New York in the Critical Period. 1783–1789 9780231887274

Table of contents :
Foreword
Acknowledgment
Contents
Illustrations
Introduction
Chapter I. Business, Good and Bad
Chapter II. The Social Background
Chapter III. The Land
Chapter IV. The Politics of The Landlords
Chapter V. Politics
Chapter VI. The Lion's Paw
Chapter VII. The Currency
Chapter VIII. The State Impost
Chapter IX. New York and The Congress
Chapter X. The Drift Toward Union
Chapter XI. The Constitution Before The State
Chapter XII. The Campaign
Chapter XIII. The Embattled Statesmen of Poughkeepsie
Chapter XIV. The Triumph of The Constitution
Maps
Appendix
Bibliography
Index

Citation preview

WJ.W YORK STATE HISTORICAL ^ASSOCIATION

£ER1ES

D I X O N RYAN FOX EDITOR

NEW YORK

IN T H E

CRITICAL

1783 - 1 7 8 9 BY E. W I L D E R

SPAULDING

PERIOD

GOVERNOR GEORGE CLINTON F r o m a c r a y o n drawing p r e s e n t e d to the O n e i d a H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y by M i s s J u l i a C l i n t o n

N E W YORK I N T H E C R I T I C A L PERIOD 1 7 8 3 - 1 7 8 9 BY

E. W I L D E R D E P A R T M E N T

SPAULDING OF

WASHINGTON,

N EW YORK COLUMBIA

D.

STATE C.

M • CM • XXXII U N I V E R S I T Y

PRESS

COPYRICHT

1932

C O L U M B I A UNIVERSITY PRESS

P U B L I S H E D OCTOBER,

1932

P U N T E D IN T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S OF A M E R I C A T H E T O R C H PRESS, CEDAR R A P I D S , I O W A

FOREWORD T h e N e w Y o r k State H i s t o r i c a l Association, believing that the development of civilization and government in w h a t has b e c o m e the E m p i r e State has been t o o meagerly examined, u n d e r s t o o d and presented, has instituted a p r o g r a m of publication, which, it hopes, will contribute to making clearer the human interest and significance that attach to w h a t A m e r icans o f many origins have accomplished on this soil. Its tenv o l u m e History of the State of New York, now proceeding, attempts a wide-sweeping summary o f that story through three centuries and more. Its quarterly magazine, New York History, continues to present brief papers on phases, episodes and personalities more or less important in the evolution of the state. B u t to permit a longer and m o r e searching play of light on some of these than is possible in a general w o r k or in such a periodical, the Association begins with this volume a Series of studies to appear approximately once a year. D r . Spaulding's w o r k is, we feel, a fortunate beginning, in its subject and its method. N o other state, not even Virginia, underwent such striking and far-reaching social changes by reason of the Revolution as did N e w Y o r k . T h e term " C r i t ical P e r i o d , " as describing the years immediately a f t e r w a r d , w a s used as early as 1 8 5 7 ; John Fiske, w h o could look back upon the strain of the Civil W a r , still thought that the name belonged with special propriety to the 1780's, observing that the " p e r i o d of five years f o l l o w i n g the peace of 1783 was the most critical moment in the history of the A m e r i c a n p e o p l e , " and in the title of his most famous w o r k g a v e it classic and permanent standing. But if the times were critical f o r the A m e r i c a n nation as a whole they were particularly so in the new state of N e w Y o r k . In what w a s legally one commonwealth there was the sharpest difference as to economic inter-

VI

FOREWORD

est b e t w e e n the rich and p o p u l o u s c o m m e r c i a l r e g i o n around N e w Y o r k h a r b o r on the one h a n d and the a g r i c u l t u r a l and p i o n e e r i n g a r e a s p r e a d i n g to the Saint L a w r e n c e

and

the

G r e a t L a k e s on the o t h e r . T h e r e w a s sectionalism in every state, but h e r e it w a s especially a g g r a v a t e d . I t w a s difficult indeed to r e c r e a t e the n o r m a l l i f e o f N e w Y o r k C i t y , which h a d been in possession o f the enemy f o r seven y e a r s and had been w a s t e d b y disastrous fires. T h e p o p u l a t i o n of the state, in m a n y instances its n e i g h b o r h o o d s and families, h a d been a l m o s t equally d i v i d e d in allegiance as to the k i n g and the r e p u b l i c ; h o w t o deal w i t h the d e f e a t e d T o r i e s w a s a m a j o r problem

for

the l e g i s l a t u r e

and

the

courts.

A

large

and

c l a m o r o u s d e b t o r element a m o n g the u p s t a t e f a r m e r s , counting on the p r o f i t a b l e customs duties w h i c h the state collected at the p o r t to ease their taxes, w e r e in no m o o d to surrender the c o n t r o l o f customs and the g u a r a n t y of c o n t r a c t s to a f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t w h i c h w o u l d h a v e the f u r t h e r right to enforce

the p r o v i s i o n s

of

a treaty

that protected

Tories.

E v e r y o n e w e l l r e a l i z e d t h a t N e w Y o r k , w i t h its central position, could v e t o constitutional r e f o r m , and f o r a considerable time a m a j o r i t y w a s bent on d o i n g so. T h e s e f o r c e s and fact o r s D r . S p a u l d i n g a n a l y z e s w i t h p e n e t r a t i n g search and sets f o r t h w i t h r a r e constructive skill. T h e final acceptance of the C o n s t i t u t i o n p r o v i d e s the climax, but the d r a m a t h a t he here rehearses is f a r b r o a d e r and m o r e c o m p l i c a t e d than the immediate contest at P o u g h k e e p s i e in 1 7 8 8 . The

discerning r e a d e r w i l l r e c o g n i z e certain f o r c e s

that

still o p e r a t e in the l i f e of the state, illustrating the v a l u e of an historical a p p r o a c h to the p r o b l e m s of a g i v e n time. B u t the m e t h o d w h i c h the a u t h o r f o l l o w s is in itself a b e t t e r illustration. H e c l e a r l y a p p r e h e n d s t h a t the m o m e n t o u s contest o f the eighties did n o t rest upon the s u r f a c e of those y e a r s . H e b o r e s to d e e p f o u n d a t i o n s in the peculiar land system of N e w Y o r k , as o l d as the F r e e d o m s and E x e m p t i o n s o f 1 6 2 9 . T h e t w o i m p o r t a n t legacies o f N e w N e t h e r l a n d w e r e

