This petition was written by a slave named Felix and sent on behalf of a group of Boston slaves to the governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, Thomas Hutchinson. In the midst of a growing clamor for colonial freedom and independence, the petitioners described their stark condition—"we have no Wives. No Children. We have no City. No Country"—and asked for their freedom. As you read the petition, consider what qualities they claimed to characterize African-American slaves. What concurrent political ideas of freedom and citizenship required just those qualities? What religious faith did the slaves claim to follow, and what consideration did they hope that claim would bring from the British government?
Province of the Massachusetts Bay To His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, Esq; Governor; To The Honorable His Majesty's Council, and To the Honorable House of Representatives in General Court assembled at Boston, the 6th Day of January, 1773. The humble PETITION of many Slaves, living in the Town of Boston, and other Towns in the Province is this, namely That your Excellency and Honors, and the Honorable the Representatives would be pleased to take their unhappy State and Condition under your wise and just Consideration.
We desire to bless God, who loves Mankind, who sent his Son to die for their Salvation, and who is no respecter of Persons; that he hath lately put it into the Hearts of Multitudes on both Sides of the Water, to bear our Burthens, some of whom are Men of great Note and Influence; who have pleaded our Cause with Arguments which we hope will have their weight with this Honorable Court.
We presume not to dictate to your Excellency and Honors, being willing to rest our Cause on your Humanity and justice; yet would beg Leave to say a Word or two on the Subject. Although some of the Negroes are vicious, (who doubtless may be punished and restrained by the same Laws which are in Force against other of the King's Subjects) there are many others of a quite different Character, and who, if made free, would soon be able as well as willing to bear a Part in the Public Charges; many of them of good natural Parts, are discreet, sober, honest, and industrious; and may it not be said of many, that they are virtuous and religious, although their Condition is in itself so unfriendly to Religion, and every moral Virtue except Patience. How many of that Number have there been, and now are in this Province, who have had every Day of their Lives embittered with this most intollerable Reflection, That, let their Behaviour be what it will, neither they, nor their Children to all Generations, shall ever be able to do, or to possess and enjoy any Thing, no, not even Life itself, but in a Manner as the Beasts that perish.
We have no Property. We have no Wives. No Children. We have no City.No Country. But we have a Father in Heaven, and we are determined, as far as his Grace shall enable us, and as far as our degraded contemptuous Life will admit, to keep all his Commandments: Especially will we be obedient to our Masters, so long as God in his sovereign Providence shall suffer us to be holden in Bondage.
It would be impudent, if not presumptuous in us, to suggest to your Excellency and Honors any Law or Laws proper to be made, in relation to our unhappy State, which, although our greatest Unhappiness, is not our Fault; and this gives us great Encouragement to pray and hope for such Relief as is consistent with your Wisdom, justice, and Goodness.
We think Ourselves very happy, that we may thus address the Great and General Court of this Province, which great and good Court is to us, the best judge, under God, of what is wise, just and good.
We humbly beg Leave to add but this one Thing more: We pray for such Relief only, which by no Possibility can ever be productive of the least Wrong or Injury to our Masters; but to us will be as Life from the dead.
Signed,
FELIX
In this excerpt from his memoir, Massachusetts farm apprentice Ebenezer Fox described the effects that revolutionary rhetoric and ideals had on ordinary Americans. Caught up in the spirit of liberty at the time of the Revolutionary War, Fox resolved to escape from his "bondage" and said that he believed in the principles of freedom that were so often discussed in relation to Great Britain. As you read his account, consider how the heated rhetoric of the advocates for American independence—their talk of natural law, equality, and freedom—might have disrupted other hierarchical relationships between parents and children, masters and servants, and husbands and wives.
I had for some time been dissatisfied with my situation, and was desirous of some change. I had made frequent complaints of a grievous nature to my father; but he paid no attention to them, supposing I had no just cause for them, and that they arose merely from a spirit of discontent which would soon subside.
Expressions of exasperated feeling against the government of Great Britain , which had for a long time been indulged and pretty freely expressed, were now continually heard from the mouths of all classes; from father and son, from mother and daughter, from master and slave. A spirit of disaffection pervaded the land; groans and complaints, and injustice and wrongs were heard on all sides. Violence and tumult soon followed.
Almost all the conversation that came to my ears related to the injustice of England and the tyranny of government.
