of others. Insanity would fell this early champion of colonists' rights by the end of the 1760s, but by that time there were numerous others to carry on the fight. And a fight it was, for not all the colonists rejected the mother country. Neighbors turned against neighbors as some people, who had lived through the same events and faced the same demands as those who turned rebel, continued to be loyal to those ties.

Loyalists abhorred the escalation of protest into rebellion. Many were advocates of reform, and as such had resisted many ministerial and parliamentary edicts throughout the 1760s and into the 1770s. But every imperial action from the Sugar Act to the Tea Act begat increasingly radical colonial reaction. Colonists were confronted time and time again with the need to make decisions as to how far they were willing to go in protesting British policy. Some consciously, and others rather unconsciously, ended up choosing revolutionary resistance. Over the same time, growing numbers of their fellow colonists reached personal political precipices over which they would not or could not jump. Whether in 1766 or 1776, when they had to choose between rebellion or supporting the sovereignty of king and Parliament, many conservative colonists chose the latter course, and then found themselves condemned as Tories while their opponents retained the name Whig, and later Patriot, for themselves.

Colonists resisted British policies for various reasons, both materialistic and nonmaterialistic, and in numerous ways. Initially their protests seemed to be grounded in economics, but in time constitutional issues (which were instrumental in the move to revolution) assumed greater importance. The colonists presented their grievances by way of petitions, boycotts, speeches, and ultimately spectacles, such as the Boston Tea Party. By the time the latter occurred in December 1773, and certainly after Parliament's punishing response the following spring, most colonists were taking a stand: some actively promoted rebellion, while others advocated a self-interested or disinterested neutrality, or profusely professed loyalty to the king and his government.

By 1774 the initiative had clearly shifted from the imperial government to the colonies. Members of Parliament, responding to the growing dissent across the Atlantic, began to concentrate on coercive tactics to bring the colonists in line, while colonists debated the possibility of creating a new order or system of government within—or perhaps outside of—the British empire. The radicals, some of whom had begun to call themselves Americans as well as Virginians, Pennsylvanians, and so on, sent delegates to a continental congress, which in turn considered a plan of union, endorsed the Suffolk Resolves, and adopted a Declaration of American Rights along with the Continental Association. That declaration served as an ideological defense while the association became an economic offense. The conflict continued to escalate. As the Pilgrims had removed themselves from the Church of England to escape the corruption they had perceived there, so by 1775 through 1776 did some Americans propose to remove themselves from the perceived corruption of the British government. These colonists, over a period of twelve years, had moved from agitation for reform to resistance against government acts and officials and on to a rebellion against the crown and a revolution in government.

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Common Sense (1776)

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Once the first shots had been exchanged, the American reformers and radicals had to decide if they were indeed rebels (as King George had declared them) and, even more importantly, revolutionaries. Thomas Paine (1737–1809) played a major role in effecting their transformation. Paine arrived in Philadelphia in November 1774 with a history of misfortune both in work and marriage. The New World, however, offered him a fresh start, and he soon established himself as a political revolutionary. In January 1776, he published Common Sense, which immediately became, using today's term, a best-seller. Hundreds of thousands of copies were sold. Americans read and debated the pamphlet: some denounced the sentiments it expressed while others embraced and acted upon them. In Common Sense, Paine not only provided clear, material arguments for separation, he articulated the revolutionaries' sense of mission: to be free at home and to serve as an example to the world.

Thoughts, on the present State of American Affairs

* * *

Volumes have been written on the subject of the struggle between England and America. Men of all ranks have embarked in the controversy, from different motives, and with various designs; but all have been ineffectual, and the period of debate is closed. Arms as the last resource decide the contest; the appeal was the choice of the King, and the Continent has accepted the challenge.

* * *

The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth. 'Tis not the affair of a City, a County, a Province or a Kingdom; but of a Continent—of at least one eighth part of the habitable Globe. 'Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or an age; posterity are virtually involved in the contest, and will be more or less affected even to the end of time by the proceedings now. Now is the seed time of Continental union, faith, and honour. The least fracture now, will be like a name engraved with the point of a pin on the tender rind of a young oak; the wound will enlarge with the tree, and posterity read it in full grown characters.

By referring the matter from argument to arms, a new era for politics is struck—a new method of thinking hath arisen. All plans, proposals, &c. prior to the 19th of April, i.e. to the commencement of hostilities, are like the almanacks of the last year; which tho' proper then, are superceded and useless now. Whatever was advanced by the advocates on either side of the question then, terminated in one and the same point, viz. a union with Great-Britain; the only difference between the parties, was the method of effecting it; the one proposing force, the other friendship; but it hath so far happened that the first hath failed, and the second hath withdrawn her influence.

As much hath been said of the advantages of reconciliation, which like an agreeable dream, hath passed away and left us as we were, it is but right, that we should examine the contrary side of the argument, and enquire into some of the many material injuries which these Colonies sustain, and always will sustain, by being connected with and dependant on Great-Britain. To examine that connection and dependance on the principles of nature and common sense, to see what we have to trust to if separated, and what we are to expect if dependant.

I have heard it asserted by some, that as America hath flourished under her former connection with Great-Britain, that the same connection is necessary towards her future happiness and will always have the same effect—Nothing can be more fallacious than this kind of argument: . . . America would have flourished as much, and probably much more had no European power taken any notice of her. The commerce by which she hath enriched herself are the necessaries of life, and will always have a market while eating is the custom of Europe.

But she has protected us say some. That she hath engrossed us is true, and defended the Continent at our expence as well as her own is admitted; and she would have defended Turkey from the same motive viz. the sake of trade and dominion.