arbitrary

g o v e r n m e n t and, m o r e persisting, the ideal o f the tenanted

FOREWORD

Vil

estate. I n few, if any, places can one find a clearer brief amount of the rise of class feeling f r o m the claims of aristocratic landlords and the resentment of agricultural renters a n d their small-acred neighbors, expressing itself now and then in the threat or fact of armed conflict. H i s t o r i a n s of politics o f t e n throw in lumps of social history as a sort of bonus to their readers, but writers f r o m M a c a u l a y to Beard have pointed out t h a t there is a very real interpénétration in the two. D r . Spaulding succeeds in showing how true this is in the history of N e w York. Ideas run t h r o u g h the mill of political procedure and come out laws and policies, but first there are ideas, ideas which themselves g r o w out of circumstances. In relating the political controversies of the critical period to the social conditions out of which they sprang, the author has assured the permanence of his work. N e i t h e r special interest nor special training is needed to enjoy this book. Its dramatic theme, its vivid characterization, its lucidity of style, its logical and clean-cut organization, will hold attention in the subway or in an Adirondack cabin as well as in the scholar's study. But the scholar will find a special profit in the suggestions in the notes and bibliography. H e will observe that the newspapers of the entire state, and some outside, have been finely combed, t h a t new manuscript sources have been exploited, and t h a t there has been laid under contribution a mass of treatises which as a whole will be found familiar by few indeed. M o r e o v e r , he will enjoy the author's ringing challenges to those pundits who have preceded him in various walks of his inquiry. N o b o d y ' s dictum has received respect without a rigorous test. Altogether the Association takes no little pride in presenting this first volume in the New York State Historical /Association Series. NEW

YORK,

August, 1932

D I X O N R Y A N FOX President, N e w York State Historical Association

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I wish to express my appreciation to Professor Dixon Ryan Fox, President of the New York State Historical Association, for his kindly interest in this undertaking; and to acknowledge my deep gratitude to Professor Frederick Merk, of Harvard University, who suggested the subject of the study and who has given unfailingly of his counsel and friendly criticism. E. W . S.

CONTENTS FOREWORD

BY

DIXON

RYAN

FOX

V

INTRODUCTION

3

I.

5

B U S I N E S S , GOOD A N D B A D

Agriculture; Commerce; Merchants, bankers, and lawyers; Commercial critics of the governmental system; Mechanics and tradesmen; Manufacturers; Conditions immediately following the Revolution: Economic results of enemy occupation and evacuation, Decline of credit, Extravagance and luxuries from abroad, Speculation in western lands, Speculation in securities and produce; Depression: Price movements, Debt and insolvency, T h e black year ( 1 7 8 6 ) , Position of the farmer; L i f t ing of the depression at the end of the critical period II.

THE

SOCIAL B A C K G R O U N D

30

Population in 1 7 8 3 ; Racial characteristics; Religious characteristic; Cultural institutions: Schools, Publication, Theaters; Humanitarian strivings; Social instability; Democratic simplicity III.

THE

LAND

44

Land system in state politics; Prevalence of the great estate in New Y o r k ; Dutch and English land policies; Location and size of the estates: Manors, Patented estates, Small holdings; Character of manors and patents : Quitrents, T h e manor distinguished from the patented estate, Feudal characteristics, Van Rensselaer and Livingston Manors, Westchester manors; Effect of the Revolution upon the manors IV.

THE

P O L I T I C S OF T H E L A N D L O R D S

.

.

.

.

71

Federalist and Antifederalist landowners ; Power of the landlord in politics; Influence of the Revolutionary spirit; Antagonism between landlord and tenant; Antirent war of the nineteenth century; Federalism of the aristocratic landlord V.

POLITICS

Colonial background; Revolutionary period; Constitution of 1 7 7 7 : Constitutional convention and its work, Sectionalism in the convention, Restriction of the franchise, Conservative character of the constitution; Election of George Clinton as gov-

84

CONTENTS

Xll

ernor: Character of Clinton, Victory for the Democrats; Clintonian era in New York politics: Appearance of party groupings, Criticisms of the Clinton regime, Political appointees in politics, Law and order, Mechanics' incorporation and political conservatism, Saint Tammany's Society, Federalist activities in 1786, Legislature of 1787, Controversy over the seat of state government, George Clinton's hold on his state VI.

THE

LION'S

PAW

115

Evacuation ; Patriot grievances and Anglophobia ; New York and the Treaty of 1783 ; Problem of the loyalists : Location and character of the loyalist elements, War-time persecution of the loyalists, Emigration of the loyalists, Condition of the loyalists after the treaty, Tory issue in politics, Rutgers v. Waddington, Conciliatory policies (1786-1787), Politics of the loyalists in 1788; Effect of British occupation of the western posts upon New York; Effect of British discrimination against American commerce upon New York VII.

THE

CURRENCY

139

Confused currency; Bank of New York; Demand for paper money : Drain of specie from the state, War-time issues of paper money, Failure of the paper-money men (1781-1786), Paper issue of 1786, Effect of Shays's Rebellion upon New York, Relation of paper money to the ratification of the Constitution VIII.

T H E STATE IMPOST

153

Its relation to the ratification of the Constitution; Quarrels with Connecticut and New Jersey, and their relation to ratification IX.

N E W YORK AND THE CONGRESS

160

State jealousy of congressional powers; State representation in Congress ; Cession of the western land claims ; Congress in New York State ; Congressional defense of the frontier ; Congressional requisitions; Sectional opposition to Federal requisitions; Struggle over granting the impost: Grant of 1781, Restricted grant of 1783, Years of Clintonian opposition, Sectionalism, Governor's refusal to call a special session (1786), Federalist failure in 1787; Relation of these problems to the Federal Constitution X.