It is perfectly natural that the spirit of insubordination, that prevailed, should spread among the younger members of the community; that they, who were continually hearing complaints, should themselves become complainants. I, and the other boys situated similarly to myself, thought we had wrongs to be redressed; rights to be maintained; and, as no one appeared disposed to act the part of a redresser, it was our duty and our privilege to assert our own rights. We made a direct application of the doctrines we daily heard, in relation to the oppression of the mother country, to our own circumstances; and thought that we were more oppressed than our fathers were. I thought that I was doing myself great injustice by remaining in bondage, when I ought to go free; and that the time was come, when I should liberate myself from the thralldom of others, and set up a government of my own; or, in other words, do what was right in the sight of my own eyes.
In all great undertakings a friend is needed, with whom we can advise and consult. Men experience this want, and seldom is any remarkable achievement effected alone and unaided. I felt the necessity of acting in unison with some one, who should be actuated by the same motives as myself, and have a similar object in view.
I sought a friend, and found one in a companion with whom I had long associated, John Kelley, who was a little older than myself. To him I imparted my views and wishes in regard to future operations.
We held many consultations in secret and, mutual confidence being established, we came to the sage conclusion, that we were living in a state of servitude that ought to be scorned by the sons of freemen.
In our opinion we were abundantly capable of providing for our own wants; of assuming all the responsibilities of life; and needed no protectors.
In 1776, the lawyer John Adams published his "Thoughts on Government." After the Declaration of Independence, the individual colonies initiated a remarkable series of constitutional conventions. The Pennsylvania Constitution took the most radically democratic approach by creating a single legislative house to express the presumably singular will of the people. In this essay, John Adams argued against such radicalism and proposed a system of "balanced government" in which one house would reflect the interests of the wealthy Americans (upper house) and another house would represent the interests of ordinary Americans (lower house). He also argued for an executive and judicial branch that would keep either house from infringing on the liberty of either class. His arguments proved convincing in many states, but only Massachusetts trusted its executive governor enough to grant the position veto power over legislation.
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We ought to consider what is the end of government, before we determine which is the best form. Upon this point all speculative politicians will agree, that the happiness of society is the end of government, as all divines and moral philosophers will agree that the happiness of the individual is the end of man. From this principle it will follow, that the form of government which communicates ease, comfort, security, or, in one word, happiness, to the greatest number of persons, and in the greatest degree, is the best.
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The principal difficulty lies, and the greatest care should be employed, in constituting this representative assembly. It should be in miniature an exact portrait of the people at large. It should think, feel, reason, and act like them. That it may be the interest of this assembly to do strict justice at all times, it should be an equal representation, or, in other words, equal interests among the people should have equal interests in it. Great care should be taken to effect this, and to prevent unfair, partial, and corrupt elections. Such regulations, however, may be better made in times of greater tranquillity than the present; and they will spring up themselves naturally, when all the powers of government come to be in the hands of the people's friends. At present, it will be safest to proceed in all established modes, to which the people have been familiarized by habit.
A representation of the people in one assembly being obtained, a question arises, whether all the powers of government, legislative, executive, and judicial, shall be left in this body? I think a people cannot be long free, nor ever happy, whose government is in one assembly. My reasons for this opinion are as follow:--
1. A single assembly is liable to all the vices, follies, and frailties of an individual; subject to fits of humor, starts of passion, flights of enthusiasm, partialities, or prejudice, and consequently productive of hasty results and absurd judgments. And all these errors ought to be corrected and defects supplied by some controlling power.
3. A single assembly is apt to grow ambitious, and after a time will not hesitate to vote itself perpetual. This was one fault of the Long Parliament; but more remarkably of Holland , whose assembly first voted themselves from annual to septennial, then for life, and after a course of years, that all vacancies happening by death or otherwise, should be filled by themselves, without any application to constituents at all.
4. A representative assembly, although extremely well qualified, and absolutely necessary, as a branch of the legislative, is unfit to exercise the executive power, for want of two essential properties, secrecy and despatch.
5. A representative assembly is still less qualified for the judicial power, because it is too numerous, too slow, and too little skilled in the laws.
6. Because a single assembly, possessed of all the powers of government, would make arbitrary laws for their own interest, execute all laws arbitrarily for their own interest, and adjudge all controversies in their own favor.
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In the present exigency of American affairs, when, by an act of Parliament, we are put out of the royal protection, and consequently discharged from our allegiance, and it has become necessary to assume government for our immediate security, the governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary, treasurer, commissary, attorney-general, should be chosen by joint ballot of both houses. And these and all other elections, especially of representatives and counsellors, should be annual, there not being in the whole circle of the sciences a maxim more infallible than this, "where annual elections end, there slavery begins."