Alas! we have been long led away by ancient prejudices and made large sacrifices to superstition. We have boasted the protection of Great Britain, without considering, that her motive was interest not attachment; that she did not protect us from our enemies on our account, but from her enemies on her own account, from those who had no quarrel with us on any other account, and who will always be our enemies on the same account. Let Britain wave her pretensions to the Continent, or the Continent throw off the dependance, and we should be at peace with France and Spain were they at war with Britain. The miseries of Hanover last war ought to warn us against connections.

It hath lately been asserted in parliament, that the Colonies have no relation to each other but through the Parent Country, i.e. that Pennsylvania and the Jerseys and so on for the rest, are sister Colonies by the way of England; this is certainly a very roundabout way of proving relationship, but it is the nearest and only true way of proving enmity (or enemyship, if I may so call it.) France and Spain never were, nor perhaps ever will be our enemies as Americans but as our being the subjects of Great Britain.

But Britain is the parent country say some. Then the more shame upon her conduct. Even brutes do not devour their young, nor savages make war upon their families; wherefore the assertion if true, turns to her reproach; but it happens not to be true, or only partly so, and the phrase, parent or mother country, hath been jesuitically adopted by the King and his parasites, with a low papistical design of gaining an unfair bias on the credulous weakness of our minds. Europe and not England is the parent country of America. This new World hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe. Hither have they fled, not from the tender embraces of the mother, but from the cruelty of the monster; and it is so far true of England, that the same tyranny which drove the first emigrants from home, pursues their descendants still.

* * *

Much hath been said of the united strength of Britain and the Colonies, that in conjunction they might bid defiance to the world: But this is mere presumption, the fate of war is uncertain, neither do the expressions mean any thing, for this Continent would never suffer itself to be drained of inhabitants, to support the British Arms in either Asia, Africa, or Europe.

Besides, what have we to do with setting the world at defiance? Our plan is commerce, and that well attended to, will secure us the peace and friendship of all Europe, because it is the interest of all Europe to have America a free port. Her trade will always be a protection, and her barrenness of gold and silver will secure her from invaders.

I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation, to shew, a single advantage that this Continent can reap, by being connected with Great Britain. I repeat the challenge, not a single advantage is derived. Our corn will fetch its price in any market in Europe and our imported goods must be paid for buy them where we will.

But the injuries and disadvantages we sustain by that connection, are without number, and our duty to mankind at large, as well as to ourselves, instruct us to renounce the alliance: because any submission to, or dependance on Great Britain, tends directly to involve this Continent in European wars and quarrels. As Europe is our market for trade, we ought to form no political connection with any part of it. 'Tis the true interest of America, to steer clear of European contentions, which she never can do, while by her dependance on Britain, she is made the make-weight in the scale of British politics.

Europe is too thickly planted with Kingdoms, to be long at peace, and whenever a war breaks out between England and any foreign power, the trade of America goes to ruin, because of her connection with Britain. The next war may not turn out like the last, and should it not, the advocates for reconciliation now, will be wishing for separation then, because neutrality in that case, would be a safer convoy than a man of war. Every thing that is right or reasonable pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries. 'TIS TIME TO PART. Even the distance at which the Almighty hath placed England and America, is a strong and natural proof, that the authority of the one over the other, was never the design of Heaven. The time likewise at which the Continent was discovered, adds weight to the argument, and the manner in which it was peopled encreases the force of it. The Reformation was preceded by the discovery of America as if the Almighty graciously meant to open a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years, when home should afford neither friendship nor safety.

The authority of Great Britain over this Continent is a form of Government which sooner or later must have an end: . . .

Though I would carefully avoid giving unnecessary offence, yet I am inclined to believe, that all those who espouse the doctrine of reconciliation, may be included within the following descriptions. Interested men who are not to be trusted, weak men who cannot see, prejudiced men who will not see, and a certain set of moderate men who think better of the European world than it deserves; and this last class, by an ill-judged deliberation, will be the cause of more calamities to this Continent, than all the other three.

It is the good fortune of many to live distant from the scene of present sorrow; the evil is not sufficiently brought to their doors to make them feel the precariousness with which all American property is possessed. But let our imaginations transport us for a few moments to Boston; that seat of wretchedness will teach us wisdom, and instruct us for ever to renounce a power in whom we can have no trust. The inhabitants of that unfortunate city who but a few months ago were in ease and affluence, have now no other alternative than to stay and starve, or turn out to beg. Endangered by the fire of their friends if they continue within the city, and plundered by government if they leave it. In their present condition they are prisoners without the hope of redemption, and in a general attack for their relief, they would be exposed to the fury of both armies.

Men of passive tempers look somewhat lightly over the offences of Britain, and still hoping for the best, are apt to call out: Come, come, we shall be friends again for all this. But examine the passions and feelings of mankind: bring the doctrine of reconciliation to the touchstone of nature, and then tell me, whether you can hereafter love, honour, and faithfully serve the power that hath carried fire and sword into your land? . . .

. . . 'Tis not in the power of England or of Europe to conquer America, if she doth not conquer herself by delay and timidity. The present winter is worth an age if rightly employed, but if lost or neglected, the whole Continent will partake of the misfortune; and there is no punishment which that man doth not deserve, be he who, or what, or where he will, that may be the means of sacrificing a season so precious and useful.

* * *

Every quiet method for peace hath been ineffectual. Our prayers have been rejected with disdain; and hath tended to convince us that nothing flatters vanity or confirms obstinacy in Kings more than repeated petitioning—and nothing hath contributed more, than that very measure, to make the Kings of Europe absolute. Witness Denmark and Sweden. Wherfore, since nothing but blows will do, for God's sake let us come to a final separation, and not leave the next generation to be cutting throats under the violated unmeaning names of parent and child.

To say they will never attempt it again is idle and visionary, we thought so at the repeal of the stamp-act, yet a year or two undeceived us; as well may we suppose that nations which have been once defeated will never renew the quarrel.

