American History Short Essay - American Revolution

4.4 THE RADICALISM OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 125

provided opportunities for African Americans to escape bondage. For some, fleeing to the Brit¬

ish provided the best chance for freedom. Other slaves seized on the ideas nurtured by the broader

revolutionary changes that accompanied the war for independence. The ideas of liberty and equal¬

ity intensified the burgeoning movement for the abolition of slavery. Although the Revolution did not eradicate slavery, it did put it on the road to extinction inNew England and the mid-Atlantic

regions. Slaves, eager to cast off their own shackles,

appropriated the Revolution's language of liberty. During the Stamp Act protests in South Carolina (1765), slaves staged their own parade chanting "liberty." White South Carolinians viewed such activities as evidence of a plan for rebellion. To thwart the imagined threat, they mobilized the militia, which also served as slave patrols. Blacks inNew England fared better when they invoked the Revolution's ideals than did blacks in the South. In 1773, 1774, and 1777, slaves petitioned the government of Massachusetts for their free¬

dom using the language of the Declaration of

Independence, including the idea of natural rights and the notion that government rested on the con¬

sent of the governed. They asserted: "We have in common with all other men a naturel right to our freedoms without Being depriv'd of them by our fellow men."

In 1781 another slave, Mum Bett, successfully sued for her freedom. A jury in western Massa¬ chusetts based its verdict on the language of the state's Declaration of Rights, which stated that

league of friendship" among the sovereign states.

— Thus ArticleIIaffirmed that "Each state retains ,ts sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and

every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not

by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled." Because

fighting the British was the top priority, Congress cobbled together the Articles of Confederation without providing many features that the individ¬ ual states had included in their constitutions. Fear

of British-style government also shaped the minds of Congress. Having just cast off a powerful central government with a king, the Articles abandoned the idea of a single unified executive to enforce the law. Nor did Congress have the power to tax, another power that the British had abused. The

Articles created a weak government whose ability to raise revenue, engage inmilitary actions, and conduct diplomacy depended entirely on the good¬ will of the states.

What was the Whig justification for having property

requirements for voting?

4.4.3 African Americans Struggle for Freedom

The great English literary figure Dr. Samuel

Johnson pointed out the hypocrisy of Americans claiming to be champions of liberty while enslav¬

ing Africans. Some slaves invoked the ideas of the

Revolution explicitly, whereas others voted with their feet and freed themselves. The dislocations

associated with America's war for independence

The framers of our constitution of government—by which the people of this commonwealth have solemnly bound themselves to each other—to declare—that all men are bom free and equal;

and that every subject is entitled to liberty

____ In short,

without resorting to implication in constmcting the constitution, slavery is inmy judgment as effectively abolished as it can be by the granting of rights and privileges wholly incompatible

and repugnant to its existence. Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice WILLIAM CUSHING, Quock Walker case (1783)

126 CHAPTER 4 REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA: CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION, 1764-1783

"All men are born free and equal, and have cer¬ tain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties." After her victory, Mum Bett changed her name to Elizabeth Freeman. In the case of Quock Walker (1783), Chief Justice William Cushing of the state's highest court invoked the same language from the Massachusetts Constitution and declared that this provision effectively abolished slavery. Vermont's 1777 constitution expressly prohibited slavery, the first constitution in the nation to take such a step. In the mid-Atlantic, Pennsylvania and New York adopted gradual emancipation laws.

How did slavery finally endin Massachusetts?

cause. Colonial newspapers lamented her fate, which was also memorialized inpoetry. In 1780, a novel about her demise appeared, and the painter John Trumbull made several sketches of McCrea's murder for a possible painting before moving on to other projects. Joel Barlow, a close friend of Jefferson and important literary figure in early America, memorialized the event in one of his poems, and John Vanderlyn portrayed the event in this dramatic painting (4.16), which was displayed in 1804. Vanderlyn's representation of the light-skinned McCrea and the dark-skinned Indians underscores the role of the painting as a morality tale between good and evil. The Indians are depicted as cruel savages about to murder McCrea.