These great men, in this respect, should be, once a year,
"Like bubbles on the sea of matter borne,
They rise, they break, and to that sea return."
This will teach them the great political virtues of humility, patience, and moderation, without which every man in power becomes a ravenous beast of prey.
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The dignity and stability of government in all its branches, the morals of the people, and every blessing of society depend so much upon an upright and skillful administration of justice, that the judicial power ought to be distinct from both the legislative and executive, and independent upon both, that so it may be a check upon both, as both should be checks upon that. The judges, therefore, should be always men of learning and experience in the laws, of exemplary morals, great patience, calmness, coolness, and attention. Their minds should not be distracted with jarring interests; they should not be dependent upon any man, or body of men. To these ends, they should hold estates for life in their offices; or, in other words, their commissions should be during good behavior, and their salaries ascertained and established by law. For misbehavior, the grand inquest of the colony, the house of representatives, should impeach them before the governor and council, where they should have time and opportunity to make their defence; but, if convicted, should be removed from their offices, and subjected to such other punishment as shall be thought proper.
In this letter from Lucy Knox to her husband Henry Knox, a general under George Washington, she recounted the difficulty she faced during the war. Her family, who were Loyalists, had fled and were "lost." Knox's question regarding whether her husband will be willing to share "command" with her when he returns home may reflect the spread of human rights ideals during the revolutionary period. As you read this letter, consider the many roles that women had to play during the Revolution. Also consider the plight of Loyalists during the conflict, which in some areas took on aspects of a civil war.
My dearest friend
I wrote you a line by the last post just to let you know I was alive, which...was all I could then say with propriety for I had serious thoughts that I never should see you again, so much was I reduced by only four days of illness but by help of a good constitution I am surprisingly better today. I am now to answer your three last letters in one of which you ask for a history of my life. It is my love barren of adventure and replete with repetition that I fear it will afford you little amusement. How such as it is I give to you. In the first place, I rise about eight in the morning so late an hour you will say but the day after that is full long for a person in my condition. I presently after sit down to my breakfast, where a page in my book and a dish of team, employ me alternately for about an hour. When after seeing that family matters go on right, I repair to my work...for the rest of the forenoon. At two o'clock I usually take my solitary dinner where I reflect upon my past happiness. I used to sit at the window watching for my Harry, and when I saw him coming my heart would leap for joy when he was at my own and never happy from me when the bare thought of six months absence would have shook him. To divert Alex's pleas I place my little Lucy by me at table, but the more engaging her little actions are so much the more do I regret the absence of her father who would take such delight in them. In the afternoon I commonly take my chaise and ride into the country or go to drink tea with one of my few friends.... then with any...I often spend the evening, but when I return home how that describe my feelings to find myself entirely alone, to reflect that the only friend I have in the world is such an immense distance from me to think that the may be sick and I cannot assist him. My poor heart is ready to burst, you who know what a trifle would make me unhappy can conceive what I suffer now. When I seriously reflect that I have lost my father, mother, brother, and sisters entirely lost them I am half distracted.... I have not seen him for almost six months, and he writes me without pointing at any method by which I may ever expect to see him again. Tis hard my Harry indeed it is I love you with the tenderest the purest affection. I would undergo any hardship to be near you and you will not let me....
The very little gold we have must be reserved for my love in case he should be taken [for ransom]....
[A person] if he understands business he might without capital make a fortune--people here without advancing a shilling frequently clear hundreds in a day, such chaps as Eben Oliver are all men of fortune while persons who have ever lived in affluence are in danger of want and that you had less of the military man about you, you might then after the war have lived at ease all the days of your life, but now, I don't know what you will do, you being long accustomed to command--will make you too haughty for mercantile matters--tho I hope you will not consider yourself as commander in chief of your own house, but be convinced that there is such a thing as equal command.
During the American Revolution, the British offered sanctuary and freedom to slaves who escaped and joined their forces. With this order, American General George Washington demanded the return of any slaves that were recaptured, including any that were subsequently put into service in the colonial army. Although African-Americans sought freedom through petitions to the new American government and through direct flight to the British, the new government and its army remained steadfast in their belief that slavery could not be ended while the fate of their new republic hung in the balance. Some revolutionary leaders, including Washington, eventually freed their slaves, but the institution of slavery did not fade away as some of them had hoped. Rather, it thrived in the expanding new nation.
After Orders, Headquarters near York, 25 October 1781.