As to government matters 'tis not in the power of Britain to do this Continent justice: the business of it will soon be too weighty and intricate to be managed with any tolerable degree of convenience, by a power so distant from us, and so very ignorant of us; for if they cannot conquer us, they cannot govern us. To be always running three or four thousand miles with a tale or a petition, waiting four or five months for an answer, which when obtained requires five or six more to explain it in, will in a few years be looked upon as folly and childishness—There was a time when it was proper, and there is a proper time for it to cease.

Small islands not capable of protecting themselves are the proper objects for government to take under their care: but there is something very absurd, in suppossing a Continent to be perpetually governed by an island. In no instance hath nature made the satellite larger than its primary planet, and as England and America with respect to each other reverse the common order of nature, it is evident they belong to different systems. England to Europe: America to itself.

* * *

If there is any true cause of fear respecting independance, it is because no plan is yet laid down. . . .

. . . Let a Continental Conference be held in the following manner, and for the following purpose.

A Committee of twenty six members of Congress, viz.. Two for each Colony. Two Members from each House of Assembly, or Provincial Convention; and five Representatives of the people at large, to be chosen in the capital city or town of each Province, for, and in behalf of the whole Province, by as many qualified voters as shall think proper to attend from all parts of the Province for that purpose: or if more convenient, the Representatives may be chosen in two or three of the most populous parts thereof. In this conference thus assembled, will be united the two grand principles of business, knowledge and power. The Members of Congress, Assemblies, or Conventions, by having had experience in national concerns, will be able and useful counsellors, and the whole, by being impowered by the people, will have a truly legal authority.

The conferring members being met, let their business be to frame a Continental Charter, or Charter of the United Colonies; (answering, to what is called the Magna Charta of England) fixing the number and manner of choosing Members of Congress, Members of Assembly, with their date of sitting, and drawing the line of business and jurisdiction between them: Always remembering, that our strength is Continental not Provincial. Securing freedom and property to all men, and above all things, the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; with such other matters as is necessary for a charter to contain. Immediately after which, the said conference to dissolve, and the bodies which shall be chosen conformable to the said charter, to be the Legislators and Governors of this Continent, for the time being: Whose peace and happiness, may God preserve. AMEN.

* * *

But where say some is the King of America? I'll tell you friend, he reigns above; and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Great Britain. Yet that we may not appear to be defective even in earthly honours, let a day be solemnly set a part for proclaiming the Charter; let it be brought forth placed on the Divine Law, the Word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America THE LAW IS KING. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other. But lest any ill use should afterwards arise, let the Crown at the conclusion of the ceremony be demolished, and scattered among the people whose right it is.

A government of our own is our natural right: and when a man seriously reflects on the precariousness of human affairs, he will become convinced, that it is infinitely wiser and safer, to form a constitution of our own, in a cool deliberate manner, while we have it in our power, than to trust such an interesting event to time and chance. . . .

* * *

O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose not only the tyranny but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is over-run with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the Globe. Asia and Africa have long expelled her. Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind.

Of the Present Ability of America, With Some Miscellaneous Reflections.

* * *

'Tis not in numbers but in unity that our great strength lies: yet our present numbers are sufficient to repel the force of all the world. The Continent hath at this time the largest disciplined army of any power under Heaven: and is just arrived at that pitch of strength, in which no single Colony is able to support itself, and the whole, when united, is able to do any thing. . . .

* * *

The debt we may contract doth not deserve our regard if the work be but accomplished. No nation ought to be without a debt. A national debt is a national bond: and when it bears no interest is in no case a grievance. Britain is oppressed with a debt of upwards of one hundred and forty millions sterling, for which she pays upwards of four millions interest. And as a compensation for her debt, she has a large navy; America is without debt, and without a navy; but for the twentieth part of the English national debt, could have a navy as large again. . . .

No country on the globe is so happily situated, or so internally capable of raising a fleet as America. Tar, timber, iron, and cordage are her natural produce. We need go abroad for nothing. Whereas the Dutch, who make large profits by hiring out their ships of war to the Spaniards and Portuguese, are obliged to import most of the materials they use. We ought to view the building a fleet as an article of commerce, it being the natural manufactory of this country. 'Tis the best money we can lay out. A navy when finished is worth more than it cost: And is that nice point in national policy, in which commerce and protection are united. Let us build; if we want them not, we can sell; and by that means replace our paper currency with ready gold and silver.

* * *

In point of safety, ought we to be without a fleet? We are not the little people now, which we were sixty years ago, at that time we might have trusted our property in the streets, or fields rather, and slept securely without locks or bolts to our doors and windows. The case now is altered, and our methods of defence, ought to improve with our encrease of property. . . .

Another reason why the present time is preferable to all others is, that the fewer our numbers are, the more land there is yet unoccupied, which instead of being lavished by the king on his worthless dependants, may be hereafter applied, not only to the discharge of the present debt, but to the constant support of government. No nation under Heaven hath such an advantage as this.

The infant state of the Colonies, as it is called, so far from being against, is an argument in favour of independance. We are sufficiently numerous, and were we more so, we might be less united. 'Tis a matter worthy of observation, that the more a country is peopled, the smaller their armies are. In military numbers the ancients far exceeded the moderns: and the reason is evident, for trade being the consequence of population, men become too much absorbed thereby to attend to any thing else. Commerce diminishes the spirit both of Patriotism and military defence. And history sufficiently informs us that the bravest achievements were always accomplished in the non-age of a nation. With the encrease in commerce, England hath lost its spirit. . . .

Youth is the seed time of good habits as well in nations as in individuals. It might be difficult, if not impossible to form the Continent into one Government half a century hence. The vast variety of interests occasioned by an increase of trade and population would create confusion. Colony would be against Colony. Each being able would scorn each others assistance: and while the proud and foolish gloried in their little distinctions, the wise would lament that the union had not been formed before. Wherefore, the present time is the true time for establishing it. The intimacy which is contracted in infancy, and the friendship which is formed in misfortune, are of all others, the most lasting and unalterable. Our present union is marked with both these characters: we are young and we have been distressed; but our concord hath withstood our troubles, and fixes a memorable Æra for posterity to glory in.

