No More Learning

3I7-3I8.
4 The tenth resolution promised obedience to the conclusions of the
Continental Congress, and the twelfth declared that it was "highly
necessary" that Congress should adopt a non-importation with Great
Britain. An innovation was the eleventh resolution, which proposed a
provincial convention as the proper mode of electing delegates. N. Y,
Gas. , July 25, 1774.
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? CONTEST IN COMMERCIAL PROVINCES 339
meeting, called to endorse the radical resolutions, assembled
on July 25, " nothing decisive was resolved upon. " *
The subsequent events leading to the election of delegates
can be explained only on the theory that the radicals real-
ized that the moderates were the dominant factor in mold-
ing public opinion, and that therefore they felt, in order to
save any part of their platform, they must resort to oppor-
tunism. 2 The "Fifty-One" at their meeting of July 25
voted that a poll be opened on Thursday, July 28, at the
usual places of election in each ward to elect delegates to
Congress; and the Committee of Mechanics were invited to
co-operate with them in helping to superintend the election. 8
On the following day a group of radicals sent a communi-
cation to the delegates nominated by the Fifty-One, prom-
ising their support in case the candidates pledged their
"utmost endeavours " at the congress in support of a non-
importation agreement; that otherwise a rival ticket would
be nominated. The candidates responded that they would
use their " utmost endeavours" to promote every measure
at the congress that might " then " be thought conducive to
the general welfare, and that "at present" they believed
that a "general non-importation faithfully observed"
would prove the best means of procuring redress. 4 This
reply clearly failed to make the concession which the inter-
rogators had demanded and which had been the sine qua non
of the radical position all along. Indeed the only detail in
which the reply differed from the resolutions proposed by
1 N. Y. Gas. , Aug. 1, 1774.
* As late as Oct. 5 Colden believed that "in the City a large Majority
of the People" were against a nc-n-importation agreement. Letter
Books, vol. ii, pp. 366-368.
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 318.
4 Only four of the candidates replied, as Dunne was still absent from
the city. Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 310-320; also N, Y. Gasetteer, Aug. 4, 1774.
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? 340 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763. 1776
the "Fifty-One" was that the delegates entertained a
present opinion that a non-importation faithfully observed
would prove the most effective measure. This slight con-
cession was apparently sufficient to save the self-respect of
the radicals, and they acquiesced in the moderate ticket.
Accordingly, at the Thursday's poll, Low, Jay, Livingston,
Alsop and Duane were unanimously chosen for the city and
county of New York.
The " Fifty-One" lost no time in informing the rural
counties of the action of New York and requested them
either to appoint delegates of their own or to give express
authorization to the New York delegates to act for them. 1
This appeal brought somewhat better results than the earlier
request for the formation of committees of correspondence,
although it is clear that, as before, affairs were carried
through "by a very few Persons, who took upon them-
selves to act for the Freeholders. " 2 Nevertheless, the pro-
posal went to the counties with the seal of approval of the
wholly moderate committee at New York and thus elicited
interest from the large landholders as well as the more
volatile elements in the population. Only three counties
elected delegates of their own--the New-England-infected
county of Suffolk and the nearby counties of Kings and
Orange. Colden was informed by a person present at the
Orange County meeting that not twenty men were present
for the election, though the county contained more than
one thousand freeholders. 8 In Kings, it would appear that
two congenial souls gathered; one was chosen chairman,
the other clerk; and the latter certified to Congress that the
former, Simon Boerum, was unanimously elected to repre-
1July 29, 1774. 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 322. For the action of the
counties, vide Becker, op. cit. , pp. 130-141, and references.
