4

son, Jr., of Maryland took their seats on the next day. Tilghman of Maryland did not attend until the 12th; William Hooper4 and Joseph Hewes of North Carolina, Henry Wisner 22 and John Alsop 23 of New York and George Ross of Pennsylvania until the 14th; Richard Caswell of North Carolina until the 17th; John Herring of New York until the 26th; Simon Boerum of New York until October 1st; and John Dickinson 24 of Pennsylvania until October 17th.

Randolph 25 was unanimously chosen President; and Charles Thomson of Pennsylvania became 26 Secretary.

This Congress agreed not to import, after the 1st of December, any goods, wares or merchandise from Great Britain or Ireland, or any East India tea, or any molasses, syrups, paneles, coffee or pimento from the British plantations or Dominica, or any wines from Madeira or the Western Islands or any foreign indigo; and the Delegates embodied in the agreement a nonconsumptive clause, binding themselves, as an effectual security for the observation of the non-importation. It was the beginning of the American Union.

Toward declaring independence, however, the First Continental Congress took no action whatever; nor does such a measure seem to have been considered even as a possibility.

Indeed, the association spoken of, of October 20th, itself avowed allegiance to his Majesty; and the address of this Congress to the King stated that the Colonists yielded to no other British subjects in affectionate attachment to his Majesty's person, family and government.

Nor was there any real thought of independence among the people at large; though Hooper writes, to James Iredell, April 26th: "[I] They [the Colonies] are striding fast to independence, and ere long will build an empire upon the ruin of Great Britain; will adopt its constitution purged of its impurities, and from an experience of its defects will guard against those evils which have wasted its vigor and brought it to an untimely end . . . I know too well your reverence for our Constitution not to forgive it in another, although it borders upon enthusiasm."

On May 31st, John Scollay writes — from Boston! — to Arthur Lee: "We have too great a regard for our parent State (although cruelly treated by some of her illegitimate sons) to withdraw our connection." The General Assembly of New Jersey declared, July 21st, that their people and, indeed, the whole country "detest all thoughts of an independence . . ." Even Washington, in a letter to Captain Mackenzie, written in October, says: "[H] Give me leave to add, and I think I can announce it as a fact, that it is not the wish or interest of that government [Massachusetts], or any other upon this continent, separately or collectively, to set up for independence."

These views are borne out by a letter dated April 12, 1776, from "A. B." to Alexander Pardie: "It may, with certainty, be affirmed, that, among the ends which the Colonies (from South-Carolina to New York, inclusively) had in view when they began the present contest, independence held no place; and that the NewEngland Governments, if they had it in view at all, considered it as a remote and contingent object."

Most of the few who desired a separation lived in or about Boston. "A view to independence grows more and more general" appears in a letter from Dr. Benjamin Church intercepted by Washington at Cambridge in October.

There, Samuel Adams was a central figure.

On April 4th, he writes to Arthur Lee: "[W]. . . if the British administration and government do not return to the principles of moderation and equity, the evil which they profess to aim at preventing by their rigorous measures, will the sooner be brought to pass, viz.—the entire separation and independence of the Colonies. . . It requires but a small portion of the gift of discernment for anyone to foresee that Providence will erect a mighty empire in America . . ."

Of the opinions of John Adams during this year respecting independence, we have found no contemporaneous record; but a letter to Timothy Pickering, describing the trip to Philadelphia, written many years later (August 6, 1822) says: "[Ms] I can write nothing which will not be suspected of personal vanity, local prejudice or Provincial & State partiality As Mr Hancock was sick and confined Mr Bowdoin was chosen at the head of the Massachusetts delegation to Congress. His relations thought his great fortune ought not to be hazarded. Cushing, two Adams's and Paine were met at Frankfort by Dr Rush, Mr Mifflin, Mr Bayard and several others of the most active Sons of Liberty, in Philadelphia, who desired a conference with us. We invited them to take Tea with us in a private apartment. They asked leave to give us some information and advice, which we

thankfully granted. They represented to us, that the friends of Government in Boston and in the Eastern States, in their correspondence with their friends in Pennsylvania and all the Southern States, had represented us as four desperate adventurers. Mr Cushing was a harmless kind of man; but poor, and wholly dependent upon his popularity for his subsistence. Mr Samuel Adams was a very artful designing man, but desperately poor and wholly dependent on his popularity with the lowest vulgar for his living. John Adams and Mr Paine were two young Lawyers of no great talents reputation or weight, who had no other means of raising themselves into consequence but by courting popularity. We were all suspected of having Independence in view. Now, said they, you must not utter the word Independence, nor give the least hint or insinuation of the idea, neither in Congress or any private conversation; if you do you are undone; for the idea of Independence is as unpopular in Pennsylvania and in all the middle and Southern States as the Stamp Act itself. No Man dares to speak of it. Moreover, you are the Representatives of the suffering State . . . you are thought to be too warm, too zealous, too sanguine, you must be therefore very cautious. You must not come forward with any bold measures you must not pretend to take the lead. You know Virginia is the most populous State in the Union. They are very proud of their antient Dominion, as they call it; they think they have a right to take the lead, and the Southern States and the middle States too, are too much disposed to yield it to them. This . . made a deep impression on my mind and it had an equal

effect on all my Colleagues. This conversation and the principles, facts and motives suggested in it, have given a colour, complection and character to the whole policy of the United States, from that day to this. Without it . . . M Jefferson [would never] have been the Author of the declaration of Independence, nor M Richard Henry Lee the mover of it. . . Although this advice dwelt deeply on my mind, I had not in my nature prudence and caution enough always to observe it. . . It soon became rumoured about the City that John Adams was for Independence; the Quakers and Proprietary gentlemen, took the alarm; represented me as the worst of men; the true-blue-sons of Liberty pitied me; all put me under a kind of Coventry. I was avoided. like a man infected with the Leprosy. I walked the Streets of Philadelphia in solitude, borne down by the weight of care and unpopularity. But every ship for the ensuing year, brought us fresh proof of the truth of my prophesies, and one after another became convinced of the necessity of Independence."

Of Virginians, very many think that Henry contributed more than any other man to light the fires of the Revolution; and Wirt goes 27 much farther claiming for him the credit of being the first of all the leading men of the Colonies to suggest independence. In the account of this patriot's burst of eloquence, in 1773, he tells us that one of the audience reported that "the company appeared to be startled; for they had never heard anything of the kind even suggested." Henry, in speaking of Great Britain, (his biographer continues) said: "I doubt whether we shall be able, alone, to cope with so powerful