The present time likewise, is that peculiar time, which never happens to a nation but once, viz. the time of forming itself into a government. Most nations have let slip the opportunity, and by that means have been compelled to receive laws from their conquerors, instead of making laws for themselves. . . .

* * *

TO CONCLUDE, however strange it may appear to some, or however unwilling they may be to think so, matters not, but many strong and striking reasons may be given to shew, that nothing can settle our affairs so expeditiously as an open and determined declaration for independance. Some of which are,
First—It is the custom of Nations when any two are at war, for some other powers not engaged in the quarrel, to step in as mediators and bring about the preliminaries of a peace: But while America calls herself the subject of Great Britain, no power however well disposed she may be, can offer her mediation. Wherefore in our present state we may quarrel on for ever.
Secondly—It is unreasonable to suppose, that France or Spain will give us any kind of assistance, if we mean only to make use of that assistance, for the purpose of repairing the breach, and strengthening the connection between Britain and America; because, those powers would be sufferers by the consequences.
Thirdly—While we profess ourselves the subjects of Britain, we must in the eye of foreign nations be considered as Rebels. The precedent is somewhat dangerous to their peace, for men to be in arms under the name of subjects: we on the spot can solve the paradox; but to unite resistance and subjection, requires an idea much too refined for common understanding.
Fourthly—Were a manifesto to be published and dispatched to foreign Courts, setting forth the miseries we have endured, and the peaceable methods we have ineffectually used for redress, declaring at the same time, that not being able any longer to live happily or safely, under the cruel disposition of the British Court, we had been driven to the necessity of breaking off all connections with her; at the same time, assuring all such Courts, of our peaceable disposition towards them, and of our desire of entering into trade with them: such a memorial would produce more good effects to this Continent, than if a ship were freighted with petitions to Britain.

Under our present denomination of British Subjects, we can neither be received nor heard abroad: the custom of all Courts is against us, and will be so, until by an independance we take rank with other nations.

These proceedings may at first appear strange and difficult, but like all other steps which we have already passed over, will in a little time become familiar and agreeable: and until an independance is declared, the Continent will feel itself like a man who continues putting off some unpleasant business from day to day, yet knows it must be done, hates to set about it, wishes it over, and is continually haunted with the thoughts of its necessity.

finis

[From Merrill Jensen, ed., Tracts of the American Revolution, 1763–1776 (New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc., 1967), pp. 418–27, 431–38, 441–46.]

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Declaration of Independence (1776)

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Thomas Jefferson (1743Ð1826), a Virginia planter and lawyer who emerged from the Revolution renowned as an American statesman and philosopher, levied his first major charge against the British government when he wrote A Summary View of the Rights of British America in 1774. While arguing against Parliament's power, however, he still promoted allegiance to the king. Two years later he advocated the severance of that tie. After Richard Henry Lee, a delegate from Virginia to the Continental Congress, made the resolution that the colonies were and had the right to be independent states, the congress created a committee to draft a declaration to that effect. The committee, in turn, handed over the task to the person they believed most suited to it: Jefferson. A product of his period and place, Jefferson wrote later in 1825 that in the Declaration of Independence he had attempted to produce "an expression of the American Mind." Other congressional delegates had their own interpretations and agendas, however, and insisted on alterations. Jefferson recorded the changes that were made to the draft he submitted by underlining and sometimes bracketing what the delegates omitted and showing what they added in the margins.

