IV: Knife In the Heart
George Washington
Third President of the United States Congress
Positional Advantages
When Congress elected George Washington to take the presidency, they gave him a healthy and confident nation. Franklin's economic reforms, Adams's sponsoring of colonies and a very successful war catapulted America into prominence and already some of her citizens spoke of a manifest destiny to control the continent.
President Washington expected another war with Britain. As part of the treaty ending the American Revolution in 1773, Britain was to repeal the Quebec Act, which in American eyes returned all lands east of the Mississippi River to their jurisdiction. Parliament declined to discuss the matter, and the British Colonial Office and Governor-Generals of Canada and West Florida (modern southern Alabama and Mississippi) invoked their claims. Washington felt this could only be settled by force of arms, which set him apart from John Adams who'd hoped to avoid the second war.
Historians are unclear whether Washington <i>wanted</i> war. His supporters state that Washington, more than most of his brethren, understood the hardships of warfare and merely planned to assure America's land claims. Opponents point to said hardships - the destruction of his entire army and months imprisoned eleven years previous - and charge him with desiring revenge. In the 1787 presidential campaign, John Adams wrote:
Verily, Mister Washington says he desires freedom and liberty, when in fact he's only proven a champion of division and destruction. It is unrealistic to believe that the ideals we fought for in the year 73 are compatible with the security necessary to defend the secrets of a warrior state like he would devise.
Regardless of his motives, President Washington spent the first two years of his tenure exchanging increasingly direct letters with General Arnold over troop disposition. He argued America had any number of men with enough skill to lead an independent force, yet they all served under Gates or Arnold.
Benedict Arnold, a proud and temperamental man, resisted Washington's ideas and more than once told him to "mind his own affairs." Finally in October 1785, Washington tired of his insolence and appointed Horatio Gates as commander in chief. Disgusted, Arnold resigned the next month.
Washington's plan, which Gates accepted with minor modifications, had Arnold, then later George Rogers Clark moving south to take command of newly appointed General Malcolm Fremont's cavalry. General Charles Lee moved to Albany, holding the west end of Canada's flank with Gates in the middle, and the Marquis de Lafayette held the east.
On the home front, Congress pushed through the Northwest Ordinance. Among other things, the Ordinance said:
. Territorial claims by individual states beyond the pre-Revolution borders were null and void: This land would be used to create new territories and states.
. Congress would control claimed territory until they had 6,000 residents, when they could elect a territorial legislature.
. Once the territory reached 25,000, the legislature could begin work on a state constitution.
. If Congress approved the constitution, the territory would be welcome as an independent state with all the rights and privileges enjoyed by the original thirteen.
Explorers, eager to take advantage of America's claim to the entire eastern half of the continent, migrated west. America underwrote colonial towns along Lake Michigan and Lake Superior (modern Michigan), including the city of Detroit founded in 1784.
(Detroit, Michilmakinak) In 1786, taking advantage of a lapse in Spanish security, Washington authorized a new colony on the banks of the Rio Grande.
(Rio Grande province) Originally he envisioned a penal colony, but it quickly became haven first to explorers, then runaway slaves smuggled across French Louisiana with a nod and wink from French colonial officials. This new colony called itself Texas.
In January 1786, rebels from the Palatinate broke away from France. The French invoked their alliance, but received a nasty surprise when Baden and Spain broke alliance. In his memoirs, President Washington explains why he asked Congress to do the same.
At the time the French still fought British interests. I felt they were already wholy committed, whereas Spain was not. Upon entering dialogue with the Spanish ambassador, I learned they held a very favorable view of our aims...
(Dishonor alliance. Start new alliance with Spain.)
Alas, the French were
not wholly committed. One year before England founded a new colony on the banks of the Mississippi River.
(Yazoo province) Eventually Washington would use this provocation to advantage. In the meantime, Louis XVI of France thought America's refusal, especially after welcoming them into the brotherhood of nations, somewhat meanspirited like a spoiled child. Along with supporting runaways across Louisiana into Texas, he sued for peace with the British, securing that same colony within American claims.
(France defeats England, gains Yazoo)
On August 18, 1786, citing the former British colony as proof of their intent to continue supporting the Quebec Act, Congress declared war. Spain immediately agreed.
Round Three!