T H E DRIFT TOWARD U N I O N

New York and the Annapolis Convention ; Rise of sentiment favoring a stronger union; New York and the Philadelphia Convention: Action by Congress, Choice of the New York delegates, Instructions to the delegates, Withdrawal of Yates

183

CONTENTS

xiii

and Lansing from Philadelphia, Contributions of to the Convention XI.

THE

CONSTITUTION BEFORE T H E S T A T E

Hamilton

.

.

.

192

Attitude of the New York delegates to Congress; Attitude of the state in the early spring ( 1 7 8 8 ) ; Delay in summoning the state convention ; Calling the convention : Legislative resolution, Provision for manhood suffrage in the election of delegates, Problem of apportionment XII.

THE

CAMPAIGN

205

Opposition of the governor; Flood of controversial literature: The Federalist; Contentions and characteristics of the parties: Federalist arguments, Property and class distinctions in politics, Clintonian position, Summary of party characteristics; Tactics of the rival forces; Balloting for delegates to the state convention : Victory for the Antifederalists XIII.

THE

E M B A T T L E D S T A T E S M E N OF P O U G H K E E P S I E

.

222

Delegates from the Antifederalist counties; Delegates from the Federalist counties XIV.

THE

TRIUMPH

OF T H E

CONSTITUTION

.

.

.

249

Position of the parties; T h e debates; Factors that favored the Federalists: Fear of the loss of commerce, Danger of secession of the southern counties, Accession of New Hampshire to the Constitution, Failure of the Virginia Antifederalists to cooperate with New York, Partiality of the mails to the Federalists ; Progressive retreat of the Clintonians: Antifederal decision to accept amendments, Proposed amendments and a bill of rights, Madison's advice, Ratification "in full confidence" ; T h e circular letter and the second convention movement ; Influence of the Federal capital; Prestige of George Clinton after 1788; T h e passing of Antifederalism MAPS A P P E N D I X ( L I S T OF D E L E G A T E S TO T H E P O U G H K E E P S I E VENTION )

277 CON283

BIBLIOGRAPHY

289

INDEX

317

ILLUSTRATIONS GOVERNOR

GEORGE

CLINTON

Frontispiece

F r o m a C r a y o n D r a w i n g Presented to the O n e i d a Historical Society by M i s s Julia Clinton Varick M A P , SHOWING A S S E M B L Y V O T E OF A P R I L 1 2 , 1 7 8 5 , ON BILLS OF CREDIT A C T

279

M A P , SHOWING A S S E M B L Y V O T E OF A P R I L 1 5 , 1 7 8 6 , TO A U THORIZE CONGRESS TO C O L L E C T T H E IMPOST MAP,

.

.

SHOWING A S S E M B L Y V O T E OF J A N U A R Y 2 7 ,

S H O W I N G V O T E OF J U L Y 2 6 ,

KEEPSIE

CONVENTION

F E D E R A L CONSTITUTION

ON

1 7 8 8 , IN T H E

RATIFICATION

OF

280

1 7 8 7 , TO

D I S Q U A L I F Y E X - L O Y A L I S T S FOR T H E LEGISLATURE MAP,

.

.

.

281

POUGHPROPOSED 282

NEW YORK IN THE CRITICAL PERIOD

INTRODUCTION T h e critical p e r i o d in A m e r i c a n history h a s g e n e r a l l y been t r e a t e d as an a w k w a r d and p a i n f u l h a l f d e c a d e o f v a i n flound e r i n g , i m p o r t a n t only because the f u t i l i t y o f it led t o b e t t e r things. C o n s e q u e n t l y it h a s been r e g a r d e d as a t h o r o u g h l y d i s c r e d i t a b l e f r a g m e n t o f history, the m i s f o r t u n e s o f w h i c h m i g h t be c a p i t a l i z e d to lend brilliance, t h r o u g h c o n t r a s t , to the y e a r s t h a t f o l l o w e d . A n d y e t it w a s , as w e shall see, n o t a p e r i o d o f static futility, but one o f m o v e m e n t , o f v i g o r o u s reconstruction. T h e R e v o l u t i o n l e f t the i n f a n t state o f N e w Y o r k b a d l y d i s o r g a n i z e d . T h e critical p e r i o d , the a g e o f adolescence f o r the new states o f the U n i o n , l e f t N e w Y o r k w e l l r e c o v e r e d and on the w a y t o w a r d v i g o r o u s m a t u r i t y . T h e m o s t striking event within N e w Y o r k S t a t e d u r i n g the reconstruction years, 1 7 8 3 t h r o u g h 1 7 8 8 , w a s the s t r u g g l e o v e r the p r o p o s e d F e d e r a l C o n s t i t u t i o n . I n 1 7 8 8 the P o u g h keepsie C o n v e n t i o n ratified that C o n s t i t u t i o n by the n a r r o w m a r g i n o f t h r e e in a t o t a l o f fifty-seven v o t e s . T h i s study a t t e m p t s to a n a l y z e t h a t s t r u g g l e b e t w e e n F e d e r a l i s t and A n t i f e d e r a l i s t , and to see t h r o u g h and b e y o n d it t o the various elements t h a t c o m p o s e d the l i f e o f N e w Y o r k d u r i n g the decade. A n u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the f o r c e s w h i c h b r o u g h t the state to the v e r g e o f r e j e c t i n g the C o n s t i t u t i o n and t h o s e w h i c h s a v e d it b y a s e e m i n g miracle t h a t w a s no m i r a c l e a t all, i n v o l v e s a study of the state during the entire p e r i o d o f reconstruction f o l l o w i n g the R e v o l u t i o n . Y e t state politics a l o n e w i l l n o t explain w h y the fluent H a m i l t o n , w i t h his c o m m e r c i a l , aristocratic F e d e r a l i s t s , despised the substantial C l i n t o n , b a c k e d b y his upcountry, A n t i f e d e r a l f a r m e r s . Such a s t u d y must concern itself w i t h the social g r o u p i n g s o f the time, w i t h the occupations o f the m o r e i m p o r t a n t g r o u p s o f N e w Y o r k e r s , w i t h