A Declaration by the representatives of the United states of America, in General Congress assembled. When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate & equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's god entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with ^ inherent and inalienable rights; that among		^ certain
these are life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness: that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the conesent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, & to institute new government, laying it's foundation on such principles, & organising it's powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety & happiness. prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light & transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. but when a long train of abuses & usurpations [begun at a distinguished period and] pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government, & to provide new guards for their future security. such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; & such is now the necessity which constrains them to ^ [expunge] their		^ alter
former systems of government. the history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of ^ [unremitting] injuries & usurpations, [among which appears no solitary		^ repeated
fact to contradict the uniform tenor of the rest but all have] ^ in direct object the		^ all having
establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. to prove this let facts be submitted to a candid world [for the truth of which we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood.]
he has refused his assent to laws the most wholsome & necessary for the public good. he has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate & pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; & when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. he has refused to pass other laws for the accomodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them, & formidable to tyrants only. he has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. he has dissolved representative houses repeatedly [& continually] for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. he has refused for a long time after such dissolutions to cause others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have re-returned to the people at large for their exercise, the state remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without & convulsions within. he has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, & raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
he has ^ [suffered] the administration of justice [totally to cease in some of these		^ obstructed
states] ^ refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.		^ by
he has made [our] judges dependant on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, & the amount & paiment of their salaries. he has erected a multitude of new offices [by a self assumed power] and sent hither swarms of new officers to harrass our people and eat out their substance. he has kept among us in times of peace standing armies [and ships of war] without the consent of our legislatures. he has affected to render the military independant of, & superior to the civil power. he has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions & unacknoleged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation for quartering large bodies of armed troops among us; for protecting them by a mock-trial from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states; for cutting off our trade with all parts of the world; for imposing taxes on us without our consent; for depriving us ^ of the		^ in many cases
benefits of trial by jury; for transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences; for abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging it's boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these ^ [states]; for taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable		^ colonies
laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments; for suspending our own legislatures, & declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
he has abdicated government here ^ [withdrawing his governors, and declaring us		^ by declaring us
out of his allegiance & protection]		out of his protection
		& waging war
he has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, & destroyed the		against us.
lives of our people. he is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation & tyranny already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy ^ unworthy the head of a civilized nation.		^ scarcely paralleled
		in the most bar-
he has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms		barous ages,
against their country, to become the executioners of their friends & brethren, or to		& totally
fall themselves by their hands. he has ^ endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of		^ excited domestic
our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an		insurrections
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, & conditions [of existence.]		amongst us, & has
[he has incited treasonable insurrections of our fellow-citizens, with the allurements of forfeiture & confiscation of our property. he has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. this piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where Men should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce. and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people on whom he also obtruded them: thus paving off former crimes committed against the Liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.]
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injuries. a prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a ^ people [who mean to be free. future ages will		^ free
scarcely believe that the hardiness of one man adventured, within the short compass of twelve years only, to lay a foundation so broad & so undisguised for tyranny over a people fostered & fixed in principles of freedom.] Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. we have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend ^ [a] jurisdiction		^ an unwarrantable
over ^ [these our states.] we have reminded them of the circumstances of our		^ us
emigration & settlement here, [no one of which could warrant so strange a pretension: that these were effected at the expence of our own blood & treasure, unassisted by the wealth or the strength of Great Britain: that in constituting indeed our several forms of government, we had adopted one common king, thereby laying a foundation for perpetual league & amity with them: but that submission to their parliament was no part of our constitution, nor ever in idea, if history may be credited: and,] we ^ appealed to their native justice and magnanimity ^ [as well as to] the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations which ^ [were likely to] interrupt our connection and correspondence. they too have been deaf to the voice of justice & of consanguinity, [and when occasions have been given them, by the regular course of their laws, of removing from their councils the disturbers of our harmony, they have, by their free election, re-established them in power. at this very time too they are permitting their chief magistrate to send over not only souldiers of our common blood, but Scotch & foreign mercenaries to invade & destroy us. these facts have given the last stab to agonizing affection, and manly spirit bids us to renounce for ever these unfeeling brethren. we must endeavor to		^ we must
forget our former love for them, and to hold them as we hold the rest of mankind		therefore
enemies in war, in peace friends. we might have been a free and a great people		^ and hold them
together; but a communication of grandeur & of freedom it seems is below their		as we hold the rest
dignity. be it so, since they will have it. the road to happiness & to glory is open to		of mankind, ene-
us too. we will tread it apart from them, and] ^ acquiesce in the necessity which		mies in war, in
denounces our [eternal] separation ^ !		peace friends.

We therefore the representatives of the United states of America in General Congress assembled do in the name, & by the authority of the good people of these [states reject & renounce all allegiance & subjection to the kings of Great Britain & all others who may hereafter claim by, through or under them: we utterly dissolve all political connection which may heretofore have subsisted between us & the people or parliament of Great Britain: & finally we do assert & declare these colonies to be free & independant states,] & that as free & independant states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, & to do all other acts & things which independant states may of right do. and for the support of this declaration we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes & our sacred honour.

We therefore the representatives of the United states of America in General Congress assembled, appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do in the name, & by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish & declare that these United colonies are & of right ought to be free & independant states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them & the state of Great Britain is, & ought to be, totally dissolved; & that as free & independant states they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce & to do all other acts & things which independant states may of right do. and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes & our sacred honour.

[From Julian P. Boyd, ed., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 1 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950), pp. 315–19. This selection is a draft document with congressional alterations in Jefferson's "Notes of Proceedings."]

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Charles Andrews Presents a Political and Constitutional Explanation (1926)

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The important point to remember is that the plan of governmental control as laid down in England was never in accord with the actual situation in America; that the Privy Council, the Secretary of State, and the Board of Trade seem not to have realized that their system of colonial administration was breaking down at every point. Their minds ran in a fixed groove and they could construe the instances of colonial disobedience and aggression, which they often noted, in no other terms than those of persistent dereliction of duty. Either they did not see or else refused to see the wide divergence that was taking place between colonial administration as they planned it and colonial administration as the colonists were working it out. . . . They interpreted the attitude of the colonists as something radical and revolutionary, menacing British prosperity, British political integrity, and the British scheme of colonial government.

Primarily, the American Revolution was a political and constitutional movement and only secondarily one that was either financial, commercial, or social. At bottom the fundamental issue was the political independence of the colonies, and in the last analysis the conflict lay between the British Parliament and the colonial assemblies, each of which was probably, more sensitive, self-conscious, and self-important than the voting population that it represented. For many years these assemblies had fought the prerogative successfully and would have continued to do so, eventually reducing it to a minimum, as the later self-governing dominions have done; but in the end it was Parliament, whose powers they disputed, that became the great antagonist. . . .

The revolt of the colonies from Great Britain began long before the battles of Moore's Creek Bridge and Lexington; before the time of James Otis and the writs of assistance; before the dispute over the appointment of judges in North Carolina and New York; before the eloquence of Patrick Henry was first heard in the land; and even before the quarrel in Virginia over the Dinwiddie pistole fee. These were but the outward and visible signs of an inward and factual divergence. The separation from the mother country began just as soon as the mercantile system of commercial control, the governmental system of administration, and the whole doctrine of the inferior status of a colonial assembly began to give way before the pressure exerted and the disruptive power exercised by these young and growing colonial communities. New soil had produced new wants, new desires, new points of view, and the colonists were demanding the right to live their own lives in their own way. . . .

. . . The colonies had developed a constitutional organization equally complete with Britain's own and one that in principle was far in advance of the British system, and they were qualified to co-operate with the mother country on terms similar to those of a brotherhood of free nations. . . . But England was unable to see this fact or unwilling to recognize it, and consequently America became the scene of a political unrest, which might have been controlled by compromise, but was turned to revolt by coercion.

[From Charles M. Andrews, "The American Revolution: An Interpretation," American Historical Review 31 (January 1926): 228, 23–31.]