Commander-in-Chief, General Horatio Gates anticipated the bulk of the fighting would be in Canada. He planned for a three-pronged assault to maintain positional advantage. General Lee would seize the lands north of New York to the Saint Lawrence River - an aim of the war since British outposts in the area liked to harass American shipping coming out of Lake Erie. He would then go north and seize Hudson Bay Company holdings. General Gates would advance to Montreal and Quebec. Marquis de Lafayette would take New Brunswick, prevent counterattack from Nova Scotia, and send any troops he could spare to Gates.
In the south, General Clark's one aim was to secure British West Florida, thereby forming a common land border with the Alabama Territory
(Mobile) and depriving them of their last gulf port. He would then stay there against possible amphibious assault.
By the time Parliament learned of the declaration of war, Clark was already at the coast, Lee at the St. Lawrence, and Gates annihilated a British regiment south of Montreal. On September 23 they sued for peace, offering the land Clark had taken. American ambassadors responded with Washington's demands, and the conversation ended there.
On October 16, Clark succeeded in his mission. Garrisoning the gulf port he detached General Fremont with a half regiment of cavalry to strike into Britain's northern holdings and "deprive them of the use of OUR river now and forever." Congress supported this and commissioned a cavalry regiment to join Fremont enroute.
The British army, distracted by war in India, couldn't respond to such a coherent attack. Governor Carleton, Baron of Dorchester conscripted every loyalist he could find, and with five full regiments met General Lee outside of Montreal. Lee still outnumbered him 2:1, and with American morale so high following their systematic advance they proved invincible. Carleton died, much of his army captured and Canada lay prostrate.
With Montreal and Three Rivers sieged, Marquis de Lafayette ran through New Brunswick with impunity. Once more Parliament proposed peace, offering part of West Florida and free access to the St. Lawrence.
(Tuscaloosa and Ticonderoga.) Once more Congress refused and counteroffered, but Prime Minister Pitt felt a port so close to American and French holdings too useful to give up.
Then in November 1786, the British struck back.
One regiment sent by ship seized Wilmington, North Carolina and struck for the unprotected American interior hoping to force Congress to an "equitable, honorable and above all reasonable" peace as Pitt put it. Instead they told General Clark to leave a small garrison at the Gulf, then strike north and destroy the interloper. Through the winter of 1786-87 they maneuvered through the lower Appalachian Mountains, finally fighting near Roanoke, Virginia. Clark won easily, dispatched men to seize the tiny English garrisons, then settled in Norfolk to await further developments.
A second British force seized Texas. America had no navy, and so no means to take it back.
In the north, General Fremont entered what's now Wisconsin. After fighting natives loyal to England, he destroyed British lake settlements and sent the survivors by boat and horse to Quebec. Reinforcements finally arrived, and in spring 1787 he destroyed Britain's last settlements along the Mississippi.
At that time General Gates, conceiving that only a decisive defeat would convince Britain to surrender, ordered Fremont, General Bridgewater with what troops Lafayette could spare, and General Sandwich from Lee's command to strike deep into Canada, seize Hudson Bay, and let the merchants tell Parliament to stand down. Congress reinforced this with a trade embargo, ordering a seizure of all British shipping in American ports.
The northern campaign would take fifteen months including constant warfare with Eskimos and other natives and an exceptionally brutal winter near the Arctic Circle. Of the 3,500 combined men sent out, only 600 made it home.
Meanwhile, the heartland of Canada systematically fell before Lee and Gates: Three Rivers, Chambly and Montreal fell in the summer of 1787. Now they turned their attention to the big prize: Quebec City.
Peace negotiations continued in London and Philadelphia. Seizing Texas and raiding the American interior gave Parliament newfound confidence, and their offers slimmed despite losing much of Canada. For their part, Congress continued to insist on West Florida and part of the St. Lawrence. Still they refused, and so the British army tried one more time to break American resolve.
2,000 men under General Marcus Armstrong landed in Wilmington, North Carolina AGAIN. Advanced intelligence warned them of Clark's disposition though, and so they led the American a merry chase across North Carolina, western Virginia, and part of the Northwest territory. Finally on April 29, 1788, five months after their reign of terror began, Clark trapped them outside of Charleston, South Carolina. He was infuriated over the dozens of burned farms and looted villages left in their wake, so following their surrender he charged Armstrong and his senior officers with banditry and murder. A kangaroo court found them guilty in less than an hour and he hung them. Frustration made the Third American/British war turn ugly.
Frustration. Soon after Clark's victory and resulting celebrations - intercepting the British army proved surprisingly lucrative and spurred the Carolina economy for years to come
(Free Goods manufactory in Allegheny) - Congress learned English settlers, with French tolerance if not approval, snuck up the Mississippi River and forged yet another colony on its banks.