4

INTRODUCTION

changing economic conditions, and with the politics of both state and nation. Sectionalism, so often the mainspring of politics, developed very rapidly out of war-time confusion. In it was reflected nearly every phase of the life of the time. A n d no personalities represented so well the typical clash of the sections, country against city, upcountry against tidewater region, agrarian against commercial, as the personalities of Governor George Clinton and Alexander Hamilton. T h e latter is well known. T h e former has never had a biographer. T h e latter l e f t no end of written records concerning himself and his party. T h e former wrote seldom and spoke but little in public places. Hamilton was none too much loved by his contemporaries, but he became the favorite of the historian. Clinton was respected and loved by the majority of his contemporaries, but he is almost forgotten by the historian. N o two men were ever more dissimilar. A n d almost equally unlike were the sections of the state which these two men typify. T h e history of this half decade is mainly that of the supremacy of George Clinton, with his following of small, democratic farmers, and its challenge by Alexander Hamilton and his party of merchants and great proprietors. Only in 1 7 8 8 did Clintonian democracy suffer its first serious defeat at the hands of the Hamiltonians through N e w Y o r k ' s reluctant decision to ratify the new Federal Constitution.

CHAPTER

I

BUSINESS, GOOD A N D

BAD

N o decade in the history of N e w Y o r k State had seen such kaleidoscopic changes as those which came to the staid province in the era of the American Revolution. Hitherto it had been conservative in respect to population growth, politics, and industry. But during the W a r the state underwent a process of fermentation that led to a half decade of rapid and not always happy development a f t e r the treaty of peace. Upon its economic and social fabric depended the life of the sovereign state during the critical period. T h e distribution of its population during the eighties indicated that N e w Y o r k State was primarily an agricultural community. T h e United States census of 1 7 9 0 gave the state 3 4 0 , 1 2 0 inhabitants, of whom only 3 3 , 1 3 1 lived in the more or less urban N e w Y o r k County, and about 6,000 more in the two towns of Albany and Poughkeepsie. T h e rural remainder of the modest population was by no means spread broadcast over the whole area of the state. I t was estimated that in 1 7 8 4 there were about one million improved acres out of a total of twenty-nine millions; while the well settled areas went no f a r ther north than the present Washington and Montgomery Counties, or f a r t h e r west than the watershed of the Hudson and lower M o h a w k . 1 T h e soil was generally good. Y e t in the extreme southern parts it was either rough and rocky as in Orange County, or thin and rather badly exhausted as in the other counties where primitive husbandry had prevailed. 2 Cereals were the basic products, especially wheat, which was 1 Macaulay, James, Natural, Statistical, and Civil History of the State of Nevi York (New York, 1829), II, 57. 2 O'Callaghan, Edmund Burke, ed., Documentary History of the State of Nevi York (Albany, 1849-1851), I, 759, Report of Governor Tryon, 1774.

6

BUSINESS,

GOOD A N D

BAD

the chief commodity for export and which often served as a medium of exchange. No other state found itself at the close of the Revolution with an agricultural system so distinctive as that of New York. Only in parts of the extreme southern counties had the Dutch "colonists" and the Yankee immigrants given the state the flavor of New England and its township system. And though the great estates of the upcountry with their aristocratic proprietors were superficially much like Virginia plantations, they were never administered on the plantation system as units with a servile population. The labor there was performed by numerous white tenants on their separate leaseholds. But while the great tenanted estates were to be found in all the mainland counties, their population was outnumbered in the very regions where they were strongest by the farmers who owned their own little farms. The great estate was still vitally important in the political and social life of the Hudson valley, but the less spectacular yeomanry must not be forgotten. Somewhat less important than the farmers-of the state economically, but often fully as important politically, were the merchants, great and small. While less than 10 per cent of the population might be dependent directly upon commerce, the influence of the commercial sections was great. The state did very little manufacturing, and hence its exports were the products of the farm: wheat, flour, and live stock, or lumber from its forests, much of which went to the West Indies to be exchanged for sugar products, or to the South to be traded for cotton and indigo.3 The fur trade had been important to Albany before the British cut it off. While ocean-going vessels often went up the Hudson to Poughkeepsie, Hudson, Newburgh, or Albany, New York City was the all-important port of entry. When the state erected its customhouses in 1784, one was located at New York City and the other at Sag Har3 American Magazine, March, 1788; Schlesinger, Arthur M., Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution, 1763-1776 (New York, 1918), p. 27; Ford,. Paul Leicester, ed., The Federalist (New York, 1898), p. 215.

BUSINESS,

GOOD A N D

BAD

7

bor, a Long Island village. But the trade that trickled in through the port of Sag Harbor was so inconsiderable that the customhouse there was scarcely worth the upkeep. Yet though New Y o r k City alone was the chief center of trade, the influence of the merchants was great throughout the state because of their alliance, not only with the lawyers, but with the landholders 4 and with the smaller centers of trade like Poughkeepsie and Albany. About this system of alliances grew up the opposition to the Clintonian democracy which controlled the state government in the middle eighties. The near unanimity of the vote of New Y o r k County for Federal delegates to the state convention in 1788, as well as other available evidence, shows that the merchants were almost invariably Federalist. 5 Indeed, we shall use the term ''Federalist" in this study to indicate the party which favored, not only Federal policies, but the economic interests of the merchants of New Y o r k City and of their allies. John Alsop, the Crugers, the Hoffmans, John Lawrence, Francis Lewis, some of the Livingstons, Nicholas Low, Thomas Randall, Henry Remsen, the Roosevelts, Henry Rutgers, Comfort Sands, and Peter Vandervoort were all merchants with Federalist sentiments. Among the Antifederalists there were but a few, such as John Lamb and Melancton Smith, the latter of whom finally voted for the Constitution in the convention. The majority of the merchants were keenly interested in politics. Closely associated with the merchants were the bankers of New Y o r k City, Isaac Roosevelt, Alexander Hamilton, William Duer and others, also staunch Federalists." And very largely identical in interests, if not always in personnel, were the lawyers. These were well scattered through the state, yet * Schlesinger, op. cit., p. 27. See also infra, Chap. I I I . 5 Excellent is Otto's letter to Vergennes, Oct. 10, 1786, printed in G e o r g e B a n c r o f t ' s History of the Formation of the Constitution of the United States of America ( N e w Y o r k , 1 8 8 2 ) , I I , 399. C f . also F o x , D. R., Decline of Aristocracy in the Politics of Nnv York ( N e w Y o r k , 1 9 1 9 ) , pp. 18, 3 5 ; Schlesinger, op. cit., p. 2 8 ; Barrett, Walter, Old Merchants of Nevi York City ( 1 8 6 3 ) , p. 81. 6 W h o s e influence Hamilton w a s glad to use for the Constitution. B e a r d , Charles A . , Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy (New York, 1915), p. 5.