1 Golden, Letter Books, vol. ii, pp. 366-368.
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? CONTEST IN COMMERCIAL PROVINCES
341
sent the county. 1 Four counties -- Albany, Dutchess, Ulster
and Westchester -- adopted the alternative plan proposed by
the "Fifty-One," and in a more or less regular fashion
authorized the city delegates to act for them. Thus, includ-
ing New York County, eight counties in all, " representing
a great majority of this Colony, whether this is determined
by Counties, inhabitants, wealth or the number of members
they send to the General Assembly," took action favorable
to the congress, of a more or less representative character. 2
Six counties remained unresponsive to the appeal of the
"Fifty-One. "
The progress of gvffltS f^ PhiLa(1p1Phia whpn n(>ws of ****
Boston Port Act jtrriyflfl thnr, r<Mf<<>"1HH . that which had
occurred, at Npw York The moderate element, which had
always had a stronghold on the city and province, was
composed chiefly of the great importers of JBritish goods
and the generality of the Quaker sect to which most of
them belonged. This party, V1part1'ly rn^^rpping the? de-
struction of the tea at Postnn and likewise disapproving of
the punitive measures. of Parliament, believedjhat the only
proper metho^l nf opposition was a memorial or rernon-
strance drawn up by the Assembly; a~Iew of them were
willing to favor an interprovincial congress if its activities
were limited to the single function of presenting a petition
of grievances. The radicals, on the other hand, led by the
resourceful Charles Thomson, were determined to make
immediate common cause with Boston, and, through pop-
ular meetings, to force Philadelphia as far in that direction
as they could. John Dickinson, by his earlier leadership of
1 Joseph Galloway repeated this tale on the authority of "almost ill
the Delegates of New York. " The Examination of Joseph Galloway,
. . . before the House of Commons . . . (London, 1780), pp. 11, 66.
2 "To the Publick," Jan. 18, 1775; 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1188-1189.
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? 342 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
the trade-reform movement and his more recent abstention
from public affairs, possessed the confidence of both sides.
Being the most influential man then in the province, his
presence at a meeting of protest was deemed highly desir-
able by the radicals, his support of their measures infinitely
more so.
When Paul Revere arrived on May 19 with the Boston
circular letter, Thomson and two fellow-spirits, Joseph Reed
and Thomas Mifflin, proceeded at once to get in touch with
Dickinson. 1 A public meeting having been called for the
next evening (May 20), the three men took dinner with
Dickinson at his country home earlier in the same day, a
politico-gastronomic device which has always been found
to be of great utility by politicians. As they sat over their
cups and conversed afterward, the men urged Dickinson to
attend the meeting and take an active part in behalf of op-
pressed Boston, reminding him that the present hostility to
parliamentary encroachment had been largely created by his
own earlier efforts. Dickinson offered sundry excuses,
having himself disapproved of the Boston Tea Party and
appearing to feel uncertain as to what lengths they wished
to carry opposition. At last he seemed to consent to attend,
provided that he would be allowed to carry through mod-
erate measures. Thomson, suspecting that Dickinson was
reluctant to play only " a second part," proposed that Reed,
more conservatively inclined than the others, should open
the meeting, Mifflin and he would follow with fervid
1 This account is based chiefly on Thomson's letter to Drayton, writ-
ten many years later, which purported to reveal "the secret springs
and reality of actions" at this time. Stille, Life of Dickinson, pp. 340-
344. However, the lapse of years before the letter was written has
made it necessary to utilize other narratives to correct errors of view
and fact, particularly: Reed, W. B. , Life and Correspondence of Joseph
Reed (Philadelphia, 1847), vol. i, pp. 65-67; 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp.
340-341; Pa. Mag. , vol. xxxiii, pp. 336-339; Stille, op. cit. , pp. 107-108.
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? CONTEST IN COMMERCIAL PROVINCES 343
speeches advocating co-operation with Boston, and Dick-
inson should close with a plea for temperate measures.
Whether indeed vanity was the cause of Dickinson's hesi-
tation, or a suspicion of the good faith of the intriguers, is
not clear. At any rate, this plan being agreed upon, Dick-
inson accompanied Thomson that evening, the other men
having gone ahead in order to avoid the appearance of col-
lusion.