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The American Revolution - Document Overview

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The American Revolution began when colonists protested English acts that infringed upon the privileges granted them as British subjects. These protests became rebellion as the issue of privileges quickly became one of rights. As James Thacher, a young physician, wrote one January day in 1775, "In no country . . . is the love of liberty more deeply rooted, or the knowledge of the rights inherent to freemen more generally diffused, or better understood, than among the British American Colonies." Although loyal British subjects both in mother country and colonies could point out the benefits of living under the British constitution, once the discontented colonists determined that a corrupt imperial government threatened their natural rights, as well as their privileges as citizens, the resistance movement exploded into both a revolution and a war for independence.

It was a thrilling, multidimensional revolution, for in the course of destroying the fetters of empire and forging new national bonds, the revolutionaries grappled with novel ideas and institutions. They did not act upon or implement everything that was proposed, nor was everything that was initiated successful, but it was an exhilarating, exasperating, and sometimes scary time of experimentation.

There were revolutionaries of all sorts active in all facets of change—political, military, and social. Political revolutionaries lambasted loyalists and lauded separatists in their struggle for the allegiance of Americans. They also bickered, dickered, and philosophized their way through the establishment of new state and national governments. Militaristic revolutionaries focused their minds and might on winning the War for American Independence. Whether serving in the Continental Army or the state regiments and militia, they battled against foreign and domestic enemies. These two groups of revolutionaries, after many setbacks, met with success, but success brought with it both questions and challenges. Many of those challenges were delivered by those who also wanted to see a societal revolution. Social revolutionaries, from those who had only begun to question established hierarchies and conventions to those who wanted to overthrow them, presented some of the most troublesome issues of the era. While they helped initiate some changes—as soon seen in wider suffrage, an increase in private manumissions, the abolition of slavery in some states, and a greater separation between church and state—they did not meet with the same success as the other revolutionaries.

A major issue confronting the revolutionaries was how to act upon the words that initiated and described the new world they wanted to create. They voted in new state constitutions and governments; they took up arms to ensure independence; but many stopped short—some in humorous disbelief and others in horror—when some of their associates grabbed hold of the words and applied them literally and liberally. To many revolutionaries the formation of a republic based on the notion that all free, white, adult males were legally and politically equal was quite radical enough. Indeed, they were right—it was a radical change from what was practiced in most of the world. But others argued for a new order in that new world: for all men to be equal, neither creed nor color must matter. If "men" meant humankind, then gender must be irrelevant. But in this case, at that time, such a definition was too demanding: most revolutionaries were unable or unwilling to free themselves of the social and cultural constraints by which they defined their world. Even so, the words remained, and were—and are—dynamic elements of revolution in American history.

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Diary of a Revolutionary Army Physician (1776)

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This document consists of excerpts from the diary of a physician, Lewis Beebe, who was traveling with the Continental army in New England in an expedition against the British in Canada. Little is known about Beebe. He received a degree from Yale in 1771 and settled in a small Massachusetts town to practice medicine. His wife died in 1775, one year after their marriage. He makes reference to her as his "Consort" in the excerpts below. After the war Beebe was ordained as a Congregational minister and served from 1787 to 1791. His religious beliefs may explain his comments below about the troops' lack of religion and their salty language. From 1791 to his death in 1816 Beebe was a shopkeeper in a small New York town. As you read the passage, note the miserable conditions endured by the troops and the limited ability of the physician to fight the various camp illnesses. Note also his references to the strong patriotism of the troops. (The spelling of words is as in the original.)

[May 1776] Sunday 26...Yesterday & today I have been much unwell, trouble with the quick step, attended with Severe gripings. If ever I had a compassionate feeling for my fellow creatures who were objects in distress, I think it was this day, to see Large barns filled with men in the very heighth of the small pox and not the least thing, to make them Comfortable, was almost Sufficient to excite the pity of Brutes.

[June 1776]Tuesday 4^th: one of our Reg^t. Died this morning very suddenly, and was intered in the afternoon, without so much as a Coffin, and with little or no ceremony. Among hundreds of men it was difficult to procure 8 or 10 to bear the corps about 15 rods. Death is a Subject not to be attended to by Soldiers; Hell & Damnation is in allmost every ones mouth from the time they awake till they fall asleep again, the Stupidity of mankind in this situation is beyond all Description...

Wednesday 5^th: For 10 days past I have been greatly troubled with the dysentery, and for three days it has been very severe, took Physic in the morning. Hope for some relief. In the afternoon went across the river to visit Col. Reed who I found to have the disorder very light, the number of sick with the Pekot on this side is about 300, the greater part of which have it by innoculation, and like to do well.

Friday 7. Last evening one died of the small pox, & early this morning one of the Colic, at 10 A.M. one of the Nervous fever, here in the hospital, is to be seen at the same time some dead, some Dying, others at the point of death, some Whistleing, some singing & many Cursing & swearing, this is a strange Composition and its chief intention has not as yet been discovered . . . . Visited many of the sick in the hospital—was moved with a Compassionate feeling for poor Distressed Soldiers, when they are taken sick, are thrown into this dirty, stinking place, and left to take care of themselves. No attendance, no provision made, but what must be Loathed and abhorred by all both well & sick.