Pro-British tribes scored notable victories on the western frontier during 1782. After these successes,

many Indians were stunned to learn that the Brit¬ ish had surrendered at Yorktown. Indians were excluded from the negotiations that ended the war.

Many viewed the Treaty of Paris (1783), which ceded Indian country between the Appalachians and the Mississippi River to the United States, as a

betrayal.

Why did so many Indians side with the British during the American Revolution?

4 The American Revolution inIndian Country

The struggle between Britain and the American colonies had enormous consequences for Amer¬ ican Indians. Although neutrality appealed to many Indians, avoiding entanglement in the conflict between Britain and America became impossible. Faced with the need to make a choice,

many Indian nations sided with Britain, whose colonial policies, including the Proclamation of 1763, had blocked American westward expansion. An American victory would mean more settlers streaming into Indian country and destruction of the habitats that Indians depended on for their survival.

The Declaration of Independence had under¬ scored America's deep-seated fear and hostility toward Indians. Among the complaints Jefferson leveled against the king was: "He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions."

Jefferson's description of Indians as "savages" engaged in acts of barbarism rallied Americans against the British.

One event that whipped up anti-Indian feel¬ ings among Americans was the murder of Jane McCrea in upstate New York by Mohawk Indians.

Jane was traveling to meet her fiance, a British soldier, when pro-British Mohawks attacked her. McCrea's political sympathies did not pre¬ vent her from becoming a martyr for the Patriot

4.4.5 Liberty's Daughters: Women and the Revolutionary Movement

Women took an active role in the revolutionary cause. One of the most outspoken female Patriots was Mercy Otis Warren, wife of Patriot leader

James Warren and sister of James Otis. Warren's gifts as a poet, playwright, and eventually historian allowed her to champion the American cause in lit¬

erary endeavors. Her satirical plays mocked British

policy and leading British politicians and military figures. The fictional names of the characters in her plays communicated Warren's disdain for the

British. Her scathing satire mocked the actions of

General Hateall, Secretary of State Dupe, and Gov¬ ernor Rapatio. These sinister plotters against Amer¬ ican liberty were matchedby talented and virtuous American Patriots, whose names, Brutus and Honestus, signified their commitment to ancient

Roman republican virtue. Women also served in the war effort. When

mustered into service, the militia often depended

4.4 THE RADICALISM OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 127 wmmm

4.16 Death of Jane McCrea

—John Vanderlyn painted this scene iecades after the event occurred. He

took liberties withhistory. McCrea's

fiance, the military figure rushing to

rescue her (circled in red), wears the

blue uniform of a Continental soldier.

Inreality McCrea was a Loyalist and

her fiance a British regular.

on support from women. An

eyewitness to such a mobiliza¬ tionin Cambridge, Massachu¬ setts, in 1774 noted that women

"surpassed the Men for Eager¬ ness & Spirit in the Defense of

Liberty by Arms." Women not only provided moral support, "animating their Husbands &

Sons to fight for their liberties," but also helped "making Car¬

tridges." Some women became

"Molly Pitchers," who hauled water and carried supplies to

soldiers. Deborah Sampson disguised herself as a man and

served in the Continental Army. A physician discovered Samp¬ son while treating her for fever. The Continental Army also

had camp followers—women,

including the wives of soldiers, who washed, cooked, nursed,

and tended to other needs of

soldiers. The Revolution's emphasis on liberty and

equality boosted notions of gender equality. Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, demanded that her husband "remember the ladies" and

work toward greater legal equality for women (see Competing Visions: Remember the Ladies,

page 128). A few women even demanded a

measure of political equality, at least for women who owned property.