A relatively small number, not more than two or three
hundred inhabitants, were in attendance at the meeting;
and the prearranged program was carried through as
planned. After reading the Boston circular letter, Reed
addressed the body with "moderation but in pathetic terms,"
proposing that the governor be asked to call the Assembly
to petition for a redress of grievances; Mifflin spoke next
with "warmth & fire;" Thomson followed with an ardent
plea " for an immediate declaration in favour of Boston &
making common cause with her. " 1 "Great clamour was
raised against the violence of the measures proposed. "
Dickinson now rose and lent his efforts in support of Reed's
motion, speaking with "great coolness, calmness, modera-
tion and good sense. " Dickinson's motives are not clear;
but Governor Penn was probably right when he averred
that: "the movers of this extraordinary measure had not
the most distant expectation of succeeding in it [because of
the certainty of the governor's refusal], but that their real
scheme was to gain time by it to see what part the other
Colonies will take in so critical a conjuncture. "2
A number of persons were present who had never before
attended public meetings, among them the importer, Thomas
Wharton, and Dr. Smith, provost of the College of Phila-
1 Thomson fainted in the midst of his speech, "for he had scarce
slept an hour two nights past. "
14 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 367-368.
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? 344 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
delphia; and these men helped to carry the day for the
Reed-Dickinspn motion. If Thomson was surprised at the
outcome of his scheme, he at least tried to recover such
ground as he could by moving that a committee be ap-
pointed to answer the Boston letter; and when that carried,
a slate of radicals was handed to the chair for submission
to the meeting. A list representing the other party was
submitted at the same time; and great confusion ensued as
to which list should be voted on first. At length it was
proposed that the two lists be combined to compose the com-
mittee; and this was accordingly done, with the under-
standing that the committee should be altered at a later
meeting of inhabitants.
The committee o? nineteen, thus selected, was dominated
by jhe moderate^, and fairly represented the sentiment of
the city. 1 The letter sent to Boston on May 21 frankly re-
flected this cautious spirit. With circumspect phrase, the
committee conceded that Boston was suffering in the com-
mon cause but hesitated to venture further expressions in-
asmuch as "the sense of this large city" had not yet been
ascertained, and even when this were done, the "populous
province" had yet to express itself. They took occasion
to express their distaste for the Boston Tea Party by de-
claring that if compensating the East India Company
"would put an end to this unhappy controversy, and leave
us on the footing of constitutional liberty for the future, it
is presumed that neither you nor we could continue a mo-
ment in doubt what part to act. " Finally, they had " reason
to think" that it would be most agreeable to the p^nplp of
Pennsylvania to summon a general congress to send a peti-
tion of rights to the king, and thgt the. BosT6n plan of non-
intercourse should be reserved as " the last resource. " 2
1 Vide letter of George Clymer; 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 406-407.
1 Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 341-342; also Pa. Gas. , June 8, 1774. The letter was
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?
CONTEST IN COMMERCIAL PROVINCES
345
The radical leaders backed the petition for calling the
Assembly in apparent good faith, in order " to convince the
pacific [Thomson confessed afterward] that it was not the
intention of the warm spirits to involve the province in the
dispute without the consent of the representatives of the
people. " As they expected, the fiqvernor refused the^peti-
iojra, though it was signed by almost nine hundred people. 1
They 1\ow_urged a large meeting of^the Philadelphia pjublic
to choose a new committee and tQ . takeJurther action. . As
showed no disposition f
notices were posted for . a. meeting of . the mechanics of the
city_and_ suburbs on the evening: of June g in order to
organize themselves and to appoint a committee of their
OWJTL This maneuver had the desired effect. When the
twelve hundred workingmen assembled on Thursday night,
the chairman was able to inform them that the Nineteen
had sent word that a mass meeting of the city and county
would be called in the near future to choose " one Grand
Joint Committee. " Whereupon, the gathering decided to
take no action " at present. " a
The moderates determined to control the action of the
mass meeting; and in order to do this it was necessary to
written by Dr. Smith. The Boston Committee of Correspondence re-
sponded in much the same spirit they did to the New York epistle,
which had been written about the same time. Bos. Com. Cor. Papers,
vol. ii, pp. 417-420. Sam Adams wrote privately to Thomson: "The
Trade will fgrpvej ftp Divided when a Sacrifice of their Interest_is
called^f_or. . . . Is it not necessary to push jor a Suspension of Trade
_with Great Britgjii g^ far as it w1ll go, and let~tfie_jeomanry . . "TYe-
altrnrether who will not come into the 'Treasure? "
Writings (Gushing), vol. iii, p. 124. JJote the approving attitude of
the N. Y. Committee with reference to the Philadelphia letter. 4 Am.