(English colony in Fox!) This, and Parliament's continued refusal to even discuss their gulf port, convinced Congress to seek peace.
First, however, George Washington argued British Canada could not ever be a threat to American interests again.
Their audacity and arrogance, refusing a reasonable settlement and continuing to stake claims on land God and treaty have both given unto us, leads me to say King George must be taught respect so that he interlopes on us no more!
He proposed Operation: Retribution, the systematic destruction of all Hudson Bay holdings as well as fishing settlements in Labroador. The northern states vehemently opposed this.
John Adams said:
And what will this accomplish? We want peace. They want peace. The matter is resolved. Devolving into this kind of barbarism will only generate a hatred that will guarantee future war, not prevent it. Further, what will the world think? They will call us thugs and bullies, and rightly so!
Intense debate followed. Armstrong's raids frightened the southern states badly however, Maryland worried it could happen to them, Pennsylvania didn't want Brits on
their side of the Mississippi, New York feared Canada's power and New Hampshire simply wanted revenge for years of occupation. The vote:
Proceed: GA, SC, NC, VA, MD, NY, PA, NH
Deny: NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA
In July 1788, the Hudson Bay Company ceased to exist.
Peace finally came, reverting to the terms offered back in October 1786. Clark's southern gains, minus Biloxi of course, were incorporated into Alabama territory. New York immediately claimed Lee's northern gains, and that was about when the fighting started.
A Constitution
The Articles of Confederation proved a failure. Most of the country's power resided in the individual states, which was fair enough but meant Congress lacked the strength to deal with fierce interstate rivalries. Along with the insurrections in the Mid Atlantic that plagued Adams's tenure, New York and Connecticut argued over Long Island Sound, Massachusetts bickered with New Hampshire over access to their northern territory. Virginia and Maryland bitterly contested fishing and shipping rights in Chesapeake Bay. "Veto" rules allowed even one state to block serious legislation, and even failing that Congress didn't have the power to force state legislatures to listen.
As early as 1786, Washington and Adams pored over the details of a new Constitution. Debate continued through most of 1787, with many - like Thomas Jefferson or Edward Rutledge of South Carolina - alarmed at the power it invested in Congress. Slowly they devised a system of checks and balances to hopefully prevent oppression.
This early Constitution went into effect in 1788, once nine state legislatures approved it. It lacked a Bill of Rights, or really much about civilians at all, nor the ideals that led America to break from Britain. As Benjamin Franklin surmised shortly before his death in 1790 however: It was a beginning.
The breaking point, which led to three assemblies ratifying the Constitution within days of each other, came in August 1788. Enraged over New York's claim to the new northern land, New Hampshire immediately claimed it for their state....and
Vermont as well! New York mobilized their militia, while local partisans informed both assemblies Vermont had, in fact, been completely independent since 1777 "though we are willing to discuss matters with the entire Congress." As the situation threatened to spiral into a three-way showdown, Gates and Lee appeared in Bennington and Burlington respectively, with nearly thirty thousand men, announcing they would finish any war someone saw fit to start and asking Congress for instructions.
The new Constitution at least ensured Congress
could deal with the competing claims. That would have to wait, though, for by its terms an election was set for December 1788.
A President
This left almost no time for campaigning, not that anyone seemed inclined to with Vermont threatening to explode any day. By the Constitution, each state would choose a number of delegates through any means they saw fit. Each delegate had two votes: They could not vote for the same person of course, nor could
both votes go to people from their home state. Whoever had the most votes, if it was at least 50%+1 of the electoral collage (and thus 25%+1 of the number of votes) would win.
With so little time, most state legislatures simply discussed the matter and selected delegates accordingly. Delaware, Maryland and Virginia tried to organize formal elections but with winter approaching two Maryland delegates and two Virginia either weren't named or didn't vote in time. The New York state assembly hopelessly deadlocked and ended up sending no one at all. Rhode Island and North Carolina hadn't ratified the Constitution and so weren't eligible.
Similar to the Retribution vote, John Adams won in the north, while George Washington secured those states threatened by General Armstrong. South Carolina split the southern vote by unanimously supporting Edward Rutledge, who did well in several other states as well. New York and Rhode Island's non participation hurt worse though. Historians agree that, had they participated, Adams would have won.
Election of 1788 said:
George Washington: 50 votes
John Adams: 44 votes
Edward Rutledge: 18 votes
Horatio Gates: 14 votes
(Various Other): 12 votes
* Needed to win: 40
Map: Colored by highest vote getter