8

BUSINESS,

GOOD A N D

BAD

the majority of them, and especially the more able, were to be found in the metropolis. The Clintonians indeed claimed George Clinton, Samuel Jones, John Lansing, the illiterate Judge Peck, Thomas Treadwell of Suffolk, and Brockholst Livingston, who was heavily in debt to John J a y ; 7 but the Federalists had Benson, Duane, Hamilton, Richard Harison, Hobart, Josiah Ogden Hoffman, J a y , Lawrence, L'Hommedieu, Chancellor Livingston, Richard Morris, Ogden, Robert Troup, and Richard Varick. These lists are f a r from being complete for either merchants or lawyers, yet they indicate approximately the proportion of lawyers and merchants of note in the two parties. The commercial interests were the first to sense and criticize the laxity and ineffectiveness of government, especially that of the Confederation, at the end of the Revolution. The moral lapse that follows a great war set in when the end of the Revolution seemed to be approaching, bringing with it disorder, crime, dishonesty, and economic distress. A correspondent wrote to the Packet in the interests of commerce that after 1 7 7 9 public faith and honor and public credit were replaced by local interest and avarice, and he demanded a government which should return to the old virtues. 8 One of the most read and effective of the tracts published in 1788 to urge ratification of the Federal Constitution was John J a y ' s "Address to the People of New Y o r k . " ° This tract which was primarily an appeal to the merchants, emphasized the unfortunate condition of New York's commerce as illustrating the need for a vigorous Federal system. The merchants constantly deplored the evils of the times and called most loudly for vigorous government. N o t only New York City but commercial Albany, Lansingburgh, and Hudson were Federalist in their politics. It may be significant that the Federal Herald declared on April 28, 7

M S letter, Livingston to his mother, June 27, 1787, in the Massachusetts Historical Society. *Nev> York Packet, April 21, 1785. 9 Printed in the American Museum, June, 1788.

BUSINESS,

GOOD

AND

BAD

9

1 7 8 8 , that twenty-nine vessels, of about one hundred tons' burden, had a r r i v e d in Lansingburgh during three w e e k s ; and a w e e k later stated that the town was four-fifths Federalist. 1 0 A g a i n trade and F e d e r a l i s m appeared hand in hand. I t is easy to see why the city of A l b a n y clamored f o r a more effective national g o v e r n m e n t and f o r the observance o f the treaty with E n g l a n d when it w a s losing its once lucrative fur trade to the E n g l i s h and C a n a d i a n s , w h o refused to give up the western posts. T h i s m i g h t h a v e been a very substantial trade, f o r M u n s e l l r e c o r d s that in 1796, immediately a f t e r the J a y T r e a t y had restored the posts to the U n i t e d States, twenty to thirty cartloads o f f u r o f t e n entered A l b a n y at once, and one shipment alone amounted to $40,000. 11 But A l b a n y in the 1 7 8 0 ' s turned to trade in supplies f o r the settlers o f her hinterland and to the export of their grain, as well as to some very primitive manufacturing. 1 2 A l b a n y needed a F e d e r a l governm e n t that could protect its fur t r a d e ; H u d s o n , L a n s i n g b u r g h , and N e w Y o r k , one that could protect their over-sea comm e r c e ; and all of them, one which would guarantee them g o o d sound money. N o other s y m p t o m o f hard times had so m a r k e d an effect upon politics as had the depression of commerce. I t w a s the stimulus most responsible f o r the organization of the Federalists by 1787 and their constant agitation f o r a F e d e r a l government s t r o n g enough to protect American commerce. A s w e shall see, dissatisfaction with the government o f the critical period came, not f r o m the yeoman farmers, w h o w e r e f a i r l y w e l l off, but f r o m the property interests. T h e s e latter included the l a w y e r s o f N e w Y o r k City and its vicinity, the g r e a t landholders, the security holders, and, chiefly, the merchants. 10 Hudson Weekly Gazette, June 24, 1788. The Federalists were less successful at Poughkeepsie; cf. M S letter, Hughes to Lamb, June 17, 1788, Lamb Papers, Box 5, at the New York Historical Society. 1 1 Munsell, Joel, Annali of Albany (Albany, 1850-1859), III, 178. John Jacob Astor in New York City w a s advertising furs and pianofortes long before the Jay T r e a t y ; ffeiv York Packet, M a y 9, 1788. 1 2 Roberts, Ellis H., Nevi York (American Commonwealth Series), II, 459 f. A foreign traveler regretted that Albany, shorn of her f u r trade, w a s turning back to agriculture.