Arch. , vol. i, p. 298.
1 Stille, op. cit. , pp. 344-345; 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 391-392.
1 Pa. Gaz. , June 15, 1774; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 405-406.
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? 346 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
gain the support of the body of the Quakers who " had an
aversion to town meetings & always opposed them. " There-
fore the Nineteen called into an informal caucus six repre-
sentatives of each religious society in the city; and this
body agreed upon the presidents of the meeting, the speak-
ers "who were obliged to write down what they intended
to say & submit their several speeches to the revision of the
presidents," the nature of the resolutions to be adopted,
and, finally, the personnel of the new committee. 1 Upon
their ticket they thoughtfully placed seventeen members of
the existing committee,2 including Dickinson as chairman,
and chose twenty-seven others from their respective relig-
ious organizations. From another point of view, the list
contained a clear majority of moderate merchants and pro-
fessional men, but the radical leaders still held membership
and at least six mechanics were included. The spirit con-
trolling the proposed membership was well expressed by
Thomas Wharton when he explained that the reason he
permitted his name to be used was "a sincere desire in
myself to keep the transactions of our city within the limits
of moderation and not indecent or offensive to our parent
state. " 8
In view of these preparations, the meeting of the city
and county on June 18 was hardly more than a formality,
although probably only a handful of the great throng real-
1 Thomson's account in Stille, op. cit. , p. 344; Thomas Wharton's
account, Pa. Mag. , vol. xxxiii, pp. 436-437; Dr. Smith's Notes and
Papers (Hist. Soc. Pa. Mss. ), pp. 9-11.
1 Joseph Fox and John Cox were left out.
1 Pa. Mag. , vol. xxxiii, pp. 436, 439. Likewise, Dr. Smith declared,
on a later occasion, that he would remain on the committee as long as
he could be "of any Use in advising Measures consistent with the
Principles I profess and that Allegiance and subordination which we
owe to the Crown and Empire of Great Britain. " Notes and Papers,
pp. 17-18.
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? CONTEST IN COMMERCIAL PROVINCES
347
ized it. Two resolutions were adopted, declaring that Bos-
ton was suffering in the common cause and that a congress
of deputies from the colonies was the proper way of ob-
taining redress of grievances. No mention was made of
the Boston proposal for non-intercourse. The ticket of
forty-four names, prepared by the caucus, was elected with
little difficulty, although it would appear that James Pem-
berton, a pillar of the Society of Friends, withdrew his
name at once, thus leaving forty-three. 1 This committee
was instructed to correspond with the rural counties and
with the sister provinces, and to devise a means of choosing
delegates to the Continental Congress. The next few weeks
saw the establishment of committees of correspondence in
most of the counties and the adoption of resolutions for an
interprovincial congress as proposed by the Forty-Three at
iladelphia. 2
Forty-Three were as moderate in temper as the
Fifty-One of New York and strove for the same objects.
But under the gracious leadership of the chairman, John
Dickinson, a sharp clash was avoided between the Radical
minority of the committee and the dominant element] and
indeed the two factions found it to their interest to unite
forces, upon most occasions, against a common enemy.
This common foe, of which there was no exact counterpart
in New York, was the strongly consolidated conservative
group entrenched in the lower house of the Assembly under
the leadership of Joseph Galloway, the speaker. Galloway
1 His name is included in 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 426-428, but not in
the newspaper accounts: Pa. Gas. , June 22, 1774; Pa. Journ. , June 22;
Pa. Packet, June 27. For Pemberton's sentiments, vide statement of
Quakers, May 30, 1774; 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 365-366, and his letter
in Sharpless, Quakers in Revolution, pp. 107-109.