In this excerpt from J. Hector St. John Crevecoeuer's famous work Letters from an American Farmer, the author described for his European audience the essence of "the American, this new man." What social conditions did Crevecoeuer think were particularly significant in America? What political and cultural institutions did he believe were unique? How did Americans compare to the ordinary Europeans left behind in the Old World? Does his account ring true when compared to the real lives of individuals living within the new republic?
What then is the American, this new man? He is neither an European, nor the descendent of an European: hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. I could point you out a family, whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have now four wives of different nations. He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his antient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds. He becomes an American by being received in the broad lap of our greatalma mater. Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world. Americans are the western pilgrims, who are carrying along with them that great mass of arts, sciences, vigour, and industry, which began long since in the east. They will finish the great circle. The Americans were once scattered all over Europe. Here they are incorporated into one of the finest systems of population which has ever appeared, and which will hereafter become distinct by the power of the different climates they inhabit. The American ought therefore to love this country much better than that wherein either he or his forefathers were born. Here the rewards of his industry follow, with equal steps, the progress of his labour. His labour is founded on the basis of nature,self-interest: can it want a stronger allurement? Wives and children, who before in vain demanded of him a morsel of bread, now, fat and frolicsome, gladly help their father to clear those fields whence exuberant crops are to arise, to feed and to clothe them all, without any part being claimed, either by a despotic prince, a rich abbot, or a mighty lord. Here religion demands but little of him; a small voluntary salary to the minister, and gratitude to God: can he refuse these? The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas and form new opinions. From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, penury, and useless labour, he has passed to toils of a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence.--This is an American.
In this letter, Quaker James Pemberton reported that the Quakers had petitioned the legislature on the subject of slavery and abolition. He also commented on the debate about whether African-Americans should be allowed to become members of Quaker meetings. While some religious voices had spoken out against slavery during the first half of the eighteenth century, the Quakers and other groups did not begin to join forces as abolitionists until the revolutionary period. Although they achieved some victories at the state level, they were unable to overcome the resistance of slave states at the national level. Nonetheless, Pemberton rejoiced that there was, at least, a new government that could be petitioned. Pemberton wrote this letter to James Phillips, a prominent English abolitionist, and thereby rekindled the important collaboration between the Quaker and abolitionist movements.
I am much obliged by the kindness in sending me the Essays on Slavery, the case of the oppressed blacks commands our attention to move in endeavors for their relief as opportunities are favorable; altho Congress has done as little in consequence of our address as your Parliament has in favor of your Petition, and I conclude on similar motives; An application is now about to be made by Friends to the Legislature of New Jersey on this Subject, and we have reprinted five hundred copies of the Petition of your yearly meeting and the Representation which followed it from your meeting...for general distribution among the people in these States, & the Rulers in particular, a fragment of a letter from T[homas] Day printed in London concise & nervous has been reprinted by private procurement in newspapers & otherwise by which it has a general dispersion and will I have prove useful.
The admission of members into our Religious Society is at all time a matter of weight, a base convincement of the rectitude of our principles and discipline, and a foundation sufficient without satisfactory proof of real conversion, the want of which has been productive of burdens & troubles to meetings in many instances, and in the case of Blacks, considerations of another nature occur which are of great importance, wherein friends here do not agree in sentiment tho religiously affected for the real welfare of those people, the concord of Society therefore requires a mature deliberate consideration of the Subject in a collective capacity, for which no occasion has yet offered and I know of no more than one instance of an application of this sort to any Monthly meeting; while some friends are advocates for an unrestricted admission, others plead if no limitation is proscribed they must become entitled to the privilege of intermarriage, and I believe there are few who would freely consent to introduce such a union in their families which mixture some think would reverse the order of Divine Providence who in his wisdom inscrutable to us has been pleased to form distinction of Colour, for tho[ugh] of one blood he made all nations of men, yet it is also said he has fixed their habitation, which has been changed by avarice & ambition. However when the subject becomes necessary to be religiously discussed, I hope friends will be favored with the true spirit of judgment rightly determined &c.
In this excerpt from the memoirs of Ann Carson, she described leaving her husband because he did not see her as his equal. She also wrote about her efforts to go into business for herself. As you read this account, consider the role of the ideals of the revolutionary period in her actions. How might a struggle that resulted in few formal changes in the status of women nonetheless have produced a cultural change in the minds of American women?
In June [I801] Captain Carson and myself were married by the command of my father, who was lying very ill. I then wanted two months of being sixteen years of age. Oh Mary, how cruel, how weak in parents thus to almost force, or compel a girl, scarce past the days of happy childhood, to enter into a state that forever afterwards stamps her future fate with happiness or miseries extreme. I did not love Captain Carson, to that passion I was a perfect stranger. It is true, my girlish vanity was flattered by his dashing appearance, elegant figure, and handsome face; nay my pride was gratified by being the bride of a United State 's officer, and my sense of right satisfied by my obedience to my parents in becoming his wife...