IO

BUSINESS,

GOOD A N D

BAD

Trade had been badly crippled in the three years following the peace. The dominant element in the cities and towns was the group of merchants; but more numerous were the small tradesmen, mechanics or artisans, and common laborers. Their interests were so closely combined with those of the merchants that they usually followed the latter in matters political. During the struggle over the Federal Constitution there were frequent appeals to the mechanics of N e w Y o r k City to vote against the proposed document, but they seem to have remained Federalist." In the towns of Albany and Hudson the mechanics helped to swell the Hamiltonian majorities. T h e Revolution had left behind it a number of small manufactories. Clothing, textiles, leather and metal goods, arms, and gunpowder had become so essential after the outbreak of the W a r that the state had offered bounties and aid to infant manufacturing industries." Many of these small manufacturing establishments had grown up in the Hudson Valley towns, especially at Albany, since the southern counties were occupied during the W a r by the enemy. Typical were the blast furnace at Hibernia and the brass foundry at Fishkill, both opened in 1782. A number of these failed to survive the depression of the mid-eighties, but others laid the foundation for the industrial activities of the future. The establishments were very small, and their owners relatively unknown. Manufacturers as a class seem to have taken no part in the events of the decade. T o the various classes, farmers and merchants, bankers and lawyers, mechanics and manufacturers, the end of the W a r , like the W a r itself, brought economic instability and its resulting problems. The attitude of the occupational groups toward 13 Daily Advertiser, April 28, 1788, tells of a meeting of Federalist carpenters, and on April 29 reports a meeting of Federalist mechanics and tradesmen. See Ciarle, Victor S., History of Manufactures in the United States 1607-1860, p. 229. The New York County vote in 1788 for members of the convention was almost unanimously Federalist. If many mechanics voted, they voted that ticket. 14 N e w York State Historian (Alexander C. Flick), American Revolution in Ne York (Philadelphia, 1878), pp. 38 f. Documentary History of New York, I I I , 68of. 41 Ibid., p. 821. 42 Ibid., pp. 827-29. T h e boundary was finally adjusted in 1787. 43 "Journals of Captain Montresor," New York Historical Society Collections, Publication Fund Series, 1881, p. 376.

LANDLORDS

AND

GOVERNMENT

79

wished to be without rent or taxation. Levelers joined at Poughkeepsie, seventeen hundred of them and well armed, and lives were lost in the fighting on the V a n Rensselaer M a n o r . T r o o p s were sent up the river to various centers of the trouble, f o r it had spread f r o m N e w Y o r k City, where the Sons of L i b e r t y rioted, northward over the whole state. A f t e r about f o u r months of confusion, it was suppressed." T h e disgruntled tenants submitted to paying rents f o r another quarter century without forceful protest. But about 1 7 9 0 the antirenters again attacked the Livingston and Van Rensselaer titles, and a sheriff was killed in the fighting of 1 7 9 1 . 4 5 F o u r years later some 2 5 0 men, chiefly Livingston tenants, petitioned the legislature to annul the Livingston title on the ground that it had not been rightly granted f o r much of the area of the estate, and because of "terms and conditions oppressive and burthensome to the last degree, unfriendly to all great exertions of industry, and tending to degrade your petitioners f r o m the rank the G o d of nature destined all mankind to move in, to be slaves and vassals." 46 In 1 8 0 2 the Reverend J o h n T a y l o r found Oneida County full of "debasi n g " leases. Nine years later the Livingston and other tenants questioned their landlords' titles and some disorder followed which brought the legislature to contemplate relief f o r the tenants." Perhaps the antirent w a r of about 1 8 4 0 best illustrates this constant struggle of tenant against landlord. Again there were riots and confusion and sheriffs' posses involved until the legislature saw fit to grant relief. " I n Columbia County, and especially in the interior where the occupants of the soil were principally tenants, the Anti-Rent organization was thorough." 48 T h e center of the trouble over leaseholds was in Albany and Columbia Counties; but it extended to all parts of "Ibid., pp. 363-85. 45 Ellis, History of Columbia

I, 179-

County,

pp. 41 f . ; S c h a r f , Westchester

*e Documentary History of Nevi York, I I I , 834-38. 47 Cheyney, Anti-Rent Agitation, pp. 2 1 f. 48 N i v i n , J u d g e A . C., " A Chapter in Anti-Rent History," Albany nal, A u g . , 1 8 8 1 , p. 126.

Lav/

County,

Jour-

8o

LANDLORDS

AND

GOVERNMENT

the state which had been settled in 1 7 8 8 and which were north of Westchester and Orange Counties/ 9 Orange was the only important county 50 which voted against the Constitution in 1 7 8 8 in which I have found no traces of leasehold troubles in 1 8 4 6 ; and Orange gave one of her convention votes f o r the Constitution. N o t a single Federalist was elected to the Convention of 1 7 8 8 f r o m counties in which there were leasehold difficulties fifty years later. Albany, Columbia, Montgomery, Ulster, and Dutchess were all affected; f o r the leasehold system was still prevalent as it had been a half century earlier. T h e complaints of the tenants, most of which were mentioned in their petitions to the legislature, were aimed at the traditional privileges and incidents of the manor and patents: 5 1 the proprietors' right to distrain their tenants; the landlord's right to the mines, to the water, and to milling privileges; the shortness of the lease (often fourteen y e a r s ) which gave the tenant too little security, or the unwillingness of the proprietor to alienate his lands; 5 2 the necessity f o r payment of rent in the winter when wheat was high; the system of quarter sales, which were often renounced by the landlord on the payment of thirty dollars; and in general the degrading nature of the tenure. T h e Revolution had changed and improved the lot of the tenant but little, f o r many of these grievances had existed in 1 7 7 5 , and the landlords had lost very f e w privileges of importance since that time. I t may well be that this tradition of friction between tenant and lord, flaring up as it had done at least once in every generation f o r a century, led the temporarily enfranchised tenant in 1 7 8 8 to throw his vote to the Clintonians, as he did,; against the known sentiments of his landlord who was generally Federalist. Immediately before the elections of 1 7 8 8 the Albany and N e w Y o r k papers published an appeal " T o the tenants of 49 Report of the Committee on Petitions, April 8, 1845, Neva York Assembly Documents, No. 222; Nev> York Senate Documents, No. 70, March 14, 1840. so Washington and Clinton had a very small population, about 2,000. 51 Ne York Advertiser, M a y 28, 1789, g i v e s the election returns. N e v i n s , in American States, p. 301, and M c B a i n , in Spoils System, p p . 31 f., both point out the d e c l i n i n g p o w e r of the g o v e r n o r . T h e selection o f R o b e r t Y a t e s b y the F e d e r alists s h o w s w h a t concessions they w e r e w i l l i n g to m a k e to d e f e a t the p e r e n n i a l governor. 101 102