One supporter of this idea was Hannah

Corbin, sister of Patriot leader Richard Henry Lee. While Abigail Adams was a model of female

propriety, Corbin's unconventional lifestyle made her acutely aware of the inferior legal sta¬ tus of women. After her husband died at age 35,

Corbin managed their plantation. Her husband's

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will stipulated that if she ever remarried, Corbin would lose control of the estate. Corbin was

unwilling to accept the choice of remaining a widow or losing control of her property. Reject¬

ing contemporary moral codes, she began a common-law relationship with another man

(living together as husband and wife without being legally married). The fact that they were not legally married allowed her to preserve con¬ trol of her estate. The defiant and independent Corbin later asked her brother why women who owned property were prohibited from voting. Lee could provide no reasonable response. He even conceded that in theory, allowing such women to vote was plausible, but noted that "it has never been the practice either here or in

128 CHAPTER 4 REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA: CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION, 1764-1783

Competing Visions REMEMBER THE LADIES

A strong supporter of independence, and an articulate and forceful personality, Abigail Adams believed that the American Revolution provided an opportunity for women to gain much-needed legal reform. This was particularly needed in property law, where women were considered legally dead once they married.

In this spirited letter written shortly before Congress declared

independence from Britain, Abigail made her displeasure with

the inferior legal status of women clear to her husband.

In a dismissive reply, Adams nevertheless revealed how the

Revolution's ideas about equality permeated American society.

John Adams to Abigail Adams, 14 Apr. 1776

As to your extraordinary Code of Laws, I cannot but laugh.

We have been told that our Struggle has loosened the bands of

Government every where. That Children and Apprentices were dis¬

obedient—that schools and Colleges were grown turbulent— that

Indians slighted their Guardians and Negroes grew insolent to their

Masters. But your Letter was the first Intimation that another Tribe

more numerous and powerful than all the rest were grown discon¬

tented.— This is rather too coarse a Compliment but you are so

saucy, I wont blot it out. Depend upon it, We know better than to

repeal our Masculine systems.

Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 Mar. 1776

I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more gener¬

ous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such

unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men

would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not

paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will

not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice,

or Representation.

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4.4 THE RADICALISM OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 129

4.17 Benjamin and Eleanor Ridgely Laming

Charles WilsonPeale's portrait of Benjamin and

Eleanor Ridgely Laming evokes the ideal of

companionate marriage, in which husbands and wives enjoyed a more intimate and egalitarian relationship within marriage.

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England" and speculated that "Perhaps 'twas thought rather out of character for women to

press into those tumultuous assemblages of nen."

family life. Lucy Knox, wife of General Henry Knox, told her husband a year after the Declara¬

tion of Independence to "not consider yourself as commander in chief of your own house," but

recognize that "there is such a thing as equal command." She viewed marriage as an egali¬ tarian relationship between husband and wife in which the two lived together as companions. Scholars describe this as companionate mar¬

riage. The Revolution not only altered ideas about marriage but also changed attitudes about patriarchal authority, a fact reflected in the portraiture of the day. Charles Wilson Peale's portrait of Benjamin and Eleanor Ridgely Laming (4.17) breaks with the con¬

vention of separate portraits of husbands and wives. Not only has Peale placed the couple together in the same portrait, but their posture in the painting emphasizes their emotional inti¬

macy and physical closeness. Benjamin leans into his wife, who affectionately holds his arm.

Marriage in this rendering is an emotional bond of equals; on Peale's canvas the relationship between husband and wife has been infused

with a republican vision of liberty and equality.

The most dramatic example of how Revolu¬

tionary ideology transformed the legal status of women was the brief enfranchisement of women

in New Jersey. In 1776 a pseudonymous author writing under the name Essex recommended

that "widows, paying taxes, should have an

equal right to a vote, as men of the same prop¬ erty." Early drafts of New Jersey's constitution included gender-specific language, but the final requirements for voting contained no such restriction. By the 1790s propertied women had

the right to vote in seven counties within the state. By the dawn of the new century, the right to vote was extended to all propertied women in the state, and many took an active role in the

contentious presidential election of 1800. As par¬ tisanship increased and electoral politics became more contentious, the legislature decided to strip women of their right of suffrage. In 1807 women

lost the right to vote in New Jersey. Although the Revolution did not usher in

the legal or political changes sought by Adams and Corbin, the ideas of equality espoused jy the Revolution did influence marriage and

What justification was used to support female suffrage in revolutionary-era New Jersey?