* From June 18 to July 13 committees were appointed in the counties
of Chester, Northampton, Berks, York, Bucks, Lancaster, Bedford,
Cumberland and Chester. Vide files of Pa. Gas. , and Pa. Journ.
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? 348 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763. 1776
had long been an opponent of Dickinson in provincial poli-
tics over the issue of proprietary vs. royal government for
Pennsylvania; he had upon one occasion declined a chal-
lenge from Dickinson, but the two men fought many a
wordy duel in broadside and newspaper. 1 Like many an-
other gentleman of wealth and prestige who chose the
British side when the war broke out, Galloway believed in
the justice of many of the American demands. He was a
constructive critic of the colonial policy of the home gov-
ernment and believed that alleviation could, and should
properly, come only through the traditional and legal chan-
nel of legislative memorials to Parliament. Efforts at pop-
ular control through extra-legal action were to him a species
of anarchy, and he held himself aloof from all popular
movements whatever their purpose. 2 Confronted with a
popular movement of continental proportions and alarmed
by the vigorous and unusual measures of Parliament against
1 Baldwin, E. H. , "Joseph Galloway, the Loyalist Politician," Pa.
Mag. , vol. xxvi, particularly pp. 161-191.
1 Says Galloway's biographer: "With a conservatism natural to
wealth, and with inherited aristocratic tendencies, Mr. Galloway ob-
served with no small concern the growth of republican ideas. That
there could be any true liberty, or any safety even, under a democracy,
or what he considered was nearly, if not quite, the same thing, mob
rule, he believed impossible. It was with no small degree of appre-
hension, therefore, that he viewed the growing differences between
Great Britain and her Colonies. With a property-holder's natural
aversion to taxation, and with a realization of the injustice which
might result from measures of taxation by Parliament, he aided in all
ways that he considered proper to remove the causes of complaint.
The very suggestion that the remedy for the troubles lay in independ-
ence was repugnant to him. The remedy lay rather in a closer union
with the mother country. The political experiences of Mr. Galloway in
Pennsylvania made him naturally suspicious of the intentions of the
noisy elements among the people, and he soon came to the conclusion
that ultimate independence was their aim; at least their conduct could
lead to nothing else. Hence he determined to exert his best efforts
to prevent such a deplorable occurrence. " Ibid. , p. 440.
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? CONTEST IN COMMERCIAL PROVINCES 349
Boston, Galloway was now willing to favor an interprovin-
cial congress if it should be composed of delegates chosen
by the members composing the popular branches of the sev-
eral provincial legislatures. Such a congress, he believed,
might formulate a plan of " political union between the two
countries, with the assent of both, which would effectually
secure to Americans their future rights and privileges. " 1
^he policy of the Forty-Three was to conciliate and unite
all factions in the province in support of the approaching
congress. Therefore, although the mere existence of an
extra-legal committee represented a principle hateful to the
Galloway partyjthe Forty-Three adopted a plan of action
which enlisted the co-operation of Galloway almost in spite
of himself. The Forty-Three had been instructed by the
public meeting to devise a means of ascertaining the sense
of the province and of electing delegates to the Continental
Congress. At a meeting on June 27, they decided that they
would ask Speaker Galloway to call the members of the
House together for an unofficial session to consider the
alarming situation, and that they would summon, for the
same time, a convention of county committees "to consult
and advise on the most expedient mode of appointing dele-
gates for the general congress and to give their weight to
such as may be adopted. "2 This latter body, the radical
leaders had already learned " under colour of an excursion
of pleasure," * would be definitely radical in its composition,
for in it the western counties would have a much larger
voice than under the unfair system of representation main-
1 Vide letter signed by Galloway and three others as members of the
committee of correspondence of the Assembly. Pa. Gas. , July 13, 1774;
also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 485-486. Cf. the scathing comment of a
New York newspaper writer. Ibid. , vol. i, p. 486 n.
1 Pa. Gas. , June 29, July 6, 1774; Lincoln, Revolutionary Movement
in Pa. , pp. I73-I75.
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 434. Vide also ibid.