CHAPTER THE

LION'S

VI PAW

T h e Revolution proved to be a kind of Pandora's box out of which came a host of problems, great and small, to vex the g o o d people of N e w Y o r k . Questions of evacuation, of the violation of the treaty, of the treatment of the loyalists, of the British occupation of the western posts, and of British discrimination against American commerce, all played important parts in N e w Y o r k State politics. In 1 7 8 3 evacuation was the most pressing of these problems. G o v e r n o r T r y o n was succeeded on M a y 4, 1 7 7 9 , by J a m e s Robertson. T h e new g o v e r n o r ' s jurisdiction was small because only a fraction of the state was within the British lines and because of the suspension of civil authority. Failing to secure the restoration of civil administration, he took his departure f r o m the state on A p r i l 1 5 , 1 7 8 3 , leaving the problem of evacuation to the military department. 1 T h e preliminary articles of peace had already been signed in E u r o p e on N o v e m ber 30, 1 7 8 2 , and hostilities in America had ceased about M a r c h 20, of the next year. 2 But evacuation of the metropolis of N e w Y o r k was no easy task. A s early as February 2 7 , Adjutant General Oliver D e Lancey took steps toward restoring real estate within the British lines to its proper owners, 8 and in general the British seemed conciliatory. But when Sir Guy Carleton and A d m i r a l Digby, on M a y 7, met Washington, Clinton, Scott, Duer, Benson, and certain other Americans to discuss evacuation, the British appeared dilatory. Carleton later explained that American treatment of the loyalists had forced so many to leave the state as to delay his plans. Clinton 1

Messages from the Governors, I, 779. George Clinton Papers, Box I, New York State Library; New York 3 March 27, 1783. Ibid., Feb. 27. 2

Packet,

n 6

THE

LION'S

PAW

and W a s h i n g t o n both thought this delay unnecessary and the patriot press insisted that the British illegally refused to restore the confiscated property of patriots, sometimes renting the houses of W h i g s just b e f o r e evacuation in order to pocket the rent. T h e approaching change brought confusion and insecurity that the British did but little to prevent. 4 A f t e r a final delay of three days, the British sailed a w a y on N o v e m b e r 25, leaving the town to welcome G o v e r n o r Clinton, W a s h i n g t o n , Knox, and the F e d e r a l A r m y as they m a r c h e d down the B o w e r y L a n e f r o m H a r l e m , and to hoist the Continental flag on a much-greased flagstaff. T h e dinner of celebration, held at Fraunces's T a v e r n , w a s given by the g o v e r n o r . Clinton's fears that disturbances and lawlessness would f o l l o w the change of flag were, happily, not justified. C a r l e t o n had warned the Americans of a conspiracy to plunder the town, and consequently Clinton had carefully prepared a council f o r the temporary government of the southern part of the s t a t e ; and Knox, directed by W a s h i n g t o n , had led A m e r i c a n t r o o p s into the metropolis as soon as the British had marched out. 5 R. R . Livingston was able to write to John Jay that there had not been the slightest disturbance in the first five d a y s of reoccupation. 6 D e l a y s in evacuation were by no means the only reason f o r the continued unpopularity of all things British a f t e r the W a r . T h e W h i g s had a score of m a j o r complaints, every one capable of justifying in their minds retaliation against K i n g o r T o r y . T h e British had made free use of W h i g property in the occupied areas. T h e y had never paid f o r the merchandise captured with N e w Y o r k City in 1 7 7 6 . T h e city had suffered severely f r o m fires during British occupation. Only its E p i s c o p a l , M e t h o d i s t , and M o r a v i a n churches escaped use as b a r r a c k s , 4 G e o r g e C l i n t o n P a p e r s , B o x I, N e w Y o r k State L i b r a r y , C a r l e t o n to C l i n t o n , June 18, 1 7 8 3 ; Smith, W i l l i a m , D i a r y , Vol. V I I , M a y 9, 1783, quoted in Stokes, Iconography, V, 1 1 6 1 - 6 6 ; Pennsylvania Packet, Oct. 4, 14, 1783. 5 Ibid., Dec. 2 ; Nevi York Gazette, N o v . 2 6 ; W a s h i n g t o n , Writings, F o r d ed., X , 335; C l i n t o n , Public Papers, V I I I , 257. 6 J a y , Correspondence, Johnston, ed., I l l , 98. W a s h i n g t o n on the s a m e d a y r e m a r k e d upon the p e r f e c t o r d e r of the city, Writings of Washington, Jared Sparks, ed. ( 1 8 3 7 ) , V I I I , 500.