Monday 10^th June this day compleats a year Since the departure of my dear Consort, the memory of whom will ever be sweet to me; O! fleeting time, who dost make no delay, but with rapid force sweeps, all without distinction to one common grave; therefore Let me remember, that the same thing must take place with respect to me, as it did to her—O! that the noise and tumult of war, might not engage my mind so as to forget my own mortallity; may the great things of futurity, the infinite concerns of eternity, have their due weight upon my mind that they might have a place still in my breast. This day died two in Col^o. Pattersons Reg^t. with the small pox; No intelligence of importance comes to hand this day; except orders, from the great M^r. Brigadier Gen^l. Arnold, for Col^o. Poor with his Reg^t. to proceeed to Sorrell immediately: Is not this a politick plan, especially since there is not Ten men in the Reg^t. but what has either now got the small pox; or taken the infection. Some men love to command, however ridiculous their orders may apear. But I am apt to think, we shall remain in this Garrison for the present. it is enough to confuse & distract a rational man to be Surgⁿ to a Reg^t. nothing to be heard from morning to night, but Doct^r. Doct^r. Doct^r. from every side 'till one is deaf, dumb & blind, and almost dead; add to all this that we have nothing to eat; thus poor Soldiers live sometimes better, but never worse.

Monday 17. This morning had Col^o. Poors orders to repair to Isle aux naux to take care of the sick there; accordingly sailed in a batteau, and arrived there about 3 P.M. was struck with amazement upon my arrival, to see the vast crowds of poor distressed Creatures. Language cannot describe nor imagination paint, the scenes of misery and distess the Soldiery endure. Scarecely a tent upon this Isle but what contains one or more in distress and continually groaning calling for relief, but in vain! Requests of this nature as as little regarded as the singing of Crickets in a Summers evening. The most shocking of all Spectacles was to see a large barn Crowded full of men with this disorder, many of which could not See, Speak or walk . . . . No mortal will ever beleive what these suffered unless they were eye witnesses.

Thursday 27. Buried two of our Reg^t. this day. The hot weather, proves very unfriendly to those who have the small pox. A large Schooner arrived from Isle aux naux, deeply Loaded with Stores. One thing by the way is somewhat remarkable, that a Reg^t. so distressed with sickness as ours should be so engaged in fatigue and doing duty, that they can by no means find time to attend prayers night & morning or even preaching upon the Sabbath; the Reg^ts. are generally Supplied with Chaplains, who are as destitute of employ in their way: as parson who is dismissed from his people, for the most Scandalous of Crimes. At Sorrell I heard one morning & evening prayer, and one Sermon—at Chambly none—at St. Johns none at Isle aux naux, one eveing prayer, & one with the sick. At this place none as yet. Indeed it is esteemed very unpopular, and unbecoming a Gentlemen, in the Camps to attened upon any religious exercises, and happy would it be, did not many officers endeavour to inculcate, & establish this principle in the minds of others.

[July 1776] Thursday 4^th: The army have been here for Several days, and notwithstanding they are under great apprehensions of an attack from the enemy soon —yet they are as Secure & easy as if they were Wholly at peace, and in a Garrison, not to be stormed by any finite power; Not the least preparation for Fortifying the Garrison, which has tumbled to ruin & decay. The Gen^ls. have their hands full in riding about the camp—prancing their Gay horses the Field officers, set much of their time upon Court marshals. The Capts. & Subs may generally be found at the grog shops. The Soldiers either sleeping, swimming, fishing, or Cursing and Swearing most generally the Latter . . . .

[August] Wednesday 28th: The wind being ahead we were not able to cross the lake, visited the hospital found the nubmer of sick to be about 700, viewed the burying place counted upwards of 300 graves, which had been opened in about 5 weeks. the appearance of which was melancholy indeed, to see such desolation made in our army.

[September] Sunday 6^th: My disorder caused me to rise several times Last night; again at the Revilee beat; at 8 a.m. took a puke of vinum antimoniale; which operated very kindly; was very weak the remainder of the day. I find my experience, and many other ways, that the general principle, upon which our army act, whether they are taken as a body or as individuals, is entirely self. yet doubtless their sinister views, run in very diffefrent channels. Some are in persuit of money, some of promotion & honor. But was we free from all; except those who hav the cause of Liberty nearest their heart; and who engage principly with a view of defending, and transmitting, those inestimable prividledges, to posterity; for which our Ancestoers Left their native land, and fled to this a howling wildernes, encountering evey danger. I say was we free from all, except those who act upon this principle; our army would be reduced to a small number.

Monday 7^th: . . . Col^o. Poor has lately made his appearance in Scarlet; this, or something not much better, makes him feel his importance, in a very surprising manner. In general he is very sociable and popular; but of an absolute, Despotick turn of mind. As to his principles, respecting religion, it is very difficult to determine, what they are; But in my opinon he has none at all. Our Lieu^t, Col^o. McDuffee, is a most excellent arminion &c. Maj^r. Sily who is rightly named is a very sillly man; yet the fool, has learned to swear & damn by rule: to such a degree of perfection that his equal is scarcely to be found in the Camp. Surprising genius! Our officers & soldiers in general are remarkably expert in the swearing way, nothing comes more handy, or gives such power and force to their words, as a Blasphemous oath. In general the Reg^t. is composed to Deists, Arminims, and a few who ridicule the Bible, and everthing of a sacred nature. In short, they Laugh at death, mock at Hell and damnation; & even challenge the Diety, to remove them out of this world by Thunder and Lightning.

[From "Journal of a Physician on the Expedition against Canada, 1776," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 59 (1935): 330, 332-39, 343-45, 343-47, 351-52.]

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Writings on African American Participation in the American Revolution (1775-81)

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African Americans, both free and enslaved, served in the armies of both sides of the American Revolution and hoped to be served by it. It can be argued that they fought not so much to defend as to gain country and rights. The Earl of Dunmore tapped into that desire when he issued a call for servants and slaves to join the British army. Many responded, sneaking away to the British encampment in Norfolk, Virginia. Some survived soldiering and servitude with that army to gain their freedom at war's end. African Americans enlisted in the Continental Army as freemen, were enlisted into it as substitutes for white masters, or worked for it in auxiliary positions. Slaves whose masters allowed them to serve, and those who were used as substitutes, were to be freed when the war was over. Other slaves who endured the hard campaigns in such roles as servant, waggoner, and pioneer (performing engineering tasks such as ditch-digging) were not guaranteed freedom, though recognition of services rendered sometimes gained them that reward. Although the American forces had no problem with using blacks in ancillary roles, they did debate the propriety of arming and serving with them as soldiers. This controversy began with the creation of the American army and then rose and ebbed with the need for manpower (see Dummone's Proclamation). Furthermore, Anglo- and European-Americans recognized that revolutionary rhetoric could as easily be turned against them as slaveholders as against the king as despot. Many tried to refute the comparison by arguing that slaves were property. Others argued that the new nation must live up to its declared principles of liberty and equality for all.

