THE STAMP ACT IN NEW YORK -- DAY BY BREATHTAKING DAY
Jon Carriel,
our esteemed secretary-treasurer, virtually hypnotized the Round Tablers who assembled in June to hear what he had to say about the infamous piece of
Parliamentary aggression called the Stamp Act. By the time he finished his
account of this largely forgotten drama, we could almost hear the drums of the
Revolution beating somewhere in the Coffee House Club.
The clash
began with Patrick Henry’s bombshell -- the Stamp Act was unjust and
must not be obeyed. Soon the “Virginia resolves” were rumbling through the 13
colonies. What was the underlying cause of this explosion? Britain’s imperial
war with France and Spain had doubled the national debt in seven years. Jon
then detailed the incredible breadth of the Stamp Act’s reach. It covered all
official and public uses of paper including newspapers, contracts, licenses.
The act passed the House of Commons in February 1765 and the news arrived in
America in late April.
As rage built in New York City, Gov. Cadwallader Colden requested help from the British
Army. Three groups opposed the Act --
the Delanceys -- city–based commercial men;
the Livingstons – land-based aristocrats, some of
them lawyers -- and the Liberty faction
– – the city’s so-called leather apron
men, not born to wealth. Elsewhere riots were exploding -- in Boston, houses
were burned and the government defied – – in Connecticut Stamp Agent Jared Ingersoll
was nearly lynched by 500 angry men. Another riot almost destroyed Ben
Franklin’s house in Philadelphia.
When the ship Edward carrying the
hated stamps came into New York
harbor, she was confronted by 2,000 armed colonials. Governor Colden remained intransigent; at his orders the stamps were
brought ashore by night and placed in the fort on the Battery. The Liberty boys
trashed and burned the house belonging to the fort’s commander.
They also destroyed Colden’s
expensive carriage and threatened his life. Four incredibly tense days
followed, with New York in the hands of a wild mob. The commander of the fort
had its cannon loaded with grapeshot and trained on the Bowling Green. If
the mob had attacked the fort, the
casualties would have been horrendous – – and the American Revolution might
have begun in 1765.
Governor Colden decided to compromise.
He persuaded General Thomas Gage, the British commander in America, to join him
in moving the stamps from the fort to City Hall. The City Council agreed to
sign a voucher for their face value and ask the
government in London for advice. Calmer heads among the Livingstons and the Delanceys
persuaded the Liberty boys to accept this arrangement. Also helpful was the
arrival of a new royal governor, Henry Moore, who backed the compromise. In
London Parliament was being bombarded by British merchants whose trade with
America had fallen as much as 25%. On February 21, 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act. When New
York heard the news there was a berserk celebration. Leading New Yorkers
commissioned a magnificent bronze statue of George III. It would gaze down on
passersby for another 10 years – – until Americans, celebrating the Declaration
of Independence pulled it to the ground and broke it up for bullets. Not a
little of this suspense story is in Jon’s latest historical novel, Exquisite Folly. Round Tablers
rushed to buy copies.
BOOKS WE SHOULD READ
Jim English got everyone’s attention with
the opening paragraph of his review: “He was a hero of the American
Revolution, a Virginian from the privileged class. He committed his life and
his fortune to the cause of American independence….His most noteworthy adversary,
Lord Cornwallis, said of him: “There could be no more formidable antagonist in
a charge at the head of his cavalry.”
The author, Daniel Murphy, gave his book a
14 word title: William Washington: American
Light Dragoon. A Continental Cavalry Leader in the War for Independence. It is
primarily about Washington as a cavalry commander. Jim said it was “a very
ambitious book.”
The author has little to say about
William’s second cousin once removed, George Washington. He was 20 years
William’s senior and not close to him. Comparing them, he calls George the
“reserved old world patriarch” while William possessed “the rough confidence
and casual traits of a landed country squire.”
Murphy swiftly tells how William
Washington began his career as a captain in the 3rd Virginia Continental
regiment. He distinguished himself as a daring leader at Harlem Heights and
Trenton. This led to General Washington personally selecting William as a major in the 4th Light
Dragoons. We learn the role of light horsemen in battle: essentially it was to
break enemy formations and destroy discipline. Murphy does not flinch from the
gruesome details of this hand to hand combat. Again, William’s strength and
courage won him distinction and he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and
commander of the 3rd Light Dragoons.
Transferred to the South, William and his horsemen played crucial roles in four
battles, which Murphy describes in dramatic detail: Cowpens, Guilford Court
House, Hobkirk’s Hill and Eutaw Springs. In the
latter brawl, he was wounded and captured.
He was a prisoner of war when George won the climactic victory at
Yorktown. While a prisoner, he fell in love with “the fetching Jane Elliott”
of South Carolina, who helped nurse him back to health. She was one of the
wealthiest heiresses in the South.
Almost needless to say, the
daring horseman lived happily ever
after. Summing up, Jim admired Murphy’s
energetic scholarship, which included horseback visits to all the battle
sites he describes so vividly. “I recommend this book,” Jim concluded.