I had married Captain Carson without loving him. The flame his kindness kindled in my heart one day, his stormy temper extinguished the next; accustomed to the kindest treatment in his absence, from all my family and friends, and experiencing only the extreme of misery when with him, at my own house, both became alike hateful to me: for can human nature love a being that tantalizes, teazes, and even domineers over her-impossible. The slave toiling beneath the burning sun, and shrinking from the lash of a cruel overseer, can still anticipate a respite from his labour when the sun shall have sunk down beneath the western waves, or be secure if he fulfills his duty by performing the task marked out for him. But alas! I could never find a mitigation of my sufferings, night or day; a word, a look, might raise a storm in his mind. Thus was my naturally haughty temper rendered fierce and intractable from self-defence. To tell the truth, I was a spoiled child, and never could from my infancy endure the slightest contradiction. If Captain Carson ever presumed to command me, I recoiled with abhorrence from this assumption of power; and, when after our differences, his harshness melted away, and he would sue for forgiveness, I would repay him back with scorn and contempt... I was very young when married to him, my heart unbiased by any attachment; he had received my unreluctant hand and vows of fidelity. Had he then endeavoured to gain it, my heart would soon have accompanied them; but his haughty soul disdained to try to gain the affection of a girl he fancied bound to love him, and like the Turkish bashaw, who, when his female slaves are endeavouring to attract his attention by their blandishments, haughtily throws a handkerchief to the happy she with whom he condescends to pass an hour. So did Captain Carson fancy that I was compelled to meet and return his love, when he condescended to be in a good humour. To this kind of conduct, I never could or would bend. I was an American; a land of liberty had given me birth; my father had been his commanding officer; I felt myself his equal, and pride interdicted my submitting to his caprices. Therefore the ill treatment I received from him (but which many a simple wife might consider good) I resented. Thus we lived: can any thing on earth equal the misery of matrimonial infelicity?-to find a tyrant where we expected a soothing companion, and to know that dire suspicion is corroding the bosom on which we depend for protection, sympathy, consolation and confidence. If not to a husband, where can a woman look for happiness?...
I had now been one year without receiving any means of support for myself and children from him. The money he left me on his going to Baltimore , was rapidly wasting away, and I found that I could not depend on Capt. C. for a renewal of my funds, when they would be exhausted. I had never been accustomed to any employment, except needle-work for myself and family. How then could I seek for it? -from the rich and great? -that seemed impossible-my soul shrunk from the idea. Of business I knew nothing; yet something I must do, else become the victim of penury, or a dependent on my parents, who had a large family and very slender income, my father's half pay being then their sole dependence. After devising and revising a variety of plans, all of which my mother opposed, saying, as none of the family had ever been in business, I could not expect encouragement, and would quickly exhaust my finances in stock, which would lay dead on my hands. My mind ever active and enterprising, was not to be intimidated by her imbecile doubts and false pride. Independence was my idol, and I resolved, flattered by hope, and impelled by my guardian angel, to endeavor to realize my plans. I therefore sold all my superfluous furniture, and as Capt. C. had brought me a considerable quantity of china in the early stages of our marriage, which, at this time, was getting scarce, as the India trade was very much embarrassed by the national disputes between Great Britain and these States which terminated in the late war. Those articles were therefore to me a valuable acquisition, as I had determined to enter into the sale of china and queens-ware. I therefore rented a house in Second-street [for $500 per annum], a part of the city well calculated for business, where I commenced with a slender capital; and being, as I thought, too young to live entirely alone in so public and exposed a situation, I prevailed on my parents to remove to the same house, and reside. Thus protected by parental care, I entered into business, with hope, confidence, and activity. Heaven smiled on my endeavours, and prosperity crowned my exertions; peace and plenty were the inmates of my humble dwelling; industry is the parent of both, as indolence is that of vice, want, and misery. I now had no leisure for painful reflections, or disagreeable retrospections; time flew on downy pinions; the day was never too long, for I was usefully, pleasantly, and profitably employed. My children engrossed my affections, and promised to amply reward my paternal cares of them. My sisters were my companions, my parents my friends, the public patronage was equal to my most sanguine expectations, and I was happy. Yet whence did this happiness arise? -from industry. I was now a useful and active member of society; I lay down with ease and arose but to be content and happy.