Dunmore's Proclamation

I do hereby . . . declare all indented servants, Negroes, or others [belonging to the Rebels,] free, that are able and willing to bear arms, they joining His Majesty's Troops, as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing the colony to a proper sense of their duty, to His Majesty's crown and dignity.

John Murray, Earl of Dunmore,
Royal Governor of Virginia
7 November 1775

Virginia's Response to Dunmore's Proclamation in the Pennsylvania Gazette, 13 December 1775

WILLIAMSBURG, November 29.

* * *

Lord Dunmore's cruel policy begins at length to be discovered by the blacks, who have lately deserted from him to a considerable number. When his Lordship first went down to Norfolk he gave great encouragement to unwary Negroes, but, such was his baseness, some of them, it is confidently said, he sent to the West Indies, where these unfortunate creatures were disposed of to defray his Lordship's expences; and others, such as he took any dislike to, he delivered up to their masters, to be punished. Since the troops under Col. Woodford's command began their march, Lord Dunmore issued a proclamation inviting the slaves of rebels, as he pleased to say, to repair to his standard. A considerable number at first went to him, but upon their masters taking the oath of allegiance, they were immediately told they must return. Some runaways, however, remained, but these were kept constantly employed in digging entrenchments in wet ground, till at length the severity of their labour forced many of them to fly. Those that were left behind have made several attempts to get off, but such is the barbarous policy of this cruel man, he keeps these unhappy creatures not only against their will, but intends to place them in the front of the battle, to prevent their flying, in case of an engagement, which, from their utter ignorance of firearms, he knows they will do.

Last Tuesday night a party of men, chiefly blacks, from a tender, came up to Mr. Benjamin Wells's, at Mulberry island, pillaged his house of every thing valuable, such as bedding, wearing apparel, liquors, a watch, the stock of poultry, and carried off two negroe girls. They told Mrs. Wells, that they had orders to burn the house; which they would certainly have put in execution, had it not been for her earnest entreaty to spare it that time, as she had some sick children in bed, who must perish in the flames.

Dec. 2. Since Lord Dunmore's proclamation made its appearance here, it is said he has recruited his army, in the counties of Princes Anne and Norfolk, to the amount of about 2000 men, including his black regiment, which is thought to be a considerable part, with this inscription on their breasts:Ñ—"Liberty to Slaves."—However, as the rivers will henceforth be strictly watched, and every possible precaution taken, it is hoped others will be effectually prevented from joining those his Lordship has already collected.

* * *

Nine Negroes (two of them women) who had been endeavouring to get to Norfolk in an open boat, and put ashore on Point Comfort, were fired upon by some persons in pursuit, taken, and brought here on Thursday; two of the fellows are wounded, and it is expected the rest will soon be made examples of.

* * *

From Newspaper Response, the Pennsylvania Gazette, 13 December 1775, in Accessible Archives CD ROM, Folio III (1766–83).

After Orders, Headquarters near York, 25 October 1781.

* * *

It having been represented that many Negroes and Mulattoes the property of Citizens of these States have concealed themselves on board the Ships in the harbor; that some still continue to attach themselves to British Officers and that others have attempted to impose themselves upon the officers of the French and American Armies as Freemen and to make their escapes in that manner, In order to prevent their succeeding in such practices All Officers of the Allied Army and other persons of every denomination concerned are directed not to suffer any such negroes or mulattoes to be retained in their Service but on the contrary to cause them to be delivered to the Guards which will be establish'd for their reception at one of the Redoubts in York and another in Gloucester. Mr. David Ross will have the superintendency and will give passes to enable them to return to their Masters or where that is not practicable will have directions to make other provision for them. Any Negroes or mulattoes who are free upon proving the same will be left to their own disposal. The Gentlemen of the American Army who have made return to the Orderly Office of negroes in their possession agreeably to the Order of the 9th. instant are desired to deliver them to the above mentioned Mr. David Ross this day or tomorrow.

* * *

From George Washington, The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745Ð1799, vol. 23, ed. John C. Fitzpatrick (Washington, DC: GPO, 1937), pp. 264–65.

Legislative Petition to Free Slave for Service

That Whereas William Beck Mullato Slave formerly the property of Major Thos. Meriwether & purchased by said Thos. Walker Junr. of his heirs for the sum of Seventy pound has during his servitude behaved in a most exemplary manner, while with him, under Colo Charles Lewis in several Campaigns to the northward & having paid the said Thos. Walker Junr. the (first) purchace, fully expecting his freedom for the same, your petitioner does therefore most humbly request your hon. house would declare the said William Beck to be free. . . .

Thomas Walker, Jr.,
Albemarle County,
to Virginia Government
23 October 1779
Passed by Virginia House and Senate on
30 October 1779

From Walker petition to free Beck in Legislation Petitions, Archives of Library of Virginia.

[From Newspaper Response, the Pennsylvania Gazette, 13 December 1775, in Accessible Archives CD Rom, Folio III (1766–83). Washington's After Orders, Headquarters near York, 25 October 1781 in George Washington, The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745Ð1799, vol. 23, Ed. John C. Fitzpatrick (Washington, DC: GPO, 1937), pp. 264–65. Walker petition to free Beck in Legislation Petitions, Archives of Library of Virginia.]