Tom Fleming reported on an “eye opening book about the early years of
the American republic” -- Founding
Friendships by Cassandra A. Good. An editor
of the papers of James Monroe, Ms Good explores in vigorous prose a subject
that has seldom been discussed: friendships between men and women during these
formative years. Her topic remains highly relevant today, as she demonstrates
by calling to our attention the 1989 film, “When Harry Met Sally.“ While
sharing a drive from Chicago to New York, Harry remarks to Sally that
friendship between a man and woman is impossible, because “the sex part always
gets in the way.”
With startling success, Ms Good reveals
numerous friendships in these first decades of the republic that flourished
remarkably, without sex getting in the way.
They range from the famous –Thomas Jefferson and Abigail Adams—to
educators such as William Ellery Channing and Eloise Richard Payne. In
remarkably frank letters, Eloise “confided every action and every thought” of
her young life while William “rebuk’d and counsel’d and encourage’d” her
.Their approach to friendship was based on the basic ideas of the new nation
–virtue, freedom and equality.
Freedom was especially important. A
woman usually needed her father’s permission to marry. Afterward, her personal
wealth and most of her independence came
under her husband’s control. But men and women could befriend each other and
conduct their relationship without anyone’s approval.
Ms Good is not naïve. She has examples
of how “the sex part” could lead to tragedy for a woman. In the middle chapters, we see the various
ways in which these unorthodox friends dealt with this danger. It will surprise
some readers to discover that George Washington was one of the most skillful practitioners
of this new art. She also explores other ways in which men and women expressed
their feelings for each other. Among the favorites were albums to which they
contributed poems and aphorisms. Finally, there is a fascinating chapter on how such friendships often played a role in state and national
politics. Tom described the book as “so
rich in ideas and emotions…readers will keep it in their libraries” and return
to it. “It reveals a side of America’s
past that will make us pleased and proud of the spiritual pioneers among our
founders.”
HERMIONE CONQUERS NEW YORK
On July 1, a beautiful black
blue and gold replica of the French frigate, Hermione, sailed into New York
Harbor. As she passed Governors Island, a series of blasts from her 34 cannon
echoed off the buildings of Lower Manhattan.
A band played “Down by the Riverside” while her brilliantly uniformed crew scrambled up the masts. Another blast from her cannon rattled windows
as the ship glided to her dock at the South Street Seaport. The latter salute was a spontaneous reaction
from the crew, most of whom had never seen New York before. The Hermione had crossed the Atlantic in 31 relatively calm
days. Her goal was to bolster the somewhat frayed relations
between France and America.
“There are two things the French and the
Americans agree on totally,” Bruno Gravellier, the Hermione’s superintendent said: “D-Day and the Marquis de
Lafayette.” When the ship departed
from Rochfort, its home port, an array of French
dignitaries, including President Francois Hollande,
hailed the voyage as “an historical journey of friendship.”
As we reported in a previous Broadside,
the original Hermione carried the Marquis de Lafayette back to America in
1780. He brought with him several million dollars in badly needed cash and the
electrifying news that France was sending an army to support Washington’s
Continentals.
The 21st Century Hermione
was manned by a mostly volunteer crew of 74. Unlike the original, it included a
modern navigation system and bathrooms. But the experience at sea was similar
on both versions. The crew reported exhilarating climbs up the masts in a
rolling sea, bouts of seasickness, and at least one minor mutiny. “We had to fight for the right to have Nutella at 3 a.m.,” reported Adam Hodges-LeClaire, 22,
of Massachusetts, one of the few
Americans among the crew. “People are very opinionated about food after a month
at sea.”
Being French, the Hermione’s
cuisine was not exactly spartan. On board were two
large barrels of Cognac. One was raffled off during a stop at Mount Vernon and brought in $150,000. In
Philadelphia, the captain, Louis-Rene de Latouche,
ordered up a replica of the shipboard meal that the original Hermione
shared with a delegation from the Continental Congress. Oysters, veal and crème
brulee were featured.
On July 3, the Hermione was hailed by a parade of yachts that sailed from Gravesend Bay to the waters
off the Intrepid Museum. After visiting
additional American ports, the frigate
headed back across the Atlantic to Rochfort on
July 24. But Benedict Donnelly, an American who was one of the chief backers of the voyage, predicted she would return as an
ambassador of friendship. “She has to sail again and again,” he said.
THE EMERGENCE OF THE LOWER MANHATTAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
A new organization, the Lower Manhattan
Historical Society, played a large role
in welcoming the Hermione. They invited Tom Fleming to be their speaker at a
reception in May. Tom explained the ship’s historical significance, thanks to
the cash and good news that her chief passenger, the Marquis de Lafayette
brought with him. During the Hermione’s four day visit, the LMHS and allied groups
coordinated a number of historical activities in lower Manhattan. There was an
all night walking tour sponsored by Fraunces Tavern,
followed by a 7 a.m. wreath laying ceremony on the graves of Horatio Gates, Alexander
Hamilton and Marinus Willett in Trinity
Churchyard. Another exciting moment was
a 51 gun salute at Castle Clinton by the New York Veteran Corps of Artillery.