T H E

L I O N ' S

P A W

117

hospitals, o r stables; and o t h e r s w e r e l e f t with broken pews, w i n d o w s , and fences, in a g e n e r a l l y filthy condition. 7 It w a s believed that the British h a d taken a w a y with them 3 , 0 0 0 n e g r o slaves, each w o r t h some $ 2 0 0 . F u r t h e r m o r e , the British had been able to commission 1 2 0 p r i v a t e e r s to prey upon A m e r i c a n commerce f r o m the p o r t of N e w Y o r k . 8 T h e state Senate in 1 7 8 4 d r e w up a bill of indictment against the late enemy. T h e British, it a s s e r t e d , h a d not been " r e s t r a i n e d to f a i r and m i t i g a t e d H o s t i l i t i e s , " but have cruelly massacred our citizens and desolated their lands, laying waste to a g r e a t p a r t of this state. T h e king h a s m a d e no compensation f o r the d a m a g e his troopers and their f o l l o w e r s h a v e done. 9 T h e British w e r e generally b l a m e d f o r the f r o n t i e r massacres and Indian r a i d s f r o m which the state had suffered. W e s t c h e s t e r complained in 1 7 8 2 that the enemy had a l l o w e d " t h i e f - g a n g s " to o v e r r u n the county. In addition, the credit of the state had been exhausted in the w a r a g a i n s t the king and " t h o s e guilty p a r r i c i d e s , " the T o r i e s . 1 0 T h e p a t r i o t s felt that the B r i t i s h had been inhumane in their treatment of A m e r i c a n prisoners. I t w a s erroneously reported that 1 1 , 6 4 4 A m e r i c a n prisoners h a d died during the W a r on the prison ship " J e r s e y " alone. P r o b a b l y 1 1 , 6 4 4 w a s the total number of deaths upon all the B r i t i s h prison ships, and even as such m a y well h a v e been an e x a g g e r a t i o n . 1 1 B u t W i l l i a m Smith w r o t e in his d i a r y t h a t despite the p a r o l e of 1 7 , 0 0 0 prisoners, about fifty a week w e r e dying in the E n g l i s h prisons of N e w Y o r k as a result of d e l a y s in the exchange of naval prisoners. N e w Y o r k p a t r i o t s r e f u s e d to accept the testimony of the thirteen p a r o l e d captains of captured A m e r i c a n vessels to the effect that the prison ships w e r e reasonably clean and the ' C l i n t o n , Public Papers, I, 1 6 7 f . ; Nev; York Packet, M a y 21, 1 7 8 3 . " Ibid., A u g . 7, 1 7 8 3 , p u b l i s h e s a list of these s h i p s and their c o m m a n d e r s . F o r a typical bill of c o m p l a i n t s a g a i n s t the B r i t i s h , see " H o n e s t u s " in The Gazetteer, Feb. 5, 1 7 8 7 . 9 Journal of the Senate, M a r c h 30, 1 7 8 4 . Neiv York Packet, J u l y 1 7 , A u g . 1 4 , 1 7 8 3 ; Nevi Jersey State Gazette, Sept. J 5- ' 7 9 5 ! C l i n t o n , Public Papers, I, 1 6 7 f . , C l i n t o n P a p e r s , B o x I, N e w Y o r k State L i b r a r y . 11 Nevi York Packet, M a y 8, 1 7 8 3 ; Connecticut Gazelle, A p r i l 2 5 ; Stokes, Iconography, V , 1 1 6 0 . T h e " J e r s e y " w a s in N e w Y o r k h a r b o r .

n8

THE

LION'S

PAW

prisoners' f o o d as g o o d as that of the king's own sailors. 1 2 F o r w e r e not those captains p a r o l e d by the scheming British on condition that they retail such flattering tales of British clemency? I t w a s but natural, then, that post-war hysteria should show itself in Clintonian N e w Y o r k ' s intense dislike of the British and love f o r " t h e virtuous L e w i s X V I , of blessed, beloved, and immortal m e m o r y . " On M a y 3 1 , 1 7 8 2 , a "magnificent dinner" with five hundred covers w a s given by W a s h i n g t o n to the governor and many others to celebrate the birth of a dauphin. T h e Packet rejoiced a month later that France in her loyalty to A m e r i c a , having been perfidiously approached separately by E n g l a n d , h a d r e f u s e d to treat with G r e a t B r i t a i n except on the basis of A m e r i c a n independence. 1 3 T h e frequent postbellum antagonism of ally f o r ally never showed itself in N e w Y o r k . A f t e r some petty riots of A p r i l , 1 7 8 5 , in which British sailors and T o r i e s attacked some French sailors within the h a r b o r and city, the legislature showed its French sympathies by offering r e w a r d s f o r the capture of the pro-British rioters. 1 4 T h e state resented celebrations of G e o r g e I l l ' s birthday within its b o r d e r s ; and discovered m a g a z i n e s of stolen gunpowder, stolen mail, vile conspiracies; all of which p r o v e d the machinations of E n g l a n d against her lost colonies. 1 5 T h e A n g l o p h o b i a of the middle eighties caused N e w Y o r k to be f a r f r o m scrupulous in observing the treaty of peace with G r e a t Britain. C o n g r e s s might "earnestly recommend," as it did in 1 7 8 4 , that the states p r o v i d e f o r the restitution of the estates of British subjects and of others resident within the British lines during the W a r , as well as the restoration of all loyalists to their "estates, rights, and p r o p e r t i e s . " B u t in N e w Y o r k the appeal w a s d i s r e g a r d e d f o r three y e a r s . H e r e in N e w Y o r k " w e are doing those things which w e ought not to 12 Smith, Diary for Feb. 3, 1783, quoted in Stokes, Iconography, V, x i 5 6 ; New York Packet, J u l y 18, Sept. 5, 1782. 13 New York Packet, June 6, June 20, 1782. 14 New York Journal, J a n . 19, 1786; Ne York Packet, Oct. 2, 1786; Miner, op. cit., p. 2 7 ; McMaster, op. cit., I, 370 f.

I78

NEW

YORK AND T H E

CONGRESS

earthquakes, but anything out of the usual routine. This clause of the constitution was an empowering and not a restricting one.79 But perhaps the governor was justified in following his own interpretation, since the legislature had acted with its eyes open, fully conscious that its refusal would play havoc with Congress and force the latter to go abroad for more loans. Hamilton maintained that the special session would be not of the old but of the newly elected legislature. Yet when this body eventually met in the spring, it gave its support decisively to the governor by approving his refusal to call the extra session and by rejecting the Federal impost.80 Hamilton found himself fairly beaten. Federalist New Y o r k City elected Hamilton to the legislature of 1787 in fourth place among the nine to be chosen,81 and there he continued his assault upon the governor. A f t e r the legislature had listened to the governor's message which gave his reasons for not calling the special session, Jones of Queens, Gordon of Albany, and Hamilton of New York, were named as a committee to prepare the reply. Gordon 82 and Hamilton framed an answer which was silent upon the governor's explanation in regard to the special session, and thus condemned it. An amendment, offered in all probability by Speaker Varick, and not by Samuel Jones as Hammond believes, 83 was now passed by the legislature to approve the governor's action. When the smoke of the action cleared away, Hamilton had gathered 9 votes in a total of 48, and the Assembly had emphatically declared its "approbation of your Excellency's conduct in not convening the Legislature at an earlier period." Five New Yorkers, three Albanians, and one Richmondite voted against the governor. 84 Almost two months later, in March, 1787, the Advertiser reported perhaps in all seriousness that "it is whispered that 79

Hamilton, Works, Lodge, ed., I, 556 f. Journal of the Assembly, Jan. 19, Feb. 15, 1787. New York Packet, May 1, 1786. 82 For Gordon voted against the amending resolution while Jones did not. 83 Hammond, Ne