After a July 3 parade from the South Street Seaport to Bowling Green, the LMHS
presented a reproduction of the Evacuation Day Flag, which the Hermione
had carried across the Atlantic. The flag was originally raised on Bowling
Green on November 25, 1783, the day that
the British Army departed from New York. On July 4, the flag was flown from the
top of the new One World Trade Center. LMHS President James S. Kaplan and his
co-founder, Arthur Piccolo, hoped that the flag at this pinnacle of lower
Manhattan would represent a triumph in
the fight against terrorism which we share with France and other democratic
countries around the world.
BIG DOINGS ON BOWLING GREEN
Our secretary-treasurer, Jon
Carriel, will play a major role in another LMHS
activity. On Sunday evening, November 1,
the Lower Manhattanites hope to commemorate the largest riot New York City has ever seen – and Jon
will be their principal speaker. The historical memory they hope to revive is
the Stamp Act Protest, a quarter of a millennium ago. The Round Table has a
claim to be the godfather of all the excitement, thanks to the superb talk Jon gave us on the
turbulent topic in June. Arthur Piccolo, who is chairman of the Bowling Green
Association, heard about Jon’s speech –
and book -- and has asked him to be the “pivotal speaker” at the anniversary. They want him to place the Stamp Act Riot in
its “proper and powerful context.” Jon
agreed to play that role and soon found himself making a video with Mr. Piccolo,
who released it on You Tube on September 3. It is a well paced coherent forty
minute interview on the subject.
Would-be watchers can find it at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gFsqq7NMhM. Piccolo liked
the interview so much, he asked Jon to be his cochair for the celebration.
Among other ideas being discussed for the anniversary are moments of “street
theater” -– reenacting some of the original protests. All this additional
excitement should do wonders for the
American Revolution in New York. We urge
all our members to put a November 1 trip
to Bowling Green in their datebooks NOW.
If you want to do more, contact Jon Carriel at
joncarriel@ny.rr.com.
WHAT WAS OUR MOST INFLUENTIAL REVOLUTIONARY CITY?
One of our favorite
websites, the Journal of the American
Revolution, recently asked numerous historians to tell them which city was the
most influential, after the Big Four, Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Charleston.
Ray Raphael and several others – almost a majority, chose Newport RI. Jack
Kelly chose Fishkill, where Washington created a major encampment and supply
depot. John Ferling argued for Versailles, where so
many crucial decisions on where and how
to help the Americans were made. Tom Fleming went for Little Egg Harbor in New
Jersey, a privateering center of large, seldom
appreciated dimensions. Gary Shattuck
chose Lebanon, CT known in its day as
“the heartbeat of the Revolution.” Governor Jonathan Trumbull met there over 1100 times to discuss how best to
support Washington’s army with men and supplies. Lebanon’s well stocked warehouses made
Connecticut known as “The Provision State.” J. L. Bell opted for London. He
argued that her merchants and politicians were sympathetic to the Americans in
their early protests. When violence erupted into outright revolution, they
backed the crown. But after Yorktown they put decisive pressure on Parliament
to end the expensive and disruptive war.
MEMBERS AT WORK
Round Tablers
have been active this summer in various admirable ways. Charles Sanchez gave a
“dramatic reading” of the Declaration of Independence in the 18th Century style
for the Greater Ridgewood (NJ) Historical Society. Rich Melnick
sent Maria Dering, the keeper of our
website and Facebook page, a letter urging us
to focus in the coming months on what he calls “the biggest event to occur in
the New York City area during the Revolution –the shattering American defeat at the Battle of
Brooklyn. Fred Cookinham reported he has embarked on
a new lecture/tour, “Revolution in the Streets.” Its topic: “Riots, spies and
conspiracies on New York’s colonial waterfront.” The enjoyable – and educational -- journey begins at Fraunces Tavern on Saturdays and Sundays at 11 a.m. October
3 and 4. The bargain price is $20 a person, $15 for those over 65.
THE SPEAKER FOR OCTOBER: Christian McBurney
HIS
TOPIC: KIDNAPPING AS A TACTIC
McBurney entertained us a few years ago with a lively
account of the role of his native state, Rhode Island, in the Revolution. This time he is focusing on the sensational
tactic of kidnapping enemy generals – something Rhode Islanders learned to do
with panache.
AND A WORD FROM OUR CHAIRMAN
We will gather as usual at the Coffee House Club, 20 W 44th St, Sixth Floor, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, October, 6, 2015. Dinner will be served promptly at 7:00. We would like your reservation in advance. The stamp-deprived can call Treasurer Jon Carriel at 212 874 5121 or email him at joncarriel@nyc.rr.com. If you have any questions about the menu, you can contact Jon either by phone or email.
Your most obdt svt
David